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

The Barnett Brothers from Georgia

 

Bunch of really nice cars right there.

 

Before the famous Speed Sport Roadster, there was this dragster...back when they were in the Lords car club...



I thought I knew the history of the Mooneyham and Sharp car but never knew it was once Dodge powered...Dean, I'm guessing that you knew...(yes, the caption misspells Gene's name!)...August 1956



Almost everyone who was anyone in fuel dragster racing on the west coast was here...Minter Field was Bakersfield...and the winner was Aubry Hilton in a fuel flathead, who beat several blown Chryslers, and the recently deceased Fritz Voigt in the final round...


Dennis Hildebrandt at San Fernando...this roadster was one of several California cars to win its class at the '56 NHRA Nationals...Boyd Coddington later "restored" it though that restoration went beyond original...


This car ran the Cad engine that once ran in the Yeakel/Don Rackmann roadster with the famous upside down Von Dutch image on the grill piece, chassis by Scotty Fenn. This was a very early version of Scotty's Chassis Research TE-440, and later would be sold to Emory Cook and Cliff Bedwell, who put their Isky "5-Cycle" fuel Chrysler in it and promptly upped the dragster record from 159 to 166 at Lions. Shortly after that run, the California fuel ban started....

 

Panella Brothers from Stockton California

 

tommyd, where did you find this picture? The "Little red coupe" belonged to Bud and Jack Gregg, a father and son team, the car was a hard runner from the south side of Indy, the car was stabled at the Gulf station on south Shelby St. in Fountain Square, I worked many a night with Jack on this and other cars they had. Glad to see a picture.

 

Ray Kobels yellow C/G 40 Willys coupe at Dover Dragstrip circa 64/65.

Pat

 

this post isn't in motion but.....go take a look on ebay under 1932 Fords....there is an altered wheelbase cpe with a chrome moly frame?.....it's out of Texas but it sure seems it's been on this thread somewhere...

 

Old School Drag car site on facebook. Not a huge fan of facebook but its a gold mine for photos.

 

Several of you have commented on the Rizzio and Grey fuel coupe, seen here in July '55 at Pomona. The caption did not indicate what engine they ran that day but usually it ran an injected Chrysler (sometimes Dave Gendian's Chrysler that Dave normally ran in his dragster until a fatal accident at Lions). Rizzio and Grey made the cover of an early R&C and reportedly the car still exists...


Nothing else to be said, 1955 and Don is still going strong, THE fount of hot rod knowledge!




OK, it's a caption, not a photo...but note who won C and D gas at Colton, April 1955. Yes, M&R would partner, move to Northern California, and run one of the most famous fuel dragsters in the country....two really good guys who came back to SoCal often with their Bob Haines-driven Fuller car...I pitted next to them once, they saw I needed a particular wrench and over it came from their pit...

 

The picture of the Teresa brothers roadster is special to me. Pete Teresa became a high school math teacher. Pete was my math teacher in my freshman year. When he found out we were building my RPU in '59, he and I became best pals. I stayed after class and we talked hot rods and drag racing. By far the coolest teacher I ever had. Needless to say, I got an A in math that year.

 

I didn't remember the car as much as I remembered the six wheeled truck. Got it from Old School Drag Cars on facebook. Do you remember the brothers that had the "Mothers Worry" chevy that ran at IRP a lot? Killing me trying to remember!

 

Pomona, November 1955. Sam Broiller was a Pasadena CA guy who was a good friend of Don Montgomery...if you have been following WoodyMike's great thread on the Pasadena Roadster Club, Sam is mentioned often there...I have often wondered if the Ardun in my avatar is the same one that Sam once ran, as Sam also hung out at Blair's and that's where I found the Ardun.


Same day as the above photo, Pomona. This famous coupe set records everywhere, and the engine went on to set more records and win more races in Tony Nancy's roadster, which has been perfectly restored.


Not a very good photo, but here is the roadster I referred to earlier, running Lou Baney's Cadillac, November 1955, San Fernando had just opened


Another guy who is still around...Saugus, July 1955. Even then, he was "Mouse" --- I wonder of readers of Drag News 1955 could have guessed that he would go on to field the most famous fuel altered of all time with his childhood friend Willy....


Another really cloudy picture, this was a very minimal car, but Jack Ewell could build engines, note what this turned in '55 with 240".... Jack later ran a series of fuel dragsters, including the famous Fuller "Chubasco" that has been well restored. Jack also worked the parts counter at Mickey Thompsons, and when I would come in for a parts pickup Jack would give me his old Ardun spark plugs...



RIP Fritz Voigt.....died very recently


The former SoCal Xydias coupe, I think that Dawson Hadley was running it when this photo was taken in February '56. Emery (or Emory, I think) would go on to run the famous Cook & Bedwell dragster.


Nothing like a little controversy...remember this car from an earlier post designating it as the Baney-Rackemann dragster...here is Scotty Fenn's ad in the October 17, 1956 issue of Drag News...still, it did go on to become the Cook & Bedwell fuel dragster....I'm guessing that this was maybe the first of Scotty's famous TE-440?

 

it looks familiar .....

 

its the thread that keeps on giving!

 

Ben Rizzo's coupe does indeed still exist. It has rested in the garage of his mother's house in Pomona for 50+ years. Other than an accumulation of dust, it looks exactly like it did on the cover of R&C. It is sitting next to Ben's Lambo Countach, which has not moved in 30 years.

 

What's the time frame for the nose down look?

I have always thought they would look cool like that but I have been conditioned to think any 55 would be nose up