Boston Ma area - Street Racing in 60's remember this car?

My dad was and still is heavy into cars, we both are.

Recently we went to buy some big block heads and funny thing is, was someone who he vaguely knew, they knew all the same people...they had traveled in the same circles.

Anyone remember this car, arrow straight 55 running a nasty 409 and 4;88's running very deep 12s, high 11s in the late 60's.

Be interested in seeing who else around here, is still into cars and may know my dad. This was just after my grandfather painted it, hence no trim or even taillights!



Lifting the wheel on the 1, 2 shift

 

Very cool New England history there. Thanks for posting

 

I used to run the circuit on Rt 1 in Saugus in the '60s.....don't remember your Dad's car......mine was also a '55 Chev post car, but with a 327/365, 4-speed, 4.11 gears, M/T cheater slicks, painted Kelly green with a brush....looked like a real beater but was actually a 20K mile car. In the early '60s I ran my '40 coupe with the "full house" flathead. Used to run between Russo's candy shop and Adventure Car-Hop.....remember Woo-Woo Ginsberg and his Night Train on 1600 AM????

 

You might want to send a message to Hamber safariknut. He seems to remember a lot of the 6os era North Shore hot rods.

 

Arnie "The Woo" was on WMEX 1510 AM

 

I love 5 miles from the Marsh Road....and my friend is a mile from it, we enjoyed some safe street racing in our day, but nothing like you guys had in the 60s

 

Cool pic. Don't know your Dad, I grew up on the So. Shore. But check out the Mystic River Bridge commuter sticker that's been on my Austin-Healey since 1965. Maybe it was passing over the bridge when that shot was taken:

 

wow very cool! my dad is in Medford, I live in Lynn just off the beach...

 

I grew up in Saugus and Route 1 was the place to race.The Lynn Marsh road was a lot safer though;no businesses except for the radio transmitter(WLYN maybe?)and no place for the law to hide.We'd do the circuit in the early 1960's(I enlisted in the Navy in 64)from the Adventure and Jolly Jorge's on Route 1 to Mister Donut in Revere(end of the Marsh Road)to the expressway(Route C1 from Sargent St.)to the Big Burger on the Revere Beach Parkway(hard to race there;too many businesses and too many MDC cops) to Richard's at Wellington Circle in Medford.
If we had extra gas we'd take a run to the Big Burger in Cambridge(Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2) or maybe Richard's in Quincy.
Don't recall seeing the Chevy but I saw a lot of cars then and I was out of the area from mid-1964 to 1968.What is your dad's name?You can PM me if you don't want to print it here.
At our 45th class reunion(5 years ago)one of the gimme's was a copy of Cruisin' 1961 which was a reprint of one of Arnie Ginsberg's radio show on WMEX.I ran into Arnie several years ago at the Ty-Rods show when it was at the Elks Club.He's still crazier than a shithouse rat. A couple friends of mine were trying to put together a show featuring him at the old Adventure Car Hop location(it's a parking lot now)but I guess it didn't pan out.
Here are a couple of pics:A painting by my friend Billy MacGregor and the Adventure Car Hop as it looked in the early 1960's.
The only error is the frequency for WMEX;it was supposed to be 1510kc. The frequency listed was I believe the frequency for WVDA that featured another famous DJ: Joe Smith.Unfortunately he was forced out of the business during the payola scandals of the late 1950's and early 1960's.
Another great station back then was WHIL in Medford;diagonally across from Richard's Drive In.Jack McDermott was the best DJ on there and used to play oldies back then! He also DJ'd at the Chelsea Armory dances on Saturday nights and usually had his wife with him.Her name was Beverly Dawn although she should have been named Dolly Parton if you get my drift lol.Another DJ on there was Dick Bionde(sp?) who may be related to Len Bionde who owns Sebastian Rubo's old 36 Ford roadster.

 

I believe he was also on 1600am(WILD) before it became a black owned radio station and changed the music format.In fact he may have started on that station.I'll have to check his bio.

 

Woo Woo's Radio Show Music Museum of New England

 

cool picture by the tobin, Im only 30 so i don't know the car, it looks nasty for its time! but to bring up MA car history, I rented a bay in a string of old garages in Jamaica Plain. It was the old spot of the "stickshifts" hot rod car club back in the 60s. Any Boston guys here of them? I hear they were well known at the time, mostly hot rod stuff even in the muscle car era.

