Art & Inspiration Street Racer Info 60s -70s Wanted

Im looking for info on street racing of the late 60s and early 70s , in particular street names used for racing in any city in the USA but any info such as notable street racers and what they drove , cops of note , funny stories , nicknames , you name it . Please send to [email protected] .... while no writer of any repute , these days in retirement I write car novels for my own amusement and while they are fiction , I like to use actual names and places etc at times if I can . The info im currently looking for is for a story about two fellas who travel across the country street racing for money . Thanks in advance to any who might wish to help Dentin Fender

 

..... perhaps im asking too much here , after all , we all do have busy lives ..... maybe some of you folks could just reply to this post and give me a State , City and Street perhaps .... again thanks in advance ....

 

Check this link: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...nfamous-street-racers-back-in-the-day.280240/ There also used to be a thread titled "Archive of street racing " on here, it appears to be gone though.

 

It is L.A. Street Racing Archive 70s to ?

It's closed but you can read the post

 

NY 231 (Deer Park NY) was pretty hot in the 1970's, but the cops had it pretty well clamped down. The big organized racing went on in Queens, Connecting Highway and the Conduit. The link below is pretty good.
http://www.connectinghighway.com/

We showed up at the Conduit one night, buddy of mine had a pretty hot Mustang, figured we'd pick up some fast cash. Got there and there were cars being rolled off trailers, we just sat and watched the show. This was around 1976.

Really big street racing still goes on by me, but it moves around like a floating game of craps. Mostly high buck grudge matches.

 

Two Lane Black Top covered that..

 

agreed Seb , it has been covered . But then again im glad that after the first two cars that ever street raced , the rest of the folks who had fast cars after that didnt think " well its been done , so why should we " . Come to think of it , a good remake of Two Lane might be cool to see . Perhaps more relevant and believable today than back then with the newer technology .

 

In Minneapolis the street to be on to get a stoplight drag was "Lake Street" in south Minneapolis. We would drag on Lake Street from Porkies by Lake Calhoun to Porkies at High Lake shopping center.

 

truly a fascinating read ..... many thanks .... perhaps my fictional street racers will have to pay a visit to these folks when they get there

 

many thanks ... I will have to see if I can find it ....

 

Liked your story alot and perhaps when my fictional street racers get there , they too might have to re-assess their odds of making money . I really got off on the web site you linked me to . Gave me a lot of ideas for my own town as well . I believe that while Big Daddy , the Snake and others got lots of ink in drag racing , we street racers were the real story back in those days . And it doesnt seem like enuff is being recorded and saved on the subject in most smaller towns it took place at . Ive heard that high buck street racing still goes on in Portland , Oregon as well , but much like you stated , very elusive to find . Many thanks to you and all who have responded so far

many thanks for the input , im sure when my fictional racers get there , they will indeed "visit " Lake Street ....
....

 

I claim the 5th amendment on this one. HaHa.

 

awww cmon Duece .... we wouldnt rat ya out .... your among friends here ...right ???

 

Almost anyone I knew street raced at some time. Some guys were very serious with it. My '66 Nova was semi serious. The best races that went down were done at odd times at odd places. The popular avenues just got you a handful of tickets.

 

I could delight you with a few stories from Woodward Avenue from the '60s and '70s. Most are about my Road Runner and other o.t. cars. Hell, maybe I will just write my own book....

 

A short story that might amuse. I was north bound on I49 in Alexandria, La. middle of the day mind you. Up ahead I see traffic stopping and smoke, I think "crap somebody's crashed", I'm about 6 cars back and can now see what's going on, street racing! Three cars lined up quick and got flagged off, tow cars and trailers were already past the finish line waiting. I don't know how "lane choice" was determined but a guy with a really nice '70 Chevelle got the shoulder lane next to the concrete divider, how he didn't crash I don't know. It just made my day.
Sorry, not the 60s or 70s

 

Detroit area, Woodward Ave. (of course) Gratiot Ave., Telegraph Rd. Off Telegraph was a side road called Northline Rd. It dead ended at Detroit Metropolitan Airport. I never went there (really) but understand some wild stuff took place there. Police would show up every so often and bust it. Finally that portion of the road was abandoned and the asphalt was broken up and removed. IIRC Mercury Drive in Dearborn hosted some events along with Amerhein Drive in Livonia in the 60's and early 70's.

