History Tell me about your first, most memorable burnout or the best burnout you witnessed.

Aww man,
These are some great stories guys!
Keep’em coming!


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I've to many to remember, my personal Worst, was loading up my Mums four cylinder Vauxhall Viva in the high school bus park, popping the clutch, and promptly blowing the diff to pieces.
Another not so great experience, was forgetting I'd agreed to take some pics on Sunday morning, of my mates V8 Holden down by the beach, and got rolling drunk Saturday night. Mate did some outstanding burnouts on the sunny Sunday morning, I got lots of great pics, but the hangover wasn't fun.
Here's a pic i took as a teenager, at early eighties local rod run.
Cars not Hamb friendly, but I've always thought this was a good shot for a kid.
Ray Stuart popping the left rear tire in the Mike Gillespie built T Bucket.

 

First time I tried a burn out was in my dad's 66 econoline van - 6 cyl, auto in the school parking lot after a basket ball game. CHP got me and wrote me for engaging in a speed contest ( wasn't racing any one) lost my license for 6 mo. And the damn van didn't even chirp the tire !!

 

I've seen some really nice cars lay a patch but the smokiest by far was 2 lame o/t cars... take 1 Gremlin 304 3spd add 1 pontiac ventura 307 auto mix with bald tires and shot rear brakes and several inebriated teenagers in a public park put said vehicles nose to nose hammer gas until the entire parking lot is filled and you can't see your hand in front of your face then pop rear tire on Ventura but the guy keeps going on the rim until fire dept comes....
Most hilarious? drunk guy gets angry on a public ferry dock can't remember what kind of car but he gets in a huff and starts doing a burnout with studded snow tires! the studs were whippin by like bullets! the dock is wood coated in creosote and the friction of the studs is catching the deck on fire as the Ferry crew is putting it out some guy is pounding on his window but he wouldn't get out
Funnest - o/t 69 Cougar 351 Cleveland c6 donuts donuts donuts! til you thought you were gonna puke the tranny fluid would slosh to the point where it would kick out of gear
Worst? - 2 cars I owned that had power but only 1 wheel peel 76 Ventura w 455 olds BB and 71 Astre (vega) 350 and monza driveline....the Ventura would hardly even move without spinning that 1 tire fire maybe it qualifies as the longest burnout ever because it never stopped spinning lol the Ashtray was just down right dangerous almost impossible to drive in the rain...the next owner put a posi in it and promptly twisted the frame

 

In 1969 I bought a brand new Nove SS with a 375 hp 396. One day I wanted to get some pics of it dong burnout so I took it out south of town on a nice straight piece of highway and proceeded to brake it and then let it go. The smoke boiiled out and kept on coming and when it hooked up there were tep long ass stripes on the road. I had a friend stand in the ditch to take pics of it and when I turned around to go pick him up I saw a white car coming around the curve about a half mile ahead of me. YEP...Highway Patrol. He made me go back and we measured the black marks..226 feet to be exact. He laughingly said when he came around the curve he thought someone was burning the ditch off as the smoke had settled over it. Then he wrote me a nice reckless driving ticket for my trouble.I asked him if we couldn't mek that careless driving but he said he could make it willful reckless drivng and I could walk for 30 days if I'd rather so I took my ticket and went sadfully home.

 

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Most memorable by far. '70, I was 17 and pumping gas at the local station, early evening a '68 Camaro pulls briskly up to the pumps. I see the 396 badges as it rolls to a stop. "5 bucks hi-test" the guy wearing a camo 'bush' hat says. I recognized that voice. It was a guy who dated my best friends older sister, before he graduated and went to Nam. Home on leave, borrowed his older brother's car for the night. We shot the breeze for a few minutes, he was in a hurry (& well on his way). Pulled out, all hell breaks loose, big block screamin', rubber burnin', headed west, does a 180, never let off the gas, back by the station headed east, does another 180 (still ain't let off the gas or stopped burnin' rubber), back by the station west bound again and still smokin' the tires. Gave me a wave as he went by....as I was standing there with my mouth wide open. I realized I'd just witnessed greatness!
The station owner was just pulling in as the cloud from this exhibition still in the wind. "Who the hell was that!!!??"
"Dunno, I think it was the Lone Ranger, didn't leave any silver bullets, but sure left his mark!!!"

 

LOL there are some guys who used to hang out on the fence at the starting line at Little River in spring of 1969 that will tell you that some of my best burnouts weren't intentional as my 69 Cutlass didn't hook up well with skinny stock tires and came off the line a little bit sideways. It would have made for a good video though.

 

I've witnessed a couple of burnout contests which in my estimation is the dumbest competition there is. Crowd egging on someone resembling a Meth Head hoping he destroys his POS vehicle. Makes about as much sense as Russian Roulette.

 

Any time two or more guys do the same thing there will be a competition no matter how dumb it is.

