I figure most here probably know a least a little about Jim Lytle, the crazy genius who engineered the 'Big Al' and 'Quad Al' dragsters... Allison-powered brutes which terrorized drag strips in 60's. Well, turns out a good buddy here in Austin has Jim's cousin for a father-in-law, and that cousin has lots of great old snapshots from back in the day... and most of those have notes on the back in Jim's own handwriting (!). Me and that good buddy got together a while back, and after a few beers he was kind enough to let me scan a few of these nuggets for sharing. Sure, we got pics of Big Al and Quad Al... but how about the Allison-powered 'Alsetta' and the 'Psycho Cycle' trike...?!?!? There's also some nice cars Jim built for a few customers... hopefully the notes are self-explanatory. Hope you fellas enjoy!!
Thank you, thank you THANK YOU! I love anything that Jim Lytle had anything to do with. And to see these treasured old photos is soooooooooo sweet! Thank you again.
I have not seen most of those photos. He made his mark in hot rodding not once but many times. I was thrilled when I heard Mike Guffey had purchased Quad Al. I don't know how he finds all these historic vehicles.
@guffey may have purchased the frame for Quad Al from Cy Kubista, a long time Minnesota hot rodder and a member of the I.M.C.A. Old Timers. I talked to Cy at the Jefferson, WI. swap many years ago when he had the frame there for sale. Mike Guffey may have had to duplicate the front and rear axles, complete the driveline and steering, etc. as I don’t think Cy had those components, but I don’t know that as fact.
Mike bought it from Wally Miller. it was more complete than you remember. It was rolling on its original wheels and tires. All that was missing was the engines and the body
I know he has passed on but I remember a short article on him years ago and if I remember right he was retired and putting an Allison in VW micro bus. I remember reading about him as a kid in the 60's and remembering how wild his stuff was. Larry
Wow...a guy who knew how to invest in an engines and have fun at the same time ! Thanks for sharing.........
You got it. I tried to post the same picture without success. Yes, the headlights are under the fenders.
Unless I'm mistaken, the channeled '32 in that snapshot I posted is the same '32... or at least it has the same rear end treatment!
Fantastic photos! Thanks for sharing. So, every time a Big Al conversation comes up, I ask if anyone knows what became of the original chopped STEEL Tudor body? Was it sent down the road to become someone's Hot Rod (and still around ???? Reading between the lines of this paragraph from a write up on Big Al, makes me wonder if the steel body was unceremoniously sacrificed (with a net, 12" chop) to be used as a mold buck for the fiberglass flopper body? : ultimately rewarded its builder with a 10.56-second, 147-mph Lions Drag Strip timeslip in September 1963. Later that same day, a chance encounter with a pit vendor convinced him to park the world 's fastest sedan. "At those speeds, the volume of air compressed inside the body was tearing it up," Jim recalled in a 2006 interview. "I lost the hood once, and the right door came open twice, at about 145. I got tired of fixing it. I 've always hated doing bodywork. I felt that the car had just about reached its potential, anyway." Noticing a display of Fibercraft fenders in the pits, Jim asked owner Fred Karow whether it was possible to create an entire '34 sedan out of fiberglass. Fred assured him that it was, offering to sell the cocky kid materials at cost and answer any questions. "I retired the steel car that same night so I could make a mold out of it," Jim said. "I really had no choice; a draftsman making 120 bucks a week couldn 't afford to buy another '34, even at 1963 prices. Besides, the top was already chopped [6 inches]. I decided later to cut the other 6 inches so I could lower wind resistance and pop my head out the roof, where I could see." This photo shows a mismatched. primed, passenger door, which I assume is repairs from the aforementioned door coming open at speed a couple of times (which must have been chilling).
Thanks @BLAKE for sharing this iconic History...I'm hoping you are able to make some more picture runs... Those are priceless...that flamed Coupe sure inspired and like most of Al's Creations Outside the Box was his middle name... Extended thanks to those sharing additional history of this Showman and Hotrodder...
It's remarkable just seeing his 389 Pontiac engined Crosley wagon in color!! I'm enamored by how it never made a feature!
Well he was for a while anyway. Lytle was fabricating the monocoque tub for the STP car, at least until he told the guy in charge of the project that he was doing it all wrong.
The Jalopy Journal
