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What makes a Gasser a Gasser?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by 1933t, Feb 13, 2013.

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  1. Larry T
    Joined: Nov 24, 2004
    Posts: 7,875

    Larry T
    Member

    I'm pretty sure Ohio George jacked his Willys up in 1960 (only because I looked it up the other day because of another discussion on another thread). Yes sir, I AM the gasser/search police. :D
     

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    Last edited: Feb 15, 2013
  2. Marty Strode
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 8,796

    Marty Strode
    Member

    Gasser interpretation is all about the time frame, here in Oregon in 1961, a SS/S racer named Bill Ireland, dominated the SS/S class with a 61 Ford, 390/401hp 2 dr. sedan. In 62 the local Ford dealers sponsored him with new 406 Galaxie, he sold the 61 to a friend, on the promise not to compete in S/S. They pulled the front bumper off of the 61 and moved into B/G, and "smoked" the competition. Back then if you installed a 4 barrel on a 50 Olds, it would have to run gas class, because Modified Production didn't become a class until 64.
     

  3. The guys with pull got away with things that the little man did not. I thought it was actually '62 but I haven't looked it up in a while. The rules clearly state no lift. He also ran coil overs before they were legal and got the shock company to state that they were stock replacement parts to get by with it. It is like today it depends a lot on how much clout you have.
     
  4. Gene Boul
    Joined: Feb 9, 2006
    Posts: 805

    Gene Boul

    Back in the day gassers had: no front bumpers, cut-out wheel wells fenderwell headers, FI allowed and some sort of "ladder bar" setup for traction. Alterds had similiar but mandatory engine set-back. Modified production had: working headlights, front and back bumpers, standard "looking" wheel openinings and no FI.
    This is a generalization, not era specific. g
     
  5. Gene Boul
    Joined: Feb 9, 2006
    Posts: 805

    Gene Boul

    As far as what you could get away with, it has always depended on who you were! Always. I could probably name 1/2 dozen famous dragstrip characters that got caught and never publically punished!
     
  6. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    The ad was from Nov. '67. I originally posted it. And Benno is leaving out about 90% of my post. Bad Benno, BAD! The ghist of my original post was that that was the FIRST ad I could find mentioning the Sprint, that ad stated that it was a brand new product, and I had searched all the back to '63, had fround an Ansen wheel ad in almost every issue of Hot Rod going back the previous two years, and NONE of them, NOT ONE, mentioned the Sprint as being available. That was like two years ago, the thread still pops up now and them with some guy handing out unsupported, anecdotal evidence, but no one else has posted an earlier ad or magazine article from the time, or a dated photo for that matter, stating that Sprints were available. Case closed.
    Just cause you want it to be, doesnt make it so. Trust me on this, I wanted to be a porn star so bad, and I wished for it every day, never happened. Your 1963 ansen sprintsw fall in the same category.
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2013
  7. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    And THAT was originally my post as well...;):p And I do love you like a brother Benno. Just call me the HAMB gasser archivist. No no, not the anti-christ, the ARCHIVIST.
     
  8. Larry T
    Joined: Nov 24, 2004
    Posts: 7,875

    Larry T
    Member

    George,
    I'm pretty sure I looked it up in Montgomery's Supercharged Gas Coupes book too ---EXCELLENT reference material!!
     
  9. The reason some of us like the Gasser's the way they were in the first go around is the same reason we build traditional Hot Rods. These are the cars that turned us on back then, got our blood boiling and got us into Drag Racing and regardless of what Thomas Wolfe said, You CAN go home again.

    Personally I think the NHRA and SOME of the so called "Gasser" associations that allow the cars like you two show in your avatars have done harm to what a Gasser is. Don't get me wrong, I Dig the cars but in my mind they are much more Pro Mod then they are Gassers.

    And to say that all the cars back then were pieces of shit is a HUGE insult to Stone, Woods, and Cook ~ Ohio George ~ Chuck Finders ~ Skip Hess ~ Big John Mazmanian ~ Frank Oddy ~ and quite frankly My Own Anglia and many other of the cars that were built better than some of the junk I see being raced today. And to say that these cars won't pass modern tech is also not true in many cases ~ you have to remember that many of these "Fast" cars in the mid 60's only ran mid 9's and 155 or so. By the end of the era they were deep into the 8's at 175 or so. So for a lot of the cars that were raced back then, many of the roll cages and other safety items would still pass tech if they were built to a high standard in the day. Remember that 8.50 and slower cars don't need the Funny Car style cage that ruins the look of a Classic Gasser.

    Maybe there needs to be a "Classic Gasser" class and a "Modern Gasser" Class ;)
     
  10. Not ALL, and that does not define a Gasser.

    And Gassers were required to have headlights per the rules in certain years. Reference that King Kong car.

    This is where some folks skew the facts that confuse or improperly educate the younger (than me) crowd.
     
  11. black 62
    Joined: Jul 12, 2012
    Posts: 1,895

    black 62
    Member
    from arkansas

    most strips were not nhra so their rules are only a guideline--- local tracks used them as a guideline only so most of us remember what we saw not what wally thought and there are old track pics to support this---i am old enough to have actually raced a gasser in the early 60's and i know local rules overrode the rule book from having been there---so why so pickie now---i am not talking about things after 1964
     
  12. fivefivechevy
    Joined: Jan 1, 2013
    Posts: 40

    fivefivechevy
    Member

    Over the past couple months as Ive learned more about what a true gasser is, Ive coined the term "custom gasser" to describe my 55 chevy pickup build. Sort of like a "hot rod" is usually a more traditional vehicle with the cars of their day, and a "custom hot rod" with body modifications, disk brakes, custom tail lights etc. is a little different but still fits in the same category.
    I see my truck as salute to the gassers of the day but in a streetable form thats set up for everyday driving with a little extra style while keeping it as close to a "real" gasser as possible.
    Although I dont like to use newer technology like disk brakes, I like to leave the mechanical/ electrical just how it was brand new
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2013
  13. There are Outlaw tracks today as well but we are not referring to the outlaw tracks, rules (or lack there of) or cars. As far as I'm aware, we are referring to cars governed by rules set forth by the N.H.R.A. After all, aren't most of todays Gasser racing events held on N.H.R.A. tracks?

