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

we had black license plates until the very late 60's, early 70's.
I know my Dad's Shelby in 1967 was black plates and his Torino in '72 were blue.

 

If it was a big meet, there could have been cars there from all over the country. Even a local meet could have brought cars in from neighboring states.
Larry T

 

I believe the plates changed from black/yellow to blue/yellow in 1970,
my 70 nova had the new plates,
http://dmv.ca.gov/pubs/plates/licenseplthistory.htm

 

my 1970 ranchero had black with yellow plates.

 

Before yellow on black they were black on yellow. I think that change occurred in about 1961 or '62. A yellow plate might photograph as white.

If either of the two push cars is newer than 1962, please disregard this suggestion.

c

 

to further confuse the issue (the way i read this: they issued both blue with yellow and black with yellow in 1970.):

History of the California License Plate

Basic information on 1963- present plates:

1963 was the last year a complete new plate issuance to all vehicles occured (the plates had a black background and chrome yellow characters).

1970 is the year the basic plate was changed to a blue background with yellow characters. It was also the last year any black/yellow plates were issued.

1976, year round registration started which requires a month expiration sticker afixed to the upper left hand corner of the plate.

1982 is the year when the standard plate was changed to a white background with blue characters with a sun graphic and CALIFORNIA in red block letters. It was also the last year any blue/yellow plates were issued.

1987, reflectorized plates with CALIFORNIA in red block letters were issued. The sun graphic was discontinued.

1991, only reflectorized basic plates were issued.

1993, the word CALIFORNIA was changed to red script.

1997, stickers were made with background colors that change every year and characters printed in black.
Basic plates issued from 1998 through 2000 contain the words

SESQUICENTENNIAL - 150 YEARS in red block letters at the bottom of the plates.

2001, the basic plate is white with blue characters and CALIFORNIA in red script. There is no writing at the bottom of the plate.

 

In the background do you oldtimers remember when the Rose Parade was over the grandstands were tore down and hauled to Pomona and then back together for the Winternationals ? Back in those days the Winternationals was the event to go to and see all the new stuff built over the winter for the new racing season. You never knew what would pull into tech.

 

Took STONES to stand in between those cars back then!

 

I sure do. Mike Brown Grandstands hauled those stands all over So Cal and erected them for all kinds of events. I believe they were used at LIONS for a while too. I knew a guy who worked for Mike. They made good money with those old grandstands.

 

damn, I grew up one house away from the start of the Rose Parade, Orange Grove and California in Pasadena, but never knew that the stands were also used at Pomona and maybe Lions....

 

The tower side grandstands at Lions were disassembled mid-December to be put up along the Rose Parade route. They returned to Lions early January and up they went again for another 11 months.
I have several photos somewhere of that area being vacant...just the tower side stands were removed....
Lions owned them, they rented them out once a year.

 

not all tracks were on the west coast......... this could be in Hawaii or Puerto Rico somewhere !
I can tell you, it's not Ringold Ga )
Tom S. in Tn.

 

I'm going to take stab at this and guess it's Barlag and Clark, taken at San Fernando.

 

We ran at Ringold some back in the late '60s early '70s. I haven't looked in that area for awhile, can you still tell where the track was?

 

Damn. The good stuff just keeps on coming!!!

 

A complete top fuel operation: New Tempest station wagon, wooden push bar and Sears Craftsman set in the back. 5 gal drum of nitro and just enough parts to fill a milk crate and you were ready for a day of fun in the sun.

 

Dean, back in the late 80's my boys just loved that jungle gym. Bryan and Kevin used to scare the crap outta me hanging by their knees 15 feet in the air. Those were the days....

 

Classic....Tommy Ivo & Tom McEwen.

 

I've seen the size of those boys Mark, I don't think the tubing would hold 'em now!

 

Buick Special, actually....(now we're REALLY nit-picking )

I actually made a model of that same year Buick wagon as a push car when I was a kid in the mid-60's. Sprayed it blue and I made a real wood push bar for the front, too.

 

I live in Nashville, so I really don't know either, but didn't they use to call Ringold Drag City also? I know Ringold as well as Ga in general was a hot bed for racing. Dangerous for spectators too, if history of tracks around Atlanta proves correct.
You can still see what they call Brainard when you leave on I-75 and I think it must operate like modern bracket drag racing.
Warner Robbins was the focal mecca of the south central drag racing universe. Coast to coast, you had better be ready to run when you rolled in those gates. We'd try to pass through Ga late at night anytime we went to Lakeland cause those guys down there were always looking for a race.
Strange, I don't see any run what ya' brung pics from Div II on here. Sure wish I had some. Few wire wheels but many stick welded home made stockers, gasers, and funny cars. The website for the old H&H track is stunning and quite thought provoking.
With side betting and a dime store trophy, those things ran from sundown saturday till church bells rung sunday, and the smoke wouldn't clear till monday evening.......... damn I can still here them.
Tom S. in Tn.

 

Your right, I can see now upon further inspection that it is a Buick.

 

Notice how McEwen is able to manipulate throttle/clutch and render a smokeless run. That or the clutch is worn out and its slipping on its own.

 

Yes sir. Drag City is still visible off Hwy. 41 in Ringgold. A church now owns the property, and planned to build a new church there, but they have now decided to sell it. Houses have been built very close to the property so there's no chance of opening back up but the strip of pavement and return road are intact. As for the other track in Ringgold, Brainerd Optimist Drag Strip is still in operation, but was shortened from quarter mile to eighth at some point in the '80s.

 

#29413;
HenryJguy, I knew I thought it was called that. Thanx kindly for putting that back together for me. It had to be sometime in 70' or 71' when I was there. Tom S.

 

Pretty early photo, too. Probably '61-'62. Ivo was running "Barnstowmer" by '63 and Adams and McEwen were campaigning the blue "shark car". No lettering on the Fontana tower, zero people in the stands.
And must have been a Sunday race which was common for the tracks here from Nov.-March.
The Sunday races didn't attract the crowds that the Saturday evening races did, but the Sunday races were better for us photographers.

 

This was the lineup for the PDR race at Orange County in 1968

Living close to OCIR, Lions, Irwindale and Fontana was such a joy when I was a teenager. "Drag News" would come in the mail on thursday and my friends and I would look at the ads to see which strip had the best show for the weekend......and that was the plan....week after week...
It was just "there" for the taking. Car, cars, cars.....non-stop.
Unless you were there, there's no way to describe it.
Looking at this lineup below is just the top fuel cars.
Try to imagine what the pits looked like with all of these teams getting ready to run.
Then there were the gassers, altereds, S/S, etc.....and a few wheelstanders and/or jets thrown in just for good measure....
....damn fun times, boys and girls....damn fun times...

Then there were the nights they'd run 64 funny cars,.... but that's a bedtime story for another day.......

 

Indeed. The San Gabe Valley Tribune had really nice photo ads advertising that Satursday event at Irwindale. Funnies, fuelers, AA/GS, etc... dozens and dozens of cars all with either blowers and/or fuel in the tank. The names went on forever. And while day events were cool, there was nothing like a night race. The flames were brighter, the noise seemed louder and the crowd was frothing at the mouth.