History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

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If this is the same Bill Jenkins as in "Grumpy" then I'm doubting that this is from Texas...and yes. it's the "Monster Mash," remember the Bobby "Boris" Pickett song?[/QUOTE]

this '55 is still around as a street car, word is parts are being gathered to restore it back to the Monster Mash jr stock car.

 

Some more Texas, etc.







555 used to be the Waters & Murray H/R from California, was sold and moved to Texas...W&M ran a big inch SBC (over 300 from a 265" in '56, one of the first to use a SBC in competition.

 

The Willys pickup photo is a Texas picture from Six flags dragstrip and the black and white 55 Chevy in the background is from Warton Tx. I believe the Willys coupe vs. Model A picture is from the same track. Here are a few more shots from there.

 

I think that is Eddie Hill in the far lane...




Gotta love this gasser!


Ivo in Texas, he sure got around!



Notice the camber, maybe too many wheelstands?

 

Thanks! It is amazing how many of these often-forgotten cars and drag strips get identified once these old photos get posted.

 

Had to post this one from George Klass...lots of stuff happening -- tires burning, puking from two places, the fuel tank and below the motor, maybe water overflow, maybe worse...this is dragster racing at its unadorned best, no chrome, no fancy bodywork, just horsepower and balls!

 

That willys coupe with the camber is the Marshall Trucking car. It was found in Austin a few years ago and is now in California.

 

From the "Friends of Lion's" Facebook page, I have not seen these before:








Caspary & Stokey

 

Look at the stands. They are packed!

 

They were...amazing part is that when Lion's was at its peak, there were 3-4 or more drag strips in SoCal competing for crowds (San Gabriel/Irwindale, San Fernando, Pomona, Fontana, Colton, etc...and during the summer most ran night races -- so the packed bleachers are an indication of how popular drag racing was in SoCal then.

Here are some more from Lion's:



Frank Hedge's A&W Root Beer car, don't know who is driving



Cederquist Brothers, members of the Road Kings of Burbank, along with Ivo, Prudhomme, etc...



Early Peters and Frank train



Waiting to race, staging lanes, most of these were stockers, but these guys paid their money just like the rest of us and could brag about running Lions



Troy, this one is for you...one of the real legends of drag racing (and lakes/street, etc...he did it all!)

 

Love these old pics

 

Gene Winfield doesn't look a lot different from that today. The man is ageless!

 

Yup, he knows how to use hair dye as well as he paints!

 

No idea but damn it is pretty.

 

More Lions:


Notice how close the spectators were to the track...you could get hit with parts when something went wrong...




modified roadster

 

Mike Sullivan - unblown version

 

Didn't a spectator get an arm sawed off when Garlits had the driveline explosion? He would have bled out fight there if Larry Sutton hadn't rushed into the stands and given him first aid.

 

Yes, a spectator almost lost an arm when hit by Garlits' shrapnel...I don't remember if Larry saved the spectator or Garlits (Mickey Thompson actually carried Garlits to the ambulance)...I think that the specator's arm was ultimately saved by surgery....I remember that Larry Sutton said that Garlits' burnout seemed different right before the explosion, he sort of sensed that something was wrong,.. too late to do anything about it but shows how years of starting experienced had schooled Larry.

 

I remeber seeing this in my 1st HotRod Magazine

 

Lions was the best spectator drag strip in the sport! Yes you could get close...real close. My first face full of nitro was at the fence at the starting line on the spectator side (next to the wood partition at the upper left side of the picture below). I was young and invincible back then. More interested in the experience than wondering if I would get hurt. The potential for danger and harm was always there but accepted as part of wanting to be there.

This shot of Ivo illustrates how the seats above the sign were truly unique and a spectacular place to watch. The cars would come thundering past you, mere feet away, then smoke and the smell of nitro filled the air. GREAT STUFF. The closest I came to getting hit was the time John Edmunds pitched a blower into these grandstands about 20 feet to the left side of this picture.

 

Damn thats so cool.

 

"Must be either Gary Gabelich or George Hutchinson. They both were known to wear ostrich feather (at least looked like) plumes on their helmets at Lions. I notice C.J. in the background with his hands over his ears, a normal thing with him. He was one of the first to realize what all that loud 'music' was doing to our ears." Waldo

"Ward & Warye Long Shot..."

 

More Lions



Mystery sidewinder...the injector scoop looks like the Cook Brothers and Jahn body-less shorter 'winder with the jack-start setup...and the C/FD designation would indicate a Dodge, which they ran..maybe this is a follow-on...but I never saw this car...anyone else know more?


Cerney, Lins, and Moody


Don't recognize this one, maybe Sandoval Brothers??


Don Green, Rat Trap before fancy paint

 

Allright, can anyone help ID the trans? I am thinking 35Lasalle. I know what the more common 37 looks like as i have a couple, but is the the earlier style lasalle?

 

Not only loud, but ear damaging and somewhat dangerous. You could hear Lions from miles away, especially at night. I think it was because of the stands being so close to the action and the noise echoed. I only lived about 10 miles away so on a quiet night you could hear the noise. In the daytime not so much.

After we quit racing I would still take my kids there to watch and the vibration and noise from the cars was ear shattering. Some people would take small children with them with their ears uncovered. I bet those kids had ear problems from then on. There will never be an era like that again for any form of racing. .. Nes Synadinos Millwinders.

 

YES

 

More Lions


Really early Lions, have no clue what's going on..This is before the spectator bridge


Big versus ?...can't see who the other car is..


Surfers


Jack Chisman-driven Mickey car with hemi Pontiac...won NHRA nationals

 

More Lions:



Gary Densham


Crosley, Williams, and Swan (or at least a version of it) from Bakersfield. I think that Rick Stewart was the last driver, hit the chute and the entire back of the car pulled off...


Flatheads were still competitive in the lower classes in the '60s


waiting on the fire-up road, this before roller starter, looks like really early '60s. Starting line is in the background just in front of the spectator bridge. The red T roadster looks like really early Marcellus & Borsch, the tube-frame T they built after their '29. I think that is Willy next to the car.


Sid Waterman's Clearspark Special, maybe Ron Goodsell or Jeep Hampshire in the seat. Clearspark was a clear plastic mag cap, I was never sure why it was special...


The late Pete Robinson. He ran Lions every time he was on the west coast...I saw him with his Dragmaster Chev car that won the '61 Nationals, talk about leaving the line quickly for a gas-burner...he usually cleaned up against the local competition.

 

Love the pics 296ardun.

 

More from the George Klass Collection, updated often, so keep checking his site, I just add some captions:



Bruce Norman's "Bald Iggle" from Texas...maybe the name came from Lil Abner?? Strong running Olds gas burner.



Rod Stuckey's Buick gas car, this was a really well finished car, note the lettering says A/O for "A/Open Gas," that was the old designation for gas burners then. Not sure where the track is.



Bob Alsenez in Kenny Lindley's "Misfire," California car at the '56 NHRA Nationals. Note "Competition Body Shop" on the nose; I think that Von Dutch worked there, that may be his art on the nose. I think that Kenny ultimately moved to Arkansas and took up chicken farming...