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

Crazy ladder bars, way too big ?

 

The Blown Hearse was a regular at Dover Drag Strip for years during the 60's

Jimbo

 

Ok, got it, the way you worded it, it sounded like you were referring to the photo caption...

 

Looks like Surfers near lane, after they went to Ederle injectors, looks like the "Danish modern" wood wing, not sure who they are racing, but the Baney Yeakle car had a clear plastic wing, maybe that's it in the far lane.


ID?


I was never all that crazy about some of the late '60's paint...this looks like it was taken after the sanctioning bodies stopped requiring front brakes on gassers


No ID on either the cars or the track, anyone? Pre-tree days


No IDs


Caption is "Wayne Mahaffney, '35 Phaeton," That's all I know

No ID (pretty sure it's not Jim Oddy)


TE-440, that's all I know

A lot of these photos just show up, no information...I post them partly because I hope that who ever built and drove these cars will get some credit for them...many years later

 

I'm pretty sure that's Scapoose Oregon, mid 50's. ("Wayne Mahaffney, '35 Phaeton,")
A custom/drag car, imagine that!

 

Hi Dave

The word was that those Surfers Dudes were playing with some stuff in the nitro, thier fueler had a bunch of fire coming out of the pipes for a day time run and no flames out of the other car ?

They were one of the few teams that had a handle of the fuel system, and did not kill pistons each run with the bad news ' Black Death ' on the piston skirts from a big load on nitro

 

Don, I noticed that too, yes, there were rumors about what they ran, I remember it was always close to 100%...and their motors did live better than others at the time (certainly better than my Desotos, blew up 8 in 6 months!!...of course I didn't really know what I was doing, but Skinner & Jobe were real masters at fuel Chryslers.

 

ok...what the hell is this thing?

 

Loyd?

 

Correct
Alexander IIRC, from Germany.
Had a friend that built one like the photo, axle, 327 4 speed, etc. and also built a 2 dr. wagon, 273 Mopar powered .

 

That's Salem Oregon's,Wayne Mahaffey's '35 Phaeton. It had a Cad Flathead and Hydro, Gaylord Top and the works. The car is currently restored to perfection and on display at the new "World Of Speed Museum. Wayne raced for a number of years, and held the National Record in D/A with a Flathead Ford.

 

IVO MAY 26, 1963. HALF MOON BAY.......................................................TOM

PRUDHOMME. MAY 26, 1963 HALF MOON BAY................................................TOM
PRUHOMME vs IVO. MAY 26, 1963. TURN-AROUND. HALF MOON BAY......................TOM
PRUDOMME vs IVO. MAY 26, 1963. HALF MOON BAY................................................TOM

 

I was never all that crazy about some of the late '60's paint...this looks like it was taken after the sanctioning bodies stopped requiring front brakes on gassers.

You mean when they were trying there damndest to run us street legal guys out of the street classes.

 

Yes....as NHRA and the local drag strips gradually let the real street requirements lapse, only the "built-only-to-race" cars were left in the "street classes" (gas coupe & sedan, street roadster, even stock). When I first started attending drag racing in '57, street classes required full upholstery, windshield wipers, horn, operating hand brake, stock suspension (so you couldn't replace leaf springs with coils if your car originally had leaf springs, for example), engine setback no more than 10% of wheelbase, etc....the reason was that most drag strips got community support because they offered to cut down on illegal street racing. But by the early '60s, at least, real street cars were back street racing (like me, I admit) because we had no chance against the "street" cars that were really nothing but race-only cars.

 

I got tired of fixing my 57' 301 Bel Air streeter when something would break , then have to get a ride to work too

So the 37' gasser came into play, also bought my aunt's very clean 56' Chrysler for a tow car and I nice date nite ride too

Painted the gasser the same color as the Chrysler and the pair looked very good hooked up and heading for the strip

 

do you have a pic of that combo

 

Hi Enloe

Boy I sure wished I did as back then nobody was taking pics , like today

Plus I was to busy running the car to worry about getting any pics, big mistake not knowing how important nice photos would be in the future

I have been looking for a art guy that could redo some pic's on the photo-shop deal

 

Not sure who or when or where...


