NEW YORK STREET RACING 60'S & 70'S ~ story found

[axle]

I'm sure Groucho & Jimmy White will appreciate this.


Back in the early - mid 80's i use to street race just about every weekend. Once a month i bracket raced at Riverside Drag strip (now a F#$@in shopping mall) It was a lot different then as most of the cars were pre 70's American made.
People would cruise in the downtown area where we lived ,meet up,then agree to race and pick out a location which were usually out in the orange groves.
Anyway, as i stated on one of Groucho's threads a while back, I always heard about how huge the street racing was in New York City in the 60's & 70's. I found this article below and thought some of you would appreciate it.
after you finish reading it there is a link at the bottom where there are about a dozen photo's.

Enjoy !



The following is an excerpt from the new book Muscle Car Confidential: Confessions of a Muscle Car Test Driver by noted automotive journalist and frequent Inside Line contributor Joe Oldham. Muscle Car Confidential: Confessions of a Muscle Car Test Driver is available at www.motorbooks.com.

They say the first street race between cars occurred the day the second car was built. I think there's a lot of truth to that old tale. Who of you hasn't gunned it to beat out the guy next to you at a green light at least once in your life? Some of you probably more than once if you're reading this book. It's a rite of passage that has been going on for eons.

Today, they make movies about street racing. "The Fast and the Furious" is essentially about import tuner cars street racing in Los Angeles. There have been many others over the years.

Yet, no one ever spoke about street racing out loud. Not in the muscle car era of the '60s.

So when I wrote the first article ever published on street racing, in the August 1968 issue of Cars Magazine, it was shocking, shocking, to thousands all over the country.

One of the people shocked out of their gourd was Wally Parks in Los Angeles. Parks, a former editor of Hot Rod magazine, was now the founder and president of the National Hot Rod Association. Parks always claimed that one of the reasons NHRA was founded was to get the racing off the streets of Los Angeles. Parks called me the day the issue hit newsstands.

"Joe, how could you write such an article? Why would you glorify street racing like that? You've just undone about 25 years' worth of hard work on the part of NHRA and hundreds of us all over this country," Parks said.

I did? Me? All by myself?

He went on like that for another 15 minutes. I didn't want to get into a long, argumentative, disrespectful phone discussion with Wally Parks, a guy who was almost godlike — and still is — to millions of people in this country. Out of respect, I just said I was sorry he felt that way about the article and that I was only reporting what I saw.

The fact was that NHRA had long ago become a big entertainment business, collecting huge television fees and gate receipts at tracks all over the USA and had little to do with the grassroots safety movement that had been at the core of the organization's founding. The proof of that was the continuing, growing, street racing movement that was an integral part of the whole muscle car era and, in fact, continues today with the import tuner guys.

It was a national thing. In the Los Angeles area where street racing may have originated in the first place, you could find a run on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena and Van Nuys Boulevard in L.A. Detroit had its famed Woodward Avenue but guys also raced out on I-75, I-94 and in Livonia.

In the '60s in the New York area where I grew up, there were numerous places you could go street racing on any given night of the week. Something was always happening on Cross Bay Boulevard, Connecting Highway and Nassau Expressway, all in the borough of Queens. In Brooklyn, street racers gathered in the parking lot of Mitchell's hamburger joint on 7th Avenue in Brooklyn, then went out under the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, or to Second Avenue to settle it. The Bronx had its White Castle on Boston Post Road or the Adventurer's drive in. There were similar spots all over the country. At various times over the years, I flew in to most of the spots in most cities. But no place, no place, could touch the Connecting Highway.

The Connecting Highway. In New York in the '60s, this is where it was at in terms of big time street racing. The Connecting Highway is actually a short stretch of roadway that connects the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the Grand Central Parkway in Queens, New York. All the big money runs took place at the Connecting, as we called it.

All the real street racers knew this and so did the cops. In addition to holding the record for most street drag races in one night, the Connecting Highway also held the record for the place where the most tickets in any one night were given out and also the record for most arrests of street racers in any one place.

In fact, Fred Mackerodt, managing editor and later editor in chief of Cars magazine, was arrested at the Connecting Highway one night while spectating. He wanted to see the spectacle with his own eyes. He didn't believe it.

Even with all the police hassles, on a good night, you couldn't beat the Connecting for good racing. One of the reasons it was so good is that it was all packed into one little quarter-mile, from one underpass to the other. You could see everything. Granted, it was easier for the cops to see, too. But if you wanted to street race, it was done right at the Connecting.

I used to go there regularly to watch and to hear the stories. Got a lot of good article ideas there and you would not believe some of the stories. Like the time they towed in a Double A/Fuel Dragster up there, rolled it off the trailer, fired it up, smoked the whole length of the highway, then popped the chute as it went under the second underpass. Right there on a public highway! It was a common sight to see '55 Chevys and Willys gassers being towed into the pits at the Connecting.

The "pits" were the two elevated service roads that flank each side of the highway itself. I saw outlandish things there like transmissions being changed, slicks mounted and shifters adjusted. Tuneups were common and didn't even rate a second look, while a transmission or rear end change usually gathered a crowd, because to change a transmission or rear right out on a public street was a class move.

Spectators looked down onto the highway from the two guard rails that ran along the elevated service roads. The rails kept cars, girls and other debris from falling down onto the highway. It was common to see a bunch of guys standing on the sidewalk along the pits only to be interrupted by the screech of burning slicks and open headers bellowing up from the highway. A run! Everyone immediately ran to the rails to look down at the action taking place on the highway below.

There were always some drive-in poseurs making burnouts in the pits. But this was frowned on by the real racers because it attracted the cops and gave the cops a reckless driving excuse to bust everybody.

A lot of guys used to bring their chicks to the Connecting Highway to watch the races and make out between runs. And there was always a plethora of babes there on their own, looking to pick up guys. This was something the serious racers had to put up with. With so many people around making out, watching and cluttering the pits, it made it a hassle to work on your car. But it was a happening.

At one point, because of the popularity of the Connecting Highway with non-serious racers, the 114th Precinct of the New York City Police Department staged a drive to shut down the Connecting once and for all. The real racers moved to other less intense street racing venues, returning to the Connecting only for the most serious of money runs well after midnight. By that time of night, the hokey people had left and there was money to be made.

