Has anyone REALLY street raced? (pics)

I took street racing REALLY seriously in the 70's til early/mid 80's. Not this 3 wide, 2 miles to get past 80MPH, rice rocket, trash can exhaust BULLSHIT in residential areas, in the afternoon. I'm talking clandestine, wee hours of the AM, industrial areas, bad ass Street racing. Let's see your Badboys here. My Falcon had a roller 327 Chevy, clutch turbo(400), and a Pontiac rear. Of course a straight axle

 

one more

 

This is circa 1975(?). Gasser 41 Willys (426 Max wedge power), and a 70 1/2 Z-28 with a pretty bad 427 (big compression, tunnel ram, 5:13's and a 4-gear). Burnouts, dry hops balls out high 10 second cars looking like 8 second cars when you're right on top of the cars, your hearts jumping out of your chest just hoping the race goes off before the cops show up. Victory went to the Camaro. This was a very serious street race car for the times.

 

Now that's real street racing!
I remember very late nights out with friends to watch street racing in the mid 80's. 10-11 second cars that would pull the wheels.
It's nothing compared to that photo of the willy's and the camaro though.
Very cool.

 

This was the first car I ever built. (Back when I was a Ford man.) Had a 514 inch 429. Ladder bar/coilover yada, yada..

I used to go out in the parking lot at lunch time and do full throttle launches for all my fellow co-workers. She would pull the left front about 6 inches, not bad for a longbed truck.

-Abone.

 

I'll let someone in West Texas validate this...

9 Mile Baby!

2 lane road, 5 or so miles out of town, 9 miles between intersections, flat and straight as an air strip.

We usually went out after the cruise in broke up around 1 AM or so. A good night would be 100+ cars and bikes. Most were warmed over street cars, but the heavy hitters would come out and settle an argument often enough. One of the crazier fellas ran mid to high 9s in a 70ish camaro at the track. He ran down the fence on at least one side of the road, I think maybe both sides. I cut my teeth on old school drag bikes then. A 10 second ride was outrageous on the tires and suspension we had. I miss those days!

 

65-7 on Woodward Ave in Detroit. Towed my built to the hilt 64 GTO out from MA a few times a year to play for cash.

Engine was built by Teddy Wingate, balanced by Lindskog and race tuned out there by Royal Pontiac.

It did not lose very often but I didnt go against the 8 sec blown hemis either! By 67 it was outclassed by the Chevy 396. I sold it in 67 and bought a LS6 Chevelle in 70, got married also in 67 so the new wife had me on a leash for a time. Never got back to Woodward except some visits while on business in the early 70's.

Sorry, no pix but it did make the pages of one of the street mags of the era.

VERY LOW & consistent 12 sec ride, best ever on the strip was 11.97 @ 123 running B/FX, M&H cheaters and a lot of help from Swanson Pontiac out of Lincoln, MA.

 

I've got several hours of video on HWY 239 east of Prescott, Kansas racing the 1/4mile to the Missouri State line.

Everything but Top fuelers showed up to it! Door slammers running sub 8's.

Went on for 4 hours before a Kansas Highway Patrol chick stumbled on it on patrol, and shut it down.

This was 2002 the last time I was there. It was an annual unplanned event.


Guess I need to figure out some Youtube for us, huh?

 

yep but no pics just a little jail time!!!

 

No pics either, but in '72 and hALF OF '73 When I HAD to sell it) my Olds 442 was UNBEATEN on the street.
Only came close to getting caught once...cop followed the loser instead of me when we split.

 

I worked at Gratiot Auto Supply in Livonia in the 70's, I knew a lot of the other Street Racers,.. we went to war on Telegraph, Eckles Rd., "The Ditch (I-696)",Gratiot, Woodward and other smooth flat roads,.. I ran a couple diffrent cars but all I have a picture of is my old 66 Fairlane ragtop, a lot of guy's got a long look at the tail light's of this ol' critter,...

