Jive-Bomber submitted a new blog post: Lions Drag Strip in 1959 Continue reading the Original Blog Post
I was able to visit this strip in 1959, this really rocks some great memories. I remember seeing the big power grid towers in the distance. And I remember my Dad saying, damn they could have mowed the weeds down. I also feel I may recognize a couple of cars, Tommy Ivo was there and the white sedan with the yellow undercarriage looks very familiar. I returned in 1960 and 61 as well. What a blast this was in my youth to see the great rods of California.
Hey Guys, Its me...Jnaki. I took those 16mm videos and to clarify, I am at fault for those being on You Tube before I knew about You Tube. I was so happy that I had those old movies digitized that I instantly sent Don Ewald at WDIFL website the labeled movies. The photo transfer shop labeled what they thought my old labels said, hence, Lions 1959. In that film, there were so many mistakes ( no actual Leonard Harris driving, but it was Mickey Brown's car that I filmed and he too, died in late 1959) and cars from 1960 that I took the raw film and started editing. Don Ewald was not at fault. He could post on You Tube...that was something I had not done as yet. But, I forgot that it was on You Tube. When I started to post those films on You Tube for the HAMB, I realized that some early stuff is still out there. I am in the process of doing final edits to all of my films, so please be patient with that early stuff floating around. In talking to the moderator, we discussed that I would make the real Lions 1959 movie clips from my original edited films. He is not to be at fault, either. It was just a mistake in posting the correct films. Junji Nakamura Jnaki on the HAMB
Hey Rollei, Here is a very young, Don Prudhomme with his crew at Lions after he bought the car from Ivo. It has carburetors instead of injectors. But, it was also 1960. Jnaki
Hey Solo, The Westside of Long Beach bordered on the industrial complex all to the west of us and the harbor industries to the southwest. The blank areas of land were perfect for bringing the huge electrical wires to the stations down by the harbor. So, our view to the west was always blocked with huge towers and wires for miles and miles. Beyond those wires were the bigger oil cracking plants in Wilmington that always put on a flame burning show every day and night out of their exhaust pipes high in the air. Lions was a place right in the middle of this huge dirt field. It is too bad that the wind did not blow from the east towards the oil buildings and tanks. That would have saved Lions from the noise complaints from the residents just less than a eighth mile away. Some of my friends lived in those buildings in the background of most Lions photos. Those were noisy every weekend from morning until night. There were many junior baseball games we played in the center of those long housing tracts. It was hard to talk and hear signals over the loud racing sounds. We lived about 1.5 miles away and we could still hear the loud noises from Lions. Jnaki Tommy Ivo brought his single injected Buick FED, then supercharged it, then in 1960, he went to the twin. Single Buick progression: Twin at Lions and Bakersfield 1960: THE YELLOW FRAME SEDAN WAS known as the REATH AUTOMOTIVE SEDAN, with a myriad of owners over the years. It was one of our favorites.
All good stuff here!!!! Great to see it in its heyday!!!!!! Lots of engineering going on in those flicks, that's hot rodding at its ever evolving life and a gift to us as younger guys who've only heard stories re: the birth of hot rodding! .
"I remember seeing the big power grid towers in the distance. And I remember my Dad saying, damn they could have mowed the weeds down." Solo, Your dad was right. The weeds sometimes grew up fast as weeds are known to do if the conditions are right. He may have seen the farmer's fields between crops in the "no water, let those %$#$%^g weeds grow and die" stage of farming. We used to walk across those plowed fields from our junior high school baseball field. Those episodes were from the other side of the big berm with the railroad tracks on top. (ha...we were from "the other side of the tracks...ha ha") Those early free visits were exciting. The dragstrip patrols always chased us if we were on the Lions return road, but once we stepped back onto the farmer's field, that was neutral ground for a ring side seat to the drags. It was a little dusty, but at least free until the farmer saw us... Now the chase was on to get back over the railroad tracks and the big berm to safety. Jnaki In 1958, we finally wised up and paid to get into the drags to watch my brother race his new 58 Impala 348/280hp car in the A/Stock class. Now, the movie filming started when not racing.
@jnaki, I just want to thank you for your willingness to share all of this great footage and your fun stories. Cheers!
