In 1967& 1968 i ran a 1966 Mustang( 289, 225 HP, 4 speed, 4.56 rear) at Dover drag strip In wingdale/ dover plains, NY . I think it ran F/S class, i constanly ran 14.50's with it. But what i'm wondering is if anyone has any pictures fo cars at Dover, there was a dragmaster frame rail called "Hellzapoppin" are 1962 falcon wagon called "the Toad". i can't remember any other ones besides he Lagana brothers out of eastchester NY & a car from Gramath dodge. Thanks JimV
Some of my friends were regulars at Dover, I will ask them about some of the pictures they have in there files. I'll scan them if they have any of what you are looking for. Tootall
You just missed the 15th Annual Dover Reunion last month. There are a lot of movies converted to DVD, your Mustang may be on them. Both cars on the cover of of the opening day program exist. The Danbury Modifiers Lyndwaood is in my garage and Don Galant still ownd the Golden Rod.
I have some home movies from Dover 1963 that I converted from 8mm to VHS for a friend a few years ago. We know it's from '63 because a Chevy dealer brought a brand new Vette coupe to show off. The video is very poor quality but it has the Hellzapoppin' dragster and the Blown Hearse in it along with a lot of other cool cars. If you ever heard the Hellzapoppin' run,you'd never forget it. 301 Chevy that turned about 10K RPM's that would just rattle your ears.
CruZer I also rememeber a 55 chevy gasser that ran a 301!! that was also a high reving car, heard the guy granaded it trying to pull 10 grand out of it, it blew at about 9,100 rpm's!!! lol jimv
I ran a 1965 Falcon Futura 289, 225HP, automatic back in 1965-1967 time frame in G/SA and ran 15.90's. I remember seeing Hellzapoppin on several occasions as well as the U.S. Mule, Bad News, the Lagana Brothers. It doesn't seem like 40 years ago!!
jimv, go to -doverracing- the guy who has the site has color videos of the drags back then at dover. maybe he can tell you if the cars you'r interested in are on the tapes.he a good guy.
Ski, Welcome to the HAMB! The US Mule II just left for the Coast last Monday. It was fun being the caretaker for the last 13 years, ya can't keep evertything.
'there was a dragmaster frame rail called "Hellzapoppin" i can't remember any other ones besides he Lagana brothers out of eastchester NY & a car from Gramath dodge. Thanks JimV[/QUOTE] I think this is the car at indy Lagana Brothers before the 409s (Dover) My buddy Daves coupe - its a hot rod now. The car retired to Florida and brought Dave. We drove that car all the time. First Pre 48 car I ever drove. All images stolen from the web.
Doverracing.com.I think. Ran a 1970 Nova SS 396 car there . in 73/74. Ran 12's. I wonder whats there now????
"6T5", i took a ride up there about 10 yrs ago & its still there more or less, the old sign it there but says the name of the construction company that owns it & theres some equippement around & its still has the wood poles running down the side . Its sad to see. Thanks for all the replys, i use to love that place. Last week i was visiting my 94 YO aunt in Yonkers & she said to me" you rememebr the time me & your uncle took you to Dover?" I was shocked she remmebred, i was in 8th grade, i was 12 or 13,so it was 1961 or 62!! also "37 kid", that tow truck in the picture form Marty motors is the place right in ridgefield, across form where "grants' use to be? My brother in law worked there about 30 yrs ago & my Father in law ran the texaco station downtown in a side street.Don't know if its still there. My brother in law now works for Routhers(?) they use to also be behind the texaco, but they moved now.How long have you been in ridgefield? My wife & inlaws where all from there, they lived on Bennets farm road. JimV
Resedacoupe, That shot of Hellzapoppin at Indy is a later chassis, or someone else's car. These photos are from 1961-62 at Dover and shows the Ron Abbott car injected and blown. I saw it back in 1991 at a meet at Lebanon Valley in New York. Its missing one roll bar hoop, and runs in nostalgia drags now.
