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

LOL...I remember hearing his name (Tony Fiel) all the time when I was younger. Where bouts was he located, in NJ? I remember Richie Evans, Ray Evernham, Wall, Flemington etc etc.

 

maybe some of you guys might like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgO3y64lmI&feature=g-all-u

 

No room for a gas pedal, you just put your foot up on the blower and stab the injector with your toe. CRAZY!!

 

This kind of proves something I've thought for quite some time now about these restorations/recreations.
A car like this is well documented not only in magazines but also by people who saw it. But what about a car like a DST Fairlane or a Hurst Cuda? They're not like a Tucker Torpedo that are all accounted for and kept in a registry.
A lot of $$$,$$$.00 in fantasy land in my opinion.
Tom S. in Tn.

 

God how this video brings back memory.
The show of drag racing ended in 75' when the sanctioning organization required self starters.
To watch drag cars today is akin to watching stock cars or motorcycles making laps.
Everyone today should experience the announcer stirring up the crowd calling out the car & drivers nickname and where they were out of as they rolled up track to fire.
Anyone here recall sitting in the push car with a thousand things going across their minds wondering just how well it was going to sound as soon as fuel hit it with the magneto on? No, not back over out of sight in a staging lane somewhere, but out in front of God and hundreds of spectators and racers who had their eyes fixed on your car out on the track. Now that was drag racing !
Tom S. in Tn.

 

Great! That was the photo that was inside HRM that is the issue of the one that is shown in my post above of GBP on the cover. If my memory serves me well, this HRM, 50 years ago (!), was the first HRM to have two color photos inside the magazine. This was one of the two. Up until this time the only color photos were the front cover, the ad on the inside front and rear cover and the back cover.
The photo, above, pretty well sizes up what every 12 year old, like myself, wanted in one shot:
One of the best looking dragsters ever built, one of the upcoming drivers who would become legendary, and three babes. Best combination that is still impossible to beat.
Shiny paint, classy looking dames, push starts, and five drag strips which were all within an hour from home....just another day here.
Most of you guys would have heart attacks if I had a time machine to take you with me just for one weekend in these days. You couldn't go one mile without tripping over a speed shop, hot rods, race cars or race tracks.
We didn't know anything else.
Back when we guys with cameras had to gauge our shots based on how much film we had, I still have bad dreams about all the tjings and people I just "walked by" because I was running low on film.
My camera held 12 shots per roll and on a good day I could afford three rolls, so I had 36 shots to use for the entire day and I couldn't just shoot "whatever, whenever"....so each shot had to be "worthy".
Shit.
I remember days at San Gabriel, Lions. Fontana. Irwindale, etc. and just walking by cars of "The Greek", the Chrismans, Garlits, Malone, Borsch, Kalitta, Shahan, Landy.......+++++++++......and just shooting one shot instead of 20 and many times, no shot at all.

Time machine dream:
Send me back for one weekend with unlimited film and let me produce one book and one film from that one weekend and I could croak happy.
It's so odd today to shoot whatever you want all day long. 500-800 photos in one day is not uncommon these days. That would have been unheard of decades ago....and very expensive (and heavy).

Honestly, looking at this thread, I'm still amazed at how many photos from 50 years ago keep popping up here.
Lucky us.

 

Does anyone have a shot of the car when it was run by its second owner from Nor-cal? It was re-dubbd Bonaza and served as a regualr at Fremont for a while.

 

Indeed. Having that motor placed just right of your thigh must have been distracting. You really needed faith in your fire suit if that SOHC blew up.

 

Mazooma:
We must be close to the same age. My first race was San Fernando, 1959 or 1960 (we lived in Encino at the time). I was 12 or 13. Still remember the first car I saw that had a blower on it. At least you had a camera. I have the memories but didn't have a photo camera until 1971 (although my Mom gave me a Super8 movie camera in the late 60's that I took once to Irwindale).

If I could get a ride in a time back to that era, I'd like to have my Nikon digital photo camera (with a ton of memory cards) and take one of today's top-of-the-line video/audio setup's (maybe even a 3D deal).

WOW, think about having things like the first PDA race at Lions with great video and great sound (or 3D), Bakersfield 1965 -- both Saturday and Sunday, some of the weekly match races (from Lions, San Gabe, Irwindale, Fontana, Pomona, OCIR), The Last Drag Race at Lions, a typical Sunday (3hr) deal at San Fernando, the Ivo vs Karamesines match race at San Gabe in 1962....just to mention a few.

