History So when did the gasser noses drop down

Sorry, I gotta keep it. It is the second car I ever owned and I sold my first ('55 F100) to use the money to buy it. I bought the Austin the year after I graduated from high school. I am thinking about chopping it, especially after seeing Jim Oddy's Austin.

 

Thanks for the offer. I am getting close to having the top done on the cabriolet. Once that is done I may switch gears and start working on the Austin. Still waiting for the kid to decide if he wants to start working on his Falcon again or not

 

It's not like that at all. Alot of people want to get in on this g***er resurgance but have no idea how to make their car look like a g***er from any era. There are too many so called g***ers running 14x32 slicks with convo pro, drag stars or rodlight wheels. They just don't get it. Or they'll put far too narrow a rear end with far too wide slicks under their car instead of radiousing their fenders like was done back in the day. They end up with a hodge podge car that looks like a cross-dresser. Now Swade on the other hand gets it. His Henry J is beautiful and looks just like a 68 or 69 era C/ G***er. Now Whaddayoucare... his Nova wagon is clean and beautiful too. But his car looks like an 80's era super stocker, not a g***er. I plan on building my 48 Austin to run AA/Gas with East Coast AA/Gas ***ociation. In all honesty, there are a couple of guys in that group who just don't get it. But people in that group are trying to get these guys to get with the program. I'm also using the Oddy car as a template for my own car. Alot of people will accept practically anything as being a g***er because they aren't familliar with 60's g***ers. But there are still enough of us around to see right through the posers.

 

Ha ha, thanks man, i just try and build what I see in my blurry vision. The other day while at work we drove by Altons and there was a yellow 54 chevy with a straight axle sky high front. Cool car but a little to tall for me but the problem I had was the tubbed rear and the pro-street rubber.
The fellas were ooogling and ogling and all I could see was a confused car that was jumping from one trend to another. I made the comment that he should have cut the radius and pushed smaller rear tires outside. The fellas thought I had to be wrong...some get it and some don't.

 

Great answer haha

 

What transmissions were commonly used ? I remember reworked Hydramatics for some,did guys use sticks in higher cl*** g***ers?

 

4 speeds were pretty rare in the blower cl***es. Panella Bros. ran one with Ken Dondero driving.
I think 4 speed Hydros were pretty popular during the 60s. I think maybe TorqueFlites after that.
Some of the automatic transmission builders were B&M, C&O, Boss Hydro (Rocky Pirrone's dad), Art Carr for the Torqueflites, maybe Vitar (??).

 

In the beginning of the era, the Caddy Lasalle 3 speed standard was the ****** of choice because they were strong. Then came the Hydromatics which were strong, consistent and gave drivers 4 speeds in an automatic. Then along came the Chrysler Torqueflites and the clutch ***isted variation called the Clutchflite. Many Clutchflites were even installed behind Chevy engines. The popularity of of the extremely brutal launching Clutchflites led to the similar development of of clutch ***isted Turbo 400's (Clutchturbo) and C-6's.

 

This is in reply to blownhemi48 and swade41... I hope you don't think my Stude is a "cross dresser"!
Not all people are "trendy" perhaps they just don't like to have the rubber hangin out the fenders.I suppose you would call my car confused as it is an x-g***er with the straight axle but I like the rubber tucked under the fenders in the back.I bought this car close to 30 years ago (a true D/G car) it would not hook even spun when I pulled 4th gear.I tubbed it and 4 linked it cuz I was bracket racing it and needed a consistant ******.I do not consider it a prostreet car,rather a hotrod in the g***er style without the fenders hacked up and out of proportion.As a kid growing up in the 60s and 70s I was building model cars and stuffing slicks under the stock quarter panels/wheel openings(waaaay before any one had ever heard of pro street) and dreaming of someday building a real car that way.I fell in love with the Swindler A and vowed to build a car like it some day.As you can see from my avatar,the ch***is I modified works very well so I hope you don't think I am confused,I just like the stock appearing sheetmetal with LOTS of power. I have been "getting it" for many years,I just do things my way and to hell with what others think!

