History TRADITIONAL GASSERS, Gas Class cars and modern TRADITIONAL cars.

That's it for now, hope you enjoy the pics!
I'm sure some are repeats, I don't have the time, or frankly the interest anymore to review MY threads.Certain members here have decided they hate me , but I refuse to participate is some CRAZY internet feud.
Well that's the web guys, there is always some nut to ruin it! LOL
I provide captions when I can, try to provide some perspective and real history.
There are some people that apparently feel posting pictures is some sort of contest, they MUST post as many and as fast as they can, and more than me.That's weird and silly to me. Jeeez, get a life !
Besides. I'm not sure anyone really CARES about our history anyway, except for a handful of members, a few of us OLD GUYS! LOL!!!!!
I believe this is George Montgomery.

 

Here's something you don't see every day.

 

Hello,

When anyone built a gas coupe or just about any new build, it was traditional to drive through the local trail of hang outs to show off your car. (Ken’s Hamburgers, A&W, Hody’s, Oscar’s, and of course, Grissinger’s.) For the 55-57 Chevy to modified 30-40’s hot rods, it was the thing to do in Long Beach, I am sure elsewhere, too. It was not to show off, (well, a little bit) but to get people to notice what you could do to their cars.

A little legal cash never hurt as a teenager. When I made a floor shifter for a friend at our auto shop in high school, he showed it off to others and it was a big hit. I did another within the next week. Then, it was making custom long floor shift handles bent to fit what ever seating arrangements dictated, etc. No one had a 51 Pontiac sedan with a floor shifter above the dash ! The 59-60 curved floor shifters were good from the factory, but made for difficult drive-in movie seating comfort.

But, of course, there was always someone that had to try out his/her car against your new mods/build. We had takers when we drove our 58 Impala after a mod or two. They were not successful, but in the Willys, chugging through the parking lot created interest. Then, the next round of cruising up that rear alley in the Willys…with a small power surge in 1st and 2nd, there were no takers, only lookers.

Jnaki

There were others that did the same first time, cruise (post modifications) and it was fun going out to the “Cherry Ave” drags to see what was going to happen. We could not go out there to see any action driving in the Willys. We had to go home since we were going to run out of gas! The small Moon Tank only held 2 gallons. Plus, it was not the most comfortable seating arrangement with the Moon Tank and pump in between your feet.

 

RIP Steve McGee , Oregon AA'GS racer. Here's his Willys in the late 1960's!
A REAL HOT RODDER, he lived in Pendleton, out in the Desert, only AA/GS car for 200 miles! 60's.
Oh, and just a reminder (for my friend FALCONGEORGE ) of what a REAL gasser is!

 

Hello,

Since we were involved in drag racing, we became drag racing junkies, living for the weekend events all over So Cal. The Gas Coupe and Sedan class got us hooked as they were actual street cars modified for racing and legally be driven on the street. That was the idea at the beginning. As years passed, the gasser classes were all-out racers that could go from your garage to the gas station and back or be towed/trailered to the track. That and the cost of building a top notch contender was expensive, leading most ordinary guys to drop out. We stayed, building a Willys, but within our limited budget.

We still followed the top racers to the big So Cal events to see all of the racers go head to head in some classic battles. We filmed Al Hirshfield several times at 59-60 Lions and then at the 1960 Smokers Meet in Bakersfield. That Studebaker sedan was fast and loud. It was fun watching it go down the strip. It wasn’t the show quality car of some of the top racers, but looks can be deceiving. He was my brother’s icon as the guy with the race car that went fast, looks be damned…

Jnaki

He is behind by two plus cars at the start, but due to some motor malfunctions in Jr. Thompsons’s own Studebaker Sedan, Al Hirshfield wins this race.

 

That's a Canadian built Pontiac, cool!


Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

J&S speedshop Westminster,CA
1964 Lions Dragstrip All Gassers Meet
Hello,

From the late 50’s to the early 60’s the top racers seemed to all have 40-41 Willys coupes. There were very few Fords and Chevy cars that were in the Gas Coupe and Sedan classes. But, within the next three years, the explosion of the hunt for lightweight coupes and sedans became prominent. Some went to short pickup beds in the 40 Willys, the smaller 33-35 Willys coupes, while others went looking for smaller bodied coupes and sedans. These Anglia sedans and sedan delivery cars had big motors, big slicks and most now had stick hydramatic transmissions. They laid to rest, their larger coupes and sedans and picked a smaller Anglia or Austin cars for their lightweight stature.

Jnaki

At Lions Dragstrip during the 1964 season, this little red Anglia sedan had the "gasser" look, being sponsored by a popular , local (Orange County) speedshop. It was one of the first Anglia sedans in the gas coupes and sedans class at Lions. Within the next several years, they multiplied like bunnies on a spring break.

 

in the new fast and furious movie,

 

Um.....no, no , no, no NO! PLEASE NO!
NOT a traditional gasser at all. God, what did they do to that 'Vette!

 

I absolutely AGREE! Not a traditional gasser.

 

I believe the Vette is a kit car-replica of a Grand Sport with a street freak twist. With what little I have seen of the Fast and Furious cars I am not sure they could be used for textbook realism in a number of ways. A lot of people enjoy the series and that is all that counts I suppose.

 

But when it is time to blow that Kit Car Vette up in the movie...they are using a real one purchased right here from the HAMB Classified. After purchasing the car and loading it up they informed the seller of its fate!

Sent from my SM-G930V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

F'd it up. Hollywood at its best.

 

Love the pictures of your car.

 

thanks kidd

 

Long before my better half and I were married and just kids dating we used to see Jimmy Oddy run under the lights as they used to say on Saturday nights at Cayuga Dragway. He was one of our favorites.

Spoke with the diver and the current owner that restored the car at this years Detroit Autorama. Great memories.

 

This Willys was one of my favourites at this years Detroit Autorama. Glad to see them basically the way they were. This one is in what I call a "leave it alone" state. Unfortunately the above Oddy car had been ravaged by Bubba so badly it had to be restored. But was done faithfully.

 

The Willys above is actually a "new build" glass car. He used an org. frame, floor pan, wheel wells, door hinges, etc. Then proceeded to paint and patina it, to look like an old garage find. Came out pretty cool!

 

^An article in HRM a while back stated the Oddy car had the full street rod treatment when found, Tweety birds and all. Still had some body mods to prove it was real. Glad it was saved, tough looking race car, and a winner.