 

I get a lot of critical looks and comments when something trips me back to a day (or night) at the races.
I start talking and it's like no one gets it.

There he goes fantasizing over one of those old straight axle cars again........
He gets that way around those wire wheel cars........
He was over exposed to racing fuel before the product safety data was written......

Yes, I wish there were 3-D photographic proof, but laugh at me if you wish because the memories still can't be taken away from me.

 

Hang on Sush...

 

The M&M Fiat did that a lot before Sush pulled the coilovers off the rear and bolted it up solid. I think Sush must have been a sprint car driver in a previous life!

 

This has got to be the greatest Thread in History! I've only gotten to page 415 but I WILL look at all 1600+ If anybody has any pit photos of Irwindale or San Gabe please post 'em. My Dad spent many of his teenage years at those two tracks in the 60's, maybe I can spot him in a random pic - that would make my day.

Thanks.

 

True, and they also tried a B&M Hydro like the funny car guys did at the time, didn't work very well with the short wheelbase, as this photo shows...they went back to high gear pretty quickly

 

You are both right - sorta. Edison has a big Office there where Doug is talking about, on Rivergrade. It's where there was a shooting bty a disgruntled Edison employee a few months back. Not the big Edison plant, but a big office deal.

 

Well, there ya go....

Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya
Oh Lord, kumbaya

 

I don't have a picture of the Bonanza AA/FD but, do have color video of it at the Lions '66 M/T 200mph meet. It is readily available if interested and recommended as well.

 

Tony's shop was in Rairtain NJ. Not building any DIRT motors and just sold his Corvette. I had the chance to sit with him at Englishtown this year. Great guy...

 

Lucky us indeed!
Don't beat yourself up too bad over this. Most kids who snapped pictures (myself included) couldn't see beyond the next weekend, let alone the next half century. In truth, other than a few specific views I have, I don't remember actually taking a lot of the pictures I have. I'd just pop off one off if it interested me. All too often I was too mesmerized by the scene and just absorbed the show. These pictures were just so my buddies and I could relive the last weeks event. Year end slide shows would lead to talk of the changes that were underway during the winter months when the tracks were closed. What we didn't comprehend was the pace of change and how it would sweep aside the things we held dear; push starts, weekend racers, Jenkins jr stockers, open trailers, the Surfers-it's a long list. Sure, looking back on it I should have bought more Kodachrome and processing instead of Cragars and Hurst shifters. But who knew? I'm just glad I got to see some of it and have some views to share with like minded friends. It's fun to see that others also made the effort to catch these long gone moments.

As far as time machines, standing in the staging lanes at Beech Bend when the gassers fire up for eliminations or watching the fuel cars push down during Cacklefest isn't too shabby. Nah, it's not 1965-never will be- but the sights, sounds and smells can trick you-at least for a bit. I can live with it.

Keep it lit.

 

The reason the GBP car was yellow, was because a model car company approached KB, and wanted to make a model car of it, at that time the company only had yellow plastic, they painted the car yellow so the model did not have to be painted. unfortunately the deal did not go thru. after a short time the car was lengthened to help keep the front end down, and then repainted red.

 

picture #32541 it is nondo hasse at bakersfield

 

I have the same DVD, and I forgot its in there as seen during the dragster parade. thx

 

So, they repainted the car with no "deal" with a company that only had yellow plastic?
I think a note to Meyer or Snake is in order.....I'm a little uneasy buying this, but am in no way calling you a tale-teller...

 

Getting down to the bottom of the barrel-at least until Gibson sends the originals along. I know he's got some good views of his own so I'll keep haraunging him to post them. This is a great thread with a mind boggling amount of history in it and it deserves to be kept going.

This is another view of Don Grotheer from Edmond, OK, heating the 10 inchers at La Place in 1967. At least some of the locals found the hemi excessively loud.

 

Hard for me to believe also, but that story came right from KB's son Ken black

 

Here's another for you Southlanders to ID from the Winternationals in 1968. Is that Sush Matsubara's altered over on the street side? And the Willys is either a B/G or BB/G car. Anyone recognize him? Looks like the altered caught him in the traps as this was during Comp Eliminator that day.
6-29 2012 ID'd as Sush Matsuhara in the Mondello and Matsuhara AA/FA and the Jardine C/G Willys. Thanks to hodroddon, Mazooma1, WCD and Dane Matsuhara