 

I remember a particular night out on Telegraph Road near Detroit. I let a friend drive my Road Runner since all he owned was my old 1963 Dodge 440 with a 383. We were cruising along and a 1963 or so Nova pulled up alongside on the passenger side where I was sitting. The driver in the Nova was hopping the front end up and down trying to egg on my buddy Terry to race him. I looked over and saw the ratty looking Nova and said, stupidly and with great 17 year old cockiness, "Why don't you take that thing home and work on it? What are you runnin' in that thing, anyway?" He looked over at me with a REALLY mean look and said, I'm runnin' a .38." and he pulled a gun on us. He then said, "Now why don't YOU take YOUR car home and work on it?". Well, I gotta tell you, I about crapped myself and deservedly should have. I told Terry to "get the hell on it. He's got a gun!". Terry looked over at me and said, "Whaaaaa?" and he saw the gun and took off like a bat out of hell. We went up about two miles with him way back there and saw a Southfield cop car. We pulled up beside the cops and waved him over and told him a guy pulled a gun on us. We got home that night to hear on my Dad's police radio that they had busted the guys in the Nova. Whew! I NEVER lipped off to a stranger after that.

 

Maybe I should have asked if the stories have to be about 1966 and earlier cars? Sorry if I overstepped.

 

I would highly encourage you to do so 31 , it's actually fun and im on my third one , course im the only one reads them , but fun all the same .... if ya write one tho , how about I get a copy ok .... after reading my first car novel , Hot Rod by Henry Gregor Felson in the early 60s , I was hooked ...

 

...a great story 31 !! ...been on the wrong side of that gun a few times myself .... and since you mentioned Road Runners .... when I was 18 , an older neighbor bought a 69 RR with a Hemi in it . It was a bare bones model complete with the small dog dish hubcaps , but damn it was fast . Strangely enuff he wasnt a light to light guy , he liked the top end stuff and he had it geared accordingly. Used to tell us young kids that the fun began at 120 My mom used to bitch every time he came past the house because it fritzed the tv and rattled the windows . The neighbors petitioned the city several times to force him to get rid of it to no avail of course ....even tho he never got on it in the hood ... he used to tell us stories from the 50s and one of my favs was he and his buddies were so poor they used to buy and install used main bearings for their flathead Fords , this back in the late 40s -early 50s . It was a one light town in Southern Ohio and they had one cop . They used to race right thru town and the rule was ,if the cop caught you ... you went to jail . If you got away , you got a free pass till the next time he caught you in the act and then it was game on again .... I like street racing stories from any year 31 ... tell all ya like .... you got an audience of at least one and before I forget , I knew several guys who owned 383 RRs as well .... the 383s dont get the respect they should ... they ran very well and a excellant match against my 67 400 GTO .

 

.... in our town of Canton , you used the Avenue for posturing and setting up races , along with trolling for the gals of course .... but the races were always on the less traveled streets . Back then , most streets were pretty empty by midnight , the good burgers all to bed by then , so it was mostly just us and the cops prowling the streets ... and it was mostly average cars that made up the crowd . Most just installed aftermarket carb - cam -headers - intake - maybe some gears and wheels . The more serious would bump the compression a bit and some head work perhaps . Id also totally agree about the unusual races bob ... one of my fav races was being challenged on an Easter Sunday morning about 8 am to a top end race on a divided 4 lane state route . We both had Vettes . We both kept bumping up the speed and they called it quits at about 125 . I won of course but it wasnt a fair fight .... I had a big block in mine . But it was the unusual time and day that makes this one special ....

 

since im a 60s guy I like those the best , but any year is cool actually .... my Vette story took place in the mid 80s for example ...

 

many thanks for the info shovel ... my fictional street racers will most likely spend some extra time in the Motor City . I would have loved to have lived in your area back in the 60s and 70s.... I cant even imagine how much action was going on there ... not to mention the performance levels of the average car . I doubt most of us small town boys could have won much money in your neck of the woods ...