Before midnight on any given night, the less formal venues thrived. Sounds from the Clearview Expressway near Union Turnpike were a clear indication that this was where the action was on that night. At Clearview, the scene was a little different. The area under the bridge where the expressway passed over Union Turnpike served as the pits. The runs took place up on the Expressway itself. Runs went from Union Turnpike to the next exit.

If you passed the White Castle at Parsons Boulevard and it was empty, you knew you had hit a good night for racing at the Clearview Expressway up ahead. And when you pulled up to the bridge, if you saw two cars making a left under the sign that said "Throgs Neck Bridge," you knew you had gotten there just in time to see a run.

It was harder to watch runs at the Clearview because you had to follow the racers in a car to see what happened. There really was no viewing area, as there was at the Connecting. This was good for money racing because the cops weren't around constantly to clear out the spectators. There were no spectators.

There was one spot out in Queens that was the granddaddy of all street racing venues, save for perhaps a few blocks in downtown Los Angeles — Cross Bay Boulevard. Today, Cross Bay is totally developed with strip malls and tract housing running its entire length from Southern State Parkway all the way to Rockaway Beach. In those days, Cross Bay was a deserted strip of highway with nothing but marshland stretching for miles on each side of the roadway — and a legend.

Trouble was it got so big and so popular that the cops just shut it down. By the end of the '60s, no one raced there anymore. Oh, you'd see some dumb clams throwing powershifts around the Bay and hanging out in the pits just past the first bridge. And there was always some goon doing a burnout out of the Pizza City parking lot. But by 1970, the cops had shut down Cross Bay and it was never again to be the scene of intense street racing, as it was in the late '50s and '60s.

Then, the pits were packed every night and the racing was just about nonstop, the parking lots of Pizza City and the Big Bow-Wow packed with guys on the prowl. By the late '60s, you couldn't even breathe loud on Cross Bay without getting a ticket. The racers even staged a protest one night, complete with posters, signs and hundreds of cars slowly going the speed limit up and down Cross Bay, protesting the harsh treatment and "police brutality" being meted out to street racers.

Every so often in New York City, there was a crash and some guy died street racing his muscle car. Naturally, the New York Daily News and New York Post covered the incident in detail, with close-up shots of the crushed GTO or the splintered fiberglass remains of a Corvette. Then the politicos would decry the state of today's youth and call for harsher police crackdowns on the street racers who were threatening the life and security of all the good citizens of New York City.

But a few weeks later, I'd be back at the Connecting Highway and, inevitably, some guy would pull into the pits in a jacked-up Goat or a Hemi Road runner, roll down the window and say something like "I'll run anybody here for any amount."

And Wally Parks got mad at me.

Disclaimer
Muscle Car Confidential: Confessions of a Muscle Car Test Driver is available at www.motorbooks.com.


2 comments | Read all comments

Article Comments - Street Racing in New York City - KarenS May 11, 2007
Check out an excerpt of Inside Line's frequent contributer Joe Oldham's new book, Muscle Car Confidential: Confessions of a Muscle Car Test Driver . Post your comments here. Street...
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For photo's of the New York street racing scene in the 60's & 70's go to:

www.edmunds.com , then click on "inside line" ,then type "street racing in New York City" in the seacrh .

[mtkawboy]

I recall racing my 427 ford powered 57 into a solid crowd of people who would move out of the way as the cars got there. Not too bright is it? The whole deal finally ended when a guy lost a new 396 Camaro into a crowd killing 3 people. I built an NHRA stocker after that and retired from street racing. It was a fun crazy time though for a few years

[SinisterCustom]

Thanks for posting.....I used to street race alot as well......

My brother currently lives over there and is freinds with an old NY street racer (still does it on occasion).......the stories he's told me of racing, even in the '80's-90's are CRAZY.....9 sec. cars common...
Street racing on the East Coast is taken alot more seriously than the West.......

[6t5frlane]

Hard to think of NY street racing without mentioning the lot at Shoppers Paradise in Spring Valley NY. Tons of cars . They would race on the NY State Thruway just as it exited from Jersey. Lines of cars on both sides. They would STOP traffic on the Thruway so the cars could race. Crazy

[Junkyard Jan]

Originally Posted by SinisterCustom

Thanks for posting.....I used to street race alot as well......

My brother currently lives over there and is freinds with an old NY street racer (still does it on occasion).......the stories he's told me of racing, even in the '80's-90's are CRAZY.....9 sec. cars common...
Street racing on the East Coast is taken alot more seriously than the West.......

I believe that too. Cars magazine (I think?) ran another article on the NY City street race scene in the mid '80s. Big buck cars running for big money with huge crowds.... This is exactly the sort of street scene I posted my remembrences of in a much smaller way in Youngstown Oh in the early '60s awhile back.. Street racing is definitely wrong, but it sure was fun back then!

Jan

[Gotzy]

Well cool, definitely born too late!

[jersey fink]

the brothers still do it underground in north jersey,,,big bucks 9 and 10 sec cars...been going on forever

[upzndownz]

i remember many many nights at the connecting hyway , the cops finally got it under control in the early 70's by going after the spectators writing tickets and impounding cars , by that time it had gotten so crowded that at 2AM there were hotdog and icecream vendors setting up// around 71-72Carcraft did a big article on it and out on the island RT231(deerpark ave)// back then i had a tcoupe with bigblock edsel power

[Zerk]

Wow, I never knew Joe Oldham was a real byline. I used to love reading his articles in High Performance Cars, as well as the crazy joke articles by Seymour Balz.

Oldham, wherever you are, great description of Connecting Highway. I raise a Coca-Cola in your honor.

[Boones]

thanks axle

[Groucho]

Yikes! Long story. I was always big on pics and their captions instead. BUT, yes it was huge. If it wasn't already covered, since i didn't read it.....I believe they raced in Brooklyn on 1st Ave, under the "ell" (elevated railway), and i could here them on hot summer nights when i slept(?) with my window open (10 yrs old). The big guys bought retired race cars from Sox & Martin, and Don Nicholson for 2 examples. BIG business.

