Boston Ma area - Street Racing in 60's remember this car?

Here's a couple of pictures of my 1957 Safari taken in 1969 by the former owner/builder Jerry Bennett.He started it around 1962 and in 63 I lettered the word,"Safari" on the dashboard in white Rust-O-Leum and it is still there today.Note the Buick Riviera wheels on the back.The engine was a 421 Pontiac with an Isky roller cam'13.5 to 1 pistons and W&H Du-Coil ignition.I bought the car in 1996 and it is still sitting in my garage;hopefully someday soon to be on the road again.I doubt Jerry drove it much on the street as it still had(and has)a posi 4.56 rear axle.
The first two pics are of it in 1969 and the last is the day I dragged it to Michigan after 17 years in storage in Peabody MA.

 

X2. All these film photographs from back then are awesome..

 

Charlie Greer was from the east side of Malden,MA. I never met him, but knew of him and his cars. Here is Charlie going up against Pete Tropeano's Orange Peel at Sanford 1964. He would later build a T bodied AA/A called "Instant T"

 

This is only picture I have of Charlie Greer's "Instant T", it was an old Poloriod and not very clear. A friend of mine gave me this photo and I don't know what show this was. Maybe Safariknut can recognize the building. I hear Charlie still owns this car just as he parked it forty years ago.

 

Todd Berube mentioned Bill Mello's 34 Ford C/A "MisFit" a few pages back. Here it is at the Boston Car Show in 1969. On the right is the 1320 Engineering from Newton, MA. This was a brand new car for 68, replacing their original K-88 chassis. Dana Jewel, John Watson, and Marty Schwartz made up the team with Marty driving.

 

It looks like the show that was held at Suffolk Downs in either 1969 or 1970.The curtains were used to divide the rows of cars.I remember that show very well for a couple of reasons:
First;the Boston Area Roadsters had a display there.My cousin Dick Manley had his 32 roadster(Norm Wallace's old car that Larry Hook now owns);Richie Willet had his T touring;Fran Olson had his Hilborn injected 392 Chrysler powered T with thefish scale paint job and I think Richie Tallant(sp?)had his Deuce cabriolet with the gold plated Cadillac engine.
Momorable because my soon to be wife was watching the display while everyone went to dinner and I was painting some lettering on a car.A couple guys reached over the ropes and were tapping the side of Richie's tub to see if was steel and she had a shit fit.She'd had a couple(?)glasses of wine and I heard her screaming all the way across the show.We came running over just as she was about to punch this one guy out.When we found out what happened this asshole guy says to me,"You better learn to control your old lady better".She got so bullshit then I almost couldn't hold her.I told the guy he had 30 seconds to leave or I was going to let her go.They left.Moral of the story: NEVER piss off someone of half Sicilian heritage;especially when they're drunk.
The other part was when we loaded the roadster on the trailer to go home.It was February and about 10 degrees outside so driving a roadster without a top for 10 miles wasn't really an option.The car was very low and in order to load it on the trailer it had to be set up just right.Well it wasn't and when Dick drove it onto the trailer he tore a hole in the oil pan big enough to stick your fist through.And as if that wasn't bad enough taking it out of the nice warm building into the freezing cold caused all the freshly re-done Titian Red nitrocellulose lacquer to spiderweb all over the car!

 

Do you know where the steering wheel in the Instant T came from????

I do, Mike Goffredo, who still runs PV, took it off his go cart as the guy building Instant T needed a steering wheel similar to what Mike had on had on his go cart...

 

Anyone know old bikes? this is my grandfather on one of his motocycles...I am guessing pic was taken mid 60's

 

This thread is great.

I was surpised at how many names I recognized in these posts. Especially since I am so much younger than you guys. (g)


I lived on upper Central St. and we used to walk to Adventure car hop through the woods and smoke cigarettes out back and wait for the "occasional" race on Rt 1.


Ray, I think Drag'n in the 50s is at NED on Aug 26th.

Tom Howell

 

Looks like a Triumph Bonneville

 

By "Upper" Central Street do you mean the low numbered side going toward Route 1 or the high numbered side going toward Cliftondale? I lived on Hurd Avenue until I went into the Navy in 64 which was about halfway between Cliftondale and Saugus Center.

you aren't by any chance the Tom Howell who does pinstriping are you?

 

i also thought Triumph...he raced Indians

 

As was said it looks like a Triumph non-unit twin which would fit in that time frame.Can't tell from the angle whether it is a single or dual down tube frame.Seems to me single tube models were T100's and double tube models were T110 and T120 models.Need a Triumph expert to tell for sure.The ape hangers are a nice touch but horrible to ride with.

 

Yes Ray, that's me. How have you been?
I lived on Ellis, a dead end off of Central up near Walnut.

There was a straight stretch of dirt road that ran from the corner of Walnut and Central down to the back of the Diplomat. It was going to be the Lynnfelds Parkway extension but was never finished. We raced anything with a motor we could get our hands on up and down that road as kids.
Fun memories.

