History Do you remember your first street race?

TOAD!!!!

 

Yep.
Low traveled backroad at night.
A drunk friend wanted to race.
But he wanted to go in reverse.
So we lined up and letter rip

I think that’s the only race I ever won

 

In 1960 I was an Iowa farm kid and dad would let me drive his early 55 Chev AD pickup to town, it was a four speed too A classmate, John Lary (RIP John) was driving his dad's 53 Ford pickup, V8 with three on the tree and as things go we decided to race The local "strip" started where the Main Street of Massena Ia intersected Hwy 92 and ended at the "bridge" at the bottom of the hill, probably more than a quarter of a mile. I didn't think I could beat him but it was one time that being wrong wasn't all that bad. After we slowed down I pulled off and waited for a tractor trailer to go by....but he pulled right up next to me on the shoulder and stopped. He got out and chewed my ass for being a danger to the roadway. John was smarter than I and turned around elsewhere I was more careful in the future
I'd have much rather drove the family 58 Dodge, it was a whole lot quicker, Dad was smart, the old pickup was probably too fast for me

 

When I turned 16, I was the "lucky" kid that had to drive my dad's big boat 4 door Oldsmobile. All my friends had cool hot rods. One drove his dad's Fairlane with a 390 in it, the other bought a 70 Mustang with a 531 Cleveland and my 3rd buddy had a 69 Nova with a V8 3 speed with 327 heads bla bla bla.
So I worked at the gas station, and usually ended up working on my buddies' cars. One night after work, all 4 of us went for a cruise in dad's 4 door Olds. My buddies always gave me crap about the "boat", but it was OK when we could all cruise in it at one time. They didn't know the Olds had a 394 4 bbl with a posi, but I did! We were cruising the downtown area, a hot bed of light to light racing. Sitting at a light, some guy with a 66 Chevelle with SS emblems on it challenged me to race. Picture this, a very sharp looking and sounding Chevelle SS driving guy challenges a kid driving a 64 Olds 4 door sedan with 4 guys in it to a race. LOL! I say "Sure." and the guys are going nuts laughing at me. The light turned green, and I smoked him BAD! He spun, we didn't. The next red light, the guy is there again, he is mad, wants a rematch. Sure! I smoked him bad again, now my buddies are laughing at him!
A few block later he is there again, and wants to do it one more time. Are you sure? I asked laughing. He is really mad now. The light turns green, he smokes the tires away, but I just sit there so the cop on the side street at that light can chase him down. As we cruised past him a few blocks later with the cop car, lights flashing, parked behind him, I honked and we all waved at him as we cruised by.
My buddies gained a whole new respect for dad's Olds. None of them ever challenged me to a race. They didn't brag to me much about how fast their cars were either. Gene

 

My rusty '53 Hudson, 308 CI flathead 6, Twin H Power, 4 speed hydro vs a '55 Chev with 4 guys on board. Close race to 100, then the Hudson pulled on them. Lessons learned. Dude would not talk to me at work next day.

 

Yes I do remember in this car around 63 and I also remember how many axle key's I broke doing it.

 

Yes I do, and I lost.

 

John, what about the Corvette and the Sunbeam Tiger, as I recall the story you spanked that vette.

 

after a day of thinking I bet my first street race was against my buddy Dave in his beautiful orange 1969 Mach I. 351 auto against a 400-4 speed. he got me in the start but I passed him once I got traction. I must have raced him 10 times over the next few years and every time the same thing happened, eventually I decided to just go easy on him and found that pedal to the metal was NOT the way to go and that time I beat him from the line. he only ran in the 15's at Fremont. I like to think my GTO was in the mid to high 13's though I never took it to the track.

I haven't driven a V8 4 speed car since that GTO in the early 80's

fun times!!

 

Get caught racing on the streets in S.C. the police can confiscate your car, you can lose your car & license and levy a huge fine.

 

Many years ago my daily was an old Ford Ranger with a 4 cylinder. I lined up next to an old VW air cooled bug. Dang if that bug didn’t outrun my Ranger! That had to be the slowest street race in history. My last race was my wife’s Ecoboost Escape 1.6 against some hillbilly in a clapped out old Chevy pickup. He had a V-8 (I could tell by his exhaust). He was super pissed went that tiny four cylinder with three of us in it spanked him. Boost can be a wonderful thing!

 

41 Cad coupe with a brand new WWII tank engine and stick, against a new 57 Corvette with a stick on Wentworth st in Sunland Ca. it was on, the Vette out in front by a mile, then slowly but shurley the Cad began to gain on him over about a mile. The Vette ran out of top end because of gearing and the Cad passed him by a fender, at the second mile. Wentworth st was several miles long, in a 1/4 mile the Vette won but "in the long run" the old Tank engine held its own. This was about 1955 and how it went down according to my old guy memory. A side note we were told when we bought the tank engine that it was 4 1/2 by 5 1/2 bore and stroke but as time went by we found out they were the same as all the flathead Cads. JW

 

I missed something on my earlier post. I actually started racing on the street (down hill) at the age of 6, this was one of my rides.

