History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

I guess that would explain the need for modern bead lock rims and tubeless slicks.
Sorokin (R.I.P.) and the rest of that genre of drivers were brave men.

 

Kelly Brown in the Outcast at Lions 1964...

 

G-B-P at Fontana? No, I don't think so. Fontana had some stuff between lanes as shown in the attached photo of the Mackey & Kitchen C/GR (the remains of my first car, a $49.90 '31 Model A Pickup).

. . .

 

Garlits '59 MM Karen White photo...just before the 6-71.

 

Not Fontana. Thats San Gabe #2.

 

Garlick was booked in at Bakersfield for the Smokers meet and it included not running in California before. He was at Colton the week before tuning Postonian's (sp?) blown car -- reading the writing on the wall.

 

It looks like Kelly Brown did not use a blower belt idler pulley, a la The Surfers. Interesting

 

Kind of interesting car (above) when you look at it.
Solid frame, looks unsprung, nicey detailed, the engines to each drive axle appear about the same distance... Except one engine has oil pan protection/diaper !!?
BUT...what the hell is with the roll bar ? With the length hanging "below" the drivers butt, AND well supported, they should/could have raised it that amount and ACTUALLY added some driver protection !
I'm really curious about why so...many roll bars of the time, stopped around the drivers shoulders, rather than actually went to his head !?
They "couldn't...have figured that those funny little helmets would actually support and protect the driver, his neck would support the weight of the car...but gotta protect the shoulders !!

This car's gotta be a little uncomfortable with the front engine cramping the drivers legs so much.

Mike

 

E-Town 1967...

 

1) Don't judge the past using today's perspectives.
2) The axles are sprung as evidenced by the hairpins. The strips back then were fairly bumpy, and lots of stories in my "little books" talk about guys adding in suspension and going away from solid mounted axles, especially rear ends.
3) People learned to make their roll bars higher and out of better materials (like iron pipe or - shudder - exhaust pipe) through accidents. Everyone was experimenting with how to make their rods lighter, faster, and, sometimes, safer. Like a lot of other areas in life maybe... Honestly, that's one reason why current NHRA racing is such a snooze - the opportunities for innovation have been reduced to zero because of the rule book.

 

I'm willing to be wrong about this, but I had heard that Mickey Thompson purchased this twin engine flathead dragster and he and Fritz Voight modified it into a salt flats car that could also be used as a dragster. They modified the chassis to move the drivers cockpit to the rear, and installed two 392 Hemi engines...
View attachment 5743317

View attachment 5743317

 

The front engine is installed backwards, as it powers the front tires, while the rear engine powers the rear tires...

 

I'm looking at the ad above -- I think it's a year or two after we quit drag racing. I'm just posting this as back then, many winners of "cash" winnings were paid in various levels of government savings bonds. (A $25 bond could be bought for $18.75(?) and would mature in 10 or 15 years(?) for the value of $25.)

We didn't know of any racers who waited for the "maturity" to hit.

 

Dominic Cardoza's Woody fueler at Carlsbad...

 

How to cut your E.T. by a full second . . .


. . . and then . . .



Sure was hard to get off the strip with the caster change.

 

Kelly Brown/Lou Baney's Cammer Ford...

 

Photo by Karen White

Hello,

After the devastating defeat at the 1959 Bakersfield Smokers March Meet Number 1, it was back to the drawing board for the East coast wizard. The idea of a Stromberg powered Hemi motor versus the 671 powered hemi motors in the West coast race cars was a little daunting. As great as top speed was recorded with carburetor motors, the writing was on the wall…

So, the story goes, with the help of the local So Cal cam grinder and various engine/drag race car builders giving ideas and helping with the next level of power, Garlits started his West coast tour. It was into the summer of 1959 armed to the teeth with a new motor and of course, more power. The California dragstrips and folks in other touring stops were the first ones to see how much power was shown with a new approach to, "more power is better..."
What was the "more power" hidden under wraps?
Garlits in 1959 Bakersfield vs. the months of So Cal information and help in getting a more powerful motor.

From the time he moved up North to race at most of the big dragstrips in California, he was ready and armed to the teeth with the latest So Cal power builds and parts. The team began to set records again and now, he was compatible to race against the best on the Westcoast. A lesson learned about the rebuild with blower spec parts and a hefty 671 on top.

When he returned in late December of 1959 to So Cal, he was prepped and anxious to race the So Cal race teams, again.
December 1959 Riverside Raceway
vs. Archie Ary

Then the chips started falling fast leading up to the 1960 Bakersfield Smokers March Meet.
Art Malone driving in the upgraded Swamp Rat...
1960 Bakersfield

 

1. Who's judging...JUST freaking comments !!! Is a person not allowed to make observations ?

2. Don't think so, check the distance between the center of the axle and the frame crossmember !! NOT...much room for vertical movement.
Yeah, I could be wrong, but I don't think so.

3. Higher roll bars have NOTHING to do with materials. There was plenty of old pipe around, yeah, even back then. There were a few guys that felt head protection was...a good thing, and had more proper head protection !
The hairpins are still required for axle support, sprung or not.
In red...no...mostly because of roll bars that only come up to shoulder height.
EVERY class in EVERY form of professional racing from go carts to horses, have been put into the "spec" category. NOT only because of safety, but because of "skirting" the existing rules, because of the cost of racing. Notice what's happening in NASCAR today !!!

Mike

 

Back to our regularly scheduled programming...

M&R Special:

 

Musta had to leave on the second yellow to get a good lite.

 

I never get tires of seeing pics of Willie.

 

THANKS for that. It was not an intentional play on words. I meant tired, fat fingers. Willie certainly burnt enough of them up.

 

Willie...the early days.