 

Chuck Finders and Jr. Thompson in 1965 (from Supercharged G***ers book).
Yep, they're narrowing a rearend for Jr's Austin G***er.
If I ever get around to rebuiding my Anglia, I'm gonna have the slicks (10.5s) hanging out about an inch or so. But to do that, I'm gonna have to narrow the frame and rearend.

 

So these cars are or are not g***ers?

v v v Fat tires v v v




v v v Funky paint v v v


v v v Cool but what is it trying to be? v v v


v v v Fat tires and Funky paint v v v


v v v Tires tucked in v v v


v v v G***er??? v v v




v v v Now I like Schwartz's car but custom wheels and wide tires? v v v


v v v Verrry wide tires v v v


v v v More funky paint, late 80's- early 90's style v v v



So if all these cars are running in the g***er cl*** are they all wrong, all cross-dressers or can we agree that yesterday as well as today they were not all cookie-cutter cars that needed to be built one way only. Also not that I didn't include the ones that had front bumpers either. I could have listed more.

 

^^Well, theres g***ers and then theres "G***ERS!!" "G***ERS!!" are what you have there, and all over the HAMB and everywere else you can think of. Most of them bear little resemblance to g***ers. I think the fact that one of those cars is AWB pretty much says all that needs to be said about "G***ERS!!".

 

Look I'm not trying to be a ***** just trying to make a point that many have either already brought up or are afraid to. Not every car was built the same back then, and they shouldn't be built the same today. I've seen actual "history" cars that were refused in an event because it didn't look like someone or some group "thought" it should look. I know guys with cars that ran an event one year with no problem and the following year refused admission. Then there are cars that according to "the rules" shouldn't be running but because they have "friends" the rules are bent and are allowed to run.

All I say is get the act together.

 

Hell I got one of those too and hope it will hook like yours one day, I will however never call it a g***er. It's just "the truck"...lol

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Waddayacare--They were not all built the same, but just about none of them were built with really wide tires tucked under the fenders. The ones in your pics probably don't look "right" if you're an old geezer with a good memory.

Look at my car...just because I'm putting gas in it, doesn't make it a "g***er"

 

the debate will go on forever.

It is just too bad that some get their undies in a bundle about the definition of a G***er. Why not just go out and have some fun.

The only "proof" is to have a car that ran "in the day". Pretty hard to deny it as a g***er, unless changes were made (ie: Hot Rod Willy)

 

Why not just call it a "freak"?

 

but if you work at it, and do your homework, a "g***er recreation" can look pretty authentic

 

Hey Jim, I'm not the one with the problem. I happen to think they're all cool. I say pick a cut-off year, stick to it and if the car is not slammed to the ground, a true full ch***is car or a Pro-Mod.... run it!

There ya' go! Bob said it best!

 

When did the Olds get the BB Chevy?

 

Are you referring to back in the racing days or in production.

If it's production, they never did as far as I know.

 

when Al Kvarme redid the car in the mid-70's. It was featured in Streetrodder magazine right after completion of the restoration.

I wish he would have stuck with Olds power, but by the 70's, everybody seemed to think a g***er needed to go fast.

speed or show? back to that same question.

 

I call mine an x-g***er!Check out my albums for proof,better yet ask Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick as he is a life long pal and knows the history of this car as we all three call Morrison Il.our home. To me it is my "Hotrod" I am not hung up on terminology or the latest trend. My car WAS a g***er !Not some copy.I bought the car I saw as a kid growing up as I had always lusted after it for many reasons. I drove it around and raced it back in the 80s.Back then it was a legal D/G car, this was before the trendy g***er craze.I have always liked the g***ers and apologize to NO ONE! I could not bring myself to cut up(never even considered it) the fenders of a rust free 42 Studebaker.Besides,who the **** wants to be like anyone else! If anyone says it aint a g***er because the tires don't hang out of the fenders,then they are not very intelligent...

