Sum of the Parts

Sum of the parts, parts of the whole, as hot rodders we love our componentry. Walk through the speed shop, pick something out (yeah!). Another and another and make sure you’ve got the latest and the greatest and the one that’s better than what your buddy just bolted on. Superchargers, sparkplugs, valve covers, tube headers (now you’re making some headway). Mags. MAGS! Like those in the magazines. Five spoke, four slot, solid dish or spindly twelves. Mount them on tires—skinny, fat—and give them a good polish and hope the sheen’ll stick around. You’ve heard the talk; aftermarket’s the way to go if you want to go fast, really fast, and there’s no doubt you’ll look the part with all your chrome and stainless and magnesium and aluminum and speed equipment decals. Unbreakable and unbeatable, right from the manufacturer. You know how it goes.

Simple enough, right?

Whenever I look at cars like the Yount Brothers’ B/Dragster, I can’t help but think of all the parts. It’s like a conglomeration of all the best pieces from your favorite 1/25^th scale model kits. Seriously, from the chromed Chassis Research front axle to the deep dish Americans on piecrust M&H slicks, it’s all there.

Originally built in the early-’60s, the Marion, Indiana-based slingshot ran a destroked (265 to 236 cubic inch) smallblock equipped with a GMC 4-71 and a Hilborn two-port. The crank was C-T, cam Racer Brown and rods Mickey Thompson. Vertex Magneto provided the spark. Chassis Research built the chassis, and power was transferred through a Ford banjo.

For Jim and John Yount, the rail was more than a collection of some of hot rodding’s best available components. At the ’63 Nationals, the team toppled the B/Dragster competition and went on to win the Comp Eliminator title. The following year, they landed a two-page spread in Hot Rod Magazine. Check out the highlights below.

—Joey Ukrop

Photos by Ed Webster, HRM, March 1964