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

Roger Hardcastle's Kellison, The Stinger, ran Pat Akins blown fuel Chrysler with a high gear only direct drive. Joe La Costa drove it first, then Gary Southern drove it. Joe had the good sense to step out of it when it started running in the 180's. Southern was not troubled by any such good sense, and got the car to run over 200. In the late 60's they entered the car in the emerging AFX/Funny Car class. When Gary ran over 200 qualifying, NHRA, at the request of the factory teams, moved the Kellison to top fuel. Those guys bitched, but Gary qualified for the show. They made it to the second round, then got beat. Roger did some match racing with the car after that, then I don't know what became of it.

 

Mr. Lowe, once again, your knowledge is amazing. Thanks for fitting the pieces together.

 

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Jr Brogdon's funny car...at one point he ran 4 injected fords in a Mustang-bodied funny...this one is actually a slingshot


Is this Bill Dunlap? Not many ran the Ford overhead cam setup (really complex cam drive, for one thing)...Looks like a late Fuller car, not sure on this one


Jesse Perkins "Cow Palace Shell" from San Francisco, maybe Bob Hightower in the seat?


Don't remember whose AA/GS this is, it was red...maybe Doug Deverich?

 

Some cars left a lasting impression on me in the 60's. The Stinger was one of them. Also, I knew Gary Southern. He was one of the group of us that hung around Bud's Muffler in West Covina in the 60's. To say Gary was one crazy SOB would be a gross understatement.

 

Marty Strode just sent me a PDF on this car and info on Hardcastle's passing in Portland 2005. Hoping I can get it to load. Thanks to all who have so much knowledge and experience.

 

Back in the 60's so many great drag racing cars were known by their names and sometimes I never knew who drove the car but the names of the cars became famous along the way.

I miss those day's. Jimbo

 

I second that JIMBO. One of my favorites was Color Me Gone.....Roger Lindamood.

 

One of my favorite Color Me Gones. Not in motion, but on its way.

 

Here's a pic of one of them now ,Can't remember who is restoreing it tho, I can't even remember where I found the pic,, Tim Jones

 

Cool

 

For those who like American Bantam bodied competition coupes, all from the George Klass collection, which grows daily, check it out


Bill Traylor's "Animal" -- I never forgot watching this car run San Gabriel, off and on the track, but still broke the 1320 record at over 196. Aluminum chassis, body by Dave Stuckey customs, candy red paint. I pitted next to Bill, really good guy, loaned me a set of goggles when mine broke.




Jake Shuljack (sp?) think this car was from Illinois, ran B/Fuel Competition, SBC, set the 1320 record at around 168, I think. I remember it at Bakersfield, cool chop...



99 Racing Team, east coast car, really well finished...I posted a picture of it earlier in this thread, someone noted that the blower scoop is a used nitro can!


Same car


Leffler & Loukas, from Parma, OH...another strong runner from the Midwest, this shot taken at Bakersfield..I think they beat the Speed Sport roadster that year...'62, maybe





I've posted this coupe before, so indulge me...first competition coupe I saw run, Summer of '57 at Santa Ana. Sandoval Brothers, ran the US nationals that year and won their class, carbureted Dodge, ran only 109, but sure looked faster

 

Yes, Darrell Buehl had something to do with this. From my understanding Bishop and Buell owned the car at the time. P-Wood owned it for a while some years back and it got sold out from under him (he can tell the story if he wants to). Chuck Johnston ended up with it and put a blown flathead in it with a 3 speed top loader. Chuck recently sold it and the guy that bought it wanted to put a small block Ford in it but decided he didn't fit in it. It was for sale recently. I think P-Wood still has the original roll hoop for it.
Here it is with the first motor Chuck put in it, an Alcohol injected Flatty with exhaust ports out the top

 

couple more competition Bantams




Hollish Brothers, driven by Jiggs Shamblin, beautifully recreated by "ChassisResearchKid" here on the HAMB...runner-up to Rodney Singer at the '59 NHRA Nationals, if I remember right it was in the game until the clutch gave up

 

Neil Leffler did indeed beat Red Greth for middle eliminator at the '61 march meet. He wasn't supposed to have a chance, but he caught Red snoozing. Leffler's crew went nuts, jumping and hollering, and falling out of the push truck. The engine in this coupe became one of the engines in the ill fated Leffler & Coburn Iron Mistress.

 

I just came across this video, '62 Pomona Winternationals, McEwen, Pete Robinson, Mazmanian, Nicholson, Jim Nelson, Lefty, Jack Chrisman, etc....hope it plays

 

'62, first year I worked the Winternats. Thanks for putting that up, brought back a lot of memories

 

Thanks for confirming the date...if I had actually watched the video I posted I would have realized that it was '62 (duh)...I corrected the post.

I think that Riverside ran a fuel meet the same day as the Pomona meet, invited Garlits, who showed and beat the local fuelers....Pomona was gas-only then, so Riverside tried to attract the fuel fans away from the gas-only Winternationals.....Kalitta showed up after losing in the early rounds, looking for a few more bucks.

Connie Swingle was driving for Garlits that day, and suddenly the announcer called out congratulations to Connie Swingle on the birth of a son...it took Swingle about a minute to get to the tower and let the announcer that he was not married and it was not his kid...a couple of minutes later the announcer corrected himself and congratulated Connie Kalitta on the birth of his son....it was Scott...with dad out on the road at another drag race...born to the breed...(RIP, Scott)

 

'62 was the first Winternationals for me too Jay. Still got the trophy!

