I've been watching the really good posts on the history of LA and the shots from days gone by. Wondered if anyone had any shots from the Dallas area from back in the day? Anyone?
Allan,I used to have tons of photos,but lost them all to my home fire in 1973...I sure there are many that do however..
I sure have heard some stories - no pics, but I would hope this turns into a great thread. North of 635 was nothing and I have heard people had a lot of fun up here.
north of 635/35 was the Circle Dragstrip...have a trophy from there and have heard about stuff...no pics from here....
Circle Drag Strip was south of 635 & 35,,,,west of Harry Hines at Goodnight Ln..There was no 635 in those days...
Fairpark Speedway. I grewup in southeast Dallas. One of the first tracks I went to was the Fairpark Speedway. It was located on the fair grounds not too far from where the Cotton Bowl is now. Another popular race track was the Devils Bowl located behind the Buckner Drive-in on Loop 12. One of my favorite drivers was A.D.Trowell. An eight time champion! He was later killed at the Devils Bowl in Mesquite, Texas. To view a story and photos go here: www.soupupmagazine.com To view a video of A.D.Trowell at the old Devils Bowl, go here: www.youtube.com Vintage program from the Devils Bowl. A.D.Trowell was an eight time track champion. A.D.Trowell's Roadster. Trowell and Turner's Automotive shop in Dallas. Quarter Milers Club. Dallas Autorama. Don Deere's 1932 Ford Coupe. This car appeared in the first Autorama. It was at this year's 50th Anniversary! The state of the art Dallas International Motor Speedway. It was ahead of it's time. I'll dig around and should be able to come up with some more material. I was a member of the Dallas Area Street Rods, Arlington Area Street Rods and the Deuces Limited Car Club. Don www.soupupmagazine.com
I was thinking of starting a thread for Dallas after seeing the LA one. Hope that a few people will post some pics.
Bob, there was no I 35 E in those days. I remember when we went north we went out Harry Hines and that was the old hwy. 77 if I remember correctly. I remember when there were no freeways or interstate hwys. in the DFW area. I remember them building us a nice stretch of racetrack north of Ft. Worth named I 35W and we would take the dragster out on the new surface and push start it just north of where hwy. 114 crosses. This was before final completion, but there was miles of freshly laid concrete. I always wondered what people thought when they saw those really narrow black marks. I would also like to see some early pix of the DFW area. Anyone remember the Clover drive ins in Ft. Worth? Or how about Kellers on harry Hines? Fun times. 408 AA/D
here's a few good stories with photos. http://hechointexas.blogspot.com/2010/01/drag-racing-my-40-ford-coupe.html http://hechointexas.blogspot.com/2009/12/dragging-in-dallas-texas-1960.html
DIMS Opening weekend for the 69 Spring Nats Today it's Vista Ridge Mall on west side of 35,on the east side of 35 it's a strip mall,and free standing resturants,and stores.The tower sits in the aprox location of the old Book Stop store,the grand stands are parking. North of 635 activities was old Dooley Rd where many local street racers went,a 2 lane black top.Today it's the continuance of Midway Rd. Another hang out for cruisers,and street racers was the old Dog n Suds at Marsh,and Forrest when Forrest was just 2 lane black top. While 635 was under construction from 35 to Preston it was used as a "test" strip.Local car dealers salesmen would bring out the latest.I worked at the old Kenray Ford on Forrest,and after closing some "demos" of CJ 'Stangs,and Shelbys were "test driven" My 1st trip to the Circle Drags was in one of the 1st V8 Chevy IIs around.A good friends dad was a salesman at Friendly,and brought it home one Friday evening.My friend got to drive it that Sunday,we cruised around in then the unknow sleeper,and it somehow wound up at Circle Drags.At least we didn't break it.
In photos above concerning A D Trowell...I owned that 32 roadster back in the 70's...It is now being totally brought back to the 50's as A D built it, Bubba67 here on the hamb now owns it.
I had that thought when I started this thread. While Dallas was no where near the hotbed of hot rod activity that southern California was, I'm sure there are many cool stories and pictures out there.
The real "hot spots" were" Civils Drive In" at Ft Worth Ave and W.Davis in the "V" and "Freds" at Lemmon and Inwood. Harvey Goff even run his fuel coupe from up on his Lovers La Hamberger joint down Inwood and thru Freds to get everyone excited..He didn't fear the cops as they were all his friends.We were working on that coupe one night(like 2 in the AM)on the patio of his resturant. the cops were there watching,and cuttin up with us when they get a call on their radio of a disturbence at Goffs Hamb..We all laughed and they said well we better go cool these folks down.
heres some from 79 of carl stone 32 ford before indy, for the 25th natl. see see some of the shop and his trailer. charles
Dallas Chaparrals Dallas Area Street Rods Circle Drag Dallas Maybe someone will jump on here and talk about some of these clubs. Don
Tons and tons of stuff came out of DFW! The magazine industry could have survived just fine right there back in the day. DFW people seem to be more quiet than the rest of the world about what they have.
Big World Store. Dick Howells car. Driver Frank Riley. Frank Riley crossing the finish line. Clyde Daniels won race at the old Dallas Speedway. Don
My friend Charles and I went to Green Valley Raceway. He won a race with his '67 Chevelle 4-spd/396. We received this 4-ft trophy and had our picture taken with Fabian (the actor) who was promoting his new movie, Thunder Alley. Don
Go to the Dallas Public Library website and seach their digital collection. Great stuff. Click on this link to see some of it. http://catalog.dallaslibrary.org/Po...&by=KW&sort=PD_TI&limit=TOM=dmc&query=&page=0 Here is the results of a search for Bonnie and Clyde: http://catalog.dallaslibrary.org/Po...&by=KW&sort=PD_TI&limit=TOM=dmc&query=&page=0 Have fun
I'll assume that's the Big World that was at the corner of Buckner and Lake June in "The Grove". Yes, I'm a Grove Rat. Flipped burgers at Griff's on Buckner in the mid 60's and got my start in the parts business at the old Village Auto Parts in the late 60's. Got a shelf full of trophies out in the garage from Cedar Hill, Green Valley and Dallas International from the late 60's and early 70's. In the early 70's the county would close down Malloy Bridge Rd out close to Seagoville and let us hold races on Sundays. Ben from Hot Rod Exchange brought out his wheelstander one Sunday. What a blast. I'll see if I can pull out some pictures.
The Jalopy Journal