 

The Summer Of 1967 And My Friends Fresh Flatty Powered Coupe Waxed My Worn Out Caddy Powered Delivery...

 

Faux gasser

 

A two mile race would scare me even in my younger days!

 

This will make ya grin. When Missus 'Beaner and me first started dating she was using her mom's '69 Plymouth. It was a Belvedere (I think) more door, a small block car. her dad had tweaked it some but is was a quiet old granny looking car. We used to run 3 tenths of a mile kind of behind of the high school. She would roll to the line, leave it in drive and stand on it. No one local would hook em up with her.

Funny I broke the 396 in her dad's '62 short bed down there. That was when I found out I had fallen into the right family. I dearly loved that man.

 

Altered Roadster !

 

My first street race was the night I got my license. The folks said I could drive over to see my friend Eric, Eric already had his license for about a year. My mom called Eric’s parents to let them know I was on my way. Eric and I spent the evening, like many others, working on his 57 Chevy. The Chevy was a long way from being street race material, it started as a $50 car that took over a week to convince Eric’s dad to let him buy it. Little did Eric’s dad know, Eric had already paid for the car and got the previous owner to store the Chevy until Eric supposedly made room in the parents garage.

But on to the street race, it was starting to get dark and Eric’s parents thought it would be a good idea for Eric to lead me out to the main road since I was a new driver. The main road was Lafayette Road on the northwest side of Indianapolis. So there we are on a dark four lane state highway. Me in my mom’s off topic 305 Nova, Eric in his moms 455 Pontiac wagon.

That night I learned a very important lesson every young car guy needs, there is no substitute for cubic inches. Eric left me so far in the dust it wasn’t much of a race.

 

I never had a car that I would call fast enough to race with in high school. My 51 Merc probably had the loudest pipes in school but that flathead sure wasn't fast, After I blew the flathead up I bought a 55 Metropolitan rag top because I thought it would be reliable and get decent gas mileage while the car lot had two 55 Chevy two doors (post and hardtop) for the same 395 bucks.
My first street race if you call it that was right in the middle of town against one of my buddies Renault Dauphine with each of us having a buddy along egging us on and I don't think anyone walking down the street thought we were racing. I don't think we even made it up to the speed limit between stop lights.
After I has spent a year in trade school I got a 55 Buick Special that I stuck a 55 Buick Super engine and trans in that was a road burner that ate a few 55 Chevys lunch when they only counted 3 portholes. Caused some kid to blow his babbit beater Chevy up one night when he tried to pass me and I walked him up a lot faster than that Chevy should have been going and heard it go bang and slow down. I was afraid his brothers and cousins would come looking for me for a while after that but they must have decided that it taught him a lesson.

 

Yes and those after. Complete with tickets and associated trouble.

 

When I was in the Air Force (1980's) I found a '71 Chevelle SS454. Wrong motor, but a real solid car. Spent all my money ($800) getting a nice Blue paint job on it and fixing everything mechanical. Thought I was a hot shot. One Friday night on the outskirts of town, I pull up to a light next to a very similar, but very beat, rusty, mismatched colors, '70 SS454 Chevelle. One look and I knew it was ON. Well, I learned right then, looks can be deceiving. It was about 2 car lengths, but I could not catch that guy! Did I hang it up? No! Decided what I needed was a 6-71 blower! So I spent 2 years piecing it all together. I got it running extremely well, so I went out looking for some trouble. I found it- a guy with nitrous oxide on a 350 in a primered Pontiac Sunbird. That guy handed my ass to me too! Did I hang it up? NO! Sold the Chevelle, bought a full on Pro Street Vega as a roller. Built a full tilt blown 454 for it. It was a monster on the street. I decided it would be wise to keep the racing antics to a real drag strip. This was when the Fastest Street Car thing was taking off. I did well, but the second heads up, non bracket event, after making it all the way to the final in my mid 10 second street car, I lined up against a Camaro with a 600 inch IHRA rat, Lenco, parachute deal. Well my typical 10.50 looked pretty weak against his 8.21! What did I learn? There's always someone faster, and drag racing is very expensive. I sold the Vega and bought a house! Game Over.

 

yup, high school had a 49 plymouth business coupe that had a 318 a block and 3speed trans. Though it was the fastest thing on wheels! One night up rolled this beautiful 32 3window ford an ask if I wanted to race. He kicked my ass so bad with his 327 4 speed

 

Never did any street racing in high school. My first car was a '53 Chevy Bel Air Ht...too slow and sluggish to race
THEN, I built this '48 Chevy, 283/3spd. and nobody would race me.

There was only one other hot rod in town, a 327 powered '40 Ford coupe, and it was a "legendary" street racer. All the locals learned you lose if you race a hot rod...so my coupe was considered too fast to race (which it wasn't) just by association.

