The Howard Cams Twin Bear. I bought the 2, 4-71 blower manifolds at the Pomona swap meet many years ago. one of the manifolds was machined down, and the blower was off-set to the side.
When you get old the details get fuzzy. I did get the part about him getting killed and having a young brother right though. Next time I'll dig through my reference library and verify the facts before I speak.
Yes, we all have that happen. I know this because both Nicholsons were Pasadena-area racers, and both came into Blair's where I worked. Harold had died before I started there, but the story was out, as Don Blair was friends with both brothers. Harold death (and Don's brother's death in a street race) were something we never discussed openly at work.
The dragster with the front-mounted blower is sometimes attributed to the Harts, Peggy driving. It is not. Warren Poole, from Muscatine, Iowa built the car himself. The photo, taken at Quad Cities Dragway in April 1957, shows Warren's wife driving it.
Interesting blower drive on that dual engined car. It looks like the blower on the front engine is turned backwards and the two blowers are driven by a common drive setup. I wonder of the scrolls has to be turned with a reverse twist to make that work? I've never seen that before.
March 1959 Hello, Since Doug Cook had already soundly beat the usual Westcoast hard core racers with his 1937 Chevy build, he was well respected and feared as a competitor. His was nice to those of us that were teenagers with a question or two in the pits, as long as he was not prepping for the next round. He took his 1937 Chevy back east to the Detroit Nationals and easily won the class. Over the years through out 1960-61, the records stood as there were a slew of racers trying to go after the record. Some made it to the record books, but as always, hard working, Doug Cook, came back strong to reclaim the record. By the end of 1959, my brother and I had already started our 1940 Willys Coupe build with an SBC motor. We got some great advice from his comments about his 1937 Chevy build. We were looking for competition in the B/gas class, but ended up with a larger motor and weight to get into the competitive C/Gas class against no other than our Lion’s Dragstrip pits neighbor, Doug Cook. Lions Dragstrip pits 1959 sneaky kid at 1:04 getting some speed secrets The standard drag racing attire: Blue nylon jacket, Levis, desert boots and white T-Shirt… Jnaki Our foray into the first class the tech committee put us in with a 283 + Strombergs was B/Gas. It ran well, fast for a street legal car, but nothing to write home about. Then we rebuilt the 283 SBC to a blower spec 292 C.I. with all of the goodies we could afford. A new 671 modified from Reath Automotive and finally we were well prepared to compete in the B/Gas Class. 1960 Doug Cook was still in C/Gas and with that in mind, my brother and I welded in some steel plates in the trunk for rigidity and weight over the rear axle. Welded in was legal, bolted in was not. Now we were locked into the C/Gas class to go after Doug Cook’s record. Colorized photo But, as we found out... as close to the record as we got, it is hard to dethrone "The King..." "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades..."
Bakersfield, Gotelli TE-440 with Algons, same car that Bud Barnett was badly burned driving. Modified roadster in the background was Alan Bokla's, from Denver.
Yes, the blower was turned backwards to be driven with one drive...the impellers compress no matter which way that they are turned, so no modification needed. ... This is the Jack's Auto Supply twin from Texas, K-88 Chassis Research car.
Rod Stuckey's car at front, the one he was badly burned in at HMB, notice the fuel pump is behind the blower, so after the blower blew, it severed the fuel pump lines and it poured raw nitro back on Rod. The car at left is Gordon "Collecting" Collett from Ohio, with the remains of his TE-440 after he front-halved it. Photo in the Fontana pits
From above - Along with the front axle oddities, it's very unusual to see this type of roll cage design that's...ABOVE the drivers head, with the driver in a somewhat upright position, and at least close to being actual protection ! Windscreen, what windscreen, that's almost a full windshield he's got there. Mike
Raul "Sonny" Balcaen, with the dragster he built from the rails of an old Miller race car. Here he is running Frank Startup's Fargo-headed Ford 4, but he also ran a GMC. He sold this car to Frank "Ike" Iacano, who dropped in his own GMC from his '34 fuel coupe. Later it went to Tom Toros who ran it with a Chevy sb, for years. Pat Ganahl has restored it to perfection, as Ike ran it.
“This is Steve Pick in the Koenig and Pick car, running a centrifugal blower and homemade injection through a Crower U-Fab manifold. The car made Hot Rod Magazine, which referred to it as the "Rickshaw" because of its stance and unusual front end. However Steve could not make it competitive with the centrifugal blower, and later adopted a more conventional 6-71-Hilborn setup.” 1959 Hello, My brother and I saw the bright yellow FED of the Steve Pick and Joe Koenig at Lion's Dragstrip in 1959. They had the most unusual set up for a race car. The sound was from a powerful Hemi motor, but, the supercharger was not the standard 671 with fuel injection. It was a large, industrial, centrifugal supercharger and had a front suspension that no one else had at the time. Upon full acceleration from the starting line, the front suspension rose up and sent the power back to the rear wheels. The front end stayed up all the way through the quarter mile. At the time, we thought the team was a part of the Reath Automotive group. The color combination of yellow/white and powerful sound felt like they took the build right out from under the famed Reath Automotive White/Yellow Altered Sedan. January 25, 1958 with a McCulloch Reath Automotive/Pick/Koenig Model A Sedan Pick-Koenig FED with a Centrifugal supercharger and custom suspension. Jnaki "The Bounty Hunter" After 1959-60 "We think of Connie Kallita as the original Bounty Hunter, but these guys got there first, Koenig and Pick, from the Local So Cal area. Joe Koenig built the motor, Steve Pick designed the chassis. The track looks like Bakersfield…”
The Jalopy Journal