    When in Rome........
     
  14. Actually George I am pretty sure that I was quoting another guy but if it was you than you are absolutly wrong. ;)

    These days its easy just take a movie of yourself and post it on line. Don't give up on your dreams now.
     
  15. Gasseresque sounds a bit more refined than gasserish.
    Thousand times better than the currently used buzz words of resto-mod and the like.

    I'll propose a motion here , and its based on preserving the history we love and hold dear.
    Only cars with racing history have the right to be called a "Gasser"

    Other cars inspired by the esteemed "gassers" no matter how loosely are to be known as "Gasseresque".

    Anybody want to second that ?
     
  16. Sure! If you'll admit that "todays" Hot Rod should be deemed Hot Rod'esque. :D
     
  17. I'll second that. Now get ready for the well we have to throw half the people on the HAMB off crowd to raise their fist in defiance. ;)

    Personally it doesn't matter to me if you call it Mable, I'll still know the difference.
     
  18. fivefivechevy
    Joined: Jan 1, 2013
    Posts: 40

    fivefivechevy
    Member

    haha that sounds pretty cool to me, in fact I think thats what Im gonna name my truck "gasseresque' the 55 chevy pickup
     
  19. alkycoupe
    Joined: Jun 15, 2010
    Posts: 29

    alkycoupe
    Member

    "Personally I think the NHRA and SOME of the so called "Gasser" associations that allow the cars like you two show in your avatars have done harm to what a Gasser is. Don't get me wrong, I Dig the cars but in my mind they are much more Pro Mod then they are Gassers."
    I somewhat agree with you, was just chiming in on what SOME people call a "Gasser" I built my car to run in B/GAS at NHRA sanctioned "Heritage Series" events and the like. It is B/GAS and the NHRA calls the GASSERS to the lanes. Maybe someone should straighten the NHRA out also. lol
     

  20. See, those that know have the privilege to pass the knowledge on and if one should choose to exercise that privilege, then it becomes a responsibility to do it correctly.

    Emulation is the greatest compliment , but pissing on history is another

    Or fuck it, let's rewrite history.
     
  21. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    The photo I had posted was from Hot Rods coverage of the 1960 Nats, so it would have been late 1960, FWIW.
     
  22. Problem is when someone knows something to be true and they pass that information on it is them that get pissed on, personally I would rather be pissed off than pissed on.

    Hell you can even post a set of the rules and the ones who want it to be different ignor them.

    Then you got the high rollers on here thinking that their late model car with an early styled body is pertinant to any discussion that would be had on a forum dedicated to all things obsolete. They only add the confusion.
     
  23. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Thats what I REALLY like about these dipshits. You tell 'em they are full of shit,(which is a demonstrable fact in most cases) and they carry on like they are Rosa Parks trying to get a seat at the front of the bus. :rolleyes: Seriously? Your being called out for spewing a bunch of bullshit about history, not having your civil rights violated. Or is there something in the Constitution about your inalienable right to make an ass of yourself in public? :D
     
    Last edited: Feb 15, 2013
  24. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Agreed, an EXCELLENT book, vastly superior to the Larry Davis book, which tends to play a little fast and loose with history.
     
  25. metalshapes
    Joined: Nov 18, 2002
    Posts: 11,138

    metalshapes
    Member

    You are too late, man.

    It has already taken hold in the layman's vocabulary.

    People call my Capri a Gasser, which it obviously isnt.

    I've seen a pic of my Roadster on an other site where they called it a Rat Rod, which it obviously isnt.


    I think there is more mileage in trying to keep the buildstyle right ( or correct or pure or whatever term you prefer ) by and for the people that are acctually doing it, than spinning your wheels with the semantics.


    ( not saying it doesnt piss me off either, but I guess it is what it is...)
     
  26. traffic61
    Joined: Jun 15, 2009
    Posts: 1,545

    traffic61
    Member
    from Owasso, OK

    "Personally it doesn't matter to me if you call it Mable, I'll still know the difference."

    Of course, there will be the enevitable thread "What makes a Mable a Mable?"

    or Mable not...:)<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
     
  27. black 62
    Joined: Jul 12, 2012
    Posts: 1,895

    black 62
    Member
    from arkansas

    outlaw tracks ? thats wally speak--wasn't Lions non-nhra for years (that is a question not a statement) and bakersfield, and carlsbad , and mokan , and many others ? as for todays nhra gassers they are late to the game as usual....
     
  28. I'm gonna build a street freak.
     
  29. Well I don't know of the roadster is a rat rod but if you haven't cleaned it since the last time we laid eyes on each other it has a beaner hand print right above the driver door. That's what ya get for letting a crippled old fart sit in it.:D
     
  30. Or is there something in the Constitution about your right to make an ass of yourself in public?



    The US constitution worded it differently and made no mention of your right to make an ass out if yourself.

    Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
    ----------
    Then these idiots expounded on the 1st amendment and hit your nail squarely on the head

    Article 19 of the ICCPR states that "[e]veryone shall have the right to hold opinions without interference" and "everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice". Article 19 goes on to say that the exercise of these rights carries "special duties and responsibilities" and may "therefore be subject to certain restrictions" when necessary "[f]or respect of the rights or reputation of others" or "[f]or the protection of national security or of public order (order public), or of public health or morals"
     
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