Pete (P426) - This is the only other pic I have of Pro Pain in it's original dress. Charlie went nuts with this paint scheme ...he did his helmet to match. I remember seeing it in the Butternut yellow behind his own shop in Manville when he was fixing my street car after an argument with a deer. Charlie was always a fun guy to be around...we all had some good times together. Yes I remember being at the shop when Charlie was ripping out all the un-needed wiring, padding, dum dum ,etc. and saying this car will only be a racer from here on. Now adays seems like a sacrilege to do such a thing to an almost new Z28....but then who knew...who cared.... it was just another car.
Guys, a quick question of opinion about our restoration of the "In-Bomber": Many restorations I have seen of famous drag cars of the era appear to be "over-restored" examples, being finished to a degree much finer than they ever were when raced. That being said, the body, paint and interior of the Patrick Bros. '57 did end up being nicer than it ever was in the 60's, but we have tried to leave some character in the car via the use of original stickers, original trim etc.. The wheels on the car are the original chrome reverse that it won Indy on so I feel they are a important part of the car, but they do have some pitting on them. I'm not sure if I should have them re-chromed, or try to "doctor" them up a bit to leave some patina and show that they are the original wheels? Thoughts? -Dean
Dean, I agree with your restoration thoughts. I think a restored race car should look like it was raced, meaning the patina of some parts should be there. The car looks more "real" to me that way rather than being a perfect replication of a race car.
Hi Dean. My opinion is this---- If the car is restored, re-chrome the wheels. I think that documentation of original parts is crucial in the restoration process, but if the car is important enough to restore, then make it the best it can be. Yes, it is better than it was, but is that not the idea of restoring it? If the car was "Good-Enough" then it would not have been restored. I own an old race car and am VERY fortunate in that my car had been EXTREMELY well cared for and never needed any restoration. Most old racers were not cared for in this manner. Patina is GREAT, but rarely does it mix with new paint, chrome, interior, lettering and so on. I say make it the best you can with regards to Original Appearance--use as many original pieces as possible but make them look the best they can. If your car didn't need to be re-painted, then yes use the wheels as they are--new paint-new chrome. Thanks, Dave
If the wagon looks familiar, it should. The Neja station wagon is still alive and well and was racing at the Good Guys event at Bowling Green this weekend. While it has been upgraded with later horsepower, the wagon has never been butchered even after all these years.
Thanks for the info and pic! "but then who knew...who cared.... it was just another car" Yep, just another supercar that was "born to run." Pete
I saw both the Neja cars run the year they came east. They came to Island dragway for a big $$$ Jr. Stock race and the '55 sedan won it that night. The '55 was the real killer car running in Q/S I believe at the time and there is no way they would be doing any wheelie's back then! I think the accident that they had was that same year on their way back to the west coast. I don't recall whether it was Tim or Tom Neja that lost his life in that accident somewhere out west. We felt like they were "invaders" when they won that night but everyone was real sorry to hear about the accident. They had a ramp truck and a trailer and just getting to the races in one piece in those days was sometimes an adventure and not a good one. We started racing by flat towing and went everywhere that way....
Neja/Tritak run is about 1:20 into this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIp0EMa-mt8 Don't know if this was previously posted, can't remember where I got it, maybe Class Racer?
Looks like a tub job, large tires, wheelie bars, and a roll bar to me. I dont recall any Jr. stocker running that back in the day.
In the clip...Neja probably knew he was going to get passed by Morgan and hit the brakes to avoid the possibility of breaking his record in a losing cause. You get a good view in a wagon like that. During that era....final rounds were record runs and if you reset it you had to run on it. The Max Wedges really wreaked havoc back then and many could run way under the record.....
As a matter of record, since the readers of this thread span the nation from sea-to-sea, border-to-border and since we seemingly have a collective memory greater than the entire Encyclopedia Britannica, let it be known that John Mason, one of our contributors and a former Junior Stock racer, climbed into his current race car (GT/JA Buick Regal) at a Stock/Super Stock combo event yesterday and spanked the field of assembled competitors at the AAA California Dragway rather handily. I would like to personally thank John for stopping by my trailer after the first round and offering me the opportunity to race him in the final. Regrettably, I missed that appointment as the result of an insufficiently adequate reaction time in round number 3. Since this event was not one of the NHRA Divisional or National events, John will receive little recognition for his achievement but let me assure you that racing and winning during this weekend in Fontana with temperatures over 90 degrees combined with temperamental wind conditions was no picnic. Multiply those difficulties by a factor of 10 if the driver is over retirement age and if the remainder of the field is scattered with former National and Divisional Event winners. One of John's late round victims was a former two-time U.S. Nationals Super Stock Eliminator winner! Nice going, John!!! c
Im thrilled that the Neja 57 is still around and still racing! that car was probably this (at the time) 15-16 year-olds most favorite car and had me day-dreaming through many high school classes!!
Thanks for the kudos, Chuck. Sorry Juan had to take your place in the all geezer final. Thanks also to the rest who responded. I appreciate the nods. John
Who owns Tom's car? Tim still has his 55 sedan and is restoring it. I'd love to see those two cars together again somewhere. ? Jackee
Tony has a Lamar Walden motor in his 61, aluminum heads and custom intake. I think the HP claim might be pretty accurate.
What an amazing engine. I had "Jack The Ripper" parked next to Tony at the last car show I attended and we were both running open headers. He's got about 200hp on me then. I'm running 11:1 compression in my Ford and it sounds pretty nasty opened up, but that 409 must have compression to the moon. Best sounding mill I have ever heard. -Dean
I was wondering what happened to you! I didn't see your posts in a very long time at the StockSSDragRacing and other Yahoo! groups you used to post to. I'm glad that you found this forum and thread. In case you guys don't know, Jackee is Ray Allen's sister. Yes, the Ray Allen. Regards, Pete
And speaking of Yahoo! Groups, here's a copy of an old post: Glad you liked it , Doug--The car has been in the family since 1960--Originally, it was my late father-in-law's shop car for his muffler shop, but I've ran it as a nostalgia racer since 1994; it's been at the last 11 Calif. Hot Rod Reunions; originally a 6-cyl. car; Pop put in a 292 FI motor; today it has a 327 in it with a TH350 with a Continental 3500 converter & 4.88's! Car runs in the 12's..... --- Doug Estabrook <[email protected]> wrote: > How cool is that thing? Thanks for posting it! > Doug > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Doug Auzene" <[email protected]> > To: <[email protected]> > Sent: Friday, February 04, 2005 8:15 PM > Subject: [StockSSDragRacing] RE: John Arehambault > m-sa 57 chevy panel > > > > > > Here's me & my '55 Chevy Wagon, the "Rocket > Muffler > > Special", getting a time slip at the 2004 > California > > Hot Rod Reunion... Pete
I would like to express my appreciation for all the many contributors to this thread... There's no denying that the cars featured in this thread are often ignored by drag racing's "casual" fans... No doubt that the fans here at The HAMB sure aren't of the "casual" persuasion, but far more "hardcore" and "REAL" in their love for these sort of enchanting rides... Please keep it going, this thread is an incredible resource... How refreshing to see a site like this, a site where the usual brand of tired, stale motorsport internet Village People-esque Macho Man posturing and bullying is quickly thrown to the curb in favor of friendly, entertaining and informative content like we see so prevalent in this thread... I salute everyone who makes this possible, I really do... Keep 'em comin'... Thanks... "The Doc" (Celebrity Drag Racing Authority & Visionary)...
The Jalopy Journal
