The worst part was my buddy lost due to his in ability to drive and i never got a rematch before the other Nova blew a rod!
East Coast: Just outside of Washington, DC. Hanging in our comfortable home turf parking lot: Silent Bob (long before the movie guy) was unusually talkative this night. Sort of on the border of braggadocious. After a put up or shut up he admits that his his 68 Mustang probably won't outrun my 74 Ranchero GT (slightly tweaked, 351 cleveland) in a straight line, but having watched Bullitt too many times he says he can take me in a road race. So, we agree to race to Jack-in-the-Box, about five miles away. He gets the lead out of the parking lot onto the two lane road and we haul ass. We hit the six lane road through town. I'm letting him keep the lead through traffic and lights so that just how illegal we get is up to him. Luckily most of the lights we hit were on the green. It was late and traffic was light. As we topped the last hill with about a half mile to go, he's in the right lane and I'm in the middle lane making my move when he unexpectedly makes a hard right onto a side street. It hit me instantly that this was a shortcut I overlooked. Luckily the Ranchero was low and wide. I was able to slide the car into the turn and stay with him rather than shoot past (I think they call that drifting now but we just called it driving). The next turn was wide and Silent Bob left about eight feet of space on the inside as he went through it. I used that space and the crown of the road to my advantage and got passed him on the inside. Just as I passed and put the pedal to the floor I saw Silent Bob's headlights swing hard left, then hard right and left again in my rearview mirror as he fishtailed out of that last turn. Then WHAMMM into a fire hydrant about two hundred feet from our destination. I slid up into Jack-in-the-Box and looked back to see Silent Bob get out and look at his front end. Knowing that Silent Bob wasn't hurt, my passenger and I grabbed a burger and watched the light show of cops and wreckers. I felt a little bad sitting their filling my belly while I knew Silent Bob had knots in his, but if I went back we would have to collaborate on stories. No sense giving the cops a chance to trip someone up. He made up some story about being run off the road and avoided a ticket but still had all the damage to deal with. Sorry 'bout that Bullitt Bob.
Had a friend in high school that we used to take cruisin' on friday nights. He would hang out at Harvey's drive in in Alhambra, Ca. He would wait for some new guy, who thought he was fast, then go up and tell the guy, "that piece a shit ain't that fast! I'll race ya on foot" It was amazing how many races he won. He would race them across a two lane intersection. most guys that lost, would just keep goin' and never come back... that's a true fuc@*#in story. Bowtie40
To All: This is a street race contract I made up years ago. I thought everybody would get a kick out of it, well maybe not everybody but enough to make it worth transcribing. Although what you see here is really a bare bones view. The real contract had scroll work around the edges like you see in real contracts, different font styles and sizes, bold and italic etc. But this gives you the basic idea. I sure hope the columns stay lined up for everybody, I had trouble with that. Oh, and one other point - the first contract I created was serious but it didnt go over too big. I guess some racers were thinking twice about signing their names to something that could be construed in a court of law as a conspiracy to engage in an illegal activity. So I decided to make some changes to make it humorous. BottleBob's Tentative Race Agreement And Contract Check the boxes of your choice below A. Amount of Money You Would Like To Race For. [] 1. In the $0 to $50 Range. [] 2. In the $50 to $250 Range. [] 3. In the $250 to $500 Range. [] 4. Over $500 $_____5. Specific Amount Finally Decided Upon. B. Holding Of Money. [] 1. Each holding his own money. [] 2. Brinks truck with armed guards. [] 3. Someone else to hold money. (Named Below) Name___________________ Phone_________ C. Place Where Race Is To Be. [] 1. First choice street________________________ [] 2. Second choice street______________________ [] 3. Third choice street________________________ D. If Police Come Before Race Starts. [] 1. Go automatically to second choice street. [] 2. Go back to hang out lot. [] 3. Go directly to jail... Do not pass go or collect... etc. E. Payoff Place. [] 1. The payoff place will be at the starting line. [] 2. The payoff place will be at the finish line. [] 3. The payoff place will be at the police impound lot. F. Handicap. [] 1. No handicap. (Heads up) [] 2. Number of cars into the quarter (faster car on the starting line with the slower car set a number of car lengths into the quarter mile). [] 3. Number of cars out of the quarter (slower car on the starting line with the faster car set a number of car lengths out of the quarter mile). ____ Number