This might be George Cerney's car lining up at Lions


No ID, is that a Pete Robinson blower case? (this photo just showed up on Don Ewald's site, but with an ID: Finn & Warwick, 6-flags raceway)


The bare chassis for the Fuller-built "Mag-winder," that Fuller welded up for Chuck Jones, ran both Pontiac and Chrysler...this version had Fuller's early double-torsion bar front end, later went to a single bar. The entire frame was magnesium hence the name, and Fuller tried first to weld it conventionally but had to heli-arc it when the mag powdered up (interesting fact: Northrop Aircraft first developed heli-arc welding to weld the magnesium XP-56 "Black Bullet" prototype fighter--the design failed but at least Northrop gave us heli-arc welding)...


and here is the finished version at Lions with Jack Chrisman driving...painted pearl white and candy red, really well constructed, but it was never competitive...I think that the final version is in Garlits' museum.


An earlier sidewinder at Lions, also Chrisman-driven...this one was very competitive on gas, but didn't handle once they tried fuel with it...


I think that this was a Warren & Coburn effort, anyone else?


I think this was taken at Green Valley, Texas...note the innovative independent front end




I found it interesting that Jim Minnick was from Nitro, West Virginia, but ran this car on gas...it was quite competitive...


No ID, anyone? Cars like this were home-built, with thousands of hours of work; back then it helped if you could build motors, weld, bend sheet metal, paint, and drive.....that's why I hope we can ID some of the people in these photos...give them credit for lots of work, money, and sweat...


Not sure who is closest to the camera, but that appears to be Waterman & Hampshire next to it...maybe Riverside?


Oklahoma City's Al Carter, at Green Valley...wasn't afraid to put it on the trailer and travel to far-away races, I believe that he won the fuel altered class at the Smoker's meet, maybe '64? Anyone else remember?

 

Hey D.N.D. I know what you mean ! Even a few of us that grew up in the late 70s. I used to brake a lot of parts on my 69 nova, 327 , 671 blower. My dad used to get so pissed at me!!! Walked to school many times, 4 miles out back roads, or have a buddy pick me up and we would brake his car. LOL! Good times!!!!

 

Hi Dave

That first car might have been a early ' Bounty Hunter ' as Kalitta used some of Don's frames in his first cars, that had those square back roll bars

 

Someone sure spent a ton of hours lightening that axle!!

 

Hey Mikey

I was coming home one day and gassed her up and a big bang in the rear, pulled into a station I knew looked under the rear and gear oil was pouring out so I jammed home

Pulled out the 3rd member and it was cracked in half from a broken loose chunk of weld that was used to lock it up, well off to the Chevy store the next day and shelled out about $125 for a new 4-56 posi unit

In 60' that was a lot of money, when gas was 19 cents plus I missed work that day and had to borrow a car too

Young & crazy guys but we sure had a great time with our street racers

 

296ardun - That was Warren and Coburn.

 

Heth & Thompson, from Denver. This is the old Ivo single-Buick, later Prudhomme blown Chrysler car after it went to Colorado


No ID, early belly tank-bodied rear engined


This photo has probably been here before, Kenny Bernstein riding out a fire in the Anderson Brothers car...this was one of Woody's trick front end cars that worked its way to Texas


No ID, those injectors look home-made?


Missouri's Bob Sullivan, I think this was a Fuller car, anyone else? (Tom Davison identified it as probably a Stuckey car, thanks!)


Harold Nicholson, Dyno Don's brother. His cars could be crude, but Harold was a master engine builder. He lost his life at San Fernando in 1959 when the front wheel came off the blown flathead dragster he was driving.

 

I think with that one "crude" is being kind.

 

Please tell me you guys are not out of pictures

 

I think I post all repeats but, what the heck! Gotta keep on keepin on.

 

I have a couple !

 

Ford powered.