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

This car is still racing with the southeast gassers...there is a thread on the original owners son getting it back to the track.

 

If my memory is correct the original minimum wheelbase was 92" and the Anglias etc were 89"--oops!--not quite right but here is the full story, courtesy of gassermadness:
http://gassermadness.us/Gas_Classes/index.htm

Roo

 

You were close enough!...thanks.

 

Don't have an ID for either car


No ID here either...


Gabby Bleeker after he switched out the blown Olds for a Chrysler...I think this car still exists in stretched form but have not seen it in years...steel-bodied Bantam. It gradually evolved from an unchopped, unblown altered into this, and later got a new frame. I remember him running Bakersfield.


Garlits at Great Meadows, NJ


When gassers were street-driven...no ID on either the cars or the track...anyone?


I am guessing that this photo has been posted here before, but not recently. Leroy Chadderton in the Magnificent 7 racing the Beaver Hunter, maybe Henry Harrison on board. Leroy did not know how to lift, made some of the wilder runs of this altered period, and sometimes could not get it stopped...ran off the end at Irwindale, banged up the front end, but ran it anyway in the next round.


Photo is marked "Rundel Brothers," but it is (or was) run by the team of Weeks & Noble, injected fuel Desoto. They may have sold it to the Rundel Brothers.

 

Found a few.

At Maryville Drag Strip in Tennessee, this ’32 Ford five-window coupe looks to be mostly stock, with power from a 348-ci Chevy W engine.




Unknown Dragsters at Lions



When the NHRA put a ban on nitro in 1957, drag racers had to find other ways of making power, so many resorted to superchargers. Generally, these blowers mounted atop the engine, but many racers used a Potvin blower drive, which positioned the blower in front of the engine (driven directly off the crankshaft) for better aerodynamics and driver visibility. (Photo Courtesy Larry Rose Collection)






Don Garlits was a pioneer in the sport of drag racing, and he campaigned a fuel dragster for many years. This is the Swamp Rat I, and it was simple by design, but struck fear in the hearts of competitors




The famed Speed Sport Roadster was an innovative machine with its mid-engine design and nitro-swilling Hemi, and it’s one of the most recognizable drag cars from the late 1950s.




This dragster is a home-built piece. The fellow in the sunglasses is Jim Smith of Dayton, Tennessee. He built, tuned, and drove the Hemi-powered rail.




This photo was captured at Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip in Hixson, Tennessee. (Photo Courtesy Larry Rose Collection)

 

Looks to be Ted Harbit in what would wind up later being known as the "Chicken Hawk". Car was destroyed in a bad crash somewhere in Indiana several years ago. Had evolved into a twin turboed still Stude powered beast. Mr. Harbit knows his way around the Studes.

 

Here a 64 funny car show! Are there even 25 AA/FC cars in the entire country now?
[/QUOTE]
Nostalgia Funny Cars could make that show today!! There could probably be a 32 car BB/FC (alcohol) show to go with it.

 

Some fuzzy old Drag News photos, this from Feb. 1956. Posted as this is a really unusual engine, a SOC Cadillac engine built by Jefferies Boat Works and Jack Engle. I have never heard of this experiment before, but sounds like it worked. Wonder what happened to it?


Pretty minimalist flathead dragster -- reminds us that rear engined dragsters have been around for a very long time, this is '56




Ruddy & Weinstein normally ran this rear-engined roadster at Bonneville, but it also saw the drag strip. It has been been perfectly restored by Jim Busby's shop.

 

Notice Leroys right rear tire, no smoke. I know these car didn't go straight offend, maybe one of the reasons???lol. I was lucky enough to know Leroy, had my shop next to his in the "Alley" in Pomona. Great teacher even though he had a caustic personality. He taught me how to put things together right the first time.

 

Yes he is! Kicked my ass at Montgomery a couple weeks ago.

 

I have some questions regarding drag racing in the early sixties - 1960 /64 in particular - and Socal fuel racers of that time period. I would like to tap into the expertise of the posters on this thread who were around at that time.
Would it be permissible to post my questions on this thread or should it be handled with PMs? If PM is the way to go feel free to send me a note.
Depending on the answer I get, I will gladly delete this post if need-be.
Thanks

 

Maybe it's just me, but I don't think this is drag racing as intended. This is more of a circus act or something you would see at at a Main Street holiday festival. And, the clowns usully sit in the rear. This is more a contest of who can stay between the lines. Dah!

 

Hey Speedwrench

Fire away with your questions as that is what this thread is all about, as some of us were there working on those early fuelers

DND

 

Gabe, good point...I ran blower pistons in my unblown Ardun, so had around 8.1/1 CR, but what helped keep the crank in one piece were Wilcap steel mains that were almost .75" thick. I had to seriously rework the front of the pan to get it over the caps -- and I never got it to fully stop leaking. Some flathead guys ran much higher compressions rations and snapped cranks regularly.

 

Like Don, I am glad to answer questions (though he is a much better engine builder/fabricator than I ever was, so on engine/mechanical stuff, ask him).... I can also sometimes tell how NOT to do stuff!

 

You're fine Speedwrench. We all benefit from this. Welcome.

 

The Augustine bros. ran often
at Thompson, and were great racers in the gasser wars!

 

I'd say that's nearly as important as knowing what TO do! And it can be a real time and money saver... well, after you spend the time and money figuring out what doesn't work...

 

Regarding the two folks with the BB/D flashing the International Sign of Good Will in post 51686, that would be Tony Garcia on the left, and Matt Rogg. Picture was probably taken by Austin Myers, car owner along with Matt. Louisville, KY based, this was one of Bill Stebbins chassis. Tony was driving the car that day, as Austin was driving Butch Hummel's Top Gas twin Chrysler in the background. Austin was an Honoree at this year's NHRR at Bowling Green. Not sure why I know things like this...... Chase

 

Thanks, Chase, I updated the post, glad for the input!

 

At the time Tom Ruddy was the crank machinist at C-T. They had two shortblocks for C and D at Bonneville and never hurt eithers crank or block (a few pistons though). Really had crisp exhaust note
at 60%

 

I did not know this, C-T was a pioneering team on both Arduns and flathead cranks, and I am betting that the Ruddy crank was a welded stroker, not metal-sprayed like some flathead cranks. Those tended to hold up a lot better than the metal-sprayed versions....thanks for the info! (it would have been great to hear the restored Ruddy-Weinstein roadster fire up, I know that Busby fired up the Khougaz Bonneville roadster that he restored, wonder if he also lit off the R-W car?)

 

A few years ago I was happy to see a restoration of the Ruddy-Weinstein Bonneville car. It set for years when rear engine roadsters were disallowed. Ruddy's motor was sold for $500 and convereted
to gas for (I think) a boat. I doubt if the motor internals in the restored car are anything like Ruddy's after noting several external clues (plug wires, injector stacks added, etc). Fuel Arduns definitely
had their own sound.

 

Hi Dave

Anything running a load sounds good, blown un-blown any amount of holes even Harleys too

DND

 

First rule of running nitro: If some is good, a little bit more is better, and too much is just enough