 

That thing is bad ass!

 

I am 38, my dad is 65....thanks, the car was pretty sick, I wish I had seen it in person, my dad sold it before he went to Viet Nam, in case anything happened, so my mom would have at least some money, by the time he got back, out of the hospital, the kid had blown the motor, put another motor in, totaled the car....my dad had once broke the shifter bar, Hurst didnt believe he broke it, by shifting so hard, it was not defective, they came tested it, made sure it wasnt heated etc, gave him a new bar and took pics for their home office, like a congratulations...you really must be shifting hard to snap a bar

my grandfather had a body shop for over 50 years, all body work done in lead and he did the hole roof, keep all the lead flowing as a big puddle at once as the roof had been walked on, it was done in firemist blue, a caddy color with a blue window tint spray, he made his own exhaust and also traction bars

My dad now has a street machine/gasser style 68 Camaro sidepipes, 13 to 1 460 inch motor etc, bolt together glass nose, almost done...

 

WILD was 1090 AM, WVDA/WEZE was 1260 AM and WMEX was 1510 AM.

I remember Dick Biondi "The Wild I-tralian" from WKBW 1520 AM in Buffalo, NY.

Freddy Cannon got played a lot on WIMEX. (now there's a name outta' the past!)

 

Man O man!!! I miss living in that part of the state!1 Cruing up and down Revere Beach and piggin out at Kellys Roast Beef at 2am......................I hate being a grown up!!! LOL

 

I live a block off Lynn Beach, at the Swampscott line....I still on occasion go to Kellys late night! you should see Revere Beach, did the whole boardwalk over, new restaurants etc, did over the bathrooms etc etc....really pretty nice!

 

Arnie was on WBOS 1600 AM before he was on WMEX 1510 AM..........

 

But its still Revere Beach...

 

One of the guys from the South Shore Street Rods has a stickshifts plaque on the back of his tudor, I will ask around for ya

 

Kellys is still as good as ever!

 

I can't argue that!...mmmmm

 

There are old Stick Shift members still around. They tried to revive the club in the eighty`s but it didn`t last.I joined that group for a while.

 

...maybe that's why it didn't last??????

 

^^^I was going to make an "18-80's!" joke but thats funny enough!

 

We're always there to help...aren't we, Slick!!

 

Thank you for the correction;I see my Can't Remember Shit button is still functioning lol.
As to the posting listing WVDA/WEZE I thought WEZE was originally WEEI and down around 590 on the dial.Cancel that;it wasn't.
I believe Al Frecca from Medford was a member of the Stick Shifts from J.P.Had a severely channeled 29 Model A roadster with first a flathead and later a 389 Pontiac.Doors welded shut and motorcycle mufflers running up the side.Thought I had a pic of it but can't find it for some reason.Here's a pic of Hoop's 40 Fordor at the Salem Willows Softball game between the Boston Area Roadsters and the Mass Street Rod Association either 1972 or 73.I know that because I also have a pic of Vito Venuti's 34 Plymouth Sedan he bought a the Street Rod Nats in Detroit in 1972 and he owned the car only about a year.

 

Man, that '55 is pretty mean looking! Very cool pictures from back in the day..

 

I still get out there a couple times a year to sit on the wall and knock down a pie from Bianchi's THAT IS MY FAVORITE PIZZA the strip looks good now but nothin compared to what it used to be. And what's really strange is there are a lot more Kelly's lacations. Do I really wanna go to friggin Jordan's Furniture for roast beef!? Fuckin NO!!!! LOL

 

I work in Lynn now but in the middle 60's, when I worked in Waltham, I remember a kid that hung around the Wall-Lex Car Wash and Mr. Donut on Lexington Street in Waltham who had a very similar light blue 55 post sedan.
I worked in Waltham for over 25 years and 55-57 Chevy's prowled thru that area morning noon and night.
You were nothing unless you pedaled around in one of those shoe box Chevy's.
The kids silver blue colored Chevy post ruled the late night contests back then.
I ran up against him at the car wash one winter afternoon and he talked me into a little contest up on Route 2.
Mike, a kid who worked with me at my dads used car lot, warned me not to roll with the 55. Mike said the kid's 55 heavily outclassed my '57 hardtop.
Mike was right...............the silver blue 55 seriously waxed me a few moments later.

Same car, same guy maybe?