[indaworx40]

Thanks for posting this article. It really brought back alot of memories of growing up in NYC. As I was reading about the Connecting Highway, I was thinking about hanging out at the White Castle waiting for the right time to take off for the Clearview, or waiting around at the Big Bow Wow for the action to start over on the Conduit. The racing scene in Queens in '68 -'70 or so was really intense. He wasn't kidding about the trailered cars either! Or the cops. As I recall, it was one of life's great adventures.

[Ratmotor]

I don,t mean to step on any toes or be disrespectful in any way but I heard stories about a rather large African American back in the day from Jersey,New York or Detroit who was a legend.Big Willie ring a bell? I think he raced a hemi car.....

[Groucho]

I'm pretty sure all his doings started on the west coast (Los Angeles). I'm a member of his Street Racers, and i can remember reading about his accomplishments when i lived in New York as a kid, and how happy i was to move to Los Angeles in '69. As i remember he was highly publicized around then. I thought (and still do) think the Street Racers to be the absolute epitome of car clubs. Just say it.....Street Racers! DON'T associate it with the vehicular STUPIDITY they call street racing today. We were well organized and stuck to some pretty strict rules

Originally Posted by Ratmotor

I don,t mean to step on any toes or be disrespectful in any way but I heard stories about a rather large African American back in the day from Jersey,New York or Detroit who was a legend.Big Willie ring a bell? I think he raced a hemi car.....

[rockabillybassman]

Great story! Got me very nostalgic, even though we did'nt have a "scene" like that in NZ.

[ProEnfo]

Originally Posted by Ratmotor

I don,t mean to step on any toes or be disrespectful in any way but I heard stories about a rather large African American back in the day from Jersey,New York or Detroit who was a legend.Big Willie ring a bell? I think he raced a hemi car.....

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/G...otherhood.html

"As the Sixties drew to a close, the social upheaval seen in other spheres of society influenced drag racing as well. In the wake of the 1968 Watts riots, legendary street racer Big Willie Robinson figured out a way to use drag racing to change society. An imposing, muscular 6'6" Vietnam vet with a badass Hemi Daytona Charger and trademark bowler hat, Big Willie was the undisputed king of the late '60s- '70s East L.A. street racing scene. In response to the growing influence of drugs and street gangs, Big Willie and his wife Tomiko organized the 'Brotherhood of Street Racers' as a way to channel the energy of South Central youth away from crime and violence -- "peace through racing," as he put it. Working with local officials and police, Big Willie was the driving force behind the building of Brotherhood Raceway Park on L.A. harbor's Terminal Island. "

[Jimv]

I grew up in Yonkers NY & street raced a 66 mustang! But also raced Legit at Dover, National & Islip.
I made many trip to the connecting and the white castle on arlington ave in the Bronx.
I westchester we used the "Sprain brook Parkway" The street scene there was also intense, we would drive up down the parkway racing whoever we could.
also central ave in yonkers across from cross county shopping center was another good place, But the cops woul come along & open the fire hydrants & that was it!!lol
I miss those days!! I still like to blow off a 5.0 mustang now & then, do it whenever i can!!
JimV

[Ratmotor]

Originally Posted by ProEnfo

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/G...otherhood.html

"As the Sixties drew to a close, the social upheaval seen in other spheres of society influenced drag racing as well. In the wake of the 1968 Watts riots, legendary street racer Big Willie Robinson figured out a way to use drag racing to change society. An imposing, muscular 6'6" Vietnam vet with a badass Hemi Daytona Charger and trademark bowler hat, Big Willie was the undisputed king of the late '60s- '70s East L.A. street racing scene. In response to the growing influence of drugs and street gangs, Big Willie and his wife Tomiko organized the 'Brotherhood of Street Racers' as a way to channel the energy of South Central youth away from crime and violence -- "peace through racing," as he put it. Working with local officials and police, Big Willie was the driving force behind the building of Brotherhood Raceway Park on L.A. harbor's Terminal Island. "

Thats the guy! Thanks for the trip back in time.....

[hemi coupe]

Axle, You are right I do love it!! Me and Skinny Jeff were talking today about how cool it would be to have a street race style car again. The memories come flooding back..
Jimmy White

[6t5frlane]

ratmotor...Maybe Brooklyn Heavy you are talking about??

[unclescooby]

Originally Posted by Ratmotor

I don,t mean to step on any toes or be disrespectful in any way but I heard stories about a rather large African American back in the day from Jersey,New York or Detroit who was a legend.Big Willie ring a bell? I think he raced a hemi car.....

freakishly enough, i was at my brothers house last week and we got a peek in the neighbors garage for the first time in 13 years they'd lived there. Inside was a 1966 GTO with a 6-71 blower...street freak. Been a race car since day one. 6000 miles on it and still in original paint. Hasn't seen the light of day in years. Only black family in the neighborhood and never says a word about cars or racing. I'd love to talk to him but he's not interested. Very nice guy just won't talk cars. Dunno what's up there. I'd sure like to see that car back on the road too. He raced it on the streets of chicago in the 60's.

[Gman0046]

Great article. As I grew up on Long Island during the period you referenced and participated at the 1/4 mile West Hampton and 1/8 mile East Islip drag strips. One hang out you failed to mention was Schorr's Drive In on Sunrise Hwy in Rockville Center and subsequent Street Races on the Jones Beach Causeway. The Big Bow Wow was definetly the place to go. Your article sure brought back memories.

[Chili Phil]

Thanks Axle. Good read. I only spectated at the digs behind the old GM plant in South Gate. I'd like to hear some stories of back then. Or the Orange County scene based out of the Carls Jr on Glassell/Kramer… Fun times

[graverobber63]

Awesome read. I was born about 25 years too late.

[axle]

I'll probably make enemies here but i still don't see a problem with a handful of motorheads taking their cars out to the orange groves,outskirts of town near an industrial park, or deserted old hwy and runnin a couple of cars. As long as there aren't a few hundred spectator's standing along the roadside watching.

Someone said Ice cream & Hot Dog carts !?!?!? Thats the beginning of the end.



When i was born my Uncle bought a brand new 66 GTO. The following year my parents went to the dealership and bought a 67 GTO with a 400 HO,Dual Gate Automatic,and posi rear with 3.55 gears.They bought this right off the showroom floor.
The following year my other Uncle bought a 68 GTO 400 HO,Muncie 4 speed, posi rear with 3.90 gears.
so, imagine three brothers running around northern Virginia in brand new GTO's. Thats why i grew up with Pontiacs & Pontiac powered cars.

