I never saw Fred run the Willys, but I saw him run a '68 or '69 Barracuda and later a '70 Barracuda. My understanding is he took the Willys chassis and put the 'cuda bodies on it after some modification to make them fit. The Opel GT was probably a totally brand new car, not just a body on a recycled frame.
I hope this reaches enough guys with Modified Production cars so if you read it please pass it along to where it needs to go to. York Musclecar madness in 2014 was pretty crazy. A Ton of Stockers showed up as you may have read about or will shortly in the magazines. Many many people there were talking about why there was only a few MP cars there. Good question. How come?? Who knows. But here's the deal. I have seen old MP and Super Modified cars show at Nostalgia events. Which means they're out there. They do exist. Just as some of the Stockers came from the ashes to return to York or wherever for all to enjoy, if youre sitting on one please think about changing the oil and rubber lines and be a part of the 50th anniversary of York or wherever. I grew up around one and wish I'd have kept my eye in it when it sold......but I didn't and it was my loss. Back then And today as I think about it now. Woulda shoulda coulda. I know of several cars from modified eliminator that'll be at the Woodstock at York throw down in July 2015. Bring your weapon. For us all to enjoy. At least ponder it??? Thanks PS. There's a white 68 Camaro Super Modified car that was at Englishtown 2 weeks ago for the old rod run. If you know that guy, please make sure he sees this. That was a historical piece of drag racing history that was still Gettin it!!! Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
A couple days ago I was Jonesn' for an early pic of Fred Hartman's old '55 , the Rapid Rodent. I asked biscaynes ,if he might have a pic, forgeting it was an M/P car. In a pm ,he sent me a shot of it; in it's later form(see page 10 in this thread). Realilzing alot of this thread is OT, it does have a bunch of great early class cars in it. SOOO... anyone have a pic of Fred's car in it's original yellow form? Mutch obliged.
Hi all, I just happened onto this thread (fairly new to the board), and was reading the modified rules in one of the earlier posts. I noticed that trucks were allowed to compete. I've got a 55 first series Chevy 3600 that has been totally trashed (saved it from a junk yard) that I'm wanting to do in a hot rod/drag racer style. I have a 1955 Olds rocket 324 that I'm going to drop in it for power, so that would fit the modified rules. Does anyone have pics of any modified trucks?
Great stuff! Brings back a lot of memories. I've gotten through 17 pages so far but wanted to skip ahead & post up a pic Gary Isbell's H/MP Maverick. Gary is one of the early pioneers of not only Modified Production but also of inline 6 technology. He originally built a Chevy II but couldn't get any longevity out of the Chevy crankshaft, so he sold the car to Cotton Perry & Jim Headrick (their first I-6 car?). He then built the Maverick pictured. In the days when you couldn't buy whatever you needed, he took a pair of Ford heads (boss 302 I think) cut one of them in half & welded the cut half to the other whole head to make a I-6 head. He ran Weber side-draft carbs. He was quite an innovator, as you had to be in those days. I was at Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip one night when Gary & Cotton faced off. I'll NEVER forget the sound those two 6 bangers made leaving the starting line.
Another great thread that will keep me occupied evenings for a while. Probably my favorite class as a kid.
The Jalopy Journal