Do you remember lettering a dragster that Marc Rowe built for Smiley up at Ray Harmony's in Danvers? Sometime in the 70s.
My name ended up being the largest name on it and I was just the lumper. LOL

Tom

 

Boy do I envy you guys who got to go to Adventure Car Hop, I just simply was born too late. There does not seem to be many picture of the resturant anywhere. Ray refresh my memorie where on Rt 1 was it located. For years I thought it was where the Howard Johnson's was, but I know it is farther North.

 

tuff 55!

 

Here are some more pictures, not sure you guys like old oval track stuff....my dad, even though was into drag and street racing, really was more into oval track and they did quite well...they ran a coupe and also a 55 Chevy 4 door that was stolen, abandoned and dumped at Sullivan Station, after seeing it there forever, they took it home and built it.





Car my dad had with Larry Webber?

 

Good to hear from you Tom;it's been a long time.On that corner on the opposite side was a guy who owned Richie Willet's green T speedster with the Pinto motor.Some kind of artist(I never met him);his house was built vertically on the hill and he had huge neon numbers on the house.The town made him take them down as they claimed they were advertising and it wasn't zoned for commercial.

I remember doing a car for Smiley but I thought it was at his garage on Lynn St. down by Len Legere's place.The name Marc Rowe sounds awfully familiar;maybe it was another car of Smiley's.I met him in 68 when I striped Don Cavanaugh's green Hemi powered T that he kept at Smiley's.That was right after the fiasco in New Orleans with the trailer load of Coor's he was trying to smuggle in from the West coast.He was a character for sure.

Jack: The Adventure Car Hop was located just before the Continental Restaurant(not sure that is still there but that large gas station was next to the Continental)on the northbound lane of Route 1 about 1/4 mile north of where Kelly's Roast Beef is today.That used to be the Red Coach Grille and theere was a traffic light there to allow traffic coming from the Lynn Fells Parkway onto Route 1.That was before the overpass was built there.That light was the start of many a drag race both going north and south. The 1/4 mile marker going north was the entrance to the Adventure and going south the marker was the entrance to the Saugus Drive-In(now a strip mall).What was really dangerous was there were turn arounds situated all along there and you really took a chance using them.Many an accident took place at them until they were finally eliminated.In the late 50's and early 60's that stretch of Route 1 was the deadliest road in the country!If I recall correctly at least one death a day happened on that 16 mile stretch of road.

 

Richie not sure he still around....unreal welder....it was said he can weld paper

he did a lot of hot rod stuff as recent as ten years ago

 

If you mean Richie Willet he is very much around and still actively involved in building innovative hot rods.He has to be 74 or 75 and still works like a fiend.One of the best and most underpromoted hot rodders ever.One of Ron Covell's videos was devoted to him and his wild speedster tub(the Rodfather)was featured at the Petersen Museum awhile back.I met him when I was in high school in the early 60's(graduated in 61).There were some really hard core hot rodders in Malden back than as Jack(Churchkey)has shown in his posts.

 

Was that a welding shop?Memory is coming back a bit but that era was pretty foggy for me.Was doing a lot of bike work for several 1%er groups and partying pretty heavy.Living in a 3rd floor apartment in Chelsea and spraying bike parts on the rickety rear porch;hordes of people coming and going on weekends and driving the trash collectors crazy with all the wine and whiskey bottles on trash day.Working a lot with Kelsey at night and the Mercedes dealership during the day.Doing bikes at Preble's H-D in Salem and a bunch of dealerships.Doing a lot of painting at Autodynamics and Dearborn Auto in Marblehead and John Silva's shop in Salem.Sleeping more often than not in my Chevy sedan delivery and living on coffee and cigarettes.Wonder how I survived that period sometimes.

 

SWEEET Triumph!!!

 

I know where you are talking about, the road has seen a lot of changes over the last several years. Last time I went up there I noticed they had moved the diner in Peabody( I think it was called the Belair) to make way for some new building, at least they didn't tear it down.
I do remember the rotary at Howard Johnson's...The traffic lights...Red Coach Grill...The Saugus Drive In. There was no shortage of drive in movies theaters in our area. Two in Medford...One in Revere...One in Saugus, all within five miles of each other.

 

Ray, yes it was a welding/machine shop. Ray Harmony built the original pipe guardrails for NED when they moved to Epping.

Although I didn't start striping until later in the 70s and was not nearly as busy as you, I do believe I might have kept pace with you in the partying department.

Church Key, I believe it was behind what is now the Animal Hospital and/or Borders Cafe.

Love the old circle track photos. Used to go to Pines and Hudson with my uncle back when they ran the cutdown coupe bodies. Silver and McClarren battling it out every week.

 

My dad ran at Hudson, also Groveland? or somewhere...maybe somewhere else too...

You guys are talking about my area now....my friend Kirby lives right near there, well in Lynn but off Walnut Street and I often drive by that animal hospital when I drive home that way...

 

safariknut, that is the Richie I was referring to, I knew him when I worked at PV, he was in there often and knew Mike and Bob Peavey well....I was pretty glad to see him like the metal and fabrication work on my projects....I know he is very good at what he does, so was happy to hear him say I do good work.

