History Fremont Drag Strip ... PICS from 1964!!!

Oh Brother, Killer. No need to do anything to these shots. Love em! Thanks Hemi32. Slim

 

Good Stuff!!!!!!! Thanks for posting them

 

cool stuff HEMI32. looks like a plane and glider in the background of one of those.

in 64 Fremont was out in the boonies, and the drag strip was in the middle of no where. look at those virgin hills... not a mutimillion dollar house in site.

did your pop ever run the 32 there?

 

These photos tell a tale. Thanks for posting.

 

What a beautiful place to race. Thanks for the great pics!

Fred

 

What beautiful pics, thanks Hemi!! Hey Ratfink, that WAS an airplane and a glider in that one shot. Les Arnolds gliderport was back behind the strip. My brother and I went up for $5 once. Man what memories. Dad would take us to Fremont a lot. Man. Did the Dodge chargers, the blown wedge factory deal in the one pic run there a lot? Cause if they only ran there once I was there that day!!!! Lippy

 

well how do ya like that , a couple o holy shit hemi machines, thanks man,,,,

 

thanks, that place was fun, i was born in 64 so i didn't start going till the 70's

 

Kent Fuller Chassis

 

Awesome photos!! Thanks

 

Great stuff.

 

Roger (@riceman) ...

Thanks for adding all the info ... I seriously considered putting captions under each image ... but figured the photos were great fodder for discussion (after all the HAMB is supposed to be a message board / discussion forum) ... my hope was that others would "fill in the blanks" and post their first hand stories and/or memories of Fremont Drag Strip in the early '60s ... so, thanks again for your (very on-topic) contributions to this thread.

I do have a 3 questions/comments for you:
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1)

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Are you saying that Prufer's dragster was called the "Red Jacket"? ... or are you saying that handsome young gent in the red Fremont Drag Strip jacket is Tom Prufer?

If it's the latter, then I must correct you because that is not Tom ... that's actually a long-time family friend ... Dino Ramacciotti (@fremont32).

I've got an idea about who the other 3 guys are ... but I can't positively ID them ... maybe Dino will chime in here.
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2)

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Rumor has it that Tommy & Lefty have located the remains of "The Wailer" and are resurrecting it as a Cackle Car
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3)

image from the Sept. 2009 issue of Street Rodder (photo/article by @Chopperken Gross)

Rich Guasco is one of drag racing's senior heroes. Late in 1962, he was hospitalized following an accident when his dragster's rearend
broke loose, leaving him badly injured and facing a two-year recovery. Here he poses with the dreaded rear he's kept for nearly 40
years that did all the damage. After he recovered, Guasco pioneered the pro approach when he fielded a three-car "Pro" racing team,
then worked with Raymond Beadle and Dan Pastorini during a long career in professional drag racing.​

 

@49ratfink ... not in 1964 ... but we did run the coupe @ Fremont many times in the '70s and in the early '80s (Grudge nights, Nostalgia Nats, etc., etc.) ... I've got a bunch of photos/slides from those events ... but they are definitely O/T for this thread (and probably O/T for the HAMB).

 

I realize that it's not the best photo ... but I'm a bit surprised that no one has commented on the first of the 35mm slides:

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Here's a zoom:

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I hope when I die I can go back to this time and place! Thats my favorite period of drag racing and the track and location are second to none in my book! Thanks a million for sharing these great pictures, made my day.

Dave.

 

Hemi, I saw that!! SWC , kind of a rare rear shot. I remember that beautiful purple fiat of Davis&Ingrams too. Any shots of the J&J muffler altered? Man what a bunch of memories. I was there the day Masters and Richter ran Romeo Palamides jet car too. The dragster won. Lippy

 

Great pictures !!!!! Love em!!!

 

ES KRAZY !!

Thanx for sharin !!

Rat

 

Great stuff HEMI32 !! I was there too in the early 60's and ran grudge night in the 70's
My Dad started taking me there when we first moved to the area. Brings back some fun memories.

Thanks !!

 

1) I wasn't sure if that was Tom Prufer in the red Fremont jacket. Just a guess. The second guy in the white t-shirt might be Frankie Martinez aka "World's Fastest Mexican". 2) That is a good Youtube. I have not heard that about Tom & Lefty finding their car, the full bodied car ? If it is that one, Wayne King drove it. Brad Berger of Steiner and Berger NTF was planning on repopping the Masters & Richter Fuller fueler , but that hasn't gone forward as yet. 3 years running, so who knows what will happen. 3) Yes, that is the one that got Rich. When I was starting to collect parts for my Jim Brissette Cackle Car, I stopped by Rich's house to see if he had any parts he wanted to sell that I needed. Rich said all the 392 parts went to Larry Huff after spliting up. So Rich went into a 40 ft. storage container and brought out a cob webbed, dirty aluminum bellhousing. It was a Hydraformed 2 disc Donovan Bellhousing that he used on the Pure Hell AA/Fuel Altered when he switched from the SBC to the 392 Hemi. It still had the Donovan Cheetah metal sticker on it. He hands it to me and says " Just remember it is mine " and I told Rich " It will always be yours ". Rich Guasco is a amazing man and a great Hot Rodder.

 

This could be Bob Sparbaro's Cheetah ? 1963 Garlits chassis.

 

Logghe-Steffy-Marsh Jr. Fueler vs Masters & Richter. Early 1964 race with weedburners . Note that M & R had taken off the Enderle Barndoor injectors and switched to 3'', 4 butterfly Tall Hilborns.

 

Very nice. I prefer to see them like this unedited. The colors are awesome.

