Vintage shots from days gone by!

I used to be a designer for company that used H. Armstrong Roberts pics a lot, mostly for church bulletin covers. They have become classic, vintage images.

 

Please say some more, because I am quite puzzled...

Do we see a wheel just before breaking into pieces?

Do wheels deform this much at the start of a run?

Is it an error in the picture?

 

It's a wrinkle-wall drag slick, designed to work with only a few pounds of air pressure (approximately 4 - 8 lbs.) The purpose is to have a maximum sized contact patch to improve traction when the car launches. There is a tube and/or liner inside the tire to maintain the shape. The current generation tire used in top fuel, etc. racing requires a wheel that clamps the wheel rim (bead lock) to the tire.

Edit: Example of a bead lock wheel ... when the tire is mounted, the outer (gold) ring bolts to the wheel rim, securing the tire bead to the wheel. This style wheel is also often used on off-road vehicles.

I'm sure the veteran drag racers among us will elaborate on the finer points of this style tire, cause that's all I got !!

 

I don't think he means the tire. Look carefully at the wheel itself and you will see what he means.

regards,Rod

 

Maybe I'm missing something ... I looked at the photo of the wheel again and don't see the problem. If you mean the color variation in the center of the wheel, I attributed that to the funkiness that real magnesium wheels have when they haven't been regularly cleaned.

But I may be wrong ... happens all the time, according to my wife !

 

I just looked at the picture and it does look like the slots in the wheel at about 7 oclock and 5 oclock are a bit out o shape. My guess is just an optical illusion as I can't for the life of me see wheels changing shape like that and then returning to their true shape again.

Paul

 

That distortion could be from the camera and the film being used - Those tires are starting to spin up

 

I vote for optical illusion ... see the attached photo of the Eastwood & Barakat '32 magnesium Halibrands ... same deal. I've polished the damned things several times, so I can guarantee that they are not bent or deformed !!

 

I am inclined to agree with you. The original pic of the dragster wheel most likely appears distorted by camera angle and shadows.
Your shiny wheel shows the same characteristics.

regards,Rod

 

It looks like the shot was taken when the wheel started to turn and the wrinkle wall had not caught up,as the GOODYEAR was not distorted.

 

As I recall, bead locks became a requirement when the wheels reached the point where they were spinning so fast and hard that the tire was actually pulling away from the rim, causing a loss of air in the tire. I believe that there are pictures from the 70's or early 80's where you can acutally see daylight between the tire and the rim. My dos centavos.

 

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Thanks Rod and others, I meant the wheel itself indeed. Tires warped like this I had seen before, but this seemed like a flexible wheel.

okay, it is just a strange effect in the picture. Still an awsome picture of brute power. Great timing.

 

Unless the camera lens is centered exactly in the middle, and at 90 degrees, each slot is viewed from a different perspective, thus the illusion of them being different sizes.

 

Shell 4000 Rally

1961 Studebaker First and Second Overall



1962 Studebaker First Overall



1963 Chevy II First Overall, Ford Falcons First Place Team, Studebaker Winners of the Coup desDames







1964 First Overall Volvo



1965 First Overall Volvo

 

1901 Mitchell.
This one was owned by Ralph Wortman, in McMinnville, Oregon. Thanks to Ruben Contreras and Tim Elliott (fellow HAMBer) for digging up more info on this. Mitchell only made motorcycles between 1900 and 1903, after which they began making automobiles under that name until absorbed by Nash in 1924.
http://home.wavecable.com/~danlinscheid/MitchellMotorcycle.jpg
http://home.wavecable.com/~danlinscheid/MitchellAd.jpg

 

Balboa Blvd Orange County Ca 1950s

Hobie HQ Dana Point 1960s

HB Electric Huntington Beach 1960s

Tustin PD. Vintage Orange County CA 1950s

Old Huntington Sheraton pier in background 1964

Balboa Orange County Ca 1920s or 30s

Huntington Beach 1920s

OC Airport, 1967 Photo courtesy Orange County Archives — at John Wayne Airport, Orange County CA

 

The capture of stillness and the motion. Just one milli second sooner or later would be just complete stillness or complete motion.

 

I was reading a book I purchased back in 2009 when we did Route 66 called "Route 66 in Chicago". Hadn't looked at it for awhile.The book was published in 2007.

Found these few interesting shots.I think the last one is more recent with the 32 5 window looking like a later hot rod but in traditional style.

 

It's Formula One racing car Mercedes-Benz W196 from 1954–55.

 

Add to all that, the depth (width?) of the wheel and the illusion becomes even more severe.

 

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