For a number of years I have posted on this gasser thread and the Corvette Hot Rod thread and have made reference to the two brothers that I raced with back in the 60s, a 57 Vette that ran in B/G and a 61 Vette that ran a 283/270 in F/S in 68 (may have been G/S in 69-memory is not perfect). The one brother (Ray) was 11 years older and Tim was like 3 years older. They had raced a 61 Catalina in stock and super stock but were making the switch in 66ish to Corvettes and found an old 57 for around $100 or so. It was a mess and their driver for the Pontiac lived kiddie corner to me and had worked for my grandfather in his restoration shop and suggested they ask me if I wanted to help them with the sad state of the body on the 57 Vette since I worked in my grandfathers paint booth since I was 13. I remember I was working on my 59 Ford in the backyard and they came up the driveway and asked me if I would be interested and I could not say yes fast enough. For the next few years I was nothing short of a dragstrip junky. I could not seem to get enough of it-often four days a week. My buddy Tim who I spent a good deal of time with not only at the track, but Woodward or Telegraph running his 61 or just hanging out, sadly died of Leukemia in 1975 and his brother Ray moved to Florida and we lost touch. I contacted him a few years ago and he said he would send me pictures of the cars but never did sadly. Out of the blue the other day a buddy sends me this picture and it blew me away. This is the 57 that not only allowed me to be a member of a team in essence but solidified my fascination with Corvette drag cars. This car had a 427 with aluminum heads and Enderle Injection and in 68 a Turbo 400, with a Pontiac rear and then in 69 the switch was made to a clutch turbo and a truck axle. This picture in 69 Autorama before the switch was made (basically in 68 trim). When I did my avatar car, I put in a 427 BBC with aluminum heads and 400 turbo as a tribute in a sense to the car and to help bring back memories every time I got in the car. I have the stack injection but it sits on a shelf-mainly I suppose since the car runs so great with a single Holley. Funny story on the Dave Leland you see on the front fender. Dave lived next door and I hung out with his older brother who was my age. Dave was 15 maybe 14 but was a great artist IMO. It cracked me up that he painted a nude on the back of his bedroom door and his mother did not see it for a while since she never closed the door behind her (she eventually made him paint in a bikini on it). Ray was leaning towards his neighbor Robin Sommers do the lettering as Robin as the art director for the 60s rock group the MC5. Robin was really a nice guy but was a real hippie with long garbs etc but I told Ray to give Dave a chance and he did. The rat he painted with the crown etc was pretty cool. The car was orange in color. The car next to it, Banshee was a good friend of mine, John Slicker. It was a Pontiac powered funny car that he built on a budget. In the 50s John worked for my grandfather in his restoration shop in his spare time. He worked for GM and always had a bad ass Pontiac street car-but he also had a large family and his funny car never made it to the big time. This funny of his was an earlier version with doors. Good guy that refused to run a BBC and stayed with Pontiac power. Cool seeing his car as well. Whatever don’t want to go on too much but really stoked I got such a clear picture of the car-Really brings back great memories.
Didn't shuffle thru ALL 78 pages but............any pics of a 63 "split-window" that' was run as a gasser?!!! I know...I know its a" damned old Shival-lay" and I'm suppose to be a Ford-guy but........'man do those old vettes trip-my-trigger!!" 6sally6
Jim, Comgratulations on getting a good picture of it and I really enjoyed the story. There aren’t too many people on here that were involved with a Corvette Drag Car in those days and there is nothing better than first hand information. If you can think of any more stories feel free to share them too.
Bad A-- look'in 57 Corvette....but one of the ugliest roll bars I have EVER seen! Woulda loved to have been part of that team! 6sally6
Actually the bar may not look as good as some it was made to do its job. Tim the driver wanted good visibility especially with the injection which you will note is quite tall. The bar was built to be a bit higher while he was seated in a somewhat higher than stock position possibly. Also the bar was not that fat but Ray the owner who managed a rubber products company at the time got this fat padding that looked nice for us to apply for Autorama. If you look at some of the bars back then they were a bit on the short side but would do little if you flipped it. Ray was a pretty decent fabricator and the bar was welded in place when Tim was seated with his helmet on. I think there was a time or two when we switched seats and it looked funny but mostly I thought it suited the seating position quite well. Jason not sure how many real riveting stories I could tell but will relate a few here and there. It was not only a great time going to the track and watching this car, but the competition was fierce with several other B/G cars and especially the 57 Corvettes in B/G (Prontito and Gorilla) and then Gianino's D/G 57 Vette was as bad as they came. He and his wife (at this time he was married to Heide) and she was as nice as could be to me at least.