My dad still says insurance premiums were at an all time high back then due to the extensive street racing that was so popular .

[The37Kid]

I put this newspaper clipping in my scrapbook back in 1962. There were 400 kids and 42 tickets handed out, 24 less than the week before.

[BIG JOHN 37]

for you north jersey guys, don't forget the "action" on McCarter Highway(Route 21) in Newark - a ton of cars every Fri. and Sat. night 'til the wee hours or the cops came, whichever came first! - a lot of "local legends" like Brooklyn Heavy, Levi Holmes, etc. - i used to leave my girls house (now my wife)at 11-12 o'clock because i was "tired" and go over to 21 and stay 'til whenever - never got caught until my parents met her paents, when my mom asked why i got home so late, and my future mother - in - law said he doesn't stay here late! - a number of cars that were capable of running deep into the 10's in the late 60's and early 70's - great memories, shame some younger guys will never get to experience it

[meatball]

Ya cant have much fonder memories than the old street racing days....I remember meeting Big Willie from the L.A.Street Racers at irwindale one day and being invited to the "races" that night in a warehouse district...what a night..Im sure this was repeated all over the country ......thank god for police radio monitors!!!

[meatball]

Originally Posted by ProEnfo

http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/G...otherhood.html

"As the Sixties drew to a close, the social upheaval seen in other spheres of society influenced drag racing as well. In the wake of the 1968 Watts riots, legendary street racer Big Willie Robinson figured out a way to use drag racing to change society. An imposing, muscular 6'6" Vietnam vet with a badass Hemi Daytona Charger and trademark bowler hat, Big Willie was the undisputed king of the late '60s- '70s East L.A. street racing scene. In response to the growing influence of drugs and street gangs, Big Willie and his wife Tomiko organized the 'Brotherhood of Street Racers' as a way to channel the energy of South Central youth away from crime and violence -- "peace through racing," as he put it. Working with local officials and police, Big Willie was the driving force behind the building of Brotherhood Raceway Park on L.A. harbor's Terminal Island. "

watch close at the begining of Two Lane Blacktop...its Big Willie that starts the cars during a street race.....he's been a hero of mine for many years......

[DELTUFFOIL]

Originally Posted by Junkyard Jan

I believe that too. Cars magazine (I think?) ran another article on the NY City street race scene in the mid '80s. Big buck cars running for big money with huge crowds.... This is exactly the sort of street scene I posted my remembrences of in a much smaller way in Youngstown Oh in the early '60s awhile back.. Street racing is definitely wrong, but it sure was fun back then!

Jan

This?


http://www.geocities.com/mopar_440_dave/Urban.htm

[axle]

Anyone ever listen to Bruce Sprinsteen's song "Racin in the street" ?

There's always been something about that song.......

I don't know what it is....I guess its so American to me.

[270283]

Having raced on the street and the strip back then I'd have to say the street was WAAAAAAY more fun.

[mtkawboy]

Street racing was way more fun but after the people got killed the cops really cracked down and were confiscating the cars and locking up everyone there, racing or not. We were going thru the 1/4 with lines of people 3 feet away, it was way crazy. Fortunately we were bullet proof at that age. I was caught dead once with the input rung off the T-10 in my 427 57 Ford when another guy tried to run over the cop. They all went after him and I limped home in high gear. Yes it was an aluminum T-10 out of a light weight 63 Galaxie, not a top loader

[Junkyard Jan]

Originally Posted by DELTUFFOIL

This?


http://www.geocities.com/mopar_440_dave/Urban.htm

No, the article I'm referring to was an overview and written in about '85-'86, IRRC. There was a lot discussed about 'sucker cars', rusty Ramblers, '60s vans, pickups, even Deuce and a quarter Buicks, Lincolns,etc powered by Hemis and Rats, trailered cars, 4 figure bets and such. I wish that I hadn't tossed the magazine along with most of my others in the Big Move of 2002.....

But thanks for posting this one... A very interesting read.... Not to start a Coastal war, but my theory is that most of the mags...Cars a notable exception were published on the West Coast so that's where the staff gathered their story material from. It is or was pure economics. But most of the racing action...legal and illegal. street, strip and oval track took place far east of the Missssippi.

Jan

[SamIyam]

Street racing my '55 Chevy and my '66 Nova had to be the most exciting and thrilling time of my life.

I won't bore you with the details... but running 11 and 12 second cars on the street is a rush... and watching the 10 second cars run out on the street was just as cool.

They weren't big money races... in fact, most were run for fun. But to come back a week later and wax a guy who had beat you the week before was payment enough in a small town.

Incedentally, most of the racing was done on California Avenue... just outside of Modesto... which dead ended into... Paradise Road. And then at the end of Monte Vista Avenue in Turlock where it dead ended into Montpilliar.

Good times... good times...

Sam.

Here I am in my Nova... on the street.

[Scotch]

Ya- It's a good thing this stuff never happens anymore.

http://videos.streetfire.net/search/...ca7c2648fc.htm

Oh, wait a sec...

For some guys, these are the 'good old days'...!

I don't remember traction being that good on the street when I was doing it.

~Scotch~

[Hilo hotrodder]

This brings back a lot of good memories about 62 to 65 used to race at the white castle in the bronx and than on the sprain brooke parkway in Yonkers. I lived right down the road from the exit,make a pass stop off at home do a little tuning run again. Had a64,426 plymouth savoy.

[TwinH]

Thanks for the fascinating stories. I really enjoy reading these stories.

Keep them coming

[Mercmad]

Originally Posted by rockabillybassman

Great story! Got me very nostalgic, even though we did'nt have a "scene" like that in NZ.

