History Drag cars in motion.......picture thread.

Doug's remembrances of the hazards and excitement at some of the old tracks brought these two pictures to mind. Remember when they pushed down to start the cars? The anticipation as to whether they'd light or not? At places like La Place LA, like many others, the strip was the push down lane. I'm not sure who this Keith Black Woody car is but I'm thinking it could be Albert Waits out of New Orleans. If you recognize him sing out.

 

Could anything be finer than to stand just 10 or 15 feet away as the AA/FD's thundered past? Here at La Place, there was no retaining wall or concrete barrier separating the faithful from the action-just a humble chain link fence. This is the same Woody car as in the scene above. No idea who the guy with the wheels up is either, but it looks like a fun time nontheless. Thanks for the memories and inspiration Mazooma1!

 

"Could anything be finer than to stand just 10 or 15 feet away as the AA/FD's thundered past?" Nope. In attending races at Irwindale, you were standing so close to the bleach burnout area that as the drivers entered onto the track from the push lanes, you could see thier eyes through their goggles. You could almost reach out and touch the heads to check the engine building heat just like the crew did. You could feel the engine shake and smell the nitro.

 

Doug, you were really balsy, or really stupid snapping a pic of "some black guys shooting craps"! Preniss Perry rode the Perry & Scott Stage Fright Triumph double fueler. He would make anyone "pee their pants".

 

Talk about ballsy, face full of fuel tank, open face helmet and Converse, wow. That's a great shot.

To Doug's point: I was just thinking this morning about how bad it must suck to be a kid and be connected to everyone 24/7. Seems like it would take a lot of the fun away. Even the hard lessons had an element of fun attached to them. Well, maybe only in retrospect, but I look back on my own and smile. They made me who I am today.

Kevin.

 

At Irwindale, though, there was the fire-up lane between the spectators and the track on the pit (south) side....

Nothing could compare to the "tower" side at LIONS for CLOSE...
example:

There was just about 12-15 feet between the front row of the bleachers and the track. With the elevation of the first row of bleachers rising your seat up, the headers were aimed at your face if they had zoomies.
(note: the photos below are not mine...the shot of me was taken from a frame of 8mm movie film.)





all that was between the cars and the fans was the walking space in front of the grandstands and the fence



I added to colored dots for you...the yellow on shows the starting line on the "tower" side. You can see how close the stands were. If you were walking in front of the grandstands, the only thing between you and the cars was the chain link fence.



here I am checking out Garlits car in about '61-'62. This was about the time I started to lug around the twin-lens Graflex 120 camera. This could have been the day I ran across the dice game...yes, that white sweatshirt I'm wearing is the Roth airbrushed one in my avatar....



some guys on the spectator side at Lions, doing what you guys do....talk about cars, girls and what they're going to do with their lives someday....
Thankfully, that part hasn't changed

 

I was "naive"....
...If I had been "stupid" I would have continued shooting photos of that dice game after the fella told me not to....
...if I was "ballsy", I would have asked to join in and would have plunked down the $1.50 that I had...

 

Lets say you came away from that encounter lucky Doug.

And after taking a closer look at Stage Fright, it is, in fact Norton powered, not Triumph. The bike still exsists, in pristine restored condition.

 

Does anyone know the name of the Black fella that raced the twin-engined Triumph in the early 1960's in Southern California?
I'd love to know his name and, better yet, I'd love to see if he was still around so I could try to contact him.
Anyone remember his name????

 

PLease tell me more about these pictures if you can.

 

Doug,
Look at Dean's post at the top of the page--Preniss Perry.

 

no..Triumph...different bike

 

Tommy Ivo...(Ivo & Zeuschel)

 

Doug, the black rider would still be Preniss Perry. Here is is on the twin Truimph version of Stage Fright. There were a few black riders in the 60's, but Preniss was the only one that rode a twin.

 

Larry, you were right...
Thanks, Dean...........
this looks like the one I remember.
The one from post #32881 doesn't....much different...could be the same, but....that's what threw my off...front brake, gas tank, ......

 

This is the final version of Perry & Scott's Stage Fright with original builder Agnew "Scotty" Scott on the left, and current owner John Stein on the right. Scotty and the bike are alive and well. I don't know if Preniss is still with us, or not. This bike is like a fine sculpture. The entire frame is fabricated in aluminum.

 

well, it shines a whole lot more than it used too...much more...sometimes too shiny is overboard, but it would be very hard not to do so when you're doing a restoration. In it's day, it was all "go"...no time for shiny...
thanks

 

oh, someone ought to tell him it needs some Autolite decals....

 

Falconred
Got any better pictures of this Galaxie?

 

Are you kidding me? This is a GREAT photo! Made me smile out loud. If thats possible.

 

This isnt my picture but I do have a bit of information about it. These pictures were taken in the Grand Spaulding Dodge showroom in Chicago around the late 80's or real early 90's. This was right at the tail end of Mr Norms still being open in this location. The dealer is now closed and boarded up, and both of the funny cars have been sold off. Both of them are in the preserved in the same condition you see them in the photo, all be it seperate. The Challanger is in a collection in Minnisota, and the Charger is an California also in the hands of a collector.

 

Jack Ditmars beautiful Lil Screamer makes a pass at the 66 Nationals.

 

Slayer is correct on the date. Used cars sold on the showroom side of Grand Ave. and Furniture/Appliances sold on the other side of the street where the new cars were once prepped and stored. That building across the street was once a factory before Mr Norm bought it and it had an elevator that would lift a B-Body to the second floor.

I didn't know the Charger went to California. I know Norm sold it to the Logghe Bros. back in the mid 90s as they built the car originally.

 

Enroute to Opelousas LA in June of 1967 Charlie Smith of Oklahoma City had a towing accident and rolled his El Camino. Kinda bashed up but with some duct tape, they made it to the races with his newly-blown AA/A. Trust it didn't rain on the long tow back to Ok City!

 

While the tow car was definitely worse for wear, Charlie's AA/A looked in good form. The conversion from an injected car to a blown one was so recent he hasn't changed the class designation yet. No idea on the purple car.

 

This Super Stock Plymouth at the 65 Nationals was named "The Performer". Any info on it?

 

Near side appears to be the Mori Bros. B/A VW convert. Both of these cars were real killers in the day.

 

Speaking of the factory building accross the street. Mr Norm told me one day he was in the lot next to the showroom when he heres squealing tires. A car pulls up on one end of the building and a guy gets out and runs inside. A few seconds later he hears squealing tires inside the building and the next thing he know a new car comes flying out a door on the other end and plows into a car driving down Grand Ave. Maybe this is where the term GRAND theft auto came from!

 

I know-you're probably sick of Don Grotheer's Cable Car by now. But Don and Joan were great folks and always talked and joked with 'the kids'. Plus they were at just about every meet I attended in Div IV so it's not surprising I got 'em a bunch. This is at Opelousas LA in June of 1967.