Register now to get rid of these ads!

History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by Royalshifter, Dec 12, 2007.

  1. Mike VV
    Joined: Sep 28, 2010
    Posts: 3,029

    Mike VV
    Member
    from SoCal

    Years ago I went thru Frank Hawleys Drag racing school in Florida.
    I drove one of his alcohol Funny Cars.
    A second cool thing about that outing, was Don Gay Sr. and Don Gay Jr. were also in the same class. He had two cars and they had different height roll cages, so Don Sr. and I shared one car and Don Jr. and a guy from Orange County (SoCal) shared the other car.

    I could write about a page on those three days, but suffice to say, I got more than originally bargained for with that entry fee..!
    Great fun.

    Mike


     
    tommyd, Deuces, loudbang and 4 others like this.
  2. rooman
    Joined: Sep 20, 2006
    Posts: 4,045

    rooman
    Member

    Bob Keith's Courtesy Chevrolet AA/GD. One of the first cars to run a big block Chevrolet motor.

    Roo
     
  3. DDDenny
    Joined: Feb 6, 2015
    Posts: 19,144

    DDDenny
    Member
    from oregon

    Those Minilite style Ameicans have to be pretty rare, I've only seen a few on drag cars.
     
    Deuces and chryslerfan55 like this.
  4. loner1
    Joined: Jun 25, 2017
    Posts: 444

    loner1
    Member
    from Texas

  5. XXL__
    Joined: Dec 28, 2009
    Posts: 2,117

    XXL__
    Member

  6. 296ardun
    Joined: Feb 11, 2009
    Posts: 4,673

    296ardun
    Member

    Don Moody in the Moody, Davis, and Purcell top fuel car off against Jack Ewell. Manuel Maldinado posted this a few years ago, it is worth repeating here. This was before zoomies and slipper clutches, at Pomona, around 63, I think. Joel Purcell later took the Moody, Davis, and Purcell car off the end at Pomona, was pretty badly hurt. Ewell's car survived and has been restored.
    moody ewell.jpg

    yeakel rackemann.jpg
    Clipping from San Fernando, 1956. The Yeakel-sponsored Baney-Rackemann roadster with its famous upside-down Von Dutch painting on the grille insert, against another hot roadster (designation for fuel roadsters before the "fuel altered" designation. The Yeakel car ran a hydromatic trans modified by Fran Hernandez, which surprised some competitors. Art Chrisman lost to this car when driving the Reed Brothers roadster; "I didn't hear you shift" was his comment after the run.

    jamison.jpg
    Jameson, McClelland, and Koonz -- the "other" Reath Automotive-sponsored Fiat altered, sometimes confused with the Ratican, Jackson, and Stearns Olds powered altered. This is Chevy powered.

    cheatham.jpg
    Jay Cheatham's coupe, before his jump to gas dragsters.

    joehnck.jpg
    Bob Joehnck was one of Santa Barbara's legendary hot rodders, and his shop is still there. Here he is in a contest with the Drifters of Redondo Beach, at Paradise Mesa. This was back when fuel coupes had to run fenders. Under the fuel ban, gas altereds became lightweight Fiats and Bantams, and these heavy Fords became obsolete. With the end of the fuel ban, some gas altereds switched to nitro and "fuel altered" was born, with both roadsters and coupes in the same class.
    parr.jpg
    the state of Oklahoma produced some great drag racers, this was built by one of them, Cody Parr. It was a consistent class winner whereever it ran.

    smokers tony-waters 2.jpg
    Tony Waters, still running the GMC, before Smokers purple paint and a series of blown Desotos. The car later went to San Francisco-area drag racer Ray Matelli, and ran with Champion Speed Shop sponsorship. It has disappeared, however.
     
  7. old flopper
    Joined: Apr 23, 2013
    Posts: 633

    old flopper
    Member

    I can assure you there was nothing comfortable about those fire suits!
     
  8. wrenchbender
    Joined: Sep 5, 2007
    Posts: 2,337

    wrenchbender
    Member

    View attachment 4332314
    the state of Oklahoma produced some great drag racers, this was built by one of them, Cody Parr. It was a consistent class winner whereever it ran.

    296ardun I’ve known Cody for almost 40 years and have had many conversations about this car this version has a sbc in it prior to this engine it had a early caddy in it and had a chain driven 6-71 Blower he said in all the time they ran it like that it never lost a chain which surprised me
     
  9. Too bad Tony Waters little Dodge powered T is lost. It is a pretty historically significant piece, nearly winning the March Meet in 1960.
     