 

doeant have to be 60s or 70s exactly .. cant say as I ever had that happen in the daytime tho it wasnt unseen late night back in the day ... actually have had to wait for the zipper cars a couple times while out late in the last 10 years . Didnt mind the wait then , dont mind it now .... and three cars abreast ???? now thats quite interesting ... was this something they did often in your neck of the woods ???

 

Well....there was this time (the statute of limitations must have run out by now) back in 1970 on Woodward one night. In my Road Runner and decided to race a '67 Camaro. We were just south of 14 Mile Road heading south and we turned it on! We were even-steven when we ran into some traffic and there was only one lane open. We BOTH headed for that lane and as I went through the hole, I looked over to see the Camaro in the same lane and the driver of the Camaro was looking down the side of his car to see if we were going to hit each other. Somehow we didn't and we screamed past the traffic. About another 1/8th mile up, an old man pulled onto Woodward right in front of the Camaro. The guy in the Camaro did the biggest panic stop I have ever seen and his rear wheels started hopping from trying to stop. Well....unknown to us was a cop car about 1/2 mile behind us and he lit 'em up. He came up and pulled the Camaro over in front of me onto the grassy median strip of Woodward. I slowly crept past the cop and Camaro action and kept going thinking that the cop was not going to get me. All of a sudden my buddy who was with me says, "Hey Keiser, there's another cop coming and he's after us". By that time, we were at 13 Mile and I slammed it into first and poured the coals on. The light may have been pink. And then the light at Coolidge a few yards up may have been pink also when I drove under it. Next thing I knew my buddy says, "Make a quick right". So I went down the street next to the Arby's at Woodward and Warick Road. I went part way up the street and made a hard left into a driveway that had bushes down one side. I slammed on the brakes, hit the lights and we all ducked down. You know that sound of a cop car when they get it on? Well, that is the sound we heard, next. We waited a minute and one of my buddies got out and went to the end of the driveway to see the cop car go down the street. Out of nowhere, another cop comes screaming down the street and my buddy runs back and says to duck. We were lucky nobody was home where I chose to pull up, so we waited a few minutes. We decided to walk up to Arby's. We left the car and went to Arby's. One of my buddies walked back a few minutes later to get the car after it had calmed down. We skulked home and I shook like a leaf the whole way. It all seemed to happen so fast, but at times, it was like super slow motion. Ahhh, the good old days of being a crazy kid.

 

This is one ,1935 Chevy, from Northern Va( known as Untouchable)
Total basket case when found ,tree growing threw engine compartment, 1967,
When first built , white with pinkesh/purple around belt line's , now Black & candy red,( since around 1982)
Car was a Street Race / HR Driven daily in rain, snow , back @ forth to Fla up intel 2014,
For the las 25 yrs , car had a 700-800 hp blown SBC
Car has been wrecked 5 or 6 times , shot up ,stolen,
He is know around 75, car was crash agin, a year or so,
His Daughter has it now .
A clone is being built,
Around 1985/86 ,it would run in
6:40-60's In 1/8
In my Area , there where several daily driven
Race Car / Hot Rods , on the street,
To Me , thats what a REAL Hot Rod PURPOSE IS!!
Not to own one and only drive it Friday/ Saturday night
20 miles,
I was inspired by ,,
I Assume "Out Law Hot Rodder's "
That I have almost, a daily driver H-R,
It see's 300-500 miles a week,
545 hp ,witch carb's , no OD transmission,
I kill a set of valve springs around within 3-4 mouths ,

 

No not my neck of the woods, my avatar is what I do so I'm all over the country. It just blew me away these guys did this in broad daylight on an interstate highway. Happened about ten years ago. Yes, three abreast.

 

In '50s/'60sPaducah, KY, according to my folks, both Broadway and Kentucky Avenue were well-used at night for drags although Broadway became more of a cruising street because it was downtown. My uncle Mike in "The Brown Beast" - a '57 Fairlane 500 four-door sedan with a single 4-bbl 406 4-speed - used to drag with a friend of his who had a hopped-up '61 Dodge on Kentucky Avenue around '64-'65 until he went into the Air Force. (He also took it to the legit strip just over the state line in Brookport, IL and run B/MP.)

 

Erie Ave, Buffalo, NY...under the bridge