Art & Inspiration Traditional images that need no explanation.

Everybody has to start somewhere. Nice looking car but not as good as a ‘33 Willys with a Speed Sport scoop.

 

May need some "splain'n"!

 

Thanks for confirming this for me. I felt that it was a Pontiac engine due to the oil cap in the middle of the valve cover.

 

Ok

 

I don't know when this picture was taken but in later years this coupe was lettered for the Juggers Racing Team, I've seen a much later photo of it tucked away in a garage in the SF Bay Area, maybe it still exists.

 

@DDDenny


Hello,

We grew up in Long Beach and that expanded to all parts of Long Beach. For us, our ties with the Bixby Knolls area was a natural. Many generations of folks had been born and raised here and eventually all funneled into the local high school, LB Polytechnic H.S. The portion of the kids that were “into” hot rods, cruising and drag racing was the normal small amount versus the rest of the population. But, the hot spots in Bixby Knolls were a drawing card for thousands of teenagers over the years. (Tom McEwen, Gary Gabelich, Bud Rasner, Bob Brooks, Ronnie LeGrand, etc.)

If anyone was a teenager in any portion of Long Beach that went to LB Poly HS, it was the association of being a teenage hot rod kid that allowed them to fit right into the teenage scene. No one had a camera for daily use, but the photos are still out there in family albums and possibly into digital aspects of preserving them.

Jnaki

Our experiences coincided with our teenage years and when graduation came and went, we all learned to ween ourselves away. A new crop of eager teenagers were right behind us, learning what was necessary and now, being allowed to take over the scene for their own period of experiences.

Those experiences came with hot rod knowledge and places for car services, when necessary.

For us, it was natural to find the best car/hot rod service places that could work on our cars, when the skill set was beyond our means. This place in Northeastern Bixby Knolls was a hot spot that included chrome shops, machining shops, tire and wheel alignment + accessories, a body shop, and this place that almost everyone, all hot rods, family cars and custom cruisers, went to when transmission work was needed.

Stu’s AE Transmission Shop on Cherry Avenue, just a short distance from the famed, Cherry Avenue Drags location. Perhaps, that is why those car places were all lined up along this corridor, to service those kids that used the Cherry Avenue Drags as a practice location for the real thing at Lion’s Dragstrip.

Note:
1959 Lion's Dragstrip
"pics and/or real info... or it did not happen...."

When we were teenagers and 20 somethings, there was nothing we would not at least try to fix ourselves. We used to rebuild those old LaSalle three speed transmissions, because there were a ton of used ones available and parts were always around, especially at the nearby Terminal Island Surplus Yard near the big bridge. But, it was relatively simple.

An automatic transmission was a different ball game. There were several teenage cars that had automatic transmissions, and they took them to a place called Stu’s AE Transmissions in Northeast Long Beach. That shop could fix or replace anything in any car. The shop was famous for their complicated rear engine tiny dragster. A mini sidewinder with an SBC motor for power.

But, for every day transmission woes, even the families of our friends took their big sedans to Stu’s Transmission shop to get their automatic transmissions fixed.

As simple as driving an automatic transmission car, we did make a cool automatic transmission floor shift lever bolt-on kit. But, we stayed away from any internal problems or repairs. That Northeast Bixby Knolls transmission shop was so close and the work done there was top quality, so they had cornered the market for many years.

I went to the Stu’s Transmission Shop many times with other friends, but never had to have any service done on our teenage hot rods. When we got the C&O Stick Hydro installed in the 58 Impala, that small shop in Torrance/Gardena was an automatic transmission shop bar none.

Here is a creative solution to using an automatic transmission in a rear engine sidewinder dragster. SBC powered. Designed and built by Stu’s Transmission Shop.

photo taken from the tower side location...1960
Note 2:

When we saw this silver rear engine race car at Lions, we knew where it came from, in northern Bixby Knolls. The race car was built at Stu's Transmissions in NE Long Beach, just past central Bixby Knolls. That place was a gathering of almost anyone with transmission problems or set ups. The mechanics there were very good and popular with the drag racers, family daily driver cars, and street cruisers/racers.

Out of all the different transmissions in our high school group’s sedans, at one time or another, they were all in Stu’s Transmission parking lot and shop. Stick shift transmissions, automatics, old and new, were all serviced at Stu’s.

In this NE Long Beach locale, there were plenty of outstanding shops that catered to the drag racers and home builders. From Stu's Transmissions, to Henry's Machine Works for axles/frame mods, etc. A great tire store and alignment place, as well as several muffler shops for the custom pipes and exhausts, were all within a block or two along Cherry Avenue. We all knew the location and directions on Cherry Ave, South meant the drags location, North meant the hot rod shops.

We were fortunate to be able to drive a short distance to give our business to those shops and mechanics. It was a hot spot just north of Bixby Knolls. Jocko's Porting Service was also nearby.

This unusual race car was a fan favorite, just because it was unusual and rather odd. The noise it made was not like a 671 supercharged SBC motor (like our 292 SBC in our Willys Coupe,) but an ordinary SBC with long, straight pipes that made a different sound.
Bixby Knolls ... Stu's Transmission Shop race car...

For some reason, those 8 pipes made kind of a bee buzzer noise and not the heavy throated rumble of a supercharged SBC motor. The engineering was there, it ran well in its class, was a fan favorite, but dropped out of the scene rapidly. Luckily, we were there in 1959-60 to record some of the only runs made by this little dragster.
Stu’s AE Transmission Shop rear engine dragster.

 

Great to hear it’s getting restored, a few more.

 

.

 

It looks a little bit better from the rear, sitting still.

Mick

 

I guess my age reflects how I view some of the early cars as my actual hands on involvement in drag racing didn't start until 1970.
This is the era I appreciate.