Vintage shots from days gone by!

Charging an electric car.

 

Do you think this guy still looks like this when he's at the wheel??

 

That's me getting the trophy for fast time at the Upland 1/4 midget track in 1956. I was 11, as was the trophy girl, Patty Wurtz. Yes, I kissed her.

 

electric drag car... he referred to it as "the car they didnt wanna hear about in Detroit". He made it 1966 out of a starter for a big jet engine. It ran 120mph in the 1/4.

This is the Allison v-12 powered generator and the reels that held the bare copper cables that ran down the track to power the car.

 

Detroit, once a great city.

 

Harley frame and front end ,small block , carb with no air cleaner and smoking a cigarette, what could go wrong .

 

Ritzville, Washington (on the way to Spokane and Coeur d'Alene, ID). I'll bet they'd like this snow right now. Too many fires out that way.

 

Pat

 

SA 1920020 by mactexas, on Flickr

 

Also, He won't go to far with that 1 gal. Whizzer Motor Bike fuel tank !

 

Hi Joyflea

E. J. Potter used to bring that Chevy powered bike out here to the early Smokers Drag meets in Bakersfield, and boy did he ever put on a show coming off of the line sideways just smoking that rear tire like a top fueler

I had the pleasure meeting him at lunch one day years later as he was into the tractor pulling using the Allison V 12 engines by then, my friend Bob Patterson ran the Allison's in his unlimited Hydroplane and had some parts that E.J. was interested in

The gas thank was just enough for each 1/4 mile run !!!

R.I.P. E.J.

 

That's E.J. Potter on Bloody Mary I. Nothing went wrong. The man was amazing.

 

Looks like the same bike that used to run out at Colton back in the early 60's. He would get on the throttle, the bike would accelerate like a rocket but also pull hard to the right, get off the throttle, steer back to center track, get on the throttle again, and repeat the process to the finish line. The ET wasn't all that good, but very entertaining to watch!

 

Don Garlits,---Age 9

 

Don't look like my old 1947 "Whizzer"!!

 

I was thinking it might be "one hand" Willy Borsch.

 

E.J. would tow the bike with a rope to get it started , then out of gear and up to the line and get it warmed up

He had a over center stand that would put the rear tire just off the track, once ready to go a lever on the left side would engage the rear tire then speed up the engine & tire and E.J. would just lean forward and the bike would then come off of that stand and just engulf the back half of the bike in tire smoke

Sometimes going pretty straight , sometimes in a drift and what a great show ' Priceless '