 

to this day I'm still amazed that as a photo major in school and I never had a camera when racing. thought we were fast in the 50's till the factory got serious about 56-57 then things got crazy when anyone could buy a fast car, human nature to make them better, spent alot of time at DYNO DON"S when he worked at C.S. Meade in Pasadena. but the fast cars would peg those old dyno's
all we needed for race site was no side streets. quit racing on the street in 1967 when I was hooked on off road racing. no spectators or rules

 

Hey..
Question.. Was your Goat white? Have Swanson Pontiac name on the side?
Pontiac Slim
PS.. You ever heard of the Golddigger GTO out of Mass. ?

 

damn i gotta find my pictures. from 83' until 87' i had a 66 gto full body ~ full interior 3400 lb. car. 11 to 1 400 cube with tri power, it use to run 12.80's with 3.55 gears,th 400. later i changed the cam and put a 12 bolt in the rear with 4.10's. the car was considerably faster but i never got a chance to time it.
we use to cruise market street in downtown riverside california religiously every friday & saturday night. racing was done on north main street or palmyrita street between the orange groves . most cars we saw were 12-14 second cars. later the place to race was in the indistrial park near the ontario airport. they did this because the cops couldn't fly ghetto birds over due to restricted air space.

the craziest shit i ever saw was going over to city of industry california near nogales & the 60 freeway in the undustrial area. guys old enough to be our fathers were pulling up in trailered race cars...full on slicks,trick fuel,headers open,etc. gang bangers from south central L.A. were pulling up in serious race ready camaro's.

 

i have an original water decal of ace wilsons royal bobcat.

heard many stories from jim wangers about race prepping early poncho 421 big cars and taking them out to woodward. he also told me they had a stock black 67 gto that they'd take out. set up races then go back and get the royal treatment race prepped ram air car and clean house.

 

Sorry I don't have any pics. I did some street racing in/around Austin Texas in the early 90s. I was just along for the ride, really, my buddy had a '70 Chevelle with velocity stacks sticking out the hood. It ran high 11's on nitrous with a 383 and rock hard tires. It was too easy to find somewhere to go. Lot's of straight, little traveled roads. I liked the roads for housing developments that were never built. Nobody to complain, and no traffic. It was all friendly for us, no $$$. We did get beat by a stroker Fox body mustang. The guy made a big show of disconnecting his nitrous bottle in the cabin, racing 'motor to motor'. He beat us by a nose. It wasn't until later that I figured out the real nitrous bottle was in the trunk, and he'd pulled the wool over our eyes. All in good fun.

 

I'd LOVE to get a copy of that video!

 

cool thead you guys had some nice machinery.

 

This was about 15 yrs ago. Never street raced it, but a lot of fun. Small block, no nitrous, 8" street tire, and 3:70 gear, it ran 11:20's through 2 1/2" exhaust system, pullin the wheels about half foot. I sold the motor, and through together another low dollar small block ($2700 i think complete), and it ran 12 flat, then i put 3" exhaust, and it ran 11:70's (114MPH i think), then i put a small unit (nitrous) on it and it went 10:70's at 131MPH!!!!! With the 3 tenths i picked up with the 3" exhaust, i probably would've ran 10s twith the first motor (no nitrous, 3:70 gear). Oh well

 

Another street race car (maybe 1980?). I don't think i EVER lost in this car. This was taken at the now defunct OCIR. Me and my buddies would rent the track for $35 a car in the middle of the week to tune for the weekends street racing. We ran the tower, the clocks, everything. AWESOME. Only thing was one car per run. No pairs. I'd flat tow this with a tow bar behind an Elcamino 80 miles. One day a dickhead cut me off on the way to OCIR, my buddy Eddie goes and throws a chocolate shake at the fuckers windsheild. It looked like brown paint on the guys windsheild. He was swerving to beat hell, and we're laughing our BALLS off!

