Too funny before you post pics of the mr.norms car and claim it went in the eights you need to do some research yourself. The car shown is the sedan and it is the hardtop that was the ex lindamood car that went into the eights. As far as the beswick car I dont think that one shown went into the eights. I think it was the 63 car that did it first. Joel what do you have on the white beswick car. That photo has to be early 65 due to the norms car crashing and being totalled before the hardtop came out. ..
I'm going off an add in SUPER STOCK AND DRAG ILL. that shows the sedan and the"Mystery Tornado" it says beswick went 8.63 and norm 8.58. "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
July 27th 1965 was the date. I don't think Beswick had altered a tempest yet, but I'm not sure. "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
I'll look when I get home. I have the feature on the mystery tornado, so I'll see how fast it went. I'm just saying that there were cars in the eights way back then. Yeah they may have been the exception and not the rule, but some guys did. "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
racer-x...sorry I missed you! my AWB came out of a collection in Detroit. The now-deceased owner was a longtime engineer for Chrysler. his widow still owns the Fire-brewed car. It is in need of restoration. my car was being housed in the same garage as the High and Mighty car.
I think your front wheel and tire choice is perfect. That's a nice looking car. "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
I don't have any information on the Beswick '64 GTO getting in to the eights, and I don't recall it doing so but that doesn't mean that it didn't. I doubt that it did. The picture posted was from mid-season '65 as Brian(Racer-X) states. The ex-CMG car didn't get the blower 'til sometime after the S/S Nationals at York, the first week of August where it ran as an injected car along with the blown, burgundy sedan. The ex-CMG got into the eights late in the year, out at LIONS Dragway in CA, as I recall. Joel
Puredrag Steve Arnie Beswick (M) from Morrison, Illinois USA (Comp Nr/Finish: 397 ) 1965 - Category: FUELFC, Type: FN, Class: S/FX, Div: 3 "Mystery Tornado / GTO By Pontiac" Owned by Arnie Beswick from Morrison, Illinois USA Crew Chief: Arnie Beswick '64 Pontiac GTO by Factory | Powered by Supercharged Nitro 421 Pontiac with 4 speed manual transmission 1/4 Mile ET: 8.630 at Rockford, Ill. (9-18-65 Drag News) 1/4 Mile MPH: 163.00 at Rockford, Ill. (9-19-65 Drag News) 1000 FT ET: Unknown at Unknown 1000 FT MPH: Unknown at Unknown 1/8 Mile ET: Unknown at Unknown 1/8 Mile MPH: Unknown at Unknown Entry's 1965 Performance Ratings (0 to 100) based on comparison to average ET/MPH: 1/4 Mile Rating: ET 100.0, MPH 72.47 Entry is 0.87994 times average ET and 1.08667 times average MPH 1000 FT Rating: ET 00.00, MPH 00.00 Entry is 0.00000 times average ET and 0.00000 times average MPH 1/8 Mile Rating: ET 00.00, MPH 00.00 Entry is 0.00000 times average ET and 0.00000 times average MPH 1965 Records: 1/4 Mile: 8.630 ET, 178.92 MPH 1000 Ft. 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH 1/8 Mile: 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH 1965 Average: 1/4 Mile: 9.807 ET, 150.00 MPH 1000 Ft. 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH 1/8 Mile: 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH 1965 Minimum: 1/4 Mile: 10.307 ET, 142.72 MPH 1000 Ft. 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH 1/8 Mile: 0.000 ET, 0.00 MPH
this was from Drag List, He ran his best E.T. and M.P.H. on back to back days in the "MYSTERY TORNADO" 8.63 on 9-18-65 and 163 M.P.H. on 9-19-65.
I don't think the Tameless Tiger Tempest was running in September '65. That said ... the posted Drag List lists Beswick's Tempest as a 4-speed ... the GTO was a 4-speed when it was a 421-2 4bbl car, but once it got the blower and was radicalized it ran a hydro ... just a thought that facts aren't always facts on websites. That includes all of us. Debate and discussion of this stuff is great. Joel
Here's the poster I was talking about. "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
The caption says that the Tempest was for the '66 season. "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
I agree with you about the discussion being good. And with respect to racer x I have no way to know other than to look at my old magazines. I wish I could have been there to see it myself, and who knows how much hype was put in to the advertising. Arnie is at Byron Dragway quite often, so if I see him I will ask. It would be great to get him on the HAMB. "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
I am rather proud of myself! this thread sat dormant for 2.5 months I got it back going regarding my AWB purchase. and now there is a post every hour!