[qote]"37 kid", that tow truck in the picture form Marty motors is the place right in ridgefield, across form where "grants' use to be? My brother in law worked there about 30 yrs ago & my Father in law ran the texaco station downtown in a side street.Don't know if its still there. My brother in law now works for Routhers(?) they use to also be behind the texaco, but they moved now.How long have you been in ridgefield? My wife & inlaws where all from there, they lived on Bennets farm road. JimV[/quote] Small world Jim! I just turned over 56 years in town, yes I'm a native. Grants gave way to Caldor, nows its Koles. Fred Brown ran the Texaco, only guy I knew that owned a Beachcraft STAGGER WING! Then Peter Kastle took it over. Building is gone and the new Kane Funeral Home is in its place. I spent 14 years in the shop in front of Reuters. If you see Rich or Robbie tell them Bob said hello. Here is a shot of the last GP Bugatti I did the body & paint work on.
My father in laws name was Chet Piasik, he ran the texaco in the mid 70s!! I remember freds Beech craft, he kept it at danbry airport, i found a model of it once & painted it in that Blue & gold trim he had & gave it to him.That was about 1976-77. My brother inlaw is Charlie Rogers, he was a "local" mechanic around ridgefield. Hes about 58 now. My ex wife is about your age, her name Barbara Piasik, has a sister Cheryl & had a sister Donna.They lived in Ridgefield till they moved to RI in 1979. Shit there mother even worked in the HS cafeteria for about 15 yrs when you where in HS there!!lol JimV
I have a few pics of Dover from Aug, 1967. Not to many, but a few. Here is a link to them: http://groups.msn.com/TheWorldOfDuckusCrapus/coolhistoriconlinemuseum.msnw?Page=6 DuckusCrapus
Hi' Thought you guys might like to see what the Dover Drag Strip looks like today. I went looking for the site in sept 2006 and there really isn't a whole lot to see. It's all been dug out except for maybe the last 500' and the same amount of the return road. In the picture,my 442 is pointed back towards where the starting line would have been. I couldn't resist running the car up and down the track a few times just because.....
JMB442 .Kool..Any other shots??? One thing I remember was that on Sundays at a certain time ( Midday) ? They made you shut off all engines for a short period. Must have been a local blue law or something. Guys would watch there watch and BAM Headers would fire up practically all at once. This was 73/74. It closed in 76 I think. Not a big shut down area
I took a bunch of pictures and just walked around to see what was left. The two pictures I've got today are "before and "after" shots. The "before" is from the web and is supposed to be from around 1966. This picture really helped me understand where the track actually was. At the top of the picture you can see a row of pine trees and a house. The "after" picture is from sept 2006,from about same angle and you can see that the pine trees are quite a bit taller... but you can still see the same house and some of the telephone poles that are still there.
great post....I was born too late....My dad and I are working on restoring the Blown Hearse....sure would have liked to known about that reunion....went to it once and thats how I ended up with the headers....great lead....any info on upcoming dover things and any pictures of the hearse would be greatly appreciated....BILL C
Keep us posted on the Hearse's progress.I sure would love to see that car again,along with the US Mule.
Bill, I only went to Dover once in 1961, I was 10 years old the only car that made a lasting impression on me was the Hearse. There are a lot of people with stories about that car. Kids used to sit in the back when the car was making runs. That ended after the rear door opened one day. The Dover Reunion is in September every year at Marcus Dairy in Danbury.
Here is a photo from 1961 the roof of the house is just behind the Ford panel truck. The Lyndwood rail on the left is in my garage.
Hey, "37 bill" This might be old news, but if you go to dover drag.com, you can buy a lot of dover racing film that has been converted to vhs and dvd. I bought the dvd set a few weeks ago and your car The Blown Hearse is shown racing on the strip!! I went to the reunion last year{got there late,most people already gone} and got this booklet and teeshirt. I'd love to see your Hearse and "37 Kids" Lyndwood rail. The other two pictures are just a couple more blurry Dover shots I've managed to find.
Opps!! sorry "37 bill" I gave you the wrong web site, I'ts not doverdrag.com....... it's doverracing.com for the vhs or dvds'.
Do any of you guys know what happened to the "Doc Burgess" Black Arrow car that used to run Dover? Is anybody restoring it.. has it been restored or has it just vanished forever??...
New guy here I live in Hawaii now but grew up in Yonkers NY raced at Dover 62/63 . I loved the blown hearse you could hear it in your chest .
The Jalopy Journal