 

I think the last time I saw Mike Guiffreda I striped a yellow 35 Ford coupe he had built for someone.I think Kelsey Martin did the flames on it.That was at the shop going towards Melrose(the name escapes me).
We used to race a "B" car mostly at West Peabody speedway around 1961-62.It was a 34 Ford coupe numbered 1/5th in honor of our three sponsors;all of whom were AA members and recovering alcoholics.I remember we bought the near mint body from Ed Whyte for FIVE DOLLARS! Cut open the window openings and welded the doors shut.
I was learning to build flathead engines at the time and about half of them stayed together for the night.There was also a friend of ours who had a maroon 31 Chevy coupe that raced in B class too.His name was John Parsons but I don't remember the car number and I lettered it!Lots of good memories there.
Some of the other cars around at the time:A metallic blue 27 T roadster with a full race flathead from Saugus owned by Ed Hines.I striped that around 1960.Eddie owned a liquor store on Western Ave in Lynn almost down to Lynn Hospital.Often wondered what happened to that one.
A 40 Ford coupe with a full house flathead owned by Ledger Little(who was HUGE!).Always running around with no hood to show off the engine.
A chopped 52 Olds hardtop owned by Paul Bourque who owned a body shop on Route 1 directly across from the Adventure Car Hop.Paul later built a nice Deuce pickup with sidemounts and a full flathead and a chopped 53 Studebaker coupe.
Doug Whitehouse had a 40 Chevy convertible with an Olds engine later owned by Ed Whyte.He also had a metallic blue 50 Olds convertible with a 57 J-2 engine.The hood was louvered and the engine had so much blowby it used to coat the windshield with oil and he had to stop and wash it off so he could see where he was driving.
Jack Keaney(who worked for Paul at the body shop and eventually took it over when Paul moved to a larger shop)had a 50 Ford coupe with a 283 Chevy engine in it that was a real sleeper.
One of the funniest and nearly tragic stories involved one of the guys that hung out at Jack's shop.Charlie Hohmann had a new 59 Corvette 290 hp 4 speed car and drove it like a madman.He had polio as a child and wore a brace on his left leg.That didn't stop him from being one of the fastest shifters around.There was a time when he raced the road course at Thompson Connecticut they had to duct tape his foot to the clutch pedal so it didn't slip off while he was racing.
Anyway one day he is making a high speed balls out run from the lights at the Red Coach Grill(now Kelly's)and he is winding that Vette so tight it is screaming.As he gets abreast of the shop(on the other side of the road)he is hitting what sounds like 10 grand in third gear and just as he goes to shift into fourth the clutch explodes.It blows downward and shrapnel comes up through the floor on the right side and through part of the dash board just missing his right foot.Pieces also sever the wiring to the distributor and shuts the engine down.From where we were standing all you could see was a huge cloud of brownish smoke(the remnants of the clutch)and the car's rear come up and then slam back down.Luckily there wasn't too much traffic and he managed to get it stopped without incident.The car was really destroyed underneath and there were several holes in the fender and hood from clutch pieces exiting. Charlie took it all in stride and his only comment was:"Well at least I made the shift!"
Too many wild times up there. Sorry for the long rant but these memories are starting to surface.

 

Here is Richie Willet's Model A Highboy parked at the corner of Main and Edmund St. You can see a traffic sign across the street...Just to the right of it are the Main St garages. Also note the brown house with the white wrap around porch, there was a barn behind the house. This was Bob March's garage. He had a AA/FD called "The March Wind." Sharing garage space with him was Bill Lazurus, he had the "Mr. Wiggle" AA/FA. March moved to California in 1970, and Lazurus moved down to Edmund St. when a two bay garage became avaliable.

 

Where on Main Street? that looks VERY familiar

Safari, the coupe was a big block powered, tubbed car? if so that was Jimmy Decotis' car, they own the Town Line and A LOT of other stuff.

Crazy stories....Bob Peavey's insurance adjuster came to look at his Corvette, the nose was torn off, they asked where it happened, he said well Kellys wrappers are in the front seat....had to be Revere, he really told the guy that...sure enough at Revere Beach the nose of the Corvette was sitting there

Another night, Bob woke up and started his Charger, was like what is that noise..tick tick tick tick tick tick...he got out to see a fence picket lodged through the radiator that was from his neighbors fence he drove through and didnt realize it.

Another time, they were at some well known diner on route one, Bob and his brother (not Brian) were not happy with the food, was cold etc, so they wrecked the diner, broke all the glass cases, then took off, they were drunk out of their minds, the cops came to PV, talked to them and said, well you have to pay for the stuff and you are banned for life,,,,as the cop was leaving he said to them, well you know, the food does kinda suck up there anyway

 

Safari, you must remember in 67 68 or so, at NED a kid, racing a 55 I believe, with his pregnant wife in the stands, launched, clutch blew and killed him....my dad told me it was literally a week or so before he was bringing his 55 to the track for the first time....it was then they started to crack down on scattershields etc.