Jim, all the cars in the SEGA gas classes have to meet a minimum ride height, the rules differ as to the wheelbases. SEGA rules are available for all to see, are very strict and some changes occur from year to year (usually for safety reasons).
Currently owned by Bucky Hess of Martinsburg West Virginia. Bucky is best known as a drag racer.,, King Cuda
So, gassers have a minimum height, but no maximum? A lot of the cars that seem to hook up and go are quite tall. Below is a pic of a local car that I really like. It goes like hell, and is pretty big.
Max height: 24" maximum from the ground to the front crank snout. NHRA Gas coupes and sedans reached a high point (pun intended) around 1966-67-ish. After that, softer tires and clutch technology allowed harder launches without resorting to "weight transfer". Moreover, faster speeds made the tall cars unstable at the big end. So they all got lower. The Stone Woods & Cook's and Ohio George Montgomery's Gasser Mustangs (OT for the HAMB) are good examples of the progression.
Except none of these cars with altered wheelbases, lacking hoods, or front engined Corvairs would have been Gas Class cars back in the day. NHRA also had a rule as to how big the opening in the hood could be. The hood opening had to be no bigger than 2" of anything protruding through the hood per the '67 or '68 rule book. These cars would have been Altereds.
Not street freaks. Their rules require a minimum of 11'" between the ground and bottom of the front fender or rocker panel behind the front tire. The minimum at the rear fender or rocker panel in front of the tire is 10".
Only allowed to move either axle 1". Can move both axles 1" each but cannot move the front or rear axle 2" Wheelbase cannot be less than factory length.
So, my car will have a hood,with a blower sticking out of it. My blower will be a little more than 2 inches above hood line, I will make my crank shaft sit at 24 inches, my fender will be a little higher than the allowed 11 inches from the ground, and my rocker will also be a little high. I will not be altering my wheelbase. I am not going to race it in a class, but it will makes passes. I guess what I am building is a gasser that would have barely failed tech inspection.
From looking at the cars you have built, I don't think you conform to the norm Jim always an argument about "what qualifies as a Gasser" but I call em gasser if they have a straight axle and the nose up stance. My car makes me happy, I couldn't care less what everybody else calls it or thinks about it
I like this one, not gm and not 60’s, but definitely odd, and I would say built 60’s style and on the small side. I have one in the shed for someday.
I saw that bad boy "perform". It performed like a bastard-headed cat. Those wheels on the back are one-hundred percent necessary.
The term Gasser is thrown around like Track Roadster, and the majority of what is being built are so different than the real ones. It reminds me of a joke from the 60's. A beatnick walks up to a guy that was injured, and the guy says " Call Me an Ambulance", and the beatnick replied, " Okay, Your an Ambulance" !
:LOL: Fake race car, suspension is lag bolted to the sheet metal unibody. That thing fell apart just cruising down the highway
Here is one I have pitted next too a few times at Byron Dragway Glory Days Drags. Its a little more A/FX then gasser, but what the hell. I know he runs a stout injected big block. The owner is a hell of a nice guy too. Disclaimer, these pics are from the internet, not mine.
But if I run my car down the drag strip every weekend, is it still a fake race car? Or are you making reference to the street freak?
I would 10,000 times rather look at an old car that somebody stuck a straight axle under it and hear them call it a Gasser, than to see a fake ass fiberglass car and hear some guy call it his 32 Ford.
Always assertions over Gasser vs street-freak. We know. We know. I agree, some are pretty freaky and probably shouldn't even be called gassers. But a lot of 'em look pretty good and I think probably aren't very far from the real thing. Maybe we should say "Gasser-style".
Can't wait to see what you build, Jim. Kind of reminds me of some models I built as a kid. Early 60s cars jacked way up. LOL. Fun.
Yep, that is one cool car and I was fortunate enough to get to see it in my shop and meet Rusty. Definitely not what I would consider an oddball though. More like textbook gasser built in the 60’s.
Well, if you guys are patient , us old guys who were there will die off and then you can call your cars gassers, no matter what the old rules were. IMHO, the HAMB is to promote the history the motorhead obsession. The accurate history. Most of the pictures in this thread are street freaks. Or worse. Normally, I don’t like to comment on stuff like this, but every time someone posts that heinous POS Radiator Lady thing, a little girl’s puppy dies. Stop it.
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