Wow, you managed to solve the big mystery... How did you sort out that this is the "Stratorods" MR? I have been attempting to figure out script on the cowl vent, just went out and looked at the script, sure enough, "Stratorods" is readable, once I knew what I was looking for.. Thank you so much!
Soooo... Searching the net for the Stratorods, found the roadster was published in multiple magazines. I have ordered copies, and I will post them.
Hello, Tommy Ivo ruled over his opponents in the dragster class. His mode of race engine was a Hilborn Injected Buick motor. A Kent Fuller chassis and some pretty fast reactions at the starting line usually got a jump on the competition. I went all over the Lion’s Dragstrip compound to film the action from the best angles and try to get as close to the action as possible. As a young kid with a 16mm movie camera, I did not have a press pass to get onto the grass area, near the starting line, in the photo below. It was a busy day as Tommy Ivo puts on a show. But, check out the blue outline… hmmm Not to be outdone, Tommy Ivo travels to Colton, CA and performs almost the same results earlier in the year. So Cal had 6 drag strips all running most weekends and they were all accessible to the local drag racers. But, Lion’s Dragstrip was in a central So Cal location in Long Beach/Wilmington and was considered the top local race facility. But, as the year rolled on and the “other” racers were getting their race cars a little faster and more consistent, the competition started to heat up. So, the Ivo camp decided to try 671 supercharger on top of the new blower spec Buick motor. The new look for the rest of the So Cal drag racers… I was able to get inside of the staging area to get some close up films of the 671 supercharged Buick powered FED as it prepared to make a fast run. Jnaki As most stories go, the experiment was successful. Then after several months of competition against some of the top racers in So Cal, we no longer saw the single engine 671 supercharged Buick powered FED in the pits. Note: A new theory and “more power” was the new FED in the pits: If one goes fast, two should go twice as fast… YRMV Twin Hilborn Injected Buick motors... Even for those under the bleacher seat folks, it was fast… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUEtZZIJ6bA
Hello, Back in 1959, I took a film of one of the meanest looking Competition Coupes currently running at Lion’s Dragstrip. It was not only mean looking, but it was extremely loud. So, when they fired up in the staging lanes, everyone ran to the fences or stood up to see the Competition Coupe coming to the starting line. It was the black primer Fiat Coupe of Colburn Glaze. The Competition Coupe was one of the fastest coupes in the early days of drag racing. It was spectacular in a rough way, but the results showed everyone, the winning times and e.t. runs. Bill Colburn started a car wax company called Colburn Glaze. 1957 It was around So Cal, but at the time no one was using Carnuba Paste/Liquid as a wax product. Most stuck to the name brands, Vista Wax, Blue Coral, and Turtle Wax. As popular as they were, we were all tricked into thinking those were the best for all cars. Daily drivers or even hot rod sedans. The Carnuba Wax products were pushed to the back of the popularity factor and did not come alive until many years later. Colburn Glaze was one of the first to have a Carnuba Wax Product. Today, most wax products are claiming that Carnuba products are the best… etc. including the popular name brands. Back then, we never saw the product advertised on the side of any race cars or big signs on billboards. It was advertised in the early Drag News Weekly papers and that was pretty much the whole ad program. I am sure, if it were advertised on the sides of the race car, folks would have noticed and applied the sight with a product on the market. Jnaki Those days were filled with fast times and different classes for everyone to build a fast hot rod or strictly competition race car. So, class designation had different names for different dragstrips. Even Lion’s Dragstrip had two designations. Modified Coupe and Competition Coupe. One week, the Colburn Glaze won the Modified Coupe class and the next, he won the Competition Coupe class. Whether the Fiat Coupe was in the Modified Coupe class or the Competition Coupe class, on this day, he was off to a great start, but got into some trouble at the end. Note: More history from 1959 Riverside Raceway September 1959 Within months, We had taken a long road trip out to Riverside Raceway and we were surprised that a newer version of the Competition Coupe was in the pits. Now, it gave even top fuel race cars a run for the money. YRMV Note 2: Not only did we lose some hearing standing so close to the action, but we were all pelted with a flurry of gravel and dirt during this race. Yikes! December 1959
The Jalopy Journal
