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

Rooman is correct. this is a photoshop image. no such real car ever existed.

 

Remnants of a early 50's MG TD like mine only altered a lot.

Pat

 

Thanks Roo
I thought I had either lost my mind or had been living under a rock during this period.
Could not recall JJ ever campaigning a Corvette flopper.

 

IIRC, that was an exercise from 15 years ago on the old Yahoo Groups Classic Funny Car page. One day someone said, "...what if Jungle ran other cars?"

 

Pat,
I thought the same thing at first glance but if you look closer it appears to be homebuilt to look like an MG. There is no radius on the edge of the body at any point, no sign of any door (or where it used to be) , the cowl is flat and the rear fenders also appear to have been made from flat sheet.

Roo

 

I saw all that you mentioned and didn't think of that aspect. You may be right!

Pat

 

Some of the heavy hitters posed for this group shot at the 1960 AHRA Nationals in Kansas City. From left to right, Art Malone & Al Williams, Bobby Langley, Bob Sullivan, Don Garlits and Chris Karamesines. These cars were, arguably, at the top of the class of fuelers east of the Rockies.




I'm partly guessing, but think this might be Bob Sullivan before his "Pandemonium" series of fuel dragsters and funny cars...corrections welcome!


Gene Adams put his gas Olds from his '50 Olds gasser into this competition coupe, which once ran a Cad...Leonard Harris drove. The Olds would later get a 6-71 and a Hilborn 4-stack, in a K-88 chassis, which went on to win the NHRA Nationals.


John Bradley at the '57 ATAA Nationals...flathead on lots of fuel...


Olin Davis, from Dallas, Texas....passed away not that long ago, (Chrysler powered)


Greek at Riverside, caption says '59.


Only information is that the track is Gulfport, MS


Sanford, ME


Jack Chrisman in the Lisa and Rossi car...this is the car that Jack was driving when the rear end spun and badly injured him.


Saskatoon -- no ID on car


also Saskatoon..


Before the late Al Caldwell started his "Northern Briefs," he published his own Northern California paper. Top is Chet Martin from Bakersfield, who often ran SoCal as well, it was pretty crude looking but it won. Bottom is Yejii Toyota in his B/D. Sadly Yejii died in a crash at Fremont.

 

Hi Dave

That ' Daddy's Auto Body' digger was kind of the ' Road Kings ' club car too as I recall , plus t I think that Kenny Safford the head sour sister drove it also

 

Not quite "in motion" but getting ready for motion. Dover dragstrip pits circa 1964.

Pat

 

Don, he might have, he was from Hollywood, close to the valley, and he drove a lot of car, including the early "Freight Train."

 

First, a couple from George Klass, with captions:


Harry Duncan's "Jitterbug," purple and yellow '34 with a 354" Chrