History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

Tow Bars.

 

I know this is "drag cars in motion" but how cool would it be to see a Country Squire station wagon pulling a Willy's coupe down the highway on a tow bar again, so.....................
MORE CARS WITH TOW BARS

 

Charlie Hill's Filthy Forty in all it's radiant glory!! With tow bar...
1962 NHRA NATIONALS at Indy

 

That's what I'm talk'n bout
It is true---If you don't ask, you don't get.
More please.

 

1964 NHRA NATIONALS- Ron Hassel B/G Willys with tow bar.

 

Barb Hamilton at the 1964 NHRA NATIONALS...with tow bar.

 

1963 Somewhere in Ohio. On the way from Virginia to Indianapolis for the NHRA NATIONALS.

 

Well Marty, if you slept through the trophy presentation as well this is what they looked like....

 

Larry,
Your Dad Bill, must have won those with Adios 1 (61 Ford 390-401 HP) or Bill Ireland's Cobra !

 

Ah, that's the one I was waiting for. Love to see that red '59 El Camino with your red Willys in tow. The only thing better is seeing your Willys going down the track!!

 

Yep Marty, I've got a handful of trophy's from around the northwest my dad earned with Adios 1. It was quite the machine and a terror to the '62 stockers before being kicked to the Gas Classes. It was a pretty darn successful early local Gasser as well, even with the "3 on the tree". If I only had an "In Motion" shot...Perhaps one day I'll put together a tribute car.

 

Here are a couple of shots of the starting line and timing tower at McMinnville. In the foreground of the first, is Johnie Hart's D/D, he set the record in '62. The flathead boasted 354 inches, using a 1" stroker from Crank Shaft Co. Since there wasn't permanent power at the track, they relied on a generator, and the Volkswagen Bus housed the sound system, from Rose City Sound. The G&M Auto Sales 40 Chev Gasser was down from Washington State.

 

Didn't the Filthy Forty throw a flywheel at York that bounced off the track and then went through the roof of the shed beside the track?

 

My Grampa (Toby Cagle) and a guy named Noel Timney worked together on the drivetrain for the Bustle Bomb in Signal Hill California..
Toby also did the disc brakes. He came up with the idea after seeing some of the early planes drum brakes catch fire, not stop when wet etc.
Airheart provided the money for the disc brake deal. The Airheart brakes that you'd see on early T/F & Funny Cars were Tobys design.
When Mr Airheart passed away, my grampa was notified and went to meet with Airhearts attorneys. (my Grampa didnt have a lawyer)
Toby thought he was going to get some money for inventing the brakes, but didn't get a dime. I remember him telling me about it in the mid to late 70s----"I signed the wrong papers son"
Whatever, do a google search on Toby Cagle/Disc Brakes/Airheart etc & you will see some of it.
Here's some disc brake pistons I have from back then. His brakes were the first ones used at Indy and the car won the race---it was able to go deeper into the turns than all the other cars with drums without brake fade. The writing on one of the pictures says "1st set of Indianapolis Cagle Racing Brakes 1952 Winner" (thats my gramas writing)
I'm sure I'm leaving something out, but when it gets closer to Indy Speedweek I'll post some more stuff.
Sorry for derailing the thread...
Troy Cagle

 

Thanks
That's pure Airheart/Halibrand porn.

 

This is amazing history!...I'm guessing that until Troy posted this, nobody knew this history...yes, the Cagle name is well known here, but inventing disc brakes that Airheart used, and became famous for?? I used them on my B/FD and on Panic, never knew their origin.....too bad your grandfather never got compensated for his work, it is incredible!......it is also noteworthy that other hot rodders contributed to the Bustle Bomb...in researching this there are indications that Larry Shinoda was also involved in the construction...thanks to Troy for posting this!...and thanks to George Klass for not only the original picture but for noticing that the Bustle Bomb had disc brakes...

 

Another from Norm Grudem, a street-driven gasser at Pomona, early '50s


Pretty crude commercials on the side of this '40, but typical for the time...note the towbar, most guys flat-towed cars like this...which may have been towed all the way from Northern California given that Vic Hubbard's Speed Shop in Oakland seems to have been the sponsor.


554 at Colton, April 1958...yes it is pretty blurry but this car deserves it...


Notice that Steve Gibbs, the track manager and all-around great guy, was also the track photographer.. Eddie Thompson, 4-speed, C/G, ID by Dean Lowe.

 

I posted a picture of this deuce roadster a while ago, but just found an ID: Jim Walker of the Fresno Rod Benders, 286" Ardun, ran 126 on fuel at Madera, though this shot is San Luis Obispo...Jim was an industrial arts teacher when not racing.

 

Wayne Trowbridge, Salem, Oregon ran this A/A with a 450" Packard. Around 30 years after this shot was taken, I got to know Wayne. One of my first questions was, did they build a fuel injection for the Packard ? He said he used a B-Mopar unit, and it nearly bolted on. It was a good runner !

 

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Notice that Steve Gibbs, the track manager and all-around great guy, was also the track photographer...any ID on this primer Willys?[/QUOTE]

Eddie Thompson's 40 Willys. Ran C/Gas with a 4 speed. When it hooked, it usually stood on the rear bumper.