Hey Guys, Thanks for all of your nice comments. Back in 1958-59-60, I was just a kid wanting my own drag race car. But, I settled for borrowing my dad's 16mm movie camera to record my brother's racing activities. 59 years later, I am sure glad I did that filming. I can't take all of the credit for ALL of the films. When I pop up on the screen, my brother took the films. But, other times, I was pretending to be a Hollywood Director/Producer when I was shooting the films. Jnaki All of these years later, I have been able to add some actual sounds of the same cars racing in 1959. I hope I do not ruin future postings if they are silent as taken back then. Actual Sidewinder footage at Lions Dragstrip early 1959, filmed by me. Actual sound from the Sidewinder in September, 1959 from Detroit.
Hello, This is the first part of the final edited version of the 1959 Lions Dragstrip movies showing front engine dragsters as well as the Sidewinder and Afrons Green Monster. There were some very innovative race cars during this time. It was the early experimental years without too many sponsors stuff on the sides of the cars. Ivo, Lindley, Dragmaster, Mickey Brown, H&H Garage, Stokey, Chrisman, etc…They were all innovators during this era. Jnaki Us? We were teenagers racing our 58 Impala against the newer, big time odds in the A/Stock class. But, had time between races to film and enjoy the dragstrip experience at Lions. Luckily, it was only 1.5 miles away from our house. Those were the good old days, with original sounds and all... H&H Garage MEL, original sound from 1959.
Lions Dragstrip 1959 Riverside Raceway 1960 Drag News Hello, In 1959, I was a 15 year old hot rodder with aspirations of being a drag racer and builder. But, until my savings grew by leaps and bounds, it was helping my brother tune his 58 Impala and win trophies at Lions Dragstrip. My driving days were already here, but legally, it was one more year. So, I usually borrowed my dad's movie camera to shoot some films of the drag racing in all classes, when we were not racing. I loved street roadsters and at first, I thought this candy apple red roadster was fully "streetable" with it whitewall tires and Moon Discs. It looked like the one I saw in the spectator side, parking lot. Boy was I surprised... This candy apple red roadster was really fast. (even with the whitewalls) In 1959-60, it set a class record of 152.80 mph in the altered roadster class at Riverside Raceway. I was fortunate enough to film this record setting roadster at Lions during the 1959 season. Brissete, Eichenhofer, and Quincy Automotive build/race team. Jnaki If the driver weren’t sitting in the middle, it could have been a 50’s era street roadster in appearance. The popular color then was “Candy Apple Red” or some other variation called “Tahitian Red.”
Lions 1959 Lions 1959 C/Altered 32 ford vs Willys altered class at Lions Dragstrip Hello, Ok, finally, the mystery is solved. After years of searching for some identification on the 32 Ford Coupe, (hot rod websites’ forums, old racers, photo forums, etc) out popped the photo/caption from an old Drag News Paper from back in the day. This red, chopped, 32 Ford Coupe ran in the Altered Class at Lions. It should have been easy to identify with the big 17c on the right side door. They were very popular everywhere they raced. Maybe it was because of being a 1932 3 window, the suicide doors, the chopped top, the stance, etc. There were other big “named” racers in the A and B Altered classes that garnered more attention and headlines, but this 32 was the Cook-Mac Cartney, C/Altered class winner. I was a teenager in 1959. My thing was to act like a pro photographer. So, when I was taking a break between races, my brother shot this clip of me looking at none other than Number 17c in the pits. A double take because of all of the cool stuff inside. (speed secrets? you bet...anything helps) At the time, we were racing a black 58 Chevy 348/280hp Impala in the A/Stock car class. (average time: 15:00sec e.t. speed 94mph…best: 14.68/98mph) Jnaki If this Cook/MacCartney, red 32 coupe from 1959 were licensed for the street, today, it probably would have looked like this one below.