of cars decided upon. G. Start [] 1. Standard "point point up down" (starter lines cars up, points to one car, then the other, raises both hands high and then drops them). [] 2. Standard start with the addition of a pause (1 to 5 seconds)when the hands are at the top of the up stroke. Cars start when hands come down. [] 3. Giving "the jump" or "the go" which means, after the cars are lined up the car getting the "go" starts when he wants to, (within reason) with the other car starting as soon as he sees the first car move. [] 4. "Parking lights head lights" start. Which means a car usually at the finish line, when signaled, first turns on his parking lights then his headlights. Cars start when the headlights come on. [] 5. "Cars back rolling" start. Which means the faster car is on the starting line with the slower an agreed upon distance behind. The slower car starts and accelerates up to the faster car and when both front bumpers are even the faster car starts and tries to catch up. H. Finish. [] 1. Standard finish. A car at the finish line on the opposite side of the road with his parking lights on. First car to pass the front of the finish line car wins. Both parties racing agree to be bound by where the finish line car is parked, whether or not it's exactly 1/4 mile. [] 2. No set finish - cars race until meltdown. [] 3. Semi-set finish. Cars race until they pass a group of loadies staggering in the street near the end. [] 4. No set finish - honor system. The loser admits defeat like a man. (Note: It has been my experience that a few street racers are what I would call less than honorable. With that in mind, use the honor system at your own risk). [] 5. Not important. I. Show-Up Rule. [] 1. "A no break, money locked" rule. Which means that if one of the cars doesn't show up or is unable to race at the agreed upon time the other car automatically wins by default and any money held goes to him. [] 2. "Limited break rule" Which means that if one of the cars breaks during the race (breaks means not able to be driven away under it's own power) an agreed upon percent of the race money is forfeited. [] 3. "Unlimited break rule" Which means that if a car loses due to seized muffler bearings, wheels not rolling fast enough, unusual cloud formations, or any lunar eclipses the race will be considered canceled with no money changing hands. [] 4. Not important. J. Spectator Rule. [] 1. A "no spectator rule" Which means just the immediate people concerned with the race cars should show up for the race. If a whole group of looky-loos show up the race will be considered canceled. [] 2. A "limited spectator rule" Which means a small group of people can watch the race but not a mob scene of riot proportions. [] 3. An "unlimited spectator rule" Which means anyone can come, including but not limited to all interested parties, wives, children, cousins, narks, sheriff's swat team, Mormon Tabernacle Choir, all following single file behind the race cars. [] 4. Not important. K. Signing. I agree to be bound by the conditions chosen herein. Signature of driver of one car________________________________ Signature of driver of other car_______________________________
Was he wearing Keds or Chuck Taylors and did he do a John Force burnout before each "run"? Having spent all my time on the street and never on the track (either type), (except motorcycle dirt drags) I wouldn't know how 60 foot times compare between humans and the average streetable race car.
This was back in the day before they finished the 118 frwy. Everyone had gone to Reseda and Rinaldi to race. For some strange reason, I parked my Chevelle in a residential neighborhood overlooking Rinaldi. My buddy and I walked down the hill to watch the races. It was pretty crowded and I figured it would only be good for 2 or 3 races before the cops showed. Sure enough, cops came in from both sides and everyone scattered. We both jumped into the bushes and clawed our way up the hill to where my car was parked. Before I could open the doors, the cops got on their loud speakers and told everyone, "The next car to start up was going to impound!". So we went back to the edge of the hill to watch as everyone got tickets for aiding and abetting.
Saticoy and Woodman. My car's apart for upgrades and I ride out with my buddy Richie. He races, Cops show, and I get to jump in the car just in time to get away.....sort of. Helicopter's got the floods on us.....following us for about a 1/2 mile or so before Richie pulls over on Raymer(?) and we both jump out. We're running in circles trying to get the light off us when Richie darts into a nearby trailer park. The lights follow him and I bolt towards Sherman Way while hugging the buildings. I get to a pay phone and call my neighbor Gary. He picks me up, and we go get some beers to celebrate. Turns out Richie knew a guy Dave that lived in that trailer park. So, he got to spend the whole night in Dave's closet with his smelly laundry while the Cops when trailer door to trailer door.