 

Axle, I remember those days in the City of Industry. I think the place was called Hershels. There was also beach and Imperial in La Habra. I used to love street racing, I had a 65 mustang Fastback that ran low 13's high 12's that I used to street race. Me and my buddies would go out to the street races atleast once a week. I can remember seeing some pretty fast trailered cars racing. My favorite was the black street racers they would always shuck and jive and try get races going, they all talked a mean game and backed it up with some really fast cars. Those were the days, Its funny I still bump into some of the guys from that era, they are all still into cars and drag racing.
Jimmy White
P.s. I dont condone street racing, but there is really something unique and special about street racing. I think it has something to do with the nitty gritty part of it. The cars were all business and so were the drivers.

 

Groucho, it looks like you had some heavy hitters back in the day!!! I think I would still probably street race, if it was like it was back when I was into it.
Jimmy white

 

THANKS!, it was a ton of fun. We'd meet at midnite behind Bank Of America on Van Nuys Bl at midnite, set up races and socialize for a couple hours, then go to one of several "race" spots. No intersecting side streets, plenty of street lites, an absolutely "NO" cars on the side of the street we raced on. No exceptions!. One car on that side, and no race, period. We took this shit seriously, very seriously. It was all we lived for. If it rained that Saturday nite, we were mortified. Egads, 7 more days before another street race nite. I remember spinning a bearing in a Camaro back then on some bullshit neighborhood score on a Thursday nite, and had it fixed by Saturdays street racing. Motor out, apart, machine the crank, resize the rods, back together, and back in the car. I vaguely remember it to be June, because of the "June bugs" flying in my face attracted to the droplite under the car in the wee hours making the "fix". Did i mention, TONS of fun?

 

Hey Jimmy,

you sure it wasn't Harbor Blvd & Imperial highway? It was the old KMART parking lot, people would meet on Sunday nights. Also, people would hang out at the Carls Jr. off the 91fwy by Camelot mini golf. I was cruising my '72 Chevelle SS, red with white stripes and white interior. Lots of fun and I still have the Chevelle.

Sean

 

hey it's a lot of fun listening to ya'll talk about the times that you had when I was still in dipars..you sound like my dad..I remember only 3 or 4 years ago me and my buddies used to make the drive from santa cruz to milpitas to street race..it was mostly rice bruners but I brought my 67 chevy step side..that truck was so beat looking..talk about sleeper my dad crashed it into a retaining wall and we never fixed the body but the truck had a pissed 383, muncie, and 4:56 spool..the first time I raced it this guy in an rx7 thought he had it made..he was laughing so hard untill I pulled him by (i'm told) 6 lenghts..he didn't laugh when I offered to race for pinks..ha ha i probly would have pussed out anyway..my dad still has that truck..i will try to take some pictures.

paul

 

I am pretty sure it was at Fashion Square off of Beach and Imperial, There was a Buffums department store there. This was the late 80's early 90's. We used to go to Camelot every weekend, that is were it all started for me and my buddies. Camelot was the first time that we actually raced. One of my buddies had a 64 Sport Fury with a decent 383, it probably ran low 13's. We set up a race with a 67 Camaro, we all pooled are money together (I think it was $120). We met the Camaro on Mira Loma and got smoked. We definetly learned some street smarts that night.
Jimmy White
P.s. I think I can remember people meeting up at the K-Mart, after fashion square got blown out by the cops.

 

No pics from those days, but yes, early-mid 90s. Mostly Etiwanda in Ontario. Til 5am sometimes, lots of stuff, from american to jap to german and back to american.

Most of the racers in Racers Against Street Racing, or R.A.S.R., used to race out there. Kinda ironic, dont ya think.

 

forrest lane in dallas was good we used to drive my car down there and street race.one night a guy backed a orange 55 chevy off a trailer,full cage tubed out 2 dominators sticking out of the hood.very bad car.made a very scary pass

 

thats I funny question I met you in the valencia business park one night through steve, remember?