Hello, If there is a dragster that stands out in design as well as history, it is the Sidewinder. Originally constructed by Paul Nicolini and Joe Maillard. It is one of my favorite race cars of all time. Jack Chrisman drove it to many victories in the 59-61 era. Jack Chrisman 1960’s It was fun filming the Sidewinder running at Lions Dragstrip when I was a teenager. They were Long Beach locals (a few blocks from our house,) so the Sidewinder was there almost every weekend. When not racing in the A/Stock class in the 58 Impala, or not racing in our 40 Willys during the early 1960 months, we were shooting our films of the top racers at Lions. Joe Maillard’s Sidewinder was one of the ones we favored. To us, it was the Sidewinder Era from 1959-61... SIDEWINDER WITH ACTUAL SOUND FROM 1959 Jnaki Much to my surprise, when I attended the Lions Dragstrip Museum opening event in June, the 2017 version of the Sidewinder by Jack Gillett was right in the mix of firing up. That sound brought back instant memories of the racing at Lions in 1959-60. These “cackle” events bring back memories for a ton of people all over the USA. This event got my blood chilling and goose bumps arriving. (let alone the "smell" in the air.) Jack Gillett Sidewinder, June 2017 So, this Friday night in September, (9/29/17) in Escondido, the newest version of Jack Gillett’s Sidewinder was being pushed by a very cool looking, Cadillac sedan down Grand Ave. (prior to the next day's Nitro Revival event at Barona) Nitro Night 2017 Sidewinder, 5 CYCLE SPECIAL Me, Too…version. A special thanks to "Mr. Nailhead" for the great photos of the latest version of the 2017 Sidewinder below: Steve Gibbs' "Nitro Revival" pit photos:
Great footage Junji, It's like a time machine. Do you have any idea who the White or Light purple Willys Coupe belonged to?
Hey Jason, Do you mean this light purple Willys altered from 1959? I have some feelers out to several altered owners and drivers from back in those days, but memory has faded fast for most of the racers. Besides, there weren't too many people besides the pro photographers and press guys with cameras. All of my friends that worked at Lions also drew a blank for this Willys and another 1959 Blue Fiat Altered. Thanks, Junji If any information comes in, I will certainly let you know. A lot of the old racers on my films still are unnamed and the search goes on daily. A flashback... When I first asked a question about drag racers names or photographs, it was about our 40 Willys B/Gas and C/Gas coupe from 1960. No photos as yet and no one remembers the car except for the author of the new, Lions book, "So Cal Thunder." He was in the stands and saw our Willys. He remembers our Willys in the pits and racing, but had no photos. The best way to keep the flame burning for Lions Dragstrip and older racers is to upload a new movie or post. They will pop up now and then with the new information of the old films, research, and photographs. It is kind of like doing research for a college term paper...good thing there is no deadline.
Yes Junji, the light purple altered Willys is the one that I am curious about. Hopefully someone can Identify it. I'm glad that your films are around.
1959 Lions Dragstrip, pits staging lanes Hello, This is the Ratican-Jackson-Stearns Fiat A/Alt coupe. Every week my brother and I went to Lions, the racing just got better with new race cars and drivers. This dark blue Fiat was special. It was a fast Altered Coupe in a long line of Fiats in the pits. We liked the way it sat and then when it fired up, it sounded great. “This was the first one we built with a 112” Chassis." The engine was a 1957 Olds 394 CI, built up to about 420 CI. Even though, they were Lions Dragstrip and So Cal locals, we saw them race at the 2nd annual, Bakersfield Smokers March Meet in 1960. An early history of this racing team: 1958-60 "Then we had a new, Joe Itow, chassis made which was 98 inches. This is the original car, shortened, it is in my garage." 1960-61 The young team of Ratican, Jackson and Stearns winning the Nationals at Indy in 1961. Restoration: 1995 1996 "And, we still do car shows, as well as cackle it.” Ron Stearns June 2017 Lions Dragstrip Museum Cacklefest June 24, 2017 Price Transfer Lions Dragstrip Museum grand opening event, "The big second cackle."
Fantastic history and video and photos. It's great to see that it survives with the original owners and hasn't been changed much.