 

65 Mustang 289 Hipo , 271 HP , vs 78 Camero Z28 . It was laughable . I was sitting at the next traffic light door open on my Mustang waiting for the z28 to arrive . I sold the Mustang , and purchased L79 66 Nova , probably the fastest block to block car I ever owned .

 

Mucho street racing. But my absolute favorite had to be when I was beaten by my own car. My buddy and I were cruising the car lots in my 69 GTO and he slaps me and starts yelling, "If that's a 440 Cuda, I'm gonna buy it." Now to put this in context, my buddy was so tight he'd drill a hole in nickel 'cause the washer was six cents. So I whip into the lot and he jumps out before I get stopped, and heads for the front row. I wander over the the back row (only row on a car lot I ever looked at) and there's a 70 GTX 440/auto in that shitty army green with a ratty vinyl roof. Shoot the salesman my offer( about a 1/4 of the sticker) , and he leans in real close and tells me if I cross his palm with a bill, he'd get the job done. I agree, and he disappears, and comes back about 20 minutes with the papers. My buddy shows up, minus Cuda (color me surprised), and starts looking at the GTX. I tell him to get away from my car. I flip him the keys to my car and we head home. At the last traffic light heading out of town, he lines up against me. I believed the hype and figured the GTX would flat out beat him, after all it was a 440 GTX. Light goes green, and I see nothin' but my own tail lights all the way home. I was so pissed, the GTX got sold the minute the title showed up. In hind sight, I know now I shouldn't have been all that pissed. Seems my Goat had been some special order car. Seems the guy that had ordered it ticked all the right boxes. Turned out the damn thing ran 11.98 in the quarter. That 440 GTX never stood a chance. But it still was a strange feeling to be beaten by your own car. Kinda like watching your mother-in-law drive your Ferrari off a cliff.

 

I've told my story about my first street race, here's the story about my last street race as a kid back in the day, I started on my 16th birthday 1964 and stopped street racing in 1970. I had a lot of fun and was pretty successful by staying in my class so to speak, almost made enough money to cover cost of broken parts, not the fines, lawyer expenses. I meet up with a buddy at the new hot spot for racing, the police/sherriffs were really cracking down on street racing, 1964 not so much by 1970 they got serious due to fatalities and volume. we line up and it's on and the cops were there hiding/waiting, lights on sirens wailing, buddy turns right I go straight, I see the T intersection sign as I flash by at around 100 mph, my first time is this area, small town suburb area, Shitski !, I climb on brakes, realize cannot make the turn, see the cornfield and straight in it I go, through barb wire fence, doors/hood/trunck pop open, corn stalks flying and as I'm sitting thanking my guardian angel that I'm OK, I'll never forget the sheriff over the loudspeaker, "Lock her up buddy, You're going to jail" I sat in the holding cell till I went before Judge in the AM, all night they took turns telling me what a dumb ass I was and wanting name of the other driver, He got away, did not know him was my story. They let me call my first wife who shows with our first child and pregnant with second and shes was a crier. Go before Judge, all the charges are read, he stops the deal and we meet in his office, wife/kid, arresting sheriff and we talk, after much conversation he states he did not want to put me in jail to punish my family. I had just finished my Tool & Die apprenticeship, we had just purchased our first home, actually I was a straight up hard working decent guy with the exception of street racing problem. So............... An agreement was drawn up, sighed and it was If I was caught again, I will go to jail, this was sent to all surrounding towns, paid a $150 fine, paid towing bill and I was free to go home with my family. I grew up some that day, realized I got a huge break, sold the car that evening, never street raced again until many years later among friends just for bragging rights. I then went open wheel dirt track racing for 21 years for my need for speed, I just attended a racing reunion, met old friends and so many are gone already and many in poor health. Have stated many times, I'm a very Lucky man and am very Thankful and Grateful to be here.

 

While not a street race, I do have a photo of my very first drag race.

My younger brother, Mike, is on the right. You’ve got to take note of the look of intensity on his face. My uncle had just given Mike’s wagon a push…. You can see the look of disapproval on my face. We were 2 & 4 years old, when my father snapped this photo.

 

There is a road on the edge of town that is still old farmland on one side, but subdivisions all down the other side, and is dead straight for a couple miles, and there is a spot where it's about 1/4 mile between entrance streets to the subdivision. In the 70's, folks had taken to race out there at night, and it became a spectator sport. Of course the residents got pretty sick of it, had called The Fuzz, who said let us know next time... So one Saturday night a couple cars are gonna have a go, and the word spread- so by the time they got lined up and ready, there were about 30 cars and maybe 70 people lined up along the sidewalk to watch. Cars go, people cheer and yell, then the 4 cop cars show up- one cuts off the racers at the end, and the other three surround all the spectators. That was the night they all learned about "VC 23109 (b) A person shall not aid or abet in any motor vehicle speed contest on any highway." Yep, everybody that was watching also got a "Speed Contest" ticket for standing on the sidewalk watching

 

He should have known better, you had 48 CI's and 100 Hp on him. You'd be telling a different story if you had a 305.