Folks Of Interest Otto Ryssman Rolls the Post Special

[Ryan]

By all accounts, Otto Ryssman is one crazy bastard. As one of Chuck Potvin's best pals, he spent his early days of racing essentially being a test bed/driver for all of Chuck's ingenious inventions. Together, the two experimented with elaborate Zep...

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[Stevie G]

That was an good read Ryan,
Thanks for the article.

[da34guy]

Kool read Ryan.
A buddy of mine back in the 70's was still running Post Auto Body in Orange.
Some of the stuff in the rafters was leftovers from Ottos escapades.

[JeffreyJames]

Some people give everything to this and that's where the real innovation comes from. I sort of feel sick about the person that was killed by a pressure plate though. Man, that had to be the worst day in Otto's life.

[autobilly]

Well said Jeffrey. Good read Boss.

[mcload]

You nailed it: "the man did it". What do we know about the Post Special? Was it aluminum or fiberglass? I'll bet that thing was close to being air-born at that speed! Thanks Ryan.

[callcoy]

I was born and lived in Orange, remember visiting Post Body shop before the streamliner rolled. I can't remember Mr. Post's first name, he had a an employee that I believe was involed in that car, Doug Hartelt. Doug won the 2nd (?) NHRA Nationals in his car the Hot Rod Magizine Special, Driven by Calvin Rice, went to Bonneville with Doug and others from Orange in 1960. He ran the engine out of the dragster in Bob Herta's Devin, Potvin front mount blower 392 Chrysler. Bob was killed a year or two later at the flats in his streamliner. Still can not remember Mr Posts name but remember his daughter's, I dated her.