Not an official race, but I will never forget it. I was driving my father's mid 80's corvette down I-94 in northern Indiana returning from a local cruis'in in Illinois. Dad's vette had a few things done to it (mostly suspension and brakes) and loved to run anywhere above 90 MPH. I was clipping along about 85mph when a brand new Camaro, the last body, not the newest one. Flew up on my tail. I decided to play a little and ran the vette up to about 120 mph figuring that would "scare' the driver off. I couldn't believe it the Camaro stayed right behind me! Now I was getting a little pissed that I couldn't ditch this car so easy so i let the Vette have it all. The speedo read 145 and i was starting to get a little nervous (it was Dad's after all!) but I knew that Camaro wasn't going to able to hang on. WRONG, the damn Camaro was drafting me and damn near pushing me down the road! I finally got to my exit (in record time i might add) and turned thru the cloverleaf with everything I had. I was probably doing 80 thru the curve and hold'n good when I see the Camaro following me. The Camaro was getting a little loose but the driver was still pushing it hard. I thought the guy driving must have been nuts and turned into a local Stake n Shake to give this guy a chance to go about his own business. The camaro follows me into the parking lot and pulls around to park driver side to driver side. My jaw must have hit the floor when the window of the Camaro rolls down and there sits a cute little girl on older than 17! The girl says "Wow, that was a blast, but now that I did it once I think I can take you!" I was too shocked to speak. She asked numerous times if i wanted to get back on the highway and run some more but i had to decline. I tried to explain to her that she was going to kill herself drivng that way but she didn't seem to care. I asked her what the car had done to it but she didn't know. She said her Dad was a huge motorhead and built the car up for her 18th birthday! I really wanted to see that thing run some more, but i was affraid i wouldn't be able to look at myself in the mirror if i got "spanked" by an 18 year old!
I love this thread, but Damn it, i can see my kid's college fund going towards a wicked motor in my near future!
Hey Bob, going back over your original post made me think about the time we ended up at Oxnard and Sepulveda. Nothing was happening, but there was a Chevy Van you asked to race. The deal was, you would be facing w/b on Oxnard and the van would be racing e/b on Oxnard. You would be standing on the north side of the street with your cars keys in your hand. When the van left, you would run across the street, start your car, turn around and chase him down. I recall it was a "pot" race where everyone contributed just to see a race. Just another "wacky night" on the boulevard.
It has taken me several days to go through this entire thread, but it was a very entertaining read. For me it has been interesting from two different standpoints: I grew up in the San Fernando Valley; and later I did some street racing. A lot of the street names are still familiar to me as I lived in Van Nuys (on Densmore, close to Haskell and Saticoy), Granada Hills (on Blackhawk, close to Sepulveda and Devonshire) and North Hollywood (on Magnolia, close to Coldwater Canyon and Chandler). However, it was before most of the stories posted here. I lived there from 1949 to late 1964. I attended Birmingham Jr and Sr High Schools, and I graduated from San Fernando High School in 1958. My first street racing experiences were in my friend's '50 fastback Olds from late 1959 to about 1961. I was in college and driving a beater until I graduated and bought my '64 GTO. It was delivered to me exactly one week before I got married, which was on 4-4-64. It was He!! on the male ego to have to drive a six cylinder auto for the five and a half years I went to college. I had to commute over the Sepulveda Pass when it was still a 4 lane road (3 through the tunnel). This was obviously before the freeway was finished. My next post will talk about some of the experiences in the Olds.
I will skip all of the stories about me racing my first two crappy cars. They were a 47 Dodge with Fluid Drive and a 52 Ford with a 6 cylinder and an automatic. I will also try to do these chronologically as I would like to keep them as a permanent record myself while I can still remember some of them. <O</O My first exposure to a fast car was the year after I got out of high school. A good friend of mine (Phil) from my high school graduating class bought a car from an old man in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com</st1:City>Long Beach (we lived in <st1:City w:st="on">Granada</st1:City> Hills, about 50 miles away). It was a hopped up 50 Olds fast back. About this same time Phil moved From Granada Hills to <ST1North Hollywood, which was a hot bed of car activity. After helping him swap the bearings (I dont remember why), we went out on the street looking for cars. He knew a guy that had a light blue 53 Olds convertible that was supposed to be pretty fast. Some of you may have heard of him as later on he wrote for some car magazines, and I think he became the editor of one of them. His name was/is <ST1<st1laceName w:st="on">Tom</st1laceName> <st1laceName w:st="on">Center</st1laceName>. We went out onto <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Chandler Blvd</st1:address></st1:Street>, a divided highway with two lanes on each side. This was in the middle of the day. Away we went for my first real thrill ride. The Olds did not have low gears, so it didn't fly from a stop, but once it got rolling it was a killer. Around 1960 it ran 102 in the low 14's. As expected, it was pretty close from a slow roll, but once the '50 got moving it was able to pull away pretty easily. After beating the 53, my buddy noticed that he had left his emergency brake on. Im sure it didnt slow him down much, but it made a nice story. More on the Olds - it was midnight blue, and for awhile it ran 6 Stromberg's on a log manifold. I don't remember what he ended up replacing that intake system with. I was told that it was actually a '49 with '50 fenders, but you couldn't prove it by me. The Olds engine was bored and stroked to 372 ci, and it had a 3 speed LaSalle transmission with that tall gear shift lever that looked like it came out of an old man's car. It had cut outs with warped caps, so it sounded like it had a nasty exhaust leak. He intentionally left it this way hoping it wouldn't scare some people away. It actually sounded kind of ratty. Phil was a great driver, but he was too fearless. Two more of his races (with me as a passenger) will demonstrate that a little. <O</O More to come - - -
every time i pull to the line i gotta race another shmuck in a fuckin honda, i'm getting tired of these little punks in those wee cars that sound like a bumble bee on roids, but i'll never get tired of the pale sick look on their face when i flip the switch for the electric exaust cutouts and my 460 talks to the world through 3in strait pipes.
