I remember 350 being a ton of money. Long after that ad ran. LOL A kid I went to high school with bought a jeep in a crate for less than that believe it or not. A war surplus place had 3 of 'em. I got there too late. Damn the luck.
If memory servers me right its from the Early 50's and I learned a long time ago., Just my 3.5 cents Live Learn & Die a Fool
"Write, wire, or phone" The world was a different place, wasn't it? Wonder how many they had to sell... wonder how many still exist today
Not really interested in an Allison, but the war surplus motorcycles from back then would make my day.
1959 Lions Dragstrip Hello, in 1959, Art Afrons had already made many passes in his Allison powered race car at the dragstrips back East. But, he decided to tour several West Coast dragstrips to display his unique build. It was an exciting event at Lions as my brother and I had never seen an Allison powered anything before, except in airplanes. So, this West Coast Tour was going to be something else for us. Even our dad got excited and actually drove to Lions Dragstrip to see the race car. Rruss film capture The teenagers on the spectator side at Lions Dragstrip in their flat tops and blue nylon jackets. Our dad in his Dobbs Fedora hat…LOWER RIGHT The day was exciting and the Allison powered race car made many passes to a standing only crowd. It was the first time we had seen a race car powered by something different than normal. Art Afrons and his line of Green Monsters were in the history books and his long association in the world of speed is well noted everywhere. The Green Monster that came to So Cal was number 11. Jnaki One thing my brother noticed was that the starts were not as quick as with the other race cars, like the Sidewinder or Kenny Lindley/Don Hampton’s FED. But, if anyone was watching from the ½ way mark, the Green Monster flew by everything. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/push-trucks.1053761/#post-12519005
A friend of mine drove a war surplus Jeep his father had bought at an auction that was almost new. They painted it red with a brush. Was a blast to drive/ride in the woods. As a kid remember going to the Army/Navy Surplus store with my dad where there was always cool things to look at or buy. Some of it was brand new still in original packaging. A lot of the Allison engines were used in Unlimited Hydroplane racing as well as the Rolls Royce Merlin engine’s I’m sure because they were plentiful and cheap.
My parents were married in the early 50's. My Father worked at Woolworths, took a part time job at a Friendly's to make some extra $$. He was soon offered a trainee position to become a manager for them. As a trainee he usually worked in positions which did not receive tips, but I can remember him telling me about one woman who always tipped him a quarter every Friday because he cooked her burger the way she liked it. That paid for my parents bread and milk for the week! Kind of puts what 350 was then into perspective.
Grampa used to tell us about his first car almost every week when they came out to visit on Monday nights. . his first car was a model T because his dad couldn't afford the model A that was $25. The T cost $17 and they still had to finance it. $1 a month was the payment for 18 months. $1 interest on it making it $18 Then he would tell gramma we should get home I have cows to milk and we would tell him he sold the cows 40 years ago and he would say, I did? then we can stay a little longer. He could remember things from years ago but not what happened recently or even earlier that day. anyways I bet anyone of us would love to buy model a's for $25 and t's for $17 even if we had to pay $18 after interest. I miss those old army surplus stores. They always had good deals in them.
I talked to a guy who drove his Model T from Houston to Shreveport, to Baton Rouge and to Houston. Had a tire go bad on that trip but couldnt afford a new tire because they cost $3.74. Would you drive a Model T that far?
Art Afrons at Lions Dragstrip 1959-60 Hello, Sorry, I forgot to include the footage that I took of Art Afrons' "Green Monster" #11 at Lions Dragstrip in 1959-60. It was noted that of all "Green Monsters" that were built, number 11 was the most consistent and fastest. The day at Lions and the resulting film satisfied the need to see and hear the ALLISON powered race car. (Currently, I am researching for some original Afrons Allison powered sounds to tie into the 1959 original racing film that I took.) Impressive as it was, there were other drag racers that made their own versions of an Allison powered race car. It will forever be in the history books and archives as anything Allison, means the different Green Monsters throughout the years. But, for some reason, we were in the middle of an explosion of great So Cal drag racing/race car development and these two just made our day. As nice as seeing the Allison powered race car was, we were traditional So Cal drag race/hot rod teenagers and liked the power and quickness in the West Coast race cars. SIDEWINDER WITH ORIGINAL 1959 HEMI SOUND DRAGMASTER WITH ORIGINAL 1959 SBC SOUND My brother used to say during our hot rod racing days: There is nothing better sounding than a 671 Chrysler Hemi head motor or a 671 SBC motor idling and accelerating. Jnaki Sorry for the old guy mistake and missing films that I took back in 1959-60 at Lions Dragstrip.
Most of the unlimited hydro's in the 50's were based in Seattle. I worked for a company that was heavily involved in the development of the Allison engines they were using. We designed and ground cams, made quill shafts, designed and furnished high compression pistons, balanced crank assemblies and designed and built fuel injection. We also made most of the hardware for the boats including rudders, steering, fins, prop shafts, struts and various small stuff. I remember going to one of our customer's warehouse to get a new engine. When we got in the door, all I could see was engine crates stacked 2 high as far as I could see down both sides of the aisle. Even then, they eventually ran out of parts.
There were some unlimited hydros in Detroit (Such Crust, Miss Gale and a couple others) area also. My brother was a friend of APBA official so even as a 10 or 12 year old I got access to the pits and other viewing areas for the Detroit races. Nothing like the sounds of those Allison and Rolls Royce engines turning pretty high rpms down the straights or coming out of the Rooster Tail restaurant turn.
I remember seeing one of the Green Monsters do exhibition runs back in the 1960's. I think it was the one with dual rear slicks. It was lazy until mid track and then it ran strong.
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