Folks Of Interest The Mongoo$e Tom McEwen

I'm a bad boy..

 

gee whiz... that's 2010... i'm taking final round notes on my clipboard in the stands at ETown... just doin' my job...

 

AND LOOKIN GOOD DOING IT. I told him to settle down .
I have a card of Tom from 1970 , can you get it signed for me without any hassle ?
THANXZ.

 

My mistake!! I'm now inserting my foot into my mouth.. Yuck!

 

one of the best drivers of all time and could still kick some ass!

 

I was lucky enough to see the Mongoose beat the Snake in the finals of the 1978 U.S.Nationals, one of the greatest funny car finals ever.

 

Was he in the corvette & Snake driving the Army car ?
I've got cards from 1970 of the Snake & Mongoose , i'll get em out & post tomorrow if interested .

 

I seen him once at Detroit Dragway in '77... He was running the Gold Coors Vette flopper at the time.. The place was so packed that we snuck in fer free.. Good times back then!!

 

Hey Deuces, ya want to do some tradin for that combo set ?
GET YOUR FOOT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH & ANSWER , WELL , DO YA ?

 

Eat Mor Chicken.....
we all know a Mongoose will kick a Snake's ass.
"AND THE BOWTIE ROLLS ON"

 

http://www.motortopia.com/dragracer/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/DR-0905-FC1-01-sm-420x324.jpg Earlier ride.

 

Was that the MONGOOSE before the Mongoose ? I think Hot Wheels did the name calling .
sweeeet.

 

Naaa... I'm gonna hang onto it!
I just might do the buildups and post pics on this thread if there's enough interest from you's guys..

 

I had a chance to buy a new model kit of the '57 flopper and I passed it up! On clearance for only 5 sheckles...

 

I'll be posting more tomorrow.
"AND THE BOWTIE ROLLS ON"

 

Cool!

 

That interview at ETown in '91 was the last time I saw Tom McEwen in person, so I don't really think I'm in a position to help you get your card signed... Sorry 'bout that... Last I heard he was working in advertising sales at DRAG RACER magazine, and that was a couple years ago... Good Luck...

 

First time I saw the 'Goose run was at Lion's...he got booed because he had taken Leonard Harris' seat in the Albertson Olds car after Leonard died a couple of weeks before, in another car...wasn't Tom's fault, but he got a rough start standing in for a local hero....but he did a great job in the car, and went on to harder stuff. Still, he loved to play the villain ... not only as the Mongoose but also by razzing Garlits...Garlits complained once in an interview about how tiring it was to run 200mph and McEwan couldn't resist. In an ad, he relegated Garlits to the old folks home and said he could run all day at 200...antics like this won him the moniker "The Mouth-goose." A legend...

 

You guys are going to hate me, but i have to brag. I was at a collectibles shop in Orange County with Tom and they had an unopened original Hot Wheels Snake and Mongoose set. I mentioned how I conned my Mom into dropping the coin for it when i was a kid and how much i wished i had kept it.

He snuck around, bought the thing, signed it and gave it to me as a gift... still have it on my shelf above the TV.... is that cool or what?

 

Well?????.......... Let's see it!

 

Tom told me that Ed Pink was the man that gave him the Idea for the Snake and Mongoose. He was at Lyons and Ed said, "Man, you are always digging into that guys S***! You're like Ricky Ticky Tavi to his Cobra!"

Tom asked, "What are YOU talking about?"

Pink said, "You know, like the Jungle book story... you know, Ricky Ticky Tavi the Mongoose and Prudhome is the Snake."

Tom liked the concept and it was all born at Lyons in the pits somewhere in the early 60's. That was part of a five hour session at his house that all started when i asked, "Can you recall the day that you realized that you could drag race AND make your house payment?"..... to which he replied, "Hmmmm.... I'll have to start at the beginning."

Epic stuff.... wished i had thought to bring a tape recorder, but it was a conversation among friends. let it end there i guess.. but i still get goose bumps thinking about the stuff he talked about.

Love that guy... go be his facebook buddy and ask him about the new Snake and Mongoose Movie that is coming out. I guess they have a deal signed.

 

One more before i call it a night... off the Mongoo$es web page...



Goodnight and go give the old guy some love... http://www.facebook.com/MongooseRacing

 

I remember meeting Tom back in 1957 at Reith & Mallard's shop at Tenth & Cherry. I was having Joe redo my 1956 283 and Tom had a Red 1957 Nomad that Joe was working on. I am in that old geezer class myself.

 

THANK YOU TRAILERGUY , you da man . nothing but RESPECT . Going to post some cards tomorrow, stay tuned everybody.
"AND THE BOWTIE ROLLS ON"
seen on fleabay a unopened set sale for over 2 grand .(not signed)

 

Unbelievable!!!

 

check these out ....1970-71
MONGOOSE 6.43 et ...226 m.p.h.
SNAKE 6.50 et ...220 m.p.h.
Ed Pink 500 ci. hemis
2000 horse

 

Thanks again bowtie!!! I love them early '70's floppers..

 

Now days those hemi cars are making 8000 hp and go 110-120 mph faster.... YIKES!

 

By the way everybody .......THESE CARDS ARE 4=SALE AS ARE THE RACE SETS.
"AND THE BOWTIE ROLLS ON"