In that era we hung out at the three local Bob's Big Boy Drive-Ins: San Fernando; Van Nuys; and Toluca Lake. We usually met somewhere around the Bobs Big Boy in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comToluca</st1laceName> Lake (TL). One night at TL Phil set up a race with another 50 Olds, but it was a round back (turtle back?) with a Hydramatic trans. We drove East on <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Riverside Drive</st1:address></st1:Street> until we got to the cross street where the NBC studio building is/was. From that intersection there was a long straight stretch with a cross street that "T'd" into <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Riverside Drive</st1:address></st1:Street> at about the quarter mile point. The "T" intersection had a blinking yellow light our direction, and blinking red for the cars that would have been turning onto <st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">Riverside Drive</st1:address></st1:Street>. There were no cars in sight, so we got it on when the light turned green. The race was really close, with neither car being able to get a full car length ahead. We were pretty even as we approached the cross street, doing about 110. By that time a car had shown up at the "T", and he surprised us by pulling out from that side street to make a left turn to go East on Riverside Drive, which had him coming right into our lanes. There was nothing we could do so Phil pulled as close to the curb as he could, and the other Olds (in the left lane) pulled as close to Phils car as he could as we sped by the "intruder". I have no idea how we all ended up missing the other car and each other, but we did. In hind sight we would probably have been killed, as we didnt have any seat belts at the time. I had already been yelling at Phil to back off as we were already going plenty fast, but he would never let off until it was clear that he was ahead enough that the other car would not be able to pass him - or until it was clear that he would lose. He never lost when I was a passenger, but I'm sure he had some losses at one time or another. 110 seems to have been a popular speed, as it will show up again in the next story.
Another story of Phil's '50 Olds. One Saturday night we had gone on a double date in his car. My girl friend lived in Beverly Hills, and his lived in Inglewood. We dropped off my girl friend first and then we headed to Inglewood. We went right through the center of town. I believe the road was Market Street. As we went through town we got next to a brand new 59 Ford pickup that had a hopped up BBF with dual quads. It didnt make any difference to Phil that we were in the middle of town. It was somewhere between midnight and 1:00 AM, and we got it on from the traffic light. The Olds won fairly easily. Immediately after the race was over the pickup made a left out of town, and we continued straight to the next traffic light. During the race we had not seen any cars on the streets at all, and we had not run any traffic lights. I would guess our top speed was about 110 (again). As we sat at the next red light after the race, two cop cars pulled up behind us. Both were all white 59 Chevys. As we slowly crossed the street they both turned on their gumballs. One pulled in front of us and the other stayed behind. Needless to say we obliged by pulling over. There was one cop in each car. One of them came over to us while the other one inspected the car. The first thing the officer said to us was We dont know exactly how fast you were going, but we estimate you were doing 90 when you went by us. We never did figure out where they had been parked. The first officer peered into the car and asked about the shifter. Phil had just recently changed it from that tall LaSalle shifter to an early Ansen Posi-Shifter. It had a very short shift handle and it was spring loaded from 1st to 2nd. You just about hit your shoulder on the dash board getting it all the way into second gear. The officer seemed impressed, but I think he was just making small talk. Then he went through the lectures about how he should take us to the morgue and show us what terrible personal damage that kind of activity can cause. After that long lecture the second officer came back and said that he had a problem. His ticket only had room for three infractions and he was already up to four. He also reminded us of the 25 mph speed limit. After a lecture of about 45 minutes, the one officer told Phil to give the keys to his friend (me) and go ahead and take his girl friend home. He also said that if we were ever in Inglewood again to assure that we drove safely. I couldnt believe that Phil did not even get a ticket. The funny thing was that he continued to drive like a maniac everywhere else he drove except in Inglewood.