 

The best burnout I witnessed was at a little drag strip called Dallas Drag Way in Dallas GA. It was a 1966 67 Oldsmobile 442 body 2400 hp 2 engine all wheel drive exhibit Funny Car named Hurst Hairy Oldsmobile, has soon as it took off smoking all 4 tires all the way down the track you lost sight of body, the tire smoke covered both stands all the way down the track and it still turned times in the 11's
If you ever saw this Olds you would remember it like I have for 50 years.

 

1970, My older brother's '64 Chevy Nova, 301 c.i., 4 speed Muncie. Helped him put another complete rear axle in it. He backed out of the drive way and had to try it out. Didn't get 20 feet when it grenaded.
That was a 10 bolt. The next weekend put the 12 bolt in. He took it easy after that. He was 18, I was 17. Never did see any tire smoke.

 

Last fall putting my coupe away.
I backed up to my parents garage door with my 1 wheel wonder. Light it up for a nice 20 foot burn out. I back up about the width of the car and get ready to do another one.
My Dad walks out of his shop and distracts me. I step on the brake to start another one, let off the brakes, and proceed let 'er rip....In reverse into their garage door! No damage to my car, but bent up the aluminum garage door real good! I had my Dad pissed just like it was 30 years ago and I was acting like a dumbassed teenager!

 

My buddy did a burnout in reverse up my driveway once in his high buck Deuce 5w.
He dumped the clutch and proceeded to rip about half the teeth off the reverse cluster of his Richmond 6 speed!

 

Went to high school with this guy named Ed. Now Ed wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed and he was "recruited" to our school to play football. Ed drove a old Mopar. Not sure what year. One morning as he was pulling into the parking lot some yelled "Hey Ed light em up!" Now this Mopar was an automatic. What does Ed do? He puts it in neutral, revs it up, and drops it into drive. The car launches into a smokey burnout for about 20 yards when KABOOM! The rear end explodes out of the car twisting the yoke right off the third member.

 

So... didja get the pics?? lol

 

............My first that I remember, I was working after school at the local Esso station, The mechanic needed some parts and there was no junky cars to send me in so he had me take a customers Buick.
I got the parts, started back. Came to an intersection 1/2 mile from the station, could not get a break
in the traffic, finally got a small gap and nailed it. Found out what torque is, and what the gs on the fenders meant.
My most memorable, still working at the station, went home for lunch. Phone rings, Mom had run out to get groceries, stalled the 63 Fairlane wagon blocking the entrance. I Took my little brothers banana bike to the store, got her started, Mom stalled it again. Got it started, she stalled it again. Got started again, told Mom move over, floored it and dropped in in gear. Made it up the little hill into the parking lot before the rod went thru the block. Mom still thinks it was her fault.....

 

19 years ago I returned to drag racing after being away for at least 25 years. I had no knowledge of doing a smoking burnout as that process came about during the time I was absent from racing. I asked the question on the HAMB "How is a burnout done"? Somebody responded that I should pull into the water, hold the brake slightly, start in 1st gear, bring it up to 5,000 rpm, then shift through the gears and let up on the brake when you feel the tires start to stick. The results have been my avatar for years. I calculated that I was running the equivalent of over 100 miles an hour in the burnout box. Although it looked impressive, and it was fun, it was way more than what needed to be done. More on the John Force style. I am more conservative today, but I still enjoy a little overkill.

Be careful of the questions you ask on the HAMB, and the advise you take.

John

 

In the 60's I worked at a full service gas station in high school. We had a customer with a nice '66 GTO, 389, tri-power, 4speed, posi. He always pampered the car to extreme. We did oil, filter, chassis lube exactly at 3,000 miles. He brought the car in every Sunday morning for the deluxe wash job. On Sundays, I was the senior guy and my friend James was the assistant. The GTO got there and we both washed it, James got to dry it and vacuum the inside. Normally, I pulled the car out and parked it on the side of the station until the guy picked it up. This particular day, James started making noises that he never got to drive it. Finally, we decided to flip a coin and I lost. James got to pull the car out. It just so happened that the owner came up just as James had backed out of the bay and was in FULL BURNOUT!!, both tires boiling and smoke everywhere. Needless to say, the guy was pissed, the station owner got a Sunday phone call, and James was looking for a job Monday. I convinced the boss that I had no idea he was going to do that and still got chewed out for letting him drive. I did get to keep my job.

Some day I'll tell about the GTO guys' wife. Long legs, short skirts and zebra print underwear......liked to make high school boys grin when they washed the windshield.

 

I was about 10 around 1976 and we lived behind a corner service station, one afternoon I hear this loud as hell car and look out the window and see a marina blue 67 SS chevelle with black vinyl top in the lot pointing diagonal towards the opposite corner of the lot. Now about the same time my eyes laid upon that car, the driver laid into the gas with those open headers, the L-60 torque thrusts went up in smoke and the car disappeared into the billowing cloud. I could still hear that engine roaring for several seconds but couldn't see nothing, the whole lot was engulfed in smoke, when it cleared there were 2 wide baked on black marks going across that lot that lasted for months.
A few days later I spot that car in the back lot of a used car lot while riding the bus home, as soon as I got off the bus I made a be-line for that lot. There it was, 396 turbojet Super Sport, I opened the hood and low and behold a stock looking small block chevy was in there to my dismay, how could that engine do what I seen ??? The salesman came over and said the guy had got 8 tickets and was in jail and the car was impounded, not for sale.
To this day I try and do that stranger proud, hoping to influence some other young lad into carrying the torch like I have.

