I had this one being pulled out of a garage as my wallpaper for the longest time. This thing has stance for days. Sent from my SCH-I435 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Pat my cookie jar is extremely low these days which has kept me from being tempted on ebay shopping but I do like the 59 Vette you posted. Wish I could own it and hopefully someone will buy and run it in period trim. I agree with you on the overuse and abuse of the gasser terminology but also understand the sentiment of the guys that do it. I still shake my head on occasion. The only thing that would truly bring tears to my eyes would be if someone buys it and puts on whitewall slicks. Without getting into a long discussion guys should pick an era and stick with it. This car has spindle mounts which a number of guys ran in gas in the late 60s and early 70s. I like the rear end setup and I do like the stance. The size of the rear tire is quite impressive but he must have moved the axle back a tad. Not sure that I like the lettering on the door but I think the car deserves to be put back as it looked when it ran. A bunch of the Ohio contingent ran at Milan and I wish I could remember the car but I do not. In the pictures on ebay there is a 61 Vette called Shotgun. I talked to the owner a couple of years ago at the Meltdown. Cool car as well in period trim. Engine (bigger inch SBC I think) is not original but it ran pretty good (12s if I remember). The Dragway 42 cards show a date of June 1970 when this car would be most likely be in B/G and the times are somewhat realistic. The guys I ran with ran B/G in 68 and 69 with an Enderle injected 427 and ran similar numbers. The 10.30s would not be quite record runs some of the guys were running real low 10s and as I remember Prontito (I believe just before George Foltz became involved with it) with his injected 427 Vette dipping into the 9s at Milan in 69. Don't understand what looks like the A/G note with 9s on the card. Saw a good number of these early Vettes with 427s injected and only saw them run in B/G from 68 thru the early 70s. Not sure of his weight but it does not look real light. Maybe they bumped him into A/G to fill the class or satisfy the crowd. Cool car though. It is times like this that I wish my pockets were a bit deeper. Car would be a hoot. Here is the Shotgun 61(somewhere I have a picture of it at the Meltdown.
Steve Norton just sent me these up-dated pics of his 56 Corvette. Looks awesome, to say the least. Great color choice and I love the roof stripes.
That's all he has sent me. Hopefully he'll see this and send me a good side shot. I'd like to see it too.
Ken's speed shop Vette from UNCLE Miller & Keim Pogo II running altered Raunchy Sherrill South Tacoma Chevrolet
The yellow car is Terry Sherrill; lived in Klamath Falls, OR. The 62 belonged to Tom Turner of Tacoma.
Loudbang as you may know the Emerson 57 is the old Midwest, then Prontito car in what I believe is the autumn of 1969. The way it hooked so well is why it is probably my favorite of the old drag Vettes. I do not remember this car being on the losing end during the mid to late 60s. Super competitive. In this trim it won class at Indy (B/G) in 69. The next blue car is Mr Picket of course.
Jim, Who all owned and drove the Midwest Corvette? Mike Fons was a neighbor across the street in 1965 or so. He had a 409 full size Chevy and later Pro Stock Camaro. But somewhere in my brain cells there is a recollection of him driving the Midwest Vette. Just trying to get my mind right. A BIG JOB!!!!!!
Bruce funny you should ask that. Fons also drove an earlier Camaro (1968 -325 hp) to some records. I had a couple of 325 hp and a 360 hp and 375 hp and the 325s were a bit anemic-good drivers though to keep me out of trouble. He worked wonders with his. The Midwest Vette was owned by Ron Reader. He raced it on Woodward with a 389 and a 421 Pontiac both built by George DeLorean. Ron told me he got so many tickets he converted it to strip only and in 65 they switched to a 427 BBC with a four speed. There were two main drivers; Bob Schaeffer and Dave Kanners. He told me Dave was a super talent but to put it in a nice way he did not always listen to Ron's advice. I knew Dave Kanners pretty well as he raced with the son of the owner of the gas station I worked at in 1972. Dave was racing a Camaro then. Dave died a number of years ago of cancer and I do not want to speak unkindly but he was a character that at times made me mad-let's leave it at that. Bob was a good engine builder and he built an L88 clone for the guys I raced with and a pretty good driver. Dave was a really good driver-hard to beat. Ron may have tried Mike Fons but he was not the go to guy. He may have run it as I admittedly did not see it every time it ran. May have to ask Ron. Funny thing though as I mentioned as he may have driven a red 57 Vette that was a part of that same Woodward crew. The guys I ran with had a BBC 57 Vette that was orange-ran B/G-not super competitive. Sam Gianino ran a red 57 Vette (mostly D/G-some D/A) and another orange 57 was owned by Teddy Boschma (Berkley Auto Electric -B/G-good running car). One time at a cemetery on Woodward (probably 68) we met some of the Woodward guys including Mike Fons at a mechanics shed at the cemetery and there was a red 57 Vette inside (not Gianino's). I never saw it run but they may have run it at Motor City when I was at Detroit or Milan who knows. I may have to ask Ron about that as well. Know what you mean on the mind. Sometimes I wonder what the hell happened to mine. Such is life.
Bruce to add to the mix, Midwest had a 62 Vette that ran in modified sports. It had an up stance and was blue. Al Maynard was the go to guy in the 62. It is possible that Mike Fons drove that car on occasion. Here is a picture of that car. Car was pretty competitive. Ron Reader told me that Butch Elkins helped build the car and it was one of the early ones to use a watts link (according to Ron). Here is a picture of that car. Wish I could find this in a mechanics shed. Here is Fons in what I believe is a second Camaro when he ran MP.
I know exactly what you mean about Dave Kanners. I worked a few months at Motown Muscle. Maskin, Kanners & Mike Fons. I don't know the financial arrangement but I got paid on time and in cash. Mike's brother Kenny taught me how to TIG weld. He was a real fabricator. One thing I always remember about working there. The pop machine had one selection that was 'Out of Order'. If you selected that one, it spit out a nice cold beer. Pabst? The rule was, "If you're working, your're not drinking and if your're drinking, you're not working." But, I do remember drinking and then working. That seemed to be okay. Of course, I was in practice back then.
In the sake of being accurate I stated the picture that was posted by Loudbang was the autumn of 1969 and it may be late fall of 69 or 1970 (?), after checking my notes I came up with the way it ran at Indy and won class (B/G). I remember it was yellow at the time but was not sure of the sponsorship on the side-I do now, according to the Indy picture. It also appeared at Indy in 67, as the black Midwest car, owned by Ron Reader but they had problems with the car and pulled the engine and put the injected 427 in the Kanners/Ellis entry won class (AM/SP). I was more used to it running as a black Vette ,both with Midwest on the side and then with Prontito on the side. At the time it was called Prontito it was owned by Roger Davenport. I then believe Roger may have gone into partnership with George Foltz. Roger Davenport may have backed out of ownership after Indy in 1969 and the Emerson brothers may have taken his place. I do believe George Foltz remained involved with the car although I do not know that for a fact. In the early 70s I had to pay a bit of attention to my studies in college and my new wife and such fun as drag racing took a bit of a back seat, so my knowledge of all things Vette drag racing was a little thinner. Bruce funny stuff on the beer. When I worked for my great uncle and cousins in their truck equipment business in the 60s for a summer job the guys took a beer break at 2:00pm. Imagine that today. Here is another picture in 1969 Here is also a picture when it started out with the Pontiac power
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