 

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Eddie Potter's "Sudden Death." Eddie could do more with a few buck than most racers, had an acid tongue, but was a real craftsman...wadded this coupe up pretty badly but walked away...story was that after he left drag racing, he became a professional golfer


The late Steve Bovan. Mike Hoag built this car when he still worked at Blairs...was supposedly the first blown BBC...Steve was a really engine builder...unfortunately met a bad end to life


Steve Bovan's tube frame Camaro..also built by Mike Hoag at Blair's. This was around '67. I remember Don Blair coming out of the shop to look at the car; he had long since lost interest in straight line racing in favor of sprint cars...he looked at the chassis and said "all that engineering just to go straight..." Bovan ran a BBC at first then Barry McGowans' blown hemi from his drag hydro, wasted a lot of hydro transmissions


AA/Street Roadsters were popular at Lions...Ben Buchanan in the near lane, can't see who is in the far lane



Looks like a gasser, but it was a direct-drive fuel altered...John "Tinkerbell" Lee drove...they tried all kinds of suspensions to get it to go straight until Chuck Finders offered a solution...I'll spring it and put a hydro in it, if it doesn't work, you don't owe me." It did work, I think that they won at least one fuel altered meet, remember this was a full bodied steel car...


If you ever saw it run you never forgot it...Mooneyham & Sharp, Jungle Larry drove, ran competitively against the glass bodied tube framed altereds for a long time...M&S finally went AA/FD racing, because there was no way to pay the bills racing fuel altereds.

 

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If you ever saw it run you never forgot it...Mooneyham & Sharp, Jungle Larry drove, ran competitively against the glass bodied tube framed altereds for a long time...M&S finally went AA/FD racing, because there was no way to pay the bills racing fuel altereds.[/QUOTE]

I saw every run Larry made with the coupe in '63. Followed them all over to watch them defend the 1320 Jr. Eliminator #1 spot. Many, many great memories! Yes, that old steel Ford with a Ford frame weighed 2500lbs., but it surprised a lot of tube framed glass bodied fuel altereds in it's day. Perfect combination of car, driver and tuner.

 

I saw every run Larry made with the coupe in '63. Followed them all over to watch them defend the 1320 Jr. Eliminator #1 spot. Many, many great memories! Yes, that old steel Ford with a Ford frame weighed 2500lbs., but it surprised a lot of tube framed glass bodied fuel altereds in it's day. Perfect combination of car, driver and tuner.[/QUOTE] Dean, Did you come up to Puyallup, Wa. June 8th and 9th ? The main attraction was a two out of three match between Ivo and Garlits, of which Ivo won. I was a 14 year old in the crowd, and was mesmerized by the 554 Coupe. Flash forward 23 years, I am running a Nostalgia T/F car and Mooneyham is doing my blower work. While racing at Fremont, Gerry Steiner had the coupe pitted nearby, what a joy is was to see and hear it run again !!! This shot is from Puyallup in '63.

 

Marty, I should have said I saw every run in California. I was barely 18 in '63. My parents said I could go to Washington if I found someone to go with me. Dad gave me 5 days off, but my two drag racing buddies could not get time off. I had to read about it in Drag News. Gene did the blower and drive for my current RPU in '96. After 18 years, and almost 20,000 miles, the gears wore out. I just had the fellows that bought Mooneyham blowers go through it for me. Gene taught 'em good!

 

That would have been a 1150 mile (one way) trip for you, it was 175 for us. The prior March at the Portland Roadster Show, we picked up a newspaper advertising the race. For three 14 year old kids, it took some scheming to figure out how to get there. We ended up making a deal with my Stepfather, in return for us swapping the engine in his 51 Plymouth, my folks drove us up for the two day event. Memories to last a lifetime !!!!!

 

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The lineup to just get in


SWC


Abbott & Lee, test car for the Lenco transmission



XKE attempt at a funny car, ended up in a fatal accident


The roller starters, if you screwed up and didn't handle the brake and clutch right, you got lots of laughs (just ask me!)




Bob Mayer, from the San Diego area


Dye & Hampton "two much" steel Fiat. Watched this car run,. it was competitive with the twin dragsters...Eldon Dye and Donnie Hampton, who went into the blower business...



Qualifiers car club...lots of Long Beach racers belonged to the club


The Herman Brothers, blown Olds gas burning roadster...like many drag roadsters, it started out as a street roadster, still had the holes for the '39 Ford taillights...ran high 140s, pretty good for the time, '61-61...
SWC were Lions regulars

 

Post 36638 with Ben Buchanan.
Gary Burgin in the other lane.
Ben was a close friend that used to help my dad on his yellow roadster.
He went to be an Auto Shop teacher at Bellflower High School, and on to run an Injected Gas Funny Car with partner Larry Ledbetter.

 

Post 36644
Actually Donnies car was called "Two Bad"---that's Dons first wife Edith feeling the head temp and it almost looks like my dad standing over the left rear of the car.
Our families hung out alot together during that time. Don has 2 daughters,Kathy & Karen.
Karen was a sweety but Kathy was a tomgirl (still is), & she used to pound the shit out of me when we would play together lol.
Donnie still reminds me of this from time to time when I visit his blower shop in Downey Ca lol!
He converted the same twin car to fit under a fiberglass Corvette F/C on low % of Nitro...somewhere around late 68 early 69.
Car was destroyed in Australia getting T-Boned by another F/C in the shutdown area.