History Video: Henry "Smokey" Yunick Speaks

Since he died in 2001, there is now an entire generation of gearheads who never got a chance to see and hear Henry "Smokey' Yunick. Time to fix that. Here's some video that provides a glimpse into the personality of a genuine American character. LINK:


Video: Smokey Yunick Speaks | Mac's Motor City Garage.com

 

I got a chance to talk with Smokey at SEMA in 2000. He and Linda Vaughn were at the Prolong booth and everybody wanted to talk with Linda. Smokey was sitting down drinking his coffee, and I sat down next to him and started talking to him about his '66 "Cheater" Chevelle that NASCAR threw a fit over. His eyes lit up, and we talked for about 20 minutes. He told me details about that car that I had never known. I was sitting next to one of my all-time favorite race cars talking to my all-time favorite hot rodder. It was one of the coolest moments in my life.

No offense to Linda Vaughn. I think she's great, but I was NOT going to pass up a chance to BS with Smokey.....

 

Smokey was a true pioneer and a rebel at everything he approached.

He was a master at bending the rules and dreaming up ways to get a edge on NASCAR.

He was also a innovator,,and one of the first to preach for soft walls in racing and going as far as using tires and plywood with rods holding them together.

I was privileged to speed some time with him in Charlotte back in the 80's and still have a Crane Cams "Smokey Yunick" hat I got from him on the shelf in the back bedroom,,he was indeed a one of a kind! HRP

 

Awesome, did a good stand up too.

 

Great video!

Mart3406
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Great video !!! Had never hear him speak before.

 

I was too young to be in that era , but, I got his old power secrets book from the 70s and did some reading on the man, great guy. I wish I could have been around in the era him and Marion Mickey Thompson were in their prime.

 

The origin of NASCAR's templates. And then there was the extra 2 or so gallons of gas in the fuel line that ran up and down both sides of the body (one less pit stop), the origin of the fuel cell size. A one-of-a-kind. Thanks Bill.

 

If you enjoyed this video, you must read his book..." Best Damn Garage in Town " ....It is pure Smokey, unedited.....

 

The man was amazing. Flew all sorts of air craft during WW2. Bombers, fighters, transports. I had a big paperback of one of his. Talked about gold mining in South America.

Simply amazing.

John

 

What a guy, funny as hell too. We need more like him. I wonder whatever became of his hot air engine?

 

That was great, thanks.

 

I had the honor of speaking to Smokey at the PRI show,he was not in the best of health or hearing then, he signed a poster of his 66 chevelle for me, I am currently building a replica 66 chevelle ,nascar part's ,tube chassis the full meal deal, alway;s enjoyed reading his monthly blogs in the magazine's, I am sure he was one of the famous racer/builder's/bench racers of all time. If you want to read about him ,buy his 3 book set, I guarantee you you will laugh your ass off for day's.RIP SMOKEY they don't make people like you anymore !

 

Swazzie...you are correct...someone back in the early 70's ran a asphalt modified reverse-rotation small-block around the San Jose area tracks with the idea of torque helping the car come off the corners. Dunno who...but prolly didn't work, or everyone woulda done it. Plus bastard azz-backward cam,etc.

 

The motor that Smokey built that ran backwards was an early "50s Hudson six. The engine torque would help hold the left front of the car down.

 

Indeed -- one of the great all-time racing books. In the story, there is a direct link to his family website where you can buy the phone-book sized three-volume set for $95 ("racer's net" -- deal of the century). There are also audio and e-book editions.

 

So you need a "reverse " tranny or run the tranny reverse rotation with a flopped over ring gear?

 

Thanks for posting that. For those that didn't know him, that clip was about 1/10th as " colorfull " as he was in real life in the shop. Smokey was probably the biggest influence for me in developing my Racing Engine Building career and skills. Forget thinking outside the box, take the box apart-totally reshape the box- then thrash it until the box blows to pieces- then fiqure out why the box blue up- modify it- rebuild it- and then make it a better box- and repeat. If someone said it couldn't be done- all the more reason to do it!!!

R.I.P. Smokey.

