Recognized the Scorpian and also wondered about the similarity of the Red Hoss. Thanks HAMB for the answer. Remember seeing one or two of the others featured in I believe Popular Hot Rodding. If I recall they sometimes featured cars from different regions( 5 or 6 cars on a couple of pages). Thanks for sharing and can't wait to see some more. Cat
Jeff Norwell - My pleasure! Not to hi-jack this thread ... but here's the March '58 HRM article about the Buck & Bohls #186 roadster (predecessor to their #444 roadster): click thumbnails to enlarge ... and some more pics of both roadsters culled from the Internet: click thumbnails to enlarge
I'm loving the pinstriped and snorkel equipped coupe,but the Pure poison B/C car (truck????)is so ..........well different ,that it would make anybody stop and watch-There's no cookie cutter cars here thats for sure .Looking forwards to seeing more. Cheers RM
The 32 5 window DCB coupe was built and raced by Don Briethaut,spelling, from Longview,Texas. He sold it to Leo Simson from Orange,Texas. It was destroyed in 1965or 66 whenthen trailer it was on got loose from the tow truck. One halibrand wheel and the blower were salvaged. Leo was best known for driving the Texas Rattler, a light weight hemi plymouth.
Not a big deal here Danny,however Don Breithaupt lived in Grand Prairie.not Longview...He is good personal friend yet today,He now lives in Comfort,Texas and lurks here on the HAMB from time to time.
The 39 chevy coupe was a B gas car owned by Frontier Pontiac, a Pontiac dealer in downtown Fort, Worth. It was powered by a Pontiac engine, driven by Johnny Dannenfelser and tuned by Dan Trussell. The car was purchased by the owner of Frontier Pontiac at the Oklahoma Nationals in 1958.
My dad was at the Harlingen track constantly at the time these photos were taken. I'll show them to him the next time I see him and ask him who/what he spots. He also spent a lot of time at the Green Valley track in the late 50's/early 60's.
I remember the 444 roadster from my boyhood in Austin. It sat in a garage near McCallum High School where they would roll it out during the day so they could work on customers cars inside. This would have been around '62 or '63. The first time I saw it I thought it was Tony Nancy's 29 Jr. roadster with a different number on it. It was painted a similar shade of reddish orange. I still look at that garage every time I drive by it, hoping by some miracle it will be rolled out into the sunshine in front again. While I was car crazy, I don't remember a lot of hot rods around Austin. The local legend was Hands Harkoff (sp?), the first man I ever knew of with long hair. He had a beautiful little T-bucket painted a very plain beige color when I saw him. I chased it in vein, trying to catch up to him on my bicycle as he cruised through Zilker Park. A guy a couple of blocks away had a chopped 34 two door that looked pure evil. A black guy who worked at a gas station in a very white part of town had a gutted 49 Ford with a 327 and 4 speed in it. He lit it off for us kids one night after we'd bugged him to death to watch it run. That was a very risky move for a black guy in that part of Austin back then. Other than that and the annual visit to the Autorama car show (and trips to the Oak Hill drag strip where a railroad track ran across the shutdown area), Austin was pretty sleepy back then. The 444 roadster was head and shoulders above anything else I knew about in town in the early 60's.
Thanks Ryan and Brad. Do you have any from Amarillo, Hobbs or Odessa? Some of us couldn't afford to race and pay for a camera and developing both.
In the late 50's and early 60's, I was tagging along with my Dad. We moved to the Rio Grande Valley in 1959, and lived in Mission, TX. The visits were limited to the dragstrips in Harlingen, Temple (Little River), San Antonio (Double Eagle), Victoria (Aloe), Dallas (Green Valley), etc. Kind of up and down 281 and I-35. Never got out west. At the time, the dragstrip was out North of Edinburg on the old Moore Auxillary Field. (Still there today, but on a different piece of the airport). There was also a dirt dragstrip South of Donna, TX in the mid to late 50's. Can't remember when Harlingen opened on the Harlingen AFB, but had to be around 62-63. I raced there in 64-65. Wish I had more, but this is pretty much it. I have sent Ryan about 160 photos, when all is said and done. Have some other interesting stuff to post later on. Thanks to all for the comments and enjoying the photos. More to come. Bob
Do you remember that white '56 Chevy 2-dr post ? The guy's name was August Harkroff. He did have huge hands. The '56 had a much worked-over 265 of unknown H.P.(and true C.I.). If he hit all four gears, he couldn't be beat. He built a '55 Handyman for his little brother that was also a stormin' mochine. He ran regularly at San Antonio Drag Raceway (formerly Double Eagle Raceway).
The Jalopy Journal
