Features Corvette hot rods - picture thread

SIAP but I thought you guys might like this!

 

Rat Sass that was a pretty cool car that ran in my neck of the woods. At this time (66 and 67) it was out of Ohio but it was sold and went to Ontario Canada. When it went to Canada they removed the top and ran in gas and altered (68 and 69). I watched that car run in both configurations. Cool car.

 

Jim. You never cease to amaze me with your history of these old Corvette drag cars ! All great stuff. Thank you !

 

Jim, you should make a record of all your early corvette racing history. Lord knows after you and I ( I only know how to judge how to win in a street race 30 to 50 years ago ) All this history will be gone forever. What a shame. Jim

 

Here is one from the Corvette Forumn

 

I have thought about sitting down at some point and time and trying to write about early Vettes and their place in drag racing and I probably will. I suppose one thing holding me back is that I know a bit about the Vettes that ran in this part of the country but not so much about the west coast cars or the cars that ran down south. My avatar car ran for years in New Mexico in a number of classes allegedly yet I know virtually nothing of the racing or Vettes that ran there.

In the late 80s I wrote a 3 part article on Mercer in racing (Mercer raced back in the teens) and I recently wrote an article on Miller (Miller became Offy) racing in the teens and I found out first hand how much work writing a decent article on auto racing can be.

My problem is that it has been for me personally 50 years of being obsessed with early drag Corvettes so I am sure I will be obsessed until I leave this place and at some time I will try and write something that helps document the history a little bit.

I have drug home old Vette drag cars to try and save the history I guess (and keep them from being pro streeted or turned into billeted street cars) and my latest build will be a vintage drag car theme. Seeing the Seaport 62 in CM/SP tempts me to go with the same classification on my present build (with a 301 or 331 possibly) but I am also trying to preserve the history (in my own way) of the junior stockers that ran in this era. They were great to watch and it is amazing how well they ran with 283s (allowed .060 over to 292); figure they ran mid 12s when the CM/SP were running in the 11s albeit low 11s if they were good.

Enloe that is another one of my favorites that ran locally. That is the old Berkley Auto Electric car owned and driven by Teddy Boschma, one of the Woodward guys (at least the rear shot showing Gorilla on the trunk-the other car I have seen but not so sure which 57 that is-although I like the pic). Gorilla was orange and ran mostly BM/SP and B/G in the period I watched it regularly (427 injected). I have a picture over my desk of the car and also a picture of the Prontitio 57 which was my favorite (427 injected). I spoke to the owner/builder of Prontito which was the Midwest Pontiac powered (then 427 Chevy in 66) 57 a few years ago and got his take on the car and the era. They ran with the top and the top blew off during a run and they then ran it without the top in B/G and B/A (mainly B/G though).

Here is a pic of Ken Clark pulling the wheels at Milan in either 66 or 67. The pic of the Seaport 62 without the top is probably 68 with Prontitio in the background. Prontito was running B/G at this time.

Then Gorilla pulling the wheels is a great shot in my opinion.

 

You should write a book I would definitely buy one.

 

If you could only go back in time and make the deal,

 

Great stuff Jim! Here's a shot of my all-time favorite Stocker...

 

Love it.

 

I have a few favorites to be honest but that car is a great stocker for sure. Here is a picture I took at the Detroit Autorama. I spoke to the owner and he is very passionate about the car. I see he has run the car which is great. He told me he was going to run it and I asked him if he thought it would run 12s and he thought it would. I think he did make a run or two in the 12s recently.

 

Does the owner live in Michigan?

 

I am not sure where he lives to be honest- I had thought he lived in another state but not sure which.

 

I remember when that red Hot Rod decal (or plate) was quite the badge of honor...

 

Bunch of Corvette Hot Rods.
I have this book for sale in the misc for sale section.

 

This one was from Minnesota and ran a 426 Hemi. Who knows if it survived.

 

Now don't be giving me any new ideas...

 

Me too! History like this often gets lost for one reason or another. Jimdillon even if you only share your regional knowledge it would still do credit to the 'Vette gasser story from back then. Too many people nowadays pamper the old 'vettes like they are some piece of rare glass. I like the old stories and Baron and CrazyGrandpa's versions of a Corvette a whole lot more.

 

This one ran a 426 wedge that he took out of his Plymouth put in the 57 Corvette and ran A/MP. The name on the picture is wrong it should be Peter Bonavitto (sp) Ray ran a C/MP 59/60 Corvette with a 283, w/ Westchester Service on the side.

Pat

 

Amen OahuEli, You like the old stories, Check this one out. Post 124.

http://www.corvettevalley.com/showthread.php?t=12156&page=7

 

This is a shot my friend took last summer of my wife and me . I like it!

 

keep the pics coming...love this thread

 

ME TO

 

Love this shot of Paul Blevins D/Gas Corvette, plus you get the bonus of seeing a young Buster Couch. I'll bet Jim Dillon can tell us more about the pic.

 

Couple more pictures for you

 

Rat Sass (and Baron), I do have a file on Scotto & Blevins although there may be some New Jersey racers that know more about them than I do. I would assume this is 1971 as that was the year that Blevins won the Supernationals at Ontario. I am guessing they were doing some testing or a promo shot- a guess though. The Vette was originally built I believe to run in Modified Production but ran gas in 1971 when this picture was taken. They started out with a 327 but since they built professional engines I can only assume they tried different combinations (although that is more guess than gospel). In typical fashion for the day they ran a Pontiac rear and of course the more "normal" stance of the early 70s. I do not know about them winning Modified Eliminator but if such occurred I surely would have liked to have witnessed it. The last year they ran the car was 72, I believe. Besides the gas classes of the 60s the modified eliminator runs of the 70s were some of the most memorable runs I have even witnessed. My buddy ran a 292 SBC in a 69 Z-28 (a little later than this date though) and his was one of the largest in cid. A 327 winning class (if it had a 327 at the time) would have been cool to see.

Cool pics.

 

I also like the Mr Bardahl Corvette

 

Great stuff Jim, I love hearing about the history of these Drag Vettes. You should think about writing a history on what you know about them with pictures of them from back in the day. This will get the ball rolling and maybe more information will come out on the cars that you don't know about. Also this will prevent the history from disappearing. Some of the racers are still around and could be contacted for stories and pictures and this is what made the Gasser Wars book by Larry Davis so great.