Folks Of Interest The Glory that is the Hemi, picture thread

Latest update , lit it off last Monday , still got alot of little things to do .

 

I have 1/2 of a 57 Chrysler, needing a rotating assembly, intake, etc. Heads are rebuilt though

 

Did a little fine tuning on the Hemi , ran it , installed the body panels.

 

Local car, At Lexington Cars and Coffee.

 

Thanks, @296ardun

Hello,

If there was one drag race vehicle in the dragster class that made people come to life sitting in the stands at Lion’s Dragstrip, it was this one. Steve Pick’s hemi powered custom dragster was always good for the ears to hear the sound, first. Then the sight of the FED race car coming down the entrance road to the staging area was an ear opening adventure. The race car fires up and shoots into the staging area to be led to the starting line. It was noted that the sound was one of the loudest motors around, at the time.
Steve Pick at Lion's Dragstrip
My brother and I saw the bright yellow FED of the Steve Pick and Joe Koenig at Lion's Dragstrip in 1959. They had the most unusual set up for a race car. The sound was from a powerful Hemi motor, but, the supercharger was not the standard 671 with fuel injection. It was a large, industrial, centrifugal supercharger and had a front suspension that no one else had at the time.


Upon full acceleration from the starting line, the front suspension rose up and sent the power back to the rear wheels. The front end stayed up all the way through the quarter mile. At the time, we thought the team was a part of the Reath Automotive group. The color combination of yellow/white and powerful sound felt like they took the build right out from under the famed Reath Automotive White/Yellow Altered Sedan.
Where did that hemi motor come from? A year or so earlier, the team of Reath, Koenig and Pick had constructed the famed white 29 Ford Altered Sedan that blasted the whole Lion’s Dragstrip starting line, fire up road, when they started the Altered Sedan for the competition runs. The old folks today, still remember the loud sounds that came from the hemi motor in that sedan and later, was the basis of the unusual FED dragster a couple of years later. YRMV
The original “Bounty Hunter..."

 

Nice door stopper.....

 

Drag News Weekly
Cook’s Auto Wrecking located in Wilmington, near Lion's Dragstrip

Hello,

We lived in the Westside of Long Beach. The Western side of our original Long Beach house bordered on the Terminal Island Freeway. Beyond that edge of the city, the City of Wilmington and the refineries spread out over the next several miles in all directions. The so called “junkyards” were situated along several streets in the more (or less) undeveloped portions of the city and in the Carson area.

Main Street was the busiest street with most of the “junkyards” or auto wrecking yards in the whole area. There were so many of these auto wrecking yards that any auto part was available in that long area of properties.

One of the most famous, for us, was the Cook’s Auto Wrecking property. We had seen the sponsored dragster at Lions many times and each time, it sounded and performed well against the other late 50s-early 1960 race cars. The one that sticks in our minds was the Cook’s Auto Wrecking yard, because our burned out Willys Coupe was deposited there after our drag racing incident in August of 1960.


Jnaki
Cooks Auto Wrecking FED at Lions 1958-60

So, every time we thought we needed some stuff, it was a short drive to Cook’s Auto Wrecking or one of the plentiful yards. But, over the years, they kept disappearing. Although, we kept going back to those places that were still around, for small stuff we could not get anywhere else.


https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...o-deal-with-rust.1149798/page-3#post-13208005 Model A story to Willys ending up at Cooks Auto Wrecking yard

In the big OC, there used to be a cool wrecking /parts yards in almost every city. The local authorities and the EPA put a finish to those nearest the homes, schools, and apartments. They have turned into RV storage facilities and now serve the community in a different way.

In the 80s, I could not find a rear door to our small station wagon, so I had to drive all the way to Carson, near Long Beach to a similar place like Cook’s Auto Wrecking to find a door that no one in three counties (LA, SD, OC) had in stock. But in the long run, they are like dinosaurs and eventually bite the dust.YRMV

 

Dads Dodge coupe at the Fallout Drags (not my picture)

 

Trenton engine plant in southeast Michigan assembly line....

 

Adriance Appliance FED 1959

Hello,

These old photos always reminded me of a famous painting: "The Scream" was created by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch in 1893 but it has become a masterpiece – the masterpiece – for our time.

At the time, I was young and impressionable. I just liked drag racing cars. But to come up to this outstanding race car in the pit with the large scoop staring you in the face was something. I could not get over the appearance and power it presented. So, many years later when we actually read about famous art works, seeing the original painting, reminded me of this particular drag race HEMI motor.

Yes, it sounds funny, but in high school, minds drift all over the classroom, the large windows outside and of course the cute friend sitting next to me. In a history class discussion or lecture, a series of famous artworks was shown and talk about seeing it and then in the next instant talking to my cute friend in the next seat, that left an impression for sure. OMG!

Dick Lechien
“Accelerating to 132 miles per hour, Lechien was much faster than Adriance himself, so, when Adriance commissioned a new Adriance Appliance Top Gas Dragster from Scotty Fenn’s Chassis Research Emporium, Lechien got the ride and drove the car to 173.07 miles per hour at Colton Dragstrip, unofficially breaking what at the time was the world record for the class.”

So, for some reason, every time I saw this race car in the pits, at the far away dragstrip in riverside or watching the chassis research framed big HEMI motor in action against others at Lion’s Dragstrip, it did leave an impression.

A “scream” emoji is appropriate when looking at some custom cars and creations… or unusual events at the drags… Happy Halloween….

Note:

Sometimes the things go in your favor and other times, the “Worlds Fastest SBC Powered FED” takes the cake… YRMV

Cyr and Hopper + Dragmaster, is the “World’s Fastest Chevy powered FED.” DRAG NEWS 1960

The new challenge was a Potvin styled 671 in front of an SBC motor, in a lighter, Dragmaster frame. Instantly, it became known as the “Worlds Fastest Chevy.”



"Sometimes you get the bunny and other times, the bunny gets you..."