29 roadster 32 grille altered roadster 1959 I.D...The frequently posted, modified 29 roadster from Harrell Engines… So Cal Hey Jason, Thank you for the kind words. As short as the films are in real (reel) time, they do give off a lot of history. Here is one roadster that was a record setter back in 1959-60 era that eluded me after I had the films digitized. I have been looking at this black and white photo from the previous posts. It never occurred to me that I had a similar photo and film clip of the same roadster. For all of these years (from 1958 to the time I had my drag racing films digitized from the 16mm films,) I have always wondered if I recognized that red modified roadster at Lions Dragstrip in my films. In 1959, as a teenager, I probably knew who it was, what was powering it and who was driving it. But as films sit in storage containers for many years unwatched, the memory fades fast. This red, modified, 29 roadster (32 shell) was a significant part of drag racing history. Back then, as a teenager, I only filmed what I thought were the fastest local racers we saw every week at Lions. If they had style, I usually filmed it. In the beginning, it was my only activity involving race cars. (besides being the caretaker/mechanic/tuner of my brother’s 58 Chevy Impala until I was old enough to drive) Now after 59 years, the mystery was solved with a simple internet search, a verification email with the owner’s family, comparing details of the photos and enlarged, edited film clip. Here is the famous Harrell Engines, red roadster from 1959 making its growling run down the Lions Dragstrip. The only action film of the Harrell Engines modified, red 29 roadster in existence. Junji FOR DRAG RACING FANS/LP ALBUM RECORD COLLECTORS: I am currently looking for original LP record album sounds from 1959 to 1963. Does anyone have an LP album with the Harrell Engines 29 Roadster making a run? Lions, Riverside, Bakersfield, Pomona, San Gabriel, San Fernando? They were at most of the popular drag strips in So Cal. If found, perhaps some FREE HD DIGITAL FILMS IN EXCHANGE? PM ME ASAP ! SEARCHING FOR THESE: 1. Griff Borgeson : Hot Cars at the Winternationals 2. Hot Rod Heaven: Bakersfield Smokers 3. American HR Assoc. 1963 Winter Championships in Arizona 4. NHRA: 1963 Winternationals Pomona 5. Bakersfield 1963 "By late 1956, Harrell Engines had completely rebuilt their '29 roadster and reentered competition with what the racing media called the Chrysler powered "Red Hot Roadster." Photo of “Harrell Engines, L.A.” in July 1960; from: 50 Years of Hot Rod by the Editors of Hot Rod magazine, 1998, page 54.
Saturday at The Drags : Bob Tapia injected SBC FED Thanks for the photo...Dave, 296ardun Hello, We liked all sorts of drag racing from the top gas racers with their big blown Hemi motors all the way down to the smoky 4 bangers and 6 cylinder motors. But, one racer had the look of a top gas FED, but his lightweight chassis and small SBC motor allowed him to race in the lower FED class competitions. “Just a little background on Bobby but not too in depth: In 1957, he had a 57 Chevy 2-door that won 13 weeks in a row at Lions. That’s 13 weeks in a row, folks. In 1958, in his second stint in dragsters, he won 50 out of 52 middle eliminator races at Lions. He made the “Standard 1320" list of record holders three times in 1958. In 1961 thru 1963, he served his country.” This little swoopy dragster had much success in the lower divisions of the FED classes. The success was due to quick reaction times at the starting line. Bob Tapia made believers out of many drag race fans with his quick little FED injected SBC race car. Jnaki Since he was always at Lions in those early days when we were racing there, I filmed several runs of this slick race car. A pure bred race car with a lay down and steer situation. tapia bros total 59-60 Tapia Bros. Chevy FED Ford push truck: A kid in a red Pendleton looking through the links. Some lanky teenager staring at Bobby Tapia right in the goggles near the Lions start line captured on film. (photo by James)
SATURDAY AT THE DRAGS: Mickey Brown, Quincy Automotive FED 1958 Hello, Sometimes, tragedy strikes unexpectedly. Whether it was in the “big plan from above,” or a pure accident in the time period. We were all envious that the success of the Quincy Automotive sponsored FED blown Olds powered race car was driven by such a young kid…(actually 22). The 1958 version was a Potvin style blower. In 1959, the FED showed up with a 671 on top and blasted almost everyone on a weekly basis. In the pits, Mickey Brown seemed like a high school kid that was asked to drive this fast FED. But, like most of those early drag racers of the time, Ivo, Prudhomme, McEwen, etc. youth and skill played a big part in racing victories. In physical sports tests, the mean age for peak performance is 26 with some swimmers hitting their peak at 21. We have all seen a decline in our own abilities as we got older, despite the bravado that we could still do anything… Jnaki Thanks, Mickey, for the fast action and great driving… We were impressed in 1959. Those were great memories of the racing at Lions. For us, going back to the time when we were all 22-28? Wowee…what a time for reflection and life… Mickey Brown at Lions Dragstrip 1959 Drag News December 1959 $2000 in 1959 had the same buying power as $17060.48 in 2018 accounting for inflation over the years. Mickey Brown: July 26, 1937 to September 12, 1959 “Ronnie Scrima and Mort Smith were testing a new short wheelbase (93") dragster at Lions. They had dropped Gene Adams's Oldsmobile engine in the car, but were having a hard time getting it down the track. Mickey Brown had left his own Olds-powered dragster at home and he offered to see if he could drive the car. About 100 feet from the starting line, he lost control and flipped upside down, suffering fatal injuries because his head got outside the confines of the roll bar. He was transported to Seaside Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His wife witnessed the crash. Racers remembered him as a kind of wild, but fun-loving kid. He was the first man to go over 150 MPH in a gas dragster.” This is the Scrima, Adams, & Smith car that Mickey Brown drove.
