For those of you who drag raced back in the 50`s early to mid 60`s what where the actuall 1/4 mile times or where there just 1/8th I would like to know speeds and times of actual cars and set ups. Like for instance my car a guy builds it 32 5w olds B&M hydro 303 or even you guys that had 324`s 371`s 4bbl or even a 4x2 setup IDK the gear yet sorry also if you had a hemi in a coupe etc i would like to know how fast you guys were. If theres a thread on this i couldnt find it. Thanks in advance Please give accurate info. Any of you guys have pics of your cars back then please post Thanks
Drag racing was ALL 1/4 mile from the beginning until 80s/90s. (?? don't really remember when they started running 1/8 mile.). However, E.T.s weren't part of the concept til late '50s. I have the December '55 H.R.M. in front of me and all the results for the First Nationals are listed. There's nary a single E.T. listed-it was all about trap speed. In gas coupe/sedan class a /33 Ford with a '54 Olds engine achieved 96.87 m.p.h. A '32 Ford with a '50 Merc in it went 92.15. Others: '40 Ford w/'49 Cad went 98.79; Howard Johanson's '55 Chevy w/'55 Chevy went 99.88. In street roadsters a '29 Ford w/'52 Chrysler managed only 88.75.n
Thanks Dale , I wasnt sure but thought that it was all 1/4 ,are there any times (how many seconds) the cars went?
In the southern ohio area in the mid 50s anything over 100 was very fast as there were very few all out drag cars. My 1929 whippet with a 303 olds,4-97s on a crower ''u-fab,& a Dryer cam went 117 & we won top eliminator several times after we took the body off at the end of the day to run the dragsters.
My 50 Merc in the Late 50's did 16 seconds in the 1/4 mile the Car still had the Flathead in it I would drive it to the Track & Re-jet the Carb & Play with the Timming and Race most of the Day & redo it & drive Home the Track was about 100 miles from Home
in the later part of the 60's I built My Race Car BBC-L-88, 64 Chevelle SS & ran it at a National Champion event, & the Record Holder Beat me by 1/100th of a Second and Changed his class and he told me when I got the Bugs out of it I would beat him & he didn't like to get Beat he was a Very Good Freind he retired to FL. as far as posting a Picture on hare I cant because I lost my FTP site
If you want representative E.T.s, you'll have to wait until I dig farther into the stack (of H.R.M.s). As I said in my earlier reply, they simply didn't record or report E.T.s back then.
Back in the late 50's and early 60's some of the tracks paid performance money, $1.00 for every mile per hour over 100 in the quarter. Very few cars ever collected any performance money.
Old drag racers are kinda like politicians. Don't take their word for account of their performance. Look at the records.
Here is a link to the Biloxi Dragway with a lot of history. It gives some of the times and mph. It will give you an idea of the times and mph run in the quarter mile back then. The History and Events section is very good. http://www.biloxidragway.com/
Thanks that`s what i was looking for. The 60s things really changed with the gasser`s and set back body`s
Well I found it. By the time the Nats rolled around in '56 they were recording and reporting E.T.s.. A stock '56 Chevy did a 16.37, a '55 Studebaker 17.20. (It didn't say but assume V-8s.). In the Gas coupes and sedans a '31 Ford with a '50 olds did 13.32; a '40 Ford with '52 Chrysler 14.36; '34 Chevy with '55 Chevy 15.20; '29 Ford roadster with '50 Olds 12.77; '32 Ford roadster with '53 Olds 12.73.
Gettin' in the 12's was tough for most street rods/hot rods that were used primarily on the street. 100 mph was tough also.
Wow 12`s lets see a roadster = light weight big motor but a olds was only 7-8.1 compression the 60`s stuff was what 14`s 15 stock ?? but those cars were 3200lbs plus right
The Track that I Raced back in the Day was Westhampton Drag Strip on Long Island and they gave out E.T & MPH Just my 3.5 cents Dom.
Those two roadster times weren't street roadsters. They were the topless equivalent of the gas coupes and sedans. It's hard telling just how big or how built those engines were.
From what I've heard about late 50s, early 60s drag racing here in the twin cities, a high 13 second street coupe or roadster was fast for a street car, and mid to late 50s cars running high 15s were pretty mean. I wasn't there, so you'll have to take these numbers passed along from the story tellers with a grain of salt, since I'm sure 50+ years later the number may have crept faster in some guys minds, but that's a ballpark that all the older guys around here remember.
In one of Dom Montgomery's great books on the golden age of hot rodding he posed that question: How Fast Were They? I seem to remember him saying a fast street driven roadster with a good, well built-up flathead could develop the same power-to-weight ratio as the best 60s and 70s era muscle cars. So quarter mile times in the 12 to 14 second range were quite attainable.
Thanks guys appreciate the help I am wondering what i can look forward to if when i take my car to the drag strip. anyonelse have any info maybe some pics?
It took a pretty good car to break into the 13s even in the 60's. Just for comparison there were LOTS more 14/15 second muscle cars than 12/13 second ones unless you bolted on slicks and played with them a little. Larry T http://www.musclecarclub.com/musclecars/general/musclecars-50fast.shtml
My Study in 1965 run very low 14's street tires [F-Stock],2dht Lark Daytona,twintrack,4speed,McCl superchargered,custom headers. record F-stock was 14 flat at the time,I was 1/10 off mostly
Thats what i have been figuring 14-15 maybe a really good warmed over motor in a roadster would be less. I am just wondering what a car like mine ran must have been ok compared to others in its time.