 

Are all of cars running the G***er Racing Series truely representative of g***ers that would have run back in the day? Absolutely not. Alot of them are. But most are not close. It's a bracket racing series and most of the cars are just that, bracket cars. The Zieminik brothers Henry J was infact one of those cars trapped between pro street and g***er. The car looks 100% better now than it did just two years ago. Alot of people think they have to have a 14x32 tire to get their car to hook. With properly sorted ch***is and suspensions, there are cars out there running 6 second quarter mile times. Gordon Crowes blown big block Chevy powered AA/Gas '33 Willys was running 5.20 second 1/8 times on a 10.5 inch tire. A hoodless car or radically altered wheel base car would not have been allowed to run in the gas cl***es. As far as the Stude in the avatar goes... Some of us are still going to think your car no longer reflects it's former D/Gas heritage. You said so yourself, it's a bracket car now. Just as you are of the opinion that cars with radioused wheel openings are hacked and disproportionate, people like myself have our own opinions of your bracket car. It is what it is. If you or someone else likes how your car looks, then be happy. Nobody was attacking you or your car personally (I don't even know you), you may have just taken it that way.

 

OK - I gotta join in. The definition of 'G***er' depends entirely on your point of view which is mostley shaped by what you remember. 'What you remember" is very VERY IMPORTANT!

I graduated high school in 1960, went to the Indy Nationals in '61, '62 and '63. In 1964 I attended US Army Basic Training while the '64 Nats were being run. When I got loose from the Army I got into flying; The '63 Nats were the last drag race I attended until I flew into Englishtown NJ in the early 1980's.

Now, if you've read the above, guess what I think a 'G***er' is......

 

My Stude is a street car these days,when I tubbed it (at age 22) I wanted to put a tire on it to make it consistant and allow it to be able to handle more power later on.I am not now or ever was concerned about what others thought about it.I agree most others had the tires hangin out of the fenders,I like the way it is and really don't care what others think.I never did try to hold on to the g***er image but make a car that hooked and appealed to ME! I didn't mean to ruffle any feathers or cause drama perish the ****ing thought but only try to enlighten others that just because the tires don't hang out of the fenders,does not mean it is not a g***er.Look at the rules back then,a legal g***er had to have bumpers front and rear,minimal engine setback,lights and actually be a car that was almost street legal.

 

what is even more disappointing is when guys have to get personal and start name calling when there is a difference of opinion.

C'mon, it is supposed to be fun.

If this "drama" keeps up, the damn thread will get shut down.

perhaps it is time for Redlineracer42 to put a new chip in the MSD and dial things down just a tad...please

 

^ ^ ^ Great story, great car and all was well said. ^ ^ ^

First off, I don't see why a car would get labeled a pro-street car just because it has wide tires on the back. There's a lot more to a pro-street car than just tires.

Yes, my car runs wide tires but that wasn't my choice and if I had back-halfed the rear it wouldn't be. Everything else about the car is as "period" as I can get it. No Dart block, no aluminum heads! It has what would have been found on cars in the day, GM iron block, iron heads, old style Vic Jr. intake (no nitrous bosses) and M/T valve covers. On the outside I have all of the GM sheetmetal right down to the chrome "steel" bumpers, 4" wide Cragar SS's in the front and painted steel wheels in the rear. Do I call it a g***er, absolutely not!

Now as far as the tires go, with todays tire technology there's no need for a wide tire anymore. Hell you've got cars going in the 5's on a 10.5 tire. Wide tires are slowly going the way of custom vans and 8 tracks.

 

Allow me to add....

No true "period correct" g***er would be able to make a p*** down any track because it will not p*** any tech. Case in point is the Jim Oddy Austin. This car is restored to the 9's. Everything is 100% correct and perfect. BUT because it is so correct it will not p*** tech and therefore can not be raced. So in order for a car that appears to be a g***er to be raced it cannot be a g***er in the true sence of the term. So IMHO if it looks like a duck then let the damn thing be a duck then everyone's happy!

 

Understood Bobwop,but I don't see where there was any name callin!I never meant to upset anyone and usually don't swear but tis kinda hard to get the point across with a typewriter sometimes...Hahaha I like the "chip" reference and will indeed dial it down a bit,after all we are all here for fun and games not to mention info.So if I ruffled any feathers I apologize!