 

The first burnout I ever did was in my buddy's 62 Fairlane 260 with a three on the tree. We spent a weekend installing an Indy floor shift! Only to find out on the test drive we had bent the shift rods the wrong way 1st was where 2nd should have been and 2nd was where 3rd should have been my buddy said he wouldn't be able to drive it like that. So I showed him it was very easy to drive plus the power shift from 2nd to 3rd was a snap! On the test drive showing him how it would operate I snuck behind the shopping center and did an awesome (for a 260 powered Fairlane) burnout! Only to find a very nice Police officer at the other end of the building! Yeah he gave me the ticket! Mom and Pop were none to happy I got a ticket and didn't even own a car! The most impressive burnout I ever seen was when one of my brothers buddy's backed out of our neighbors house with his Dad's new 67 Olds 442. He was rolling backwards pushed in the clutch and the gas pedal was floored. That white car disappeared in a plume of bluish white smoke and he went the whole block leaving two heavy dark black streaks the whole way! As a kid of about 10 I decided right then I needed to someday own a car like that! Joe

 

A couple years back a friend of my neighbor dropped his '67 Chrysler New Yorker with a 440 off for me to tune up as it had really bad bog off idle. I rebuild the carb, replaced dist, new plugs and wires, and timed it. I had driven this car round a little bit before the tune up so when I pulled away from the curb I gunned it a little to see if it would bog - I spun the rear left for 20ft before my brain wrapped around what was happening. Guess the tune up was successful! That car was way faster than a car of its size and handling characteristics had any right to be. The owner of the car saw the black stripe in front of my house and my neighbor immediately told him how I burnt rubber straight from the curb. My neighbor and I were amused. The owner of the car was not. I didn't do much work for him after that.

 

My youngest brother used to host huge parties at my parent's house, 2 kegs of beer was the norm and we grilled hot dogs and burgers all night. Smoked a shit ton of hand rolls too. Just about everyone there had a fast car, this was in 1976 or so. Mustangs, Camaros, '57 Chevy, Novas, my '67 Impala SS, my brother's GMC with the Vette engine.

So someone asks my mom if she has any bleach, she gets it .. BLEACH BURNOUTS in front of the house!! Thick tire and that nose hair burning bleach smoke rolling down the street. A town cop shows up, asks us to shut it down, everyone laughs and he leaves. 10 minutes later the county cops roll in, 3 cars with the lights on and TELL us to cut the shit. So we did and they left. Probably could have made his monthly quota of DUI arrests that night.

 

my first car a 1973 galaxie 500 unmarked cop car burn out in front of future girlfriend showing off ,cop pulls out but lights don't flash right away about a mile plus later lights come on . cop says he thought I was a cop and when he realized I wasn't pulled me over ticket for excessive traction around a curve .

 

' it's better to burn out than fade away '

 

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High school, 1972. Friend had a very potent AMC Rebel with a big block, 401 I think. Before school he would back up to one of the new speed bumps on the access road leading to the parking lot. A small crowd of Motörhead kids would gather and marvel as the big car burned out and launched off the speed bump. One morning, something went wrong and the car went suddenly hard right- colliding with an aluminum light pole- which came down like it was chopped by Paul Bunyon. In an instant, the admiring crowd split, leaving the highly embarrassed driver face to face with an assistant principal. Priceless.

 

I won a pair of new tires one time,by blowing out in a burn out the same kind at a car show as a sales trick for Butel Blue Rubbers. ; Here is really why.
Back in the early 1960s my full custom Henry J/Olds Rocket power,had a bad ass rep,as one of the most bad ass in Miami,it got that rep from those that would pull up on me running down US1,an asking to drag. I'd say hold a min.,I need to heat the tires,as we're rolling along side by side about 50mph+ {at that point pulled it back into super of my B&M Hydro,lite up the rears so bad,the rear danced around some on my "J" , back of car would be covered in tire smoke. By the time that was done!! Most times they were falling back or turning off on side street not to be see again,LOL
The untold story from back then,is I never actully dragged any one,didn't need too. The fact they didn't know was my "J" had crap for rear traction with the big Olds Rocket V8 up front, an thats the real of why she could smoke'm at any speed. Don't be telling them chickens,on me after all these years,cus by now if there still alive,the story they tell of the bad ass "J",well it's likely even faster yet ! LOL My "j" is in Car Craft Mag. in Jan. 63 page 35.

 

McDonalds, Grand river in Detroit summer of 1964. I lite up my 60 Chevy 348 from the rear to the front of the parking lot. Just in time to meet the squad car waiting for some fool. Think excessive noise was $10.00 back then.