I dig the look...not crazy about the lettering on the side but that is just a fine tuning detail....the radirs, whitewalls and color scheme is killer coming soon: rodtees.com
I agree 100%. I remember building those kits as a kid. I'd love to have one of the full scale ones in my garage!
True, couldn't be a gasser. I've only seen them built as wheelstanders. Actually, I'm thinking that if you are going to do it, it may be best to build it as a wheelie car. It may be pretty difficult to build one that would run on 4 wheels. Or, are we talking about a gasser "style" street freak thing?
The 1st Gen Econolines he's referring to were built from 1961-1967, which fits your time period for that Golden Age. That doesn't mean they were used then... but it was possible
It was not omly possible ,,,,thats how the LITTLE RED WAGON got started.Garlits built it as a gasser type class ride for mopar & when Golden drove it they couldnt keep the front end down...........and here in becomes the world famous wheelie poppers!.........this come from a interview with BIG on a dvd about wheelstanders.so hell yeah it fits!
You know it could be Valley View! I remember it was just right off HWY 39. I know it wasn't like a high dollar type speed shop but it was pretty cool.... that was a long time ago!
Here's another pic of that purple one posted before. This one was taken at the Gasser Nationals at Beaver Springs a couple weeks ago. Hauled ass, and looked fairly stable to me.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/busch_bob/2178502007/sizes/l/ I don't know if the picture will show up. This is what I'm trying to post
I was going to wait until I got a chance to put tires on this and clean it up but whatever... here's my 62 econoline drag truck. It was bought new from Ford in 1962 and raced until 1972. I bought it last month from the original owner. I also have a MATCHING trailer made from an identical econoline (same color and everything...even rusted the same way). I think it's pretty cool. The 260 Ford V8 swap happened in 1965 and I think I can get it to run. The wheelwells are radiused for the Inglewood 14x10 cheater slicks but the inner wheelhousings are not cut. I have the chrome reverse front runners to match the 14x10 chrome reverses in the rear but they are at the tire shop right now getting the original tires to hold air. The "neighsayer" name on it is because this originally was bought to haul horses. Scary huh?
Okay, stop this! This is making me want to get my truck on the road and I don't have the money to do it! Okay, maybe just a little more...
Okay, I don't get this. Three people have told me that my econoline would pull the front wheels and I don't believe it. How is this possible? The V8 engine is in the front, the driver is directly over the front axle and there isn't shit for weight in the back. How is this thing gonna stand up? Surely all of those wheelstanders are rear engined right? I had a 67 econoline van with a healthy sbc in it up front and it never even acted like it wanted to pull the wheels. of course, the tires sucked so it just smoked them all the time. it was also terrifying to turn or stop that thing and it was hot and loud as hell insided it.
There is probably a big cast iron weight bolted under the Truck, behind the Rear Axle & in front of the Rear Bumper. I got some parts of a Econoline Van of about the same age, and it had one. Looked like an original Ford Part...
That iron weight in the back of the Econos was stock. I don't think the 61s had them, but later ones did. It helped maintain traction when the truck wasn't loaded with stuff. There were 3 different weights, but all basically the same weight. Some guys swear you're fine without one, but I wouldn't do it. Anyway, the weight won't help make it a wheel stander since it's stock. All the wheel standers shown (Lil Red Wagon, American Flyer, etc) are mid or rear engined. Sccob, maybe you and I can race Econos at the Rt 42 Rock N Race next year. Mine better be done by then!
There used to be a early 60's Ford econoline around here called "The Hairy Greek" it at one time ran a Hemi but was later swapped out for a 440 tunnel-ram motor. That thing was killer fast but my most vivid memory of it was one Sunday out at Island Drag way in Great Meadows NJ we were the second car in line at the staging lane and The Greek was behind us. Everyone was waiting for the days eliminations rounds to start so everyone was just kicking back hanging with their cars and drivers waiting to go racing. All of a sudden the Greek fires it up and the thing takes off like a bat out of hell. I rolled across the fiberglass hood of my buddies Camarao just missing getting hit ( we all know what happened to that hood) he tried to make a hard left and smashed into a beautiful 69 Nova trashing the entire left side of the car, he bounces off the Nova and proceeds to take out the Christmas tree and piles it into a chain link fence and finally gets it shut down. The butt heads excuse was that the Kill switch didn't work. He was a new driver and he just panicked. I reached in through the smashed windshield right in front of the whole lynch mod and flipped the kill switch a half dozen times So anyone knowing the old Island Dragway affectionetly known as the "Cabbage Patch" knows it wasn't big time drag racing so there was no back up tree and that was the end of racing to that day. So form my prospective those things are friggin dangerous as all hell but still freakin cool.
Cool thread. I am loving that Paddy Wagon wheelstander. That's some early Oakland style sideshow driving there. Pop a few friends hanging out the doors and on the roof and you have a party going on. Looks like he has a huge smile on his face too.
Heres a cool vid of that lil' 400E in action! {second race..} http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J_MNnYKmGY
Hi there!! I love the pics. I just got my van about 3 months ago and so far so good. haven't really decided on what the finnished product will be but gasser has crossed my mind a couple times... It used to belong to my dad back in the 70's don't know who he got it from but it's mine now and i'm already startin on the body work...
Hey! Does anybody know what happened to the chopped, flamed, tubbed Dodoge A-100 pickup that Tom McMullen/Street Rodder Mag built back in the 70's. That thing was AWSOME!
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