I keep seeing in some of my old,and not so,old magizines pictures of Front Engine Dragsters with straight six cyilnder engines in them with the caption refering to them as D/Fuel or D/Dragster. Since we already have a Jr. Fuel thread Why not one for this class? So let's hear some stories, and see some pictures of this class. Who built, ran one. When did the class start,end etc.etc.
Back when I was drag racing (early '60's), "D/Dragster" was for oddball engines, mainly 6 cylinders and flathead V8's. In those days, we ran "D/Altered" which also was for the "odd balls". There were a few others in our class, but I never encountered a "D/Dragster". Funny, since it was a cheap, fun way to go racing. When we started, we had about $200 in our race car; most of it was in the safety equipment (scattershield and safety hubs). The second year, we added dual carbs and finned aluminyum heads, and had about $500 in it.
In the late 80s, early 90s with the resurgence of nostalgia drags at New England Dragway, we could get as many as six D/dragsters and altereds together which for the East Coast was a bunch. Ron SanGiovanni (ronnieroadster) had a rail, my partner and I had a rail, Reg Bernier from NH had a rail, some guys from the Springfield, MA area had an old rail, the Spur Bros out of Boston had a rail, and when we ran Englishtown we were joined by Charlie Overfelt's altered. We bought the chassis at a swap meet in the 80s from a house painter who got stiffed on a barn paint job and had to take the chassis in lieu of money. 135" wb, MT mag center in Olds rear, VW torsion front suspension, probably built in early 60s as it had '32 spindles cut down and chromed equiped with P&S parts. We put a 3 3/8 by 4 flathead that we bought complete from a circle track guy who built the motor but never ran it as the VT track went from flatheads to 300 cu in Ford sixes. Paid $100 including the Wilson style rotissere engine stand it was on. We redrilled a SBC steel scattershield to work on 8BA block, had pilot bearing made to fit flathead flywheel and Chevy front shaft and then found a $10 part at Thompson Speedway flea market that was an aftermarket plate to use on '55 Chev 3 speed without tailshaft and mate to a '49-54 Chev torque tube. Only about 10" long it was perfect length to put motor in right spot. We ran second/high only and used a early Chev universal to connect trans to rear end. It was a low buck car, we ran four twos until we could afford hilborns, and a hell of a lot of fun. Here is a great pic of the car, from Bangshift, with the new owner/driver at the helm.
Love the D dragsters....matter of fact I'm building one. "D Dragster is still in the books for '61 and gaining popularity by leaps and bounds."
Buck & Thompson Class D Slingshot Dragster, 1960 THF36043 Built by Bob Thompson and Sam Buck in Lockport, Illinois. They used a Chassis Research frame purchased as a kit and a Ford flathead V-8 engine. From- www.flickr.com/photos/thehenryford/
This is Colorado racing legend Joe Umphenour's first dragster. This little gem ran in and around Colorado in the late 50's through 1964.
The first dragster I ever drove was a Flattie powered D/Dragster. Quite a thrill for an 18 year old kid. Back in 67.
...............Loudbang posted this picture of Dave Dozier's Winternationals class winning 1939 Chrysler straight eight dragster on the Vintage photos thread. Dave was still running Chrysler straight eights all his life and eventually went 250mph in his streamliner with one at Bonneville.
Joe was very innovative and meticulous about all of his cars - dragsters or otherwise. Here is the same dragster (his second one) without the panels.
Here's one of my Logghe car running as an IHRA D/ED in 1980 with a 240 ci Ford. The /ED stands for "Econo Dragster" which means it had to be NA carbed with the production cylinder head. It ran well enough that the next year IHRA effectively outlawed my car introducing a rule that mandated econo dragsters must have a wheelbase in excess of 125 inches. Allen Tracy photo Here's another
The Jalopy Journal