Well Actually we did...Most us old buggers who lived in Auckland raced down in the water front area of Beaumont Street.
Queen Street in the city was the cruisin' strip and after pub closing time(10pm ) we would hang out at '246' swap bulshit until midnight when a crowd would start gathering down by the Shell oil installation.Crowds would be in the hundreds ,once i counted ovr 1500 people ,racers spectators and just kids who had borrowed the family car to come and look.
One memorable night we were hanging around at the usual spot in Queen street when a particularly scruffy '56 Chev pulled up driven by Squeek who asked..." where this Beaumont street??"
"just follow us we said ,So Squeek pulls his header caps off in the middle of the city's busiest precinct and proceeds to rumble off through the traffic.
Down at Beaumont Street ,he lines up against a Ford Falcon ute ( 351 clevo,15 sec 1/4's ) and although he blew his clutch off the line
he still beat the ute,just in time to see a police car heading in the opposite direction..
Racing was eventually stopped by the city authorities on the pretext that racing wasn't a good idea next to an oil tank farm. So the whole show moved out to the burbs and places like industrial Ave..We even featired on local TTV one night and there was book published by Auckland photograper Murray Cammick full of pictures of the cars that frequented the area back then .

[ShakeyPuddin55]

nice

[vintagespeed]

Originally Posted by 6t5frlane

ratmotor...Maybe Brooklyn Heavy you are talking about??

Has to be Brooklyn Heavy ..Heavy also had a Dick Harrel Built Camaro and a 4 speed Hemi Dart ..Plus plenty of Drug money to Bet with ..

Here's a post from another site about his cars ...

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/show...3/fpart/1/vc/1

[axle]

Sam,
Your Nova picture is awesome. My 66 GTO ran 12.80's and held its own here in Riverside...but, still wasn't the fastest.

Can someone go on that site i mentioned and post all of the pictures on this thread?

Thanks

[OLDSKEWL61]

my old man used to take me tostreet races in youngstown ohio in the early 80's i was 3 or 4 then. funny i like togo cause we whould stop at a&w or mcdonald's

[ShakeyPuddin55]

Originally Posted by axle

Can someone go on that site i mentioned and post all of the pictures on this thread?

Thanks

[ShakeyPuddin55]

[caffeine]

Originally Posted by 6t5frlane

They would race on the NY State Thruway just as it exited from Jersey. Lines of cars on both sides. They would STOP traffic on the Thruway so the cars could race. Crazy

there are a few places they STILL do this.

[axle]

Originally Posted by caffeine

there are a few places they STILL do this.

REALLY ?

[Fast67VelleN2O]

Super COOL thread!!!!

Here is a video of my Chevelle on the street....
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...oid=1217090283

[BELLM]

Even us country hicks street raced back in the'60s. Had a quarter mile marked off on a 2 lane farm-to-market road a couple of miles out of town, Could usually get in about 3-4 races before we saw the state trooper coming, for some reasaon they would turn on the flashing lights when they left town. We all had switches to turn off tail/brake lights, would scatter on the gravel country roads, regroup later in town. We could all outrun the DPS cars until the 440 cars hit town. No one ever got hurt, no crashes. Just lucky I guess.

[long island vic]

brooklyn heavys cars were driven dowm the street in a row when the feds got him for drugs,the 69 427 camaro got away and sat at my friends station in wantagh untuched waiting for his release,,when it was seen that he was doing a long beaf and the station was closing the car was crushed...as for real life problems wt street racing my friends bought wally booths camaro and the first nite made a money run ,broke an axle fliped it and killed a guy,,we rolled in onto the trailer upside down,,,another time i was called at 2 am to get to the shop and cut up the motown missle that made its first pass with just spray paint over the name,it killed three people that got to close,,not all times were rosey

[stlouisgasser]

Unbelievable! Circulated flyers advertising upcoming street races. And I thought St. Louis had a pretty serious street racing scene. We had(have) Hall Street here in St. Louis that is pretty famous in its own right.

[modifieddriver]

The street racing scene wasn't limited to the New York City area. Upstate New York Albany area had its Central Ave. and claim to fame.

Included in the bunch was non-other than the famous Shirley "Cha-Cha" Muldowney. If I remember she ran a mid-60's Corvette Sting Ray that tore up the competition. AND ..... of course, it was a 4-speed!!!

If I remember, they even did an article in the local Albany newspaper about her.

She did legal drag racing at Fonda Speedway. This was a dirt fairgrounds oval track that had a paved pit road, drag strip running through the middle of it.

Raced on the pavement and shut-down running across the dirt track into an area adjacent to an old cemetery. I think pics were posted here awhile back of this operation.

[Chopd48pan]

Wow, what a rush...! Thanks so much for this post. Connecting Highways was my youth. Someone mentioned an ice cream truck, well in 72' at 12 yrs. old I was the kid helpin' out Teddy in the truck. I worked for ice cream and the racing. It worked out perfect, when a big race was happening everyone was on the guardrails to watch.... including me. Then after the race I'd run back to beat the rush. 2-3 yrs later I was cruisin' the circuit in Tony Gilbirdis Hilborn injected 69' Camaro. I learned to do hole shots, power shift, slipshift and even how to just drive a 4 speed in that car, although by the time Tony let me drive it, but that insane 327 was only carbed now. ( He got tired of getting her runnin' everyday with the injection. At 15 I bought my 63 nova, 513 posi, 327, 4spd. right off the track at Long Island National Speedway. As I promised my Mom, I didn't drive it (often) until I turned 16 and got my junior lic. After adding a stereo and some seats to my race car, I had my 1st car on the road..... Straight to Connectings, and Cross Bay. Anyone remeber Reveiw ave. or the Marina how about the spot under the L.I.E. between the two cemetaries, what was that one called.?

I do have some pics, but man finding them, I'll try. If this post keeps goin' I'll post a few stories as they filter through the fog. Wow this is too cool.... If you Hamb r's only knew how many people have givin' me that fish story look when I tell of 200 people ,vendors, cars ,vans, Harley's the first Jap super bikes (Z1) all on the city streets with guys goin' down and stopping the hi-way traffic to start a big $$$ race. I've seen gassers, rails early coupes come in on trailrs and drive in with zoomie barkin'...... So it wasn't a dream.

Anyone that was around the Queens/Brkln spots around 72-80 feel free to IM me or post, same bat channel, same bat time.... Who knows. Anyone remember the plain jane orange 69 Camaro that was just about unbeatable for a year or two..........

WOW, Howard

Anyone one know what a Chase Truck is....?
Thats what I did for a living....B4 I got my lic.

