History ==Vintage Cal-Neva Dry Lake & Drag Pics (early 50s)==

OH Hell Yeah, you know I love these, I've got a couple hundred.....thanks Jimmy....really love these two...

 

Another great JimmyB post. Always the giver. Thanks for sharing more forgotten Hot Rod heritage.

 

Glad everyone is enjoying the pics. As Curt Giovanine once said to me - "better for the world to see, than have them hidden away".

I just realized this 5w is that of SF Ramblers member Fred Zaft. This is a two time HOT ROD Magazine feature car first Dec. 1951 and again in Aug. '53.

 

I love these old photos. They are just great! thanx for posting.

 

Great pictures Jimmy! The dry lake is just up north of Reno. Right by border town. Near the California state line. I found a picture of a 34 5 window that i mocked my cal neva and number design off of.

 

Thanks Mike regarding the location of the dry lake, I realized it was near the Cal/Nevada border but was not sure where. Do you know which association ran at Harper Dry Lake in California? I understand SCTA ran there, not sure if any other. Did Russetta Timing Association run only at Muroc?

Thanks Jimmy for your time and posting more pics!

Offy 220

 

These are some of the koolest pics i've seen posted here in a long time...thanks for sharing!!

 

Hey offy 220! I do know that scta ran there. My good buddy rory forbes has an early timing tag from there. I'm not an expert but if rory sees this thread he will be able to answer all these questions. We are friends with guys who used to run at that dry lake.

 

Nice pics
Thanks Jimmy B

 

Thanks Mike,

The reason I was asking - My dad ran a stroked 80" Harley at Harper dry lake either prior or after WWII. He has since passed away, I am not able to find out anymore information. One of his buddies had an Indian that had 1" spacers under the cylinders that ran there also. He also told me that they ran at Rosamond. Wish I had pics! Jimmy B's pictures reminded of the good times my dad told me about that he and his friends had at the lakes.

Offy 220

 

Okay..It's not a leather jacket it's a B-3 shearling jacket and his cap is an A-3 leading me to believe he was a mechanic or flight engineer during the war.
The first picture is Taken at 1443 leimert blvd. which is now a dentists office.

The second appears to be on Grand Ave. in the 2-4000 blocks

 

Jimmy..............


awsome set of images..........thanks for sharing your new purchases.



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bump

 

Small roadster to the left was also a San Francisco Ramblers car. Rudy Mortonsen was the first owner that I know of. Set Bonneville BF/R in '58. Running as Vally Auto Parts Special

 

It would be amazing to see these pictures put together in a book.

 

THANKS! Jimmy B...

Wouldnt seen em unless you knew what to look for.

A bunch more pics of that Ramblers 5w...nice.

 

on final bump for those that haven't seen the pics.

 

Jimmy,

Thanks again for posting the pics. I keep going back and looking at them and I see more and more. Keep on bumping.

Offy 220

 

Hey! Jimmy B!

Thanks for posting, great old picks! Hope you got some more,,

Lars

 

Awesome, thanks for taking the time to post them Jimmy!

 

Fantastic!! A time when rodders raced them on dirty dry lakes. The way God intended them to be used. No shiny GNRS contenders there!

 

Firing Order 1,

I agree 100%! When my dad and I restored our sprint car we were told "chrome this, plate that" - but that is not how sprint cars, lakes cars and hot rods were originally built.

Not to start an argument but "over - restored" is not what it is all about. I love these old pics - hopefully we can get a better understanding on how it was.

Thanks for the comment,
Offy 220

 

The 1st and 2nd pictures in #49 look like the Pierson Bros. coupe. Thanks for sharing these wonderful visual time frames in history with us.

 

Actually there are two early NRS (National Roadster Show) entrants that were in contention to win the AMBR.
Richard Lee's T on the left


&

Dick King roadster


of course they are a bit dusty.

 

Maybe I should rephrase it to read they weren't afraid to use them for what they were intended. Dust and the ocassional stone chip didn't cause a heart attack.

 

I have a friend who will be 70 this year and I will be 75 and he doesn't remember any unfinished cars like a couple of the street cars in the photos. Almost all of the early hot rods that belonged to young people in the early 50s wore Henrys original paint, black and basic seats for interior. The cars in the photo look like so many of the ones in the early yearly hot rod how to books. He thinks any car that doesn't have a good paint job and a complete interior is basically a rat rod no matter how good the workmanship is. How soon we forget just how crude a 17 year old's build was back in the fifties.

 

This one? That was run/built by Harold Casaurang & Gordon Vann. This coupe is on the cover of "Hop Up & Motor Life" March '54.

 

Thanks Jimmy.

 

Is this the same car....appears to be...Ramblers plaque