Vintage shots from days gone by!

Looks like a cupcake tin under there......or is that a harbor freight parts tray

 

Didn't know Kenny Powers was also a racer! I thought he was just a legendary pitcher!

 

How many OSHA violations can you spot?

 

Unfortunately, one of my good friends was killed there, testing a motorcycle for a magazine.

 

I owned the 1950 Pontiac convertible pictured in post #117362. It is the only car that I've regretted selling! I was able to contact the original owner through service receipts that were in the glove compartment. I made copies of photos he provided. The male is an Army buddy and the female is his wife. The Stylecraft model 99 continental kit was added by the original owner at a later date. He related the story of the dent in the grille as follows: He was driving in Cleveland and "noticed a pretty girl on the corner". The car in front of him stopped to turn left. He reacted too late and "bumped the Plymouth turning left". The owner of the Plymouth immediately exited his car and "apologized for failing to signal his turn!
He sold the car in 1963 to purchase a Buick Wildcat. He said the Pontiac looked like new. He was given the large amount of $120.00. When I talked to him in 1982 he was still driving the Buick! The car did not look as nice as the 1975 photo when I purchased it in 1981. It suffered from poor storage. I redid the paint, interior and chrome. I drove that car everywhere. I never should have sold it! These are pictures from when it was almost new.

 

Of the many, many Pontiacs I've owned over the years, the 1948 convertible I bought for next to nothing as a kid was my favorite. Just a solid, good driving, hydra-matic equipped land yacht with front fenders longer than most post-war coupes.

Oh yeah, one quirk - the top always needed a little assistance when putting it back up.

 

New Orleans? Note sign for "Pa-Poose" Root Beer made in NOLA by Zatarain.

 

Could really see just one.........the guy on the ladder picking ...........apples.

 

The First based on POINTS NHRA CHAMPION

I bet knowledgeable citizens of the Insider Nation can recite by heart many of the major firsts in NHRA history -- first Nationals winner, first female winner, first five-second runners, and on and on – but I doubt that many know or remember the name of NHRA’s first points-based world champion.




In 1960, Hobbs, N.M.’s James “Buddy” Garner Jr. earned that piece of drag racing history with a nearly perfect season of racing his Chevy-powered C/A Plymouth coupe. Garner passed away last Friday, March 11, in Lubbock, Texas, at the age of 76, and I thought I’d salute him here this week.



A lot of people think that NHRA didn’t crown its first points-based champion until 1974 because from 1965 through 1973, the winners of the annual World Finals were crowned the season champs. And though that’s true – it was a points-based system (points accrued at divisional races) that earned them the right to race at the Finals – Garner earned the first NHRA world championship in a true points-based format.

NHRA implemented its new championship points program in 1960 aimed at determining a national points champion "in an effort to add more interest for those active in drag racing, regardless of their competition class or geographical location." In many ways, it’s similar to how today’s Sportsman champs are crowned in that it allowed racers to accumulate points locally instead of traveling across the country.

To ensure that no region could benefit from favorable climatic conditions that would allow its racers to run more events, the points-earning season ran 26 weeks, from April 3 until Sept. 25. Points were given at all NHRA-sanctioned dragstrips, with 10 points awarded to the winner in each class at weekly events and 10 additional points going to the winners of the overall Top, Middle, Little, and Stock eliminators for each meet. Winners of NHRA regional and divisional meets received 20 points for a class win and 20 points for Top, Middle, Little, and Stock eliminator wins. Winners at the NHRA Nationals, held again that year in Detroit, received 50 points for a class win and 50 points for Top, Middle, and Little eliminator wins.
Garner, a member of the Charioteers Car Club, won the C/A class at 24 of the 26 races of the 26-week season and scored 21 Little eliminator wins at strips including Hobbs Air Force Base; Walker Air Force Base Drag Strip in Roswell, N.M.; Tri-City Drag Association in Abernathy, Texas; Amarillo Dragway; and the Tarrant County Modified Auto Association strip in Fort Worth, Texas, battling the likes of four-time Nationals class champ John Mulkey’s B/Street Roadster, Don Delozin’s A/Gas Pontiac, and Kurt Reed’s C/Competition Coupe.




So dominant was Garner’s Plymouth that it was torn down on several occasions for class verification by NHRA South Central Division Director Dale Ham and was also subject to spot fuel checks. During the season, Garner also set the C/A national record at 13.09 seconds on his home strip in Hobbs in June of that year.
Garner’s 2,630-pound Plymouth, dubbed Flop II, was powered by a 301-cid Chevy V-8, bored .125 over with a stock stroke; Jahns pistons; Grant rings; and a balance job by Culvert Balancing of Denton, Texas. A Hilborn fuel-injection unit fed air and gas to McGurk ports and oversize valves activated by an Engle cam. Power was transmitted through a Chevy three-speed transmission to the 4.89 Studebaker rear end and on to 7:10x15 M&H Racemaster slicks.

Garner met Jody when both were just teenagers. They raced together, got married, and started a family. We went from being babies together to having babies together, she said.



As the grand prize for his championship, Garner received a '61 Chevy pickup equipped with a V-8 engine, oversize tires, and heavy-duty springs to carry tools and racing parts and topped with a custom-built cab-over camper, manufactured by original NHRA Safety Safari leader Bud Coons at his business in Kansas.