[Hotrodworld]

WOW,, Talk about remembering "my life".. There also was another spot.. Though I had been to most of the mentioned spots in NYC, and some on L.I. in the 60s,I was too young to race there. As the 70s came into focus, cars really got serius, and tech advanced through knowlege, and parts availability. I remember hanging out at Burger King on Hempstead Tpk. in the early 70s,, and getting the racing "business" done there,, and going out either onto the TPK, or Seaford Oyster Bay expressway. to get the job done.. Of course, this was till the cops got savi !.. Then,,when I moved to Suffolk (a bit further out on the Island, for you non NYers), there was Crooked Hill rd. Er,, Ummm,, I do believe there are times this still exists ! My shop was in Deer park, so I do remember 231 racing also...But the history does really IN FACT, belong to Connecting Hwys, and Cross Bay Blvd !!!!!

[axle]

Anyone have pictures please post them. Thanks

[Angry Frenchman]

My frist time to Brooklyn was in 02 and buy the end of the night on union ave I raced a model A sedan. Crazy

[NYfatboy]

beteen the cemeteries is called"Laurel Hill",thanks for the memories!

[gotwood]

Connecting Hwy was such a big deal that local clothing stores sold t- shirts with the logo on them for years even after it was shut down. Had one as a kid as my mom bought it and had no idea what it was.

Connecting hwy, Laurel hill Blvd, Astoria Park... You just can't explain them as nobody can grasp that it was that big.

[Lot Lizard Racing]

Originally Posted by modifieddriver

The street racing scene wasn't limited to the New York City area. Upstate New York Albany area had its Central Ave. and claim to fame.
.

They did it then and they still do it now. When I was in High School I used to love cruising Central Avenue between Schenectady and Albany hoping someone would pull up next to me for a little fun. Ah, the enjoyment $5 in gas would bring when I was young.

The organized stuff still happens in the middle of the night on deserted roads. There is one really nice spot with an access road running parallel to it so that spectators can safely watch. Sometimes the track is actually prepped. The only thing missing are the grandstands. Quite a few people actually travel a few hours to visit this spot. Last year this funny story happened. A person from Vermont came and saw a few races. The next week he decides to bring his whole family from Vermont to see the action. They set up a picnic (blanket and all) at this spot and sit there for a few hours waiting to see some races. Of course the police shows up, sees their Vermont tags, and asks them what they are doing picnicking next to a road? They nonchalantly answer that they drove all this way to watch the car races. I'm sure all the cops were laughing about that one back at the Police Station later LOL

I used to street race about 20+ years ago when I was young and stupid. I don't do it now... but I might have spectated at one or two races in recent years.

The excerpt about street racing in NYC is fascinating reading. Even though I wasn't there all those stories sound like the stuff that used to happen at the Neba Nationals in Schenectady/Albany years ago.

[Chopd48pan]

Yes, yes, yes... Laurel Hill. Thanx I was losing sleep tryin' to remember that. What a flashback. Street racing, I used to get paid to it..... No, really! Any of you NYC guys rememger (chase trucks) the taxi cab yellow wreckers that would race to the accident scenes in competition for the better ($) collision job? Thats what I did for work at 17. I'd catch hell from my boss when he'd be at Connectings to watch and he'd see his truck lining up with some camaro or a goat............Ah, youth and ignorance/ piss and vinegar

[NYfatboy]

Yeah,chase trucks,one of my friends drove one,I had so many accidents that I'd get towed home for free!Heard the cops would hit you with a 10k fine if you ran with police scanners,think that's why they're gone.Or it could be because of the accidents they caused getting to the accidents! And Astoria Park,man that was beautiful.If you go there now,its all different.I still see a guy with an early '60's vette sitting down there,and anytime I'm down there I cruise the park,but no more rods(at least when I'm there)

[BigMikeC]

After reading previous posts on here about street racing I thought this thread would be packed with holyer than thou rants about it being illegall/irresponsible/immoral/nonPC, etc. What a nice surprise. A great read too. It brings back some great memories. Thanks!

[axle]

For shits & giggles i thought i'd bring this back up one last time.

[Dino the weirdo]

Brooklyn Heavy IS RIGHT !....He'd buy old Sox& Martin Cars ...even remember one of Ronald Lyles Hemi cars made it to the NY street scene. Painted em black to hide in the dark. Many a northern street racer would trek to N.C. and bring back a "Mountain Motored" car for the street action.

[Norrland]

Anyone of u remember a 58 Edsel with a 427 Sideoiler and 4 Speed? The car was as i heard a really quick street car in the 70's. The reason i ask is that i know a guy here in Sweden that bought the Edsel in 82 or 83 and now has it stored in a garage since then. Only thing he done with it is painting it in Red candy with Silver roof. Got some pics if someones interested?? The car was from California touch and not NY. All info would be great!!

[axle]

Originally Posted by BigMikeC

After reading previous posts on here about street racing I thought this thread would be packed with holyer than thou rants about it being illegall/irresponsible/immoral/nonPC, etc. What a nice surprise. A great read too. It brings back some great memories. Thanks!

I know what you mean. I can't speak for anywhere else but at least when we street raced it was out in the undeveloped Orange groves in the county, and we made sure spectators stood behind the cars. If someone were to lose it all they'd hit were Orange tree's and not people,houses,or parked cars! The one car i couldn't beat in my neck of the woods was a low 12 second 65 Falcon that ran a 351 Cleveland/C6/9" . I'll never forget, The rear panel said "Just Falcon around".

[MUNCIE]

Originally Posted by axle

I know what you mean. I can't speak for anywhere else but at least when we street raced it was out in the undeveloped Orange groves in the county, and we made sure spectators stood behind the cars. If someone were to loose it all they'd hit were Orange tree's and not people,houses,or parked cars! The one car i couldn't beat in my neck of the woods was a low 12 second 65 Falcon that ran a 351 Cleveland/C6/9" . I'll never forget, The rear panel said "Just Falcon around".

[rustynewyorker]

Funny, the quote in my signature, the whole quote, mentions the Connecting Highway. I can never type quite fast enough when they play the promo spot that uses the whole thing, to get it into writing to use it all.