Joe Reath Tribute: Hello, As long as we were living in Long Beach and getting our start in drag racing at nearby Lions Dragstrip, our "go to" speed shop was a drive across town to the 10th and Cherry Avenue shop of Reath Automotive. Joe Reath and his wife, Dellie owned what was known as the “best” speed shop in So Cal. There were a lot of drag racing cars with REATH AUTOMOTIVE imprinted on the sides and rear trunk areas. To us, that was a status that became a goal for most local hot rod racers. We were just starting out, but the friendliness of the staff at Reath Automotive was outstanding. Even though we weren’t veteran drag racers, we were treated like royalty. Of course, that is excellent business sense as we were customers with ideas and purchases in mind. It helped that Joe was a talkative, friendly guy. He usually stood tall over most visitors to his shop. Being a couple of teenagers in 1957-60, we just stood there in awe as he spurted out tons of wisdom on drag racing, speed parts and builds. He did not influence one speed part over the other, but always gave us several choices for our SBC build. We all knew of the race cars the shop sponsored at Lions and were impressed as teenagers could be. Our goal was to have REATH AUTOMOTIVE on our fenders or trunk when we were finished. My brother was usually quiet as a teenager, but very opinionated. He absorbed everything Joe Reath told us and started our relationship with the speed shop. Even if we were there just to get a Drag News or check out the latest development in racing parts, Joe came up and started a conversation about anything. That to us, was business sense. He knew we would be customers and liked that we were following his advice on various engine parts and compatibility. We did buy a ton of different speed parts almost every time we were there. We had them rebuild our demo 671 blower for drag racing, reworked the Chevy heads we had, and sold us pistons and rods to fit our newly revised SBC with the 671 build. He even had pointers for setting up and adjusting the Joe Hunt Vertex Magneto that we bought. Adjusting those 6 Strombergs were discussed and the ideas solved the problems we were having from the start. Jnaki Even if we were just there for a short visit, it usually took up some time because of all the stories that Joe would start telling his captive audience. They were outstanding stories and made us feel like one of the Reath family. From our first encounter with Joe and the early Reath Automotive shop, my brother was a staunch supporter. He would go no where else during our 40 Willys build. Teens, veterans, visitors all liked a good Joe Reath story. As our drag racing careers ended rather abruptly, we were in talks with Joe about a sponsorship for our 40 Willys coupe. We had a trunk design all drawn out and that gave the shop an outstanding viewing location. Also, on the rear fenders, the wording REATH AUTOMOTIVE was to be painted on when we were going to get our Willys ready for the U.S. Nationals. What was the sponsorship worth? Who knows, but it was the prestige of having the Reath Automotive signature lettering on our Willys that was the most important thing. Thanks for the memories and friendship, Joe. Joe Reath Legend of Lions Made for the Legends of Lions Collection at the Historical Society of Long Beach, located in Bixby Knolls.
Seeing film from this era of drag racing never gets old. Thanks for posting and I personally enjoy reading the facts and historical insight some of you guys share.
I went to Lions in 1959. If I remember correctly (probably not), Bobby Tapia's 3-carbed (gas?) Chevy dragster beat the Green Monster in eliminations. Another comment – early in the first film, it looks like Lefty Mudersbach doing a wheelie in his twin-engined Chevy. Never saw that before.
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