34 Lions pits Hello, When my brother had his 1951 Oldsmobile 2 door sedan, he tried his best to get it looking good, first, then looking for stuff to make it go faster. At the time, he was more into cruising around than racing. But, his friend built a 34 Ford 5 window coupe with a big Olds motor and was having fun at the drags. He also used it as a daily driver to school and work. That is a standard concept from those days. Hop up your daily driver for both the drags and school/job. One day, he came home from school and had a bright idea. He wanted to build a car for the street and modify it so he could race it at Lions Dragstrip, a mile or so away. His Olds was fast for a stock car with shiny stuff on it, but, it was not really fast like a car with a built motor and other speed goodies. It was one of the nicest looking cars in his age group of cars, though. I always thought that this Olds was going to be my first car in a few years. A Similar condition Model A He said he liked a 29 Ford Model A Coupe that he saw in a backyard, several blocks away. He had already approached the old lady and she was willing to part with the old coupe. It was the standard black, but worn in various places. She told him that it was not running and taking up valuable gardening space. She wanted it gone. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...ka-tin-hunting-stories.1052537/#post-12004865 Model A Jnaki We cleaned it up, got it running, and I took pleasure in driving it around the block several times. My brother was so happy that it ran, but he already had thoughts of putting in a 283 Chevy motor and get it going. (So, if this is a dual purpose car, my brother would drive it to school and the drags. Then the 51 Olds would be mine! Yea!) In December of 1959, we saw the perfect example of a dual purpose street/strip Model A sitting in the pits of the Riverside Raceway Drag Meet. We did not know who owned it, but it said… "ours.” My brother called me over and pointed out the red Model A. It just had the look. A Model A for the A/Gas Coupe Class. In a recent search on more old photographs of this Model A from 1959-61 era, I found this one that shows it was now in B/Gas. What a perfect car for the drags and the daily trips to high school. To me, this is a period correct look for a high school car from the early 1950s through the mid 60s. It was nothing radical. It had a simple look, but, was very powerful and fast.
I would swap some steel wheels onto it, for a more 50s look. Besides that, I think it fits the thread.
That's Charlie Hillers old '32 and Caddy from southern MA...The '32 is still around, but has a 392 Hemi in it now.
After reading all these pages there are 2 things that really stand out, hardly any sbc. Mostly flat heads, lots y-blocks with bunches of olds and nailheads thrown in. Another stand out is I think I seen 5 ? Maybe 6 with halibrands, so I take it halibrands are like 3 deuce gto's? True 3 deuce goats are rare but now every gto has to have one? Interesting to actually see what was really being used by most...
This is what i have seen based on old magasines from that era. It usally take three years for new stuff to make their way in to the hotrods. That mean its just around 58-59 the chevys started to find there way into hotrods in bigger numbers. The flatheads is number one and from mid 50:s the Olds are the second most used engine. Steelies with wheelcovers are still common up to mid 60:s. And by looking in the magasines whitewalls was used on close to all streetdriven cars. Red is the most common color during all the 50:s and pastels where common in the second half.
Many people referred to hotrods as "death traps". And in some cases were. Driving over 100 mph is dangerous but many of us did it. Some of our friends died.
1940 Ford Coupe 1930 Chevy coupe Hello, When I was given the movie camera and told to go take some movies, I was able to wander all over the Riverside Raceway Course in 1959. The tall cliffs that lined both sides leading to the finish line, the open, no barrier starting line, the flat area after the starting line on the East and West side of the dragstrip. It was a huge place. It had the reputation for having the full road race course for sports cars and rental spaces for factory sponsored testing. But it also had a long enough straightaway to hold the famous Riverside ½ mile drag races. This event was in late December and it was cold in the morning, hot around noon and as soon as the sun was starting to set in the West, it became jacket weather. It was the end of the 1950s and there were still hot rodders that popped off their hubcaps and ran with the best of the racers on the track. The street legal gas coupes and sedans were what most would have seen on the streets of just about any street in America at the time. Jnaki It was not for a few years into the middle of the 60s that the whole Gas Coupe and Sedan Class was taken away from the everyday hot rodder and cruiser. The months and years leading up to that reclassification was disheartening as there was no where for the backyard garage builder to test out his creations. The teenager with a 40 Ford coupe and an SBC motor was hot stuff on the street, but how would he do against the other street legal coupes and sedans. Pop off the hubcaps and empty out the trunk for a walloping good time, racing down the ¼ mile dragstrip. It was an enjoyable time for all young teens and adults. 1940 Ford Coupe and Chevy Coupe
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