[2many projects]

Anyone remember my friend Peter Barris, a student from Jackson Heights in the mid 60's
He street raced a dark blue '58 Impala convertible, glass nose, rolled and pleated interior and a white top.
It ran a Rochester injected 327, 4 speed and 456's in the rear.
It was silly fast!
He also rode in a matching colored "58 Impala coupe with a 348 that was knocked out to 401 with a 3 speed on the floor and 411 posi.
A real torque monster.
He ran around at night with Massachusetts plates on them
He and I would race every Wed. and Saturday night.
In summer time when classes let out we would do the same deal up here in the Boston area.
Richards Drive In at Wellington Circle and the Big Burger in Cambridge were our hangouts.
Any good street racer must remember R.T.T.A. in the Boston area.
I still cary my little red card.
Peter was a good kid, he raced fast but died too young.
Crashed into Long Island Sound in a student plane with a bunch of our other friends.
Weird was'nt it?

[bje31]

On a much smaller scale, I went to the "Saturday Night Drags" in western PA. Mostly muscle cars. The bad cat of the Mountain was a Hemi powered Plymouth, "The Green Monster". The pit area was behind the local Tastee Freeze. Everything was cool until a few guys decided to rip the "bubble" off a state troopers car while he was enjoying his midnight meal!!! That ended the RT40 Dragway near Uniontown, PA. Fun, exciting, but dangerous as hell.

[Rota]

I have really been inspired by some of the stories that I have been reading in this thread. That coupled with my own car enthusiasm, I have begun development of a story board for a documentary film about this monumental era in car history. I am trying to gather names, places, special cars, special memories, anything you feel defined this period of auto revolution. Drop me a line with a story!

http://web.me.com/drota/Site/TCH_Doc.html

[Pro Stock John]

For the NYC peepz, anyone remember a short guy named John Rauber who might have raced a 66/67 Ford GT/GTA Fairline, he was my old boss 10-13 years ago and told me he used to race it. Had a 427ci side oiler he said. He also talked about racing a hemi Cuda, one of the cars threw a driveshaft and killed someone?

[59 brook]

Originally Posted by Dino the weirdo

Brooklyn Heavy IS RIGHT !....He'd buy old Sox& Martin Cars ...even remember one of Ronald Lyles Hemi cars made it to the NY street scene. Painted em black to hide in the dark. Many a northern street racer would trek to N.C. and bring back a "Mountain Motored" car for the street action.

i remeber another sox and martin road runner running around the streets of staten island. used to be plenty of places to go out there. out the end of hylan blvd, the west shore expressway ,richmond parkway

[Donut Dave]

Originally Posted by vintagespeed

Has to be Brooklyn Heavy ..Heavy also had a Dick Harrel Built Camaro and a 4 speed Hemi Dart ..Plus plenty of Drug money to Bet with ..

Here's a post from another site about his cars ...

http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/show...3/fpart/1/vc/1

I was at Harrell’s shop in Kansas City the night a large African American gentleman from NYC took delivery of a special prepared 427 Camaro. His girl friend had flown in on a different flight; she had a brief case, we found out later it was full of cash. One of the guys inquired about the cash, he said something about owning several car washes on the East Coast? The camaro was going to be used only for street racing, they unload at one off ramp take the car hauler to the next ramp, race another car, exit at the next ramp back unto the hauler and gone in seconds. He indicated there was "Big Money" in ramp to ramp racing in NYC!

[NITROFC]

Axle ...I started a previous thread not here to jack this ..just a lot of good info & pics

History Brooklyn, NY Infamous Street Racers Back in the Day‏

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...brooklyn+heavy

[bobss396]

I had painted the original start/finish lines on NY231 in North Babylon. Used a couple of 2 x 4s as a guide. It was concrete and fast, going south it was fairly level, going north it was downhill. We gave up on it quickly, too many cops. I lived close by and would walk over to watch the races after the bars closed. We'd pull up some lawn chairs in the woods next to it, drink beer and enjoy some of those hand-rolled smokes. Some spectators did get hurt there with out of control cars, I saw one car get rearended by a civilian and the gas tank exploded.

The best places to run in Suffolk county were the Robert Moses Causeway, Ocean parkway and Sunrise Hwy late at night. They still run on Sunrise once in a while. Cars roll off trailers, they stage and go. Usually around 3 AM or so. They use "blocker" cars to slow down or stop the traffic behind the action. of course it draws a big crowd and I'm sure big grudge bucks are at stake. I was watching it one summer night when the cops showed up, everyone beat feet, it was pretty amusing.

Bob

[drfreeze]

I was too young for the  60's &70's , but i was around for the late 80's till present . I use hang around Fairway auto in elmont ,long island home of some serious street racers , Fairay vette , nova , chevelle , camaros . I use to sneek out of the house when i was about 12 and go hang with the guys and go to Fountain ave, south conduit , connecting hwy, mt vernon for all the big money races( guys like 10 speed,Freddy Brown,Joe the moe ,Fat Joe, Vinny Carvel all legends on the street and friends of mine).I could remember nights on fountain until the sun came up , fill up and go to atco on sat stay over night and race e-town on sunday crazy times and it's still goin down on the street here in NY . I was blessed to be round some of the heavy hitters and learned alot from them .I just progressed into this hot rod world and i love it and my friends really can't understand but you should see them run on the street !

 

here's a good friend of mine (small block spray 10 inch tire full interior ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFtK5Nvq8vs

[full race]

We where from staten island we ran Brooklyn Heavy on the connecting in the 70 and took 15,000 from him in his black dart.And mitchells was on 86th street

[moosie982]

Originally Posted by 6t5frlane

Hard to think of NY street racing without mentioning the lot at Shoppers Paradise in Spring Valley NY. Tons of cars . They would race on the NY State Thruway just as it exited from Jersey. Lines of cars on both sides. They would STOP traffic on the Thruway so the cars could race. Crazy

How about racing on the Palisades Parkway from bridge to bridge, we'd meet at Don & Lens Plaza Diner across from where the Nanuet Mall is now. Also Ghost town up past Sloatsburg near where International Paper had or has offices, another good place was Pals Diner on Rte.17 in Mahwah, we'd race in view of the toll booths for the N.Y.S. Thruway at Suffern, those were the days,,,,,,,untill some poor dumb sumbitch got killed on the Garden State while spectating, Peace,,,Moosie

[P426]

Originally Posted by long island vic

brooklyn heavys cars were driven dowm the street in a row when the feds got him for drugs,the 69 427 camaro got away and sat at my friends station in wantagh untuched waiting for his release,,when it was seen that he was doing a long beaf and the station was closing the car was crushed...as for real life problems wt street racing my friends bought wally booths camaro and the first nite made a money run ,broke an axle fliped it and killed a guy,,we rolled in onto the trailer upside down,,,another time i was called at 2 am to get to the shop and cut up the motown missle that made its first pass with just spray paint over the name,it killed three people that got to close,,not all times were rosey

"my friends bought wally booths camaro and the first nite made a money run ,broke an axle fliped it and killed a guy,,we rolled in onto the trailer upside down,,,"

Wally Booth's 1969 Camaro is still around. As far as I know, it was never flipped.

