For me, and I suspect a lot of HAMB'ers, the search for those few must have parts is at times frustrating, challenging, and quite often lengthy. A while back while flipping through an old issue of Super Stock & Drag Illustrated I came upon an old Ansen ad for a product called the Drag Brake and instantly knew I had to have one. Now keep in mind this part wouldnt be hard to make, even for someone with my limited (pathetic) set of skills (or lack there of) but to me theres nothing like the real thing. I became almost obsessed with getting my hands on one of these things. I posted want ads here on the HAMB and on countless other message boards but I was coming up empty. Now I consider myself a pretty resourceful guy, I've been able to locate some pretty tough to find stuff over the years for myself and some other guys as well. I remembered an article in Hot Rod a few months back with a list of some old Speed Shops that were still in business and made some phone calls but no one had the part and most didnt even know what I was talking about. I was starting to feel like this just wasnt going to happen. Fast forward about a month and a half......................one night while thumbing through an old issue of Hot Rod I came across another Ansen ad which listed the name of an old Speed Shop that was an authorized Ansen distributor. I Googled their name and found out they were still in business. I called them but was told they had sold nearly all their old stock in a huge parking lot sale when the business relocated about twenty years ago. There was one positive to the call though, the guy on the phone told me he had run into Lou Senter at SEMA a few years ago, still had his contact information and asked if I'd like to call him. I called Mr. Senter and we spoke for about twenty minutes (how cool is that?) but despite the fact he still has alot of NOS parts my Drag Brake isnt among them. A few days later here on the HAMB someone mentioned a Canadian Speed Shop that had been around for years, I called them, and just like I had expected they didnt have one either....................................but wait, the guy on the phone said he knew of the place that would. He gave me the contact info for Belmont's Rod & Custom Shop in Dedham Massachusetts and I called right away. I nearly fell over when the man on the phone told me he had a NOS one and within thirty minutes he had located it and returned my call to confirm my shipping address. The part arrived yesterday and I couldnt be happier, this thing is so cool. Be persistent, you would be surprised whats still out there as long as you are willing to search hard enough for it.
Had one on an old race car, cool find though. I remember them being half the price of a Hurst line loc.
Hmm.......mine doesnt actually say Ansen on it and it's exactly like the Blair's version. It didnt come with any paperwork or box and I had to use a copy of an old Ansen ad to figure out how it all went together. It looks like mine is a Blair's Race Brake. Hey Kev, where did you find that ad?
July 1965 Drag Racing magazine. I see no reason to connect that to Blairs speed shop, at least not from that ad'.
I verify that is looks really good in MUTTLEY's car, The nosebleed gasser wannabe. I happen to visit with the Blair guys at Mooneyes Xmas happening, They are far from dead yet! Cool guys who are the real deal and of course still in the same old building
Did your contact say he had any more? Great story and such a cool piece of vintage drag race equipment. thanks for sharring.
The Jalopy Journal