it is very possible the magazine used pics it had in its file that were outdated. there were flyers printed of my car for a upcoming race that were outdated. it was shown sitting low and on alch. when it was running nitro and sat higher. the cars were changing fast and they may have goofed up or just not had a current pic. who knows. to set the record straight on norm he is a very smart guy. if he was not smart he wouldnt have had the highest volumn dodge dealership in the country or have come up with some of the greatest promotions ever. he also came up with numerous package cars. i have talked to him many times and he does know his stuff. have you ever sat down and had a long conversation with the man or are you just regurgitating something from some other pontiac driver. sure he didnt drive or tune the car but he did make it possible for dyer to do his thing. successful teams put the most talented person in the right role. no different here gary drove and tuned and norm promoted and sold cars. in this was a team effort no different than sox and martin or many other teams. norm paid his dues and has earned the respect that is due him. if he was not so successful you pontiac guys wouldnt hate him so much. due some more research on who beat who more often. that dodge team whipped alot of pontiac ass. the krause/dyer team was a huge thorn in arnies ass and the gay pontiac team. and just so i dont get bashed in a upcoming post i have huge respect for arnie. i hope i can drive as well as he can when im that old. the man is a legend.
I wasn't trying to paint him to be an idiot. I just think Dyer should get more credit than he does. Everyone calls it the Mr.Norms car and doesn't even think about the driver. He was the guy with most to lose. I'm also a big Beswick fan because he was a underdog and a privateer, and was basically a one man show. "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
well lets examine things more closely here. you say you root for the under dog. in the mopar world norm was the under dog in many ways. he didnt get one of the first awb cars because he was a new car dealer. the factory told him he cant have one because the other dealers would want one. he had to buy the color me gone car. he made his own awb sedan before he bought the hardtop. he also told me the ram chargers got the newest stuff first. several other racers from the era told me that to. so now everyone is playing catch up to the rams. im sure everyone on this site knows who dyer is. the sox and martin car is called just that not the sox and martin and jake king and christy car. the racing world knows who king and christy are without having to include them. and they were highly respected. he was promoting mr.norms dealership not dyer the mechanic at mr.norms.
First off i've never owned or even driven a Pontiac, and I'm guessing Beswick was the thorn. The guy is running with very little factory support because of G.M. anti-trust deal and he is also running a wedge headed engine that was already obsolete and he trails only by a couple of hundredths. OUCH "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
well he was given the cars and the parts. he also had a full mercury ride that he gave up because he could make more money with the pontiac. dont kid yourself arnie had money and made alot racing. he also had numerous sponsors during that time. blowers and nitro can level a playing field real quick. the pontiac engine was no slouch. ford and chevy had good ones to thats what makes it so exiting.
The problem is that there is always two sides to every story. Arnie said Mercury wanted him to only run the comet. His side says that he was at the bottom of the list for cammer parts and that Dyno received anything he wanted or needed first. He also says that he had tracks that wanted the poncho to run against the competition and not so much the Mercury. I'm pretty sure this discussion will never end, and that for now we are going to have to agree to disagree. "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
some folks say Beswick financed his racing by NOT paying his bills. not me talking, just repeating what I have heard many times. please don't shoot the messenger.
Well we do agree on this issue. And I agree with bobs statements to. So we agree to agree. Ah the power of the hamb.
You guys need to calm down and keep your egos in check. This kind of drama has gotten other threads shut down by the moderators.
this isnt drama its a discussion about the old days. thats why we are here. debating and discussing and reading about things that happened years ago. and at times we dont always agree. it happens. a few posts back there was talk about how fast a injected gas car was going back in the day. drag racing magazine april of 66 had a good story. landy and leal were matched to determine the number one driver for the west coast. using there 65 cars and 65 rules for a best out of five.the average times were around 10.00 these of course were some of the top dogs. the story does say leal went 9.62 at 144mph earlier in the year. i wont give the out come of the race in case someone wants to look it up. it was a close one and a good look at their performance potential.
Seems like I remember in '65 Sox was the first in the 9's on gasoline??? '65 was an awesome "match race" year. Seen them early in the season go from gasoline & carbs to stack injectors, then alky, then injected nitro, then some even to blown nitro. And all of that happened in just 4-5 months on the match race scene. It was a wild & great year to be alive!
attention all ford and mercury fans. this weekend at great lakes dragway the original tom coward tomcatter comet will be on display. this car has been fully and accurately restored. it is a fully documented four speed car. i think about 20 were made. dont hold me to that. this is the first public showing since last raced in 66. it will be there both sat and sun. this car is so cool even a hard core mopar guy like myself can go nuts over it. original photos from the day will also be displayed.
racer-x,where is great lakes drag way? I copied your post over to the Comet thread.I'm sure some of those guys would be interested.Thanks for the heads up.
Union Grove Wisconsin. "MELTDOWN DRAGS" July 20, 21 2013 at Byron Dragway Byron Ill. www.meltdowndrags.com
I. Will try to get some pics. This car was campained out of the chicago are orig inally. It was sold to joel canios in kenosha in 65. Joel ran it in its factory configuration for 65. He altered it for 66. It has been returned to its stock wheelbase.
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