Folks Of Interest Airoso Brothers Willys gasser - brother Joe encounter

Last Sat 8/15/09, there was a gentleman at the www.pismoderelicts.com Sat morning get together checking out the cars. After striking up a conversation, he turns out to be brother Joe. He no longer has the Willys but someone in AnnArbor Mich has built a replica. Has anyone seen the replica run or did you see the original back in the day? Old hot rodders never lose the passion

 

nice willys.

 

think dom in chicago has or had it after ron in mich. surely someone on here knows more...

 

Ron Malmsten sold the car to Dom, Ron Norman out of Illinois has the car now and drives the hell out of it. Has been 9.83 with room left. Not bad for a million dollar show car. He runs with the geezers, and the East coast Gassers.

 

Thanks ftroop. From what Joe was saying Sat, he doesn't know this information - after all, his name is still on the door. Side note: there were brothers in Santa Maria Ca that used to race as F Troop (Foster bros). They had an Anglia at one time - rolled it at the finish line at a SoCal track - maybe Lions. One of the brothers still builds engines in Santa Maria.

 

Just to clarify:the name is actually AIROSO.Great to hear that he is still around.

 

I race with Ron in the GeezerGassers its one great looking car. I think he will be taking the car to Norwalk to race next weekend.

 

Thanks for the heads up - fixed it

 

Yes i did the tribute car with permission from Joe Airosa we met at the hot rod reunion 2005
he was excited about the car took some photos too i am surprised he did not remember unless there was a misunderstanding here are a few photos from our visit

 

Joe told me about meeting you and gave you permission to do a tribute car. I think that he is glad that the car is remembered and said that he enjoyed meeting you. One of my favorite things is listening to his racing storys from the old days.

 

You had the pleasure of meeting one of the nicest people on the planet and a true "Gasser Legend". He still remembers what the car turned on specific race weekends.
I've got a few pics you might enjoy.

 

Half Moon Bay

See more at The Half Moon Bay Bakery/Drag Racing Museum. Mark Andermahr.

 

Not as famous under the Airoso banner was the Multi Maverick that Joe bought from Ohio George Montgomery, shown here in a shot from Fresno Dragways. Eat more raisins.
It looks like it has the longer wheelbase setup on this day.

This car is currently owned by Bruce Caballero from Ontario, CA.

 

Here is our buddy Joe Airoso standing in front of Chris Beanes' Henry J. This pic was taken at Bakersfield on the same year that Airoso Dairy celebrated it's 100th anniversary (with a pic of the blue Willys featured on the shirts). Check spelling on the sale sweatshirt.

 

Here is Joe's Willys pickup. On his left is Bob Beezer (Canadian Indian) and other Willys nuts.

We just missed getting elgringo in one of these shots.

 

Thanks for posting these pictures. There were a couple that I haven't seen.

 

Love the history on this site. Great story accompanied by incredible photographs.

Thank you.

 

Glad to be able to pass it along. One of my early memories of Joe is having him beside me in the tower at Bakersfield during various rounds of gasser racing. Joe is soft spoken, but very knowledgable, so all I had to do was get him wound up and he would tell some great stories. I remember asking him when he saw a supercharged gasser for the first time. He immediately started talking about Bruce Kaiser's 35 or 6 Willys coupe that he saw run at Santa Maria early on. This is one of the cars that influenced this young competitive future gasser legend.

What ever happened to Bruce Kaiser and this car? I always wondered if it became Pappy (Peggy?) Hart's Santy Ana racer.

 

Here is a shot that shows two ultra competitive nice guys who came from the Central Valley of California, had ultra competitive, beautiful race cars that beat on each other often. This could be a shot from their pairing after the long tow to Indy. Bob Panella is still actively involved in drag racing. Joe and his family is still actively involved in getting those cows milked, so you can enjoy a cold glass.

 

Hey elgringo, What was the guy's name from Morrow Bay that was responsible for Airoso's early performance? He deserves credit.

 

^^ This picture was taken at the Fuel and Gas Championships in 1961


Joe had a 57 Ranchero for his tow vehicle and it can be seen in the background in some of the pictures.

 

The last three pictures look like they were taken at Indy. Most likely at the Nationals in 67. The Airoso Brothers won BB/GS there that year.

This was the final race to win his class at The Nationals at Indy in 67. He raced Billy Holt The Alabamian

 

His name is Red Truitt

 

This car was called the Paladin Special after the TV show.

 

Another gasser that had an early influence on Joe was the Al Dal Porto Yellow Willys Pickup that was later bought by the Panella Brothers and became their candy apple red pickup. Al was a lakes racer and built this Pickup to go drag racing. He won the A Gas Coupe Sedan class in it at the Smokers Meet (March Meet) in it in 1959. It turned 114.94 Mph with a chevy engine.

 

I also met Joe at Famoso at the CHRR about 3 years ago as I was looking at his pickup , what a great guy !!! Saw him again at another reunion and he had el gringo in tow another very knowledgeable guy about the history . I see Joe at the races everytime and a week ago at the western street rod nationals where I got his stamp of approval on my truck !!! Took him for a little cruise too

 

That's cool to get the thumbs up from Joe on your pickup. His opinion carrys a lot of weight with me because he was there and can tell you how it was done back in the day.