As a point of comparison here is a picture of Prontito in the early part of the 68 season and you will note the bar is pretty comparable in height. Add the fat padding and this may look goofy as well. Prontito was without question the class of the field. The first time Ray and Tim saw the car run (in B/G) was at Milan in the spring of 68. I had watched him run a few days before while they were doing something else and the car was impressive. The three of us were standing at the fence and in a timed run Kanners driving the car for the new owner stood it on the bumper twice and still turned a 10.60. Car was fast.
Jim, Prontito was a terror if it could run that fast in those days and on the rear bumper. I think given what these cars are worth today it is hard for some people to understand that at some point they were just an old car that could be bought for a few hundred dollars and made into a race car. This was way beyond my time too but I like to imagine how it was and I bet that my car was run some at that time but I haven’t been able to find out much history on it. I was told that it had a 427 and a Muncie 4 speed and found an old exhibition of speed ticket in the car. I know that it was a street racer but I don’t know if it ran on the strip. I agree that the padding made the roll bar look a little goofy. I wonder if it was tucked up tight to the hardtop when it was built or if it was built to run as a roadster and the bar height was designed only to protect the driver.
Jason, King Rat came without the hardtop and was made to run as a roadster. It was a beat up mess the first time I saw it. I did not know that much about fiberglass repair but asked my grandfather and he knew someone in the business and the guys gave me a crash course. They made a bunch of stuff at their facility from fiberglass rectangular tanks to lightweight fenders for drag racing. Tim's everyday driver was his 61 Vette that became more of a dedicated strip car when the 5.13 was put in it. I know he drove it and parked it at Wayne State when he went to college there. Could not do that today. Ray managed FB Wright which dealt in rubber products so he brought home that thick padding as he thought it would look good for Autorama-that may be debatable. Actually with the smaller bar it probably looked a bit better. I never thought it really looked goofy at the time. The car was orange and Ray had a matching truck and trailer so we looked the part for sure. Never ashamed to be with the car-was nothing but fun stuff every time. As to Prontito the car normally ran with a top but the top blew off on a run and was damaged and became a roadster for 2 years (68 and part of 69). Car was quick and fast. The best I saw the car run was right around mid 9s in 69 I believe. It went to the Nationals in 69 and won class (B/G). A lot of these old Vettes ran at the track occasionally. My avatar car ran from 64-78 in New Mexico and I bought it in 82 when I lived in SoCal. Guy I bought it from wanted to build a prostreet style car and never cared about its drag racing history and so what I got was pretty sketchy in terms of info. Prior owner had died. Car had a massive hood scoop in 78 and probably was running MP at the time. He told me the car started out in stock in 64 and ran some MSP and he thought MP. It is pretty hard to dig up history on these old Vettes at times-if only they could talk.
A looooong time ago...there was a fella from Greenville....or maybe Anderson, SC that ran a 57 T-Bird with a 427 side oiler in the gasser classes in Ware Shoals. Had the rear wheel wells cut out so slicks would fit. ........... A 57 T-BIRD!!!!!!!! But..in the mid 60's it was just a cheap old car to soup up and drag race If I remember right...it was pretty quick (nearly ran over the starting line flag guy a couple of times!!) 6sally6
Yes I guess that they were just used old cars in those days. I have seen a few reasonably priced modified early T-bird bodies in the last few years that would make good gassers. I bet that Gene Cromer knows who ran that was with the 427 powered T-bird
A few I have posted from lurker mick I believe that is the Poll & Spens 55 Bird that ran out of Salt lake City. Driven by Bill Spens.
Funny. I was just looking at this picture earlier tonight on my computer wondering if I should take the grille out of my 57. Like the look of these without the grille .
Jason that has to be one of the coolest pictures of an early drag Corvette I have seen. Now I will have to try and figure out who it is. So many cool things. First the perspective of the photo in the first place. Then trying to figure the date with the Mustang behind it. The great front tires, straight axle, pie crusts slicks A/MSP on the window, the cool scoop atop the blower. I have said it many times but it really holds true in this case-it would be unbelievably cool to find that car as is sitting in a garage somewhere (you will notice I did not say barn as that phrase has been worn out). Saying it is a cool photo is simply not enough.
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