Hot Rods Stolen Dragster

My Chassis Research TE-440 Dragster with a SBC, 2 speed early Ford sideshift, Olds rear end,
Was stolen in Dallas,TX. from storage sometime between Feb. 1965 and Oct. 1969 while I was
off in the US Navy for the Vietnam fun. I know it's unlikely to recover it after all these years but
I thought I would put up some pic's on the HAMB to see if anybody might have seen it.
Note the added hoop style rollbar.

 

Well that's a different type of 'stolen' thread.
Great idea, how cool would it be to find it after all these years?
You won't find the thieves though, karmas caught up with em long ago, and they suffered an agonising and extremely painfully death.

 

Wow - wild ride - never know, never hurts to ask

 

Now that's a "cold case" for sure. The unique, added-on hoop definitely makes it stand out, and maybe someone will remember it. Thieves got away with it, and after all those years, at least you have some photos. Interestingly enough, when I went to X-Ray school in Tyler, Texas from Washington State in 82-84, I thought about leaving my little FED in storage where I assembled and kept it, for the two years I'd be gone. My folks let me use their garage instead. Saved me more than it cost to build it What sort of times/MPH did it run back then?
I am Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

I would love to fine that for you. That's a cool rod and after your service for us All I can say is THANK YOU! If it can be found this is the best place to fine long lost RODS SO the best of LUCK ! Just could be the next cool barn fine!!!

 

Hi Butch, Thanks for the comments. My dragster wasn't that fast (130's in the high 10's) but it was lots of fun!
It had a .040 over 265 with a Crower 100F cam and ported and polished '57 FI heads. I pulled it out of my C/A
Anglia to run in an AHRA class called "B" Experimental Gas Dragster, limited to 300 cu. in. and one 4bbl carb.

 

You never know, stranger things have happened.

 

After a maximum of 51 years at the most the dragster probably has seen lots of changes but some of the parts my remain,I hope someday it's recovered. HRP

 

The best I can say here is............................Good luck. That's a loooooong time gone.

 

I like the front axle & the cage work. Nice set up. Maybe parts of it are one one of our own cars or we've passed by pieces of it at a swap meet.
It would be grand to turn up the whole car though. It would make a good gear-head "B" movie.

 

I don't guess you remember where the Anglia went, do you? Parts of it look kind of familiar.

 

Mickey
If I remember correctly,you had it stored in a Moving co storage over in Oak Cliff?? You should have started your search many years ago,starting with two brothers names James and Billy...I'll not mention the name of the moving co,but the boys were their sons if you recall.

 

Interesting story, be cool if you could get some info.

 

Well if nothing else, Welcome Home.

 

I don't remember the guys name that I sold it to. I was living in the White Rock part of east Dallas and sold it
to raise enough cash to buy the dragster chassis. Must have been 1963-64.

 

Yeah I know the two brothers you're talking about Bob. Usual suspects in "skulduggery" in Oak Cliff in the 60's.
Actually my dragster was not stored in their parents warehouse. It was stored on the other side of town at a
Bekins Van & Storage facility. The company had it stored in a locked fenced lot, in the rear of their facility, locked
in an overseas shipping container. The warehouse manager told me that a number of people had keys to the lot
for access on nights and weekends. So it still could have been James and Billy, but truthfully, few people knew it
was there. Had to have been an inside job by somebody who saw it come in.
I kind of had Bekins by the nads. Their bill of lading listed it as "One racing car on trailer". That was the complete
description they had. I could have said it was a Formula 1 car and they could have not proved different.
Luckily for them I was honest about it and only claimed about $1800 on the claim (fair value in 1969).
They paid up quickly with no questions! I still wish I would have had it when I came back though.
Ironically the only thing I had left was the magneto which I had removed thinking it would be too easy
to steal! They did leave the trailer you see in the pic's. Probably just rolled it into a moving van one night and
were gone into the night. BTW, the frame was painted Cadillac engine blue( the only paint I had at the time :>).

 

I'm watching this hoping for the best.
It would be a great Hamb adventure to watch this unravel into a solved cold case.

 

mickey I remember talking to you about this car, you had read about me building mine from scratch and we shared some stories. sure wish you could find it!

 

Hi Jimmy, I think the front axle is a Crosley. It was on the chassis when I bought it. The spindles and wheels
were Crosley for sure.

 

Hi RD, good to hear from you. How's your build going? Got any pic's?

 

Well would this not be just the best thing that the car would surface and the owner would get it back.

Great story and I wish all the best. You just never know.

 

mickey I will get some pics up shortly. its been slow but hoping this year is the year to get her done. have had lotsa changes going on and moved on top of everything. so im finally starting to get back to it. got a new aluminum body bent up for it awhile back. engine just about finished so its time to get the butt in gear.

 

never say never i found my 64 galaxie that was stole in 87 got it back in 2015!

 

Not to Hi-Jack the thread but I would love to hear that story!

 

Old Racer 35, I need to know how the heck you got your car back after 28 years. Bob