 

About 1981, when I was an engineer for Snap-on Tools, I got a call from Smokey himself asking about a 'Timing light' we were working on. (It was actually a timing METER that referenced the ignition event to crankshaft position with a magnetic pick-up.) He was trying to find something that would ignore the RFI in his dyno cell. I can only imagine what he had in there that created so much electrical noise that a timing light would quit working.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comfficeffice" /><o></o>
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I sent him a pre-production unit to use, with the understanding that he would provide us feed back if he found that whatever he was doing, would interfere with the operation of the meter. He never admitted to having a problem, but I wonder what kind of modifications he did to the meter, and what he really was up to.<o></o>
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About this time, my son was racing 2 stroke, 80cc motorcycles. I was looking for an &#8216;unfair advantage&#8217; as Mark Donahue put it. When I asked Smokey about it, he said, &#8220;First you need to build a dyno&#8230;&#8230;.&#8221; Sensing my reluctance to get that exotic, he continued, &#8220;It doesn&#8217;t need to get real complicated. Just get a generator to provide a load. Make a load bank of 100W light bulbs. Then, when you have the engine running, start applying the load by screwing in the bulbs one at a time. Do the math and you can measure torque and calculate horsepower.&#8221; I said, &#8220;Okay then, where do I start looking for the &#8216;hidden horsepower&#8217;? &#8220;Well&#8221; he says, &#8220;There is a power band above the critical speed range, and you can&#8217;t just drive through it. You have to cut back the ignition timing and maybe add a little fuel, then when you are out of danger of detonation, you can get the timing where it&#8217;s supposed to be and that thing&#8217;ll really buzz.&#8221; We never did it, but I wonder what would have happened if we had.<o></o>
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I met him several times, later. I sat right behind Mrs. Yunick at the S.A.E. Congress in Detroit. She held &#8216;the Hat&#8217; while he was addressing about 700 automotive engineers about his &#8216;Hot Vapor Cycle Engine&#8217; development. He told about having &#8216;leftover unburned gunk&#8217; in the exhaust which was fuel that was not being used to propel the vehicle, His solution was to super mix and heat the fuel/air with a &#8216;Homoginizer&#8217;, which sure looked like a turbo charger. It probably didn&#8217;t hurt that he was feeding the cylinders in the 100 psi range, either. I couldn&#8217;t help watching all these very educated people listen to him. Those with all the right terminology, the multimillion dollar test facilities and for all intents and purposes unlimited resources. At the end of the talk, he answered questions for about 30 minutes, all down homey kind of answers. No one was leaving. Finally, when no one could think of any more questions, (at least ones that wouldn&#8217;t make them look too stupid), he closed the session to a standing ovation. I had tears in my eyes then and still well up when I think about it now.<o></o>
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I have had the opportunity and privilege to meet several greats in Motor Sports. These include: Mark Donahue, Bill &#8216;Grumpy&#8217; Jenkins, Lee Shepherd, Joy Fair and Smokey. I always wanted to get Smokey and Fair in the same room and record that conversation. Even better, get them all in the same room, and record THAT conversation. Since they are all gone from us now, I hope God puts them in the same room, and listens to THAT conversation. I bet that would make HIM smile! <o></o>

 

On Saturday 2/16/13, yesterday as I write this, I was visiting Don Garlits Museum in Ocala,FL.......the Hot Air engine is there. The display poster said the original Fiero in which it was installed during development was crushed/scrapped (belonged to GM), but the engine survived, having been kept by Smokey. Some folks later acquired it and found a clean Fiero, installed the Hot Air engine and, at some point, it was donated to the Museum.


Ray

 

GearheadsQCE..........great post......Thanks!



Ray

 

Always looked forward to reading his articles/column in the mags. American Icon to all things motorized. His down to Earth, common sense, style & (colorful)humour always made me smile. His story about the Mexican Road Race had me pissin' myself...

RIP Smokey, true American original

Look forward to anymore stories from you guys who had first hand experience with him. This stuff is gold, and thank you for sharing.

 

Exactly. Here Smokey was speaking to the local Rotary so he cleaned it up -- a lot.

 

Yes, great stuff.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4F2LrKoYXMk

Haa haa....

 

An interesting reflection of Smokey:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=3Ibu-1axB_Y

 

Maybe there's enough material for a whole series.

 

In his books he hinted about the 7/8th scaled Chevelle and said Childress had measured it,but never said whether it'd been cut down?The idea was that with a totally-legal engine the car would cut a smaller path thru the air.I think an offset frame,the bladder fuel cell and animosity with officials was the kickout?
His earlier race cars and experiments were just as interesting.

 

i have a set of his bio books......very very good read.....things like how he got his name "smokey"