It's 1958. The track is Gardena Stadium, Early Sunday afternoon. The jalopies are lining up to do qualifying.
See only one or two '36 or newer bodied cars. Here on the east coast at the tracks we raced at, there might have been only one or two '35 or earlier bodied cars running, the rest later years, up to '40. Any particular reason for the early bodies?
The '32 and '34 Ford frame was considered battle tested and the strongest to withstand the rough jalopy racing wars. Also, the 1932 Ford could be bought for $5.00 from a neighbor or from the salvage yards.
Also at the old "Dog track" in Culver city, Jalopy racing every Sunday, remember ol' Termite Snyder? Its true, all those bodies are REAL STEEL, in fact there were always trailers with extra cars waiting in the sidelines to replace the wrecked ones. The big payoff for the winner was----A case of Sta-Lube motor oil. The races were always on KTLA tv every Sunday in case you didn't attend the weekly event in person, NO color, just black/white screen.
Used to watch them on Sunday on KTLA, Dick Lane would announce. One guy who started here and went on to fame was Parnelli Jones...yes, they banged up the bodies but they were cheap...and, probably unlike the east coast, there were more early Ford bodies because there was less rust on the west coast, I'm guessing that many of the early Fords had rusted away by the early '50s.
Whoa Nellie, used to watch them often. Even when the raced in the rain on a muddy track. Times were good back then
That's Parnelli Jones waving to us all and car owner Omar Danielson donning his cap from the pits at Gardena Stadium. The year is 1957. Image taken from a color 8mm home movie. /ATTACH]
Old thread, New Question for 2023. Did any of these old Coupes survive? Does anyone have a Hot Rod today with one of the bodies or frames? East Coast was rough on old stock cars, most are long gone. Bob
I could have been there. My dad had his machine shop on Hawthorne airport and on Sundays after church he would drop me off outside with $2 and be back exactly at 5:00 and I’d better be there waiting. I think Mom never new.
The Jalopy Journal