Back in the late 60's, I use to go to the IHOP at Crenshaw Square to hang with the Brotherhood of Street Racers. After I graduated college and started working, I married and moved to the San Fernando Valley. Around '72, I heard about cruising on Van Nuys Blvd and went out there in my '55. At that time, most of the action was between Sherman Way and Victory, so I parked down by Van Nuys and Oxnard. A skinny kid on a Honda 400 stopped by to look at my car. He told me about the street racers meeting behind the B 0f A on Van Nuys, after midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. I thought, "Wow, they're still street racing!". That Friday, I kissed my wife goodnight and drove to the B of A. I pulled into the lot behind the bank, which was filled with cars and shadowy figures. Beams from flashlights and animated negotiations sealed the deal for me. I was in heaven. Little did I know it was the beginning of the end. Fridays and Saturdays were reserved exclusively for street racing. The more friends I made, the more time I spent on the Boulevard. Eventually, I spent every night on the Boulevard hanging out at Jack N' the Box. After 3 years, my wife had enough and we divorced. If I had to do it over again? I'd do the same thing..............
I remember, on an off night, you hear the rumble of a BBC approaching. What pulls into Jack'N the Box is Mike Johnson and Cooger in the first BBC Vega. I thought that car was soooooooo bad ass..........
Yeah, I could eat ten of those burgers. Pat and I got a race with Aron there. We called him Z Aron, Ithink that was his lic plate. A 65 Chevelle white with cragars. Anybody remember him, He worked @ Lucky's Laurel cyn & Magnolia.
I used to live very close to there, but it was in earlier times. In 1964 I lived at 12401 Magnolia and was driving my new '64 GTO. I had just gotten married, and I didn't start racing the car on the street until much later. I did take it to San Fernando in 1965. Most of my "activities" were in San Diego county in the '70's and '80's. More later.
Arons Chevelle, was that the one with the butchered rear fender lips that would cut your leg when you walked by the car ? If thats tha car I remember, that Chevelle was owned before by a guy in Simi Valley, had rear leaf springs that replaced the coils, hooked up pretty good, wasn't fast but Aron had heart to race it !!!
I'm with a50merc. New York's Connecting Highway was the place to go. What other street racing venue had posters printed and tee shirts for sale. I'll bet there weren't any others. We also street raced on Cross Bay Blvd. and the Jones Beach Causway. Anybody ever raced for Impala flags? Anyone remember the Big Bow Wow drive in?
I feel sorry for you young guys who missed growing up in the early 60's. I grew up on Long Island, NY when street racing was in its hey day. There were no car shows like Goodguys or NSRA to go to. It was just like American Graffiti, we cruised drive in restaurants, ice cream stands, diners and street raced. We drove a whole circuit over and over every night looking for street races. On Sunday we went to the Westhampton Drag Strip to compete. Those were the days for having fun just like John Milner and company did in AG. The good news was there were no ricers in those days. It was all American iron either modified by hot rodder's or purchased new. The hot cars in the day were 409's, 389 tri-power Pontiac's and an occasional Mopar. Those were certainly the days! Google Connecting Highway drag racing there's a bunch of different web sites. Didn't see anyting on tee shirts but some ones selling Connecting Highway decals.
I had just droped off my girlfriend at her house about 11 pm one night, I'm 16 years old and 2 blocks from my house when a buddy pulls up next to me at the light. My car - '64 Mustang 3 speed on the floor, his - 64 Rambler 6 cyl 3 speed on the three! I rev the engine a bit and he grins, when the light changes we go! We were on the downhill side of the intersection, so we couldn't see the TWO cop cars sitting in the parking lot on the other side, but they sure as hell saw and heard us as we both screeched our tires - I went for second gear and muffed my shift - so I was done, but my buddy just kept going.... I block later I'm pulled over with the red lights in my mirror, and a few minutes later my buddy comes rolling up with the other cop right behind him. My cop says "Get out and lock it up, we're going to the station" and I'm protesting that I never went over 25 mph - I wasn't even speeding! but he said it didn't matter - he had us for drag racing. I said it wasn't much of a race since we both had 6 cyl cars but he wasn't hearing it.... Then he took another look at me, swore under his breath and pulled me aside - yep , my girlfrinds father had pulled me over! I'll never forget his next words...."Son, I want to talk to you about the seriousness of the "crahme" you have committed"! He proceeded to give us both a stern lecture about the evils of drag racing and how if I EVER wanted to see his daughter again he better never, ever see me do something like that again, then he let us both go! That was the last time I ever street raced, so his words must have taken hold. That and I married his daughter......
The Jalopy Journal