 

I can't believe I missed this!! Thanks for posting these, Hemi32. I think Kodachrome expresses how we all remember everything better than anything else. Just looking through the pics, I find myself making dragster noises.

Again thank you so much for taking the time to share these with us.

Brian

 

The Dodge Chargers Drag Racing Team
(based on a Mopar Action article by Dave Wallace)
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The big Chrysler Wedge engines dominated drag racing through 1962 and 1963, setting the stage for the 1964 Season of the Hemi. In the opening months of 1964, a pair of sedans would give the big engine a well-deserved sendoff.

With lavish, indirect factory funding, California's Dragmaster Company installed three supercharged, stroked Wedge engines into Dodge 330 sedans (one car was a spare) and called the resulting monsters the "Dodge Chargers." Their name predated the 1964 Dodge Charger show car.

The S/FX Dodge Chargers were run for just a few months, from March through July 1964, by experienced racers Jimmy Nix and Jim Johnson. Even now, many remember them as the first Funny Cars, a phrase that could come later.

Originally, the Dodge Chargers were to get Hemis, but development problems blocked that plan, and Wedges were used instead. Dragmaster chief Jim Nelson had already set records in gasoline-powered supercharged dragsters using the Wedge; he used a cast crankshaft to increase the stroke by a full half-inch, using the stock bores, expanding the engines to 480 cubic inches. The block had to be ground for clearance for the custom crankshaft and rods; and the oil pump pickup tube had to be diverted somewhat (the stock pump was used). Stock rockers were covered with magnesium covers.

Custom pistons were used. Ted Cyr set up the superchargers, from GMC; a Weiand magnesium blower manifold and drive kit was used, along with an 18% overdrive pulley system. The cars used four-port Hilborn fuel injectors, with a mechanical fuel pump drawing from a 2.5 gallon tank behind the grille, which in turn used an electric fuel pump to bring gas up from the conventional tank in back. The engine was estimated as having 850 to 900 horsepower and a redline of 7,800 rpm, far above the 426's usual 6,500 rpm.

Harvey Crane, whose cams were to become famous, personally set up three sets of heads, enlarging the stock chambers; he lightened and polished the valves, which kept the stock size. A Schneider roller cam was used with a standard Mopar valvetrain; four-inch header collectors were used with short pipes. A sheet metal shield was placed above the exhaust headers to keep heat from the engine, and the engine was cooled by a fresh air system using openings in the outboard headlights. The rear leaf springs were augmented by special shocks and traction bars, and power was transmitted by a modified TorqueFlite automatic and a stock limited-slip rear. Wheels were 14 inches up front, 15 inches in the rear.

The interior was actually left as it was, for the most part, so that Dodge could get the most promotional use of it; but safety equipment was added. Outside, the bumpers were replaced with lighter aluminum panels, to keep the stock look but cut weight; the usual aluminum front end kit was also fitted. One non-stock feature was the Jim Deist-designed parachute, which fit into a rack in the trunk and was bolstered by reinforced straps; the gas filler tube had to be moved to fit it.

The program's funding showed in numerous ways, beyond the lavish construction of the three cars. Dodge donated three standard Polaras (with 318 engines) for the team's staff; and the drivers got $200 per week plus travel expenses, which could include flying to races at a time when most racers drove to their engagements. A full time truck driver carried not just the two cars, but also a self-contained display, in a custom truck. Jim Nelson did all the mechanical work.

The Dodge Chargers were sent to strip engagements at the will of the Dodge sales apparatus; dealers would run special ad campaigns, and the Chargers would appear, with their cars shown at the dealerships between engagements. They set strip records in their initial California runs, turning in quarter mile speeds of over 132 mph during trial runs.

At one of the first appearances, though, one of the motors locked up, and the car was destroyed in a multiple rollover; fortunately, the driver was fine, but that was the end of the spare. Then the factory cut its funding, and the racers lost their crew; they did not get replacement parts, or the promised Hemis.

The two drivers persevered, making at least 40 matches at drag strips and Air Force bases, intentionally slowing down from their sub-11-second runs. Jimmy Nix lost an engine, and the two had to share a car, making single runs instead of running against each other.

Then Ford countered with a new, lighter, Comet "on the bottle;" their Jack Chrisman started to show up at Dodge Chargers appearances, challenging the pair. Jimmy Nix started working on a counter measure, altering the engine-less Dodge 330 with the intention of making it an all-out drag car, with a 392 Hemi fuelie and direct drive, but Chrysler suddenly canceled the program; racing dates were cut. The drivers continued to attend non-racing appearances, and the surviving Dodge 330 was put into Charlie Allen's care, moved by trailer from one display to the next. Allen eventually bought the car at a very low price, selling it a year later to raise money for his own project. That car has apparently disappeared from view, though the second car - the one with the dead engine that was to fight Jack Chrisman - reappeared some years ago.​

 

When I was at the Mopars at the Strip in Vegas a couple of months ago, I got Tom Coddington from the "Ramchargers" autograph on a Glossy 9x11 Postcard of the Ramchargers Racing Team 1961-67

 

That picture of Bob Walters' "Violent Vendor" is one of the best EVER of that car. Walter's owned a vending company in Lansing, MI - my home town - and was "converted" to the dragster lifestyle after a trip to the West in 1963 with Noah Canfield and Charlie Johnson with their car, a AA/FMR named the "Glass Chariot".

 

Cool pic. I doubt it but I wonder if that is my El Camino in this pic? The car came from Fremont and I believe Marcus told me a previous owner used to run it there years ago. It was originally white, too.

 

Boy. All those pictures from '64 and I didn't even get into the background. I bet I made every Sunday. I can only blame this on the photographer having good taste

 

Sweet fancy moses!! Those are great pics!