 

The first Flopper funny car? Raymond Austin


“The Original Flopper” in the late 1950s: A homebuilt, tube “pipe” chassis with a flip-top Fiat body and a supercharged engine. The car was towed from Texas to the 1960 Smokers Meet in Bakersfield, where it won its class over the likes of Ratican, Jackson & Stearns and a slew of other cars.

“This flopper, originally built in 1957, was raced in 1958, then rebuilt with a lighter frame and raced in ‘59 and set the national record several times,” he wrote. “As the story goes, after setting the A/Fuel Coupe national record, Raymond Austin was presented with an offer to have his way paid to go to Bakersfield if he could match those record times again. The car was taken back to the track, and once again, he equaled the record. The offer was made good, and off he went, then winning the class there.”

 

Short "Hurbert Platt" history

Bet a lot of people thought he was a Ford fan from the beginning. But he started with CHEVIES LOL.

The Brothers Platt, Hubert and Huston, both began their drag racing careers with Gassers. These traditional race cars were closest to the Southern favorite of a full bodied car with a hot-rodded engine. Home base for the brother’s racing activities was Hubert’s Texaco, a full-service gas station and garage leased and operated by Hubert. Speed work and tune-ups for racers were always in demand as well as repairs on trucks and local family sedans were available at Hubert’s Texaco.

Hubert’s infamously fast, ’37 Chevy B/Gas coupe sported a 301 CID small-block Chevy, a pair of Carter AFB four-barrels and a four-speed, manually shifted transmission. “Hubert’s Texaco” was of course lettered on the car. The ’37 Chevy B-Gasser was a frequent winner of Little Eliminator trophies and cash at tracks in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, Florida and The Carolinas.

Next came a sponsorship opportunity from Terminal Transport, an Atlanta-based trucking firm. Terminal not only hauled freight, they were also major transporters of new vehicles built in GM’s Doraville, Georgia vehicle assembly plant. Along with the financial help Terminal also supplied a four-car, single-axle auto transport semi-trailer and tractor. This unusual rig carried Hubert’s B/Gas ’37 Chevy, a C/Gas ’57 Chevy, and other cars. The transport and both race cars were painted in Terminal’s well known checkerboard paint scheme. The Terminal Transport racing team may have been the first to use a semi-trailer rig to haul drag race cars.


Hubert Platt (center) and Dyno Don Nicholson (right) enjoy the trophy from a win with “Lil General”, a 1962 409 HP, 409 Chevy driven by Hubert. The car ran out of the Nalley-Nicholson Dyno-Tune shop inside the Nalley Chevrolet Company, in Atlanta.


("the grump"wasn't the only cigar smoker)



When Hubert’s deal with Terminal ended he stepped away from Gassers and was soon building and running his own late-model Chevy, a hot 1961, 409 Chevy. Hubert’s success with that car and a ’62 409 Chevy earned him a deserved reputation as a clever car and engine builder and skilled tuner/driver. By 1963 Hubert’s reputation helped him acquire a ’63 Impala with the rare factory Z-11 option.

 

Butch Leal.

Known as “the California Flash,” Leal was a versatile and skilled driver who competed in Super Stock, Modified, Pro Stock, and even briefly Funny Car during his career. His long list of accomplishments includes 11 NHRA national event wins, numerous match race victories, points championships at the NHRA divisional level and in local series, and more.

One of the earliest images we found in Leal’s file, this picture is from 1964. The caption on the back of the print reads, “Butch Leal with his record-setting Thunderbolt. Set new record at 11.81 at 123.62 mph.”

Nice flat top duck tail



While racing in Super Stock, Leal won class eliminations on several occasions, including at the 1966 Winternationals in Pomona.



Though most known for racing in Pro Stock, Leal did briefly dabble in Funny Car, competing primarily at match races. According to a biography put together by Leal’s team in 1972 and still in his ND photo file, 1967 was “his first and only year in a Funny Car, and he won 85 percent of his match races.

 

“Ohio George” Montgomery



Montgomery earned the first of his seven national events at the 1959 Nationals, which were held in Detroit. Montgomery defeated Jeg Coughlin Sr. in the Little Eliminator category final.





Montgomery’s first Indy win came in 1963 when he bested Gene Altizer for the Middle Eliminator trophy.





The exact date of this photo is unknown, but based on the Hurst’s Gasser Passer pictured, our best guess is 1964. In the photo, Montgomery is pictured with Doug Cook of the famed Stone, Woods & Cook team, left, and NHRA’s Bob Daniels.





Montgomery pushes his Malco Mustang, the first late-model-bodied car to run in AA/GS competition, to the starting line at National Trail Raceway in May of 1968. According to the caption on the back of the original print, “George Montgomery was on hand with his fabulous Mustang and smashed the BB/A record with an 8.77.”




Montgomery was the 1969 U.S. Nationals Super Eliminator champion, driving his Mr. Gasket entry past Ron Ellis in the title round.




Over the years, Montgomery received several Best Engineered Car awards for his sharp-looking and well-designed entries.

 

Thanks to Loudbang for the mention of Buddy Garner and Raymond Austin here in this posting...I witnessed many runs by theses guys back in the late 50s at Caddo Mills,Texas......sorry to hear of Buddys passing.

 

Page 2658 for me..........

 

Actually I think this was the first Flopper Funny Car.
LOL!!!

 

The devil is in the details and the smiles, ready made playground for junior gear heads.