Vintage shots from days gone by!

1959 1959 Lions Dragstrip
APRIL 1959

Hello,

This FED is one of the wildest early racers that we saw in person at Lions Dragstrip and Riverside Raceway in So Cal back in 1959-60. Looking at the race car, it looks simple enough, aluminum body, yellow tubular frame, Hemi motor. But, the first thing anyone notices is the huge centrifugal supercharger. It looks like it was taken from an aircraft motor and adapted for drag racing use. While most of the other race cars used Potvin styled 671 superchargers or the 671 on top, or plain Hilborn Injectors, this one was a big centrifugal blower sucking in air in front of the motor.

This yellow FED was owned by Steve Pick and Joe Koenig out of Long Beach, CA. It was a regular attraction at Lions during those early days. It was an experimental idea in play as the suspension created the uplift when accelerating. The idea was to shove the power from the motor back to the rear wheels by shifting weight without lifting the front wheels off of the ground. This car moved down the strip with the front end still high up in the air, but wheels firmly on the ground.

Jnaki

It was a “one of a kind” idea that did well in those days. Sometimes, the tremendous power from the Hemi motor did lift the wheels off of the ground. But, the weight transfer was already started and continued all the way down to the end.


1960

 

Movie bus, Los Angeles 1931

 

Greenville, NC circa 1961

 

Here in this photo you can see they are using the air starter instead of the hand crank on the Novi.

 

Thanks for two more great front drive Novi photos, Rootie!

Is that Cliff Bergere with the posing models in the first attached shot?

And Radio Gardner is starting the engine the engine with the pneumatic starter in the other photo. I'm still wondering just how well a crank would have worked for anything outside of turning over the engine by hand to check timing or something similar.

 

You're right, that is Bergere who it seems to have been quite the ladies man.

 

Just how long you been sitting there, playing that "GIT TAR"?

 

"Just wait 'til I get this mutha' in hi gear"!!!!!

 

NICE!!!---------NO TATS either!!!!!

 

This is a buddy of mine and his older brother. He has the car back now

 

Well, I guess we know where he spends his time between ambulance calls...

 

Same thing is true for airplanes! I learned to fly in the Navy during the Vietnam fun.

 

Airplanes that I flew and airplanes I worked on did not have inertia starters Thank God we didn't have to wind up R2800s when I started, Or the P&W 4000s when I quit.