  10. loner1
    Joined: Jun 25, 2017
    Posts: 444

    loner1
    Member
    from Texas

  11. Stebo27
    Joined: Jun 12, 2019
    Posts: 251

    Stebo27

  12. jimcolwell
    Joined: Oct 4, 2009
    Posts: 474

    jimcolwell
    Member
    from Amarillo

    loner2, cruiserjohn76, enloe and 13 others like this.
  13. tommyd
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 11,948

    tommyd
    Member
    from South Indy

  14. tommyd
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 11,948

    tommyd
    Member
    from South Indy

  15. tommyd
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 11,948

    tommyd
    Member
    from South Indy

  16. tommyd
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 11,948

    tommyd
    Member
    from South Indy

    Interesting scoop. 65529753_10211556063457163_629060851705315328_n.jpg
     
    Airpig, RustyDogg, els and 6 others like this.
  17. loner1
    Joined: Jun 25, 2017
    Posts: 444

    loner1
    Member
    from Texas

  18. tommyd
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 11,948

    tommyd
    Member
    from South Indy

    65673130_2365419077076313_7928043963766800384_o.jpg Joel Johansen archives
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2019
    cruiserjohn76, els, enloe and 9 others like this.
  19. tommyd
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 11,948

    tommyd
    Member
    from South Indy

  20. tommyd
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 11,948

    tommyd
    Member
    from South Indy

  21. 296ardun
    Joined: Feb 11, 2009
    Posts: 4,673

    296ardun
    Member

    He is my Facebook friend now, great guy.
     
    chryslerfan55 likes this.
  22. 296ardun
    Joined: Feb 11, 2009
    Posts: 4,673

    296ardun
    Member

    '59, he blew the blower in '60, I was on the fire truck, I think you were there too. Yes, several have looked in vain for Tony's roadster after it disappeared, but it has never been found.
     
    chryslerfan55 and Bowtie Coupe like this.
  23. tommyd
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 11,948

    tommyd
    Member
    from South Indy

  24. loner1
    Joined: Jun 25, 2017
    Posts: 444

    loner1
    Member
    from Texas

  25. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,292

    jnaki






    Tony Waters Roadster 1959 Riverside and 1960 Bakersfield Smokers March Meet #2
    DRAG CARS IN MOTION...

    Hey Guys,
    Those were two events that most So Cal drag racers attended. From very early morning to late afternoon, the racing kept going on and on until there was the final race. (The late) Tony Waters looked strong at both places, but sometimes, things happen.

    Jnaki
    These types of events were just drag racing So Cal style. But, will last in our collective memories as historic steps in the development of drag racing. My brother and I missed the inaugural 1959 Bakersfield event that ended up in the dark, but the significance of Number 2 was evident. There were more racers, more of the latest technology, innovative designs, etc...
     
  26. 1947knuck
    Joined: Sep 4, 2011
    Posts: 5,458

    1947knuck
    Member

  27. Pete Draddy
    Joined: May 6, 2018
    Posts: 3

    Pete Draddy
    Member

    Hi rooman, Sorry mate,I thought these guys also needed to be mentioned, two other US Drivers were Earle Poage & Bob Mayer! the other Ozzie was Eddie Thomas. I guess i missed the Old Vandal in Dons museum, but i had only 3 hours to see all those Great pieces of Drag Racing & Hot Rod History, & May they All Rest in Peace! that are now in Hot Rod heaven!
     
    chryslerfan55 and enloe like this.
  28. When I was towing down there in the late 60's, I never thought I would someday be living 5 miles away. Carlsbad was the last strip my RPU ever ran at. An NHRA Division 7 points meet that got rained out. Ran 11.14 on Saturday, 6 100's under B/SR ET record. Only needed to back it up by 2% on Sunday. It rained all night. After 3 cars got stuck in the mud at the track entrance road, they called the meet. Two weeks later, at El Mirage, in our Studebaker, Rollie's little 301 blue chunks all over the course. No more B class motor. Shortly after that NHRA changed the class rules enough to render my car uncompetitive without cutting it all up. Racing career over.
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2019
  29. loner1
    Joined: Jun 25, 2017
    Posts: 444

    loner1
    Member
    from Texas

  30. tommyd
    Joined: Dec 10, 2010
    Posts: 11,948

    tommyd
    Member
    from South Indy

    Garlits rear engine Dart during a photo-op. The throttle hung and the trans exploded cutting the car almost in half. 65748842_10214441916266308_8454842580457226240_o.jpg 65422295_10214441915906299_8066884631355457536_n.jpg
     

Share This Page

Register now to get rid of these ads!

Archive

Copyright © 1995-2021 The Jalopy Journal: Steal our stuff, we'll kick your teeth in. Terms of Service. Privacy Policy.

Atomic Industry
Forum software by XenForo™ ©2010-2014 XenForo Ltd.