So it must be this one that your friend bought...



...and flipped?

Damn shame!!

"another time i was called at 2 am to get to the shop and cut up the motown missle that made its first pass with just
spray paint over the name,it killed three people that got to close"

Which Motown Missile? From what I understand the 1970-71 Challenger is being restored from this less-than-professional
restored 'state.'



The 1972 Motown Missile 'Cuda last seen wasting away (outside!) somewhere in Canada.



"As of 2004, the Plymouth Barracuda was sitting under a tarp in Ottawa, where it had been for at least ten years. Dick Oldfield visited in 2003 and, after shoveling around three feet of snow off the car, was able to verify that it is indeed the ’Cuda. It was in pretty bad shape."

To the best of my understanding the other Missiles are alive and well.







I'm not questioning your integrity...just trying to get the "straight scoop."

Pete

[cammer427]

Originally Posted by The37Kid

I put this newspaper clipping in my scrapbook back in 1962. There were 400 kids and 42 tickets handed out, 24 less than the week before.

Where did this happen?
__________________

[cammer427]

Originally Posted by unclescooby

freakishly enough, i was at my brothers house last week and we got a peek in the neighbors garage for the first time in 13 years they'd lived there. Inside was a 1966 GTO with a 6-71 blower...street freak. Been a race car since day one. 6000 miles on it and still in original paint. Hasn't seen the light of day in years. Only black family in the neighborhood and never says a word about cars or racing. I'd love to talk to him but he's not interested. Very nice guy just won't talk cars. Dunno what's up there. I'd sure like to see that car back on the road too. He raced it on the streets of chicago in the 60's.

Sounds like he's hiding the GTO for a good reason. Maybe he's hiding it from the cops, waiting for the statute of limitation to run out...

Very cool story though, the mystery of it all has my curiosity piqued.
__________________

[Fordguy78]

What an interesting article. Thanks for posting.

[wingnutz]

Originally Posted by Junkyard Jan

I believe that too. Cars magazine (I think?) ran another article on the NY City street race scene in the mid '80s. Big buck cars running for big money with huge crowds.... This is exactly the sort of street scene I posted my remembrences of in a much smaller way in Youngstown Oh in the early '60s awhile back.. Street racing is definitely wrong, but it sure was fun back then!

Jan

Jeez I miss Jan...!

Not quite New York but just as exciting to me...!

Waukesha Wisconsin was my racetrack but I mostly raced the "Scrimas Pizza" delivery cars until they broke!

Then the owners would force me to drive my own car which was a 66 Chevelle Convertible as a daily and a 34 coupe under construction!

But my most memorable race of my life was against 2 other "Pizza" delivery cars!!!!

We lined up on a "One Way" street... three abreast My "SCRIMAS PIZZA" 72 Dart slant 6, "RICH's PIZZA's" Gremlin, and "JIMMY's GROTTO's" VW Bug and waited for the light...

The light turned "Green"... the VW jumped out in front with superior traction and then the Gremlin and the My Dart started pulling away...!

As we passed a policeman on the beat... I was about a 1/2 a car length ahead of the Gremlin which was 1/2 car length ahead of the VW...!

When I arrived back to the store... my boss (the owner) met me at the door and asked me if I won the race...?

And I told him that I wasn't racing...!

He smiled and said that the Policeman positively ID'd three cars racing down Main St. Waukesha at 10:15 P.M. According to the advertising painted across the sides of the cars as One "SCRIMAS, One "Rich's" and one "Jimmy's Grotto" pizza delivery cars!!!!

"No Big Buck or High performance" race... But it was the most exciting street race of my young life!!!

I didn't get a ticket or reprimanded that night but I knew that we were being watched!!!

[cammer427]

__________________

[NITROFC]

A few more items from ..............

[55chevr]

Cross Bay Blvd is still the same as the 60's / 70's down along the stretch that the racing actually occurred. There is still a long mile between the North Channel Bridge and the first houses of Broad Channel. It is part of Gateways National Wildlife Sanctuary. There was a spot that a lot of match races occurred on the Bruckner Expressway in the Bronx just off the Throgg's Neck Bridge. That was an adventure. Spectators would block off the highway by gradually slowing down 3 abreast and stopping the traffic. The police couldnt get up to the front and it would be bumper to bumper for a mile. They would pull up on the elevated service road and watch with everyone else.

[Big Block Bill]

Originally Posted by Ratmotor

I don,t mean to step on any toes or be disrespectful in any way but I heard stories about a rather large African American back in the day from Jersey,New York or Detroit who was a legend.Big Willie ring a bell? I think he raced a hemi car.....

__________________________________________________ _____________

There was a Big Willie that ran a Hemi Daytona out on the west coast. Willie Robenson I think was his name, his girlfriend/wife had a similar car. He tried to get organized street racing off the street and onto thr track back in early 70's

[cammer427]

Brought to you by the:

[cammer427]

Brought to you by the:

[cammer427]

Brought to you by the:

[1939STREETROD]

back in the day, it seemed like every week somewhere in binghamton there was a race - either the brandywine hwy, airport rd, or the light to light runs....here are a couple of cars that ran often - mine is the 1970 402 4 spd nova...my friend john had the 1968 r/t with 440 and psychedelic paint ...we would race up and back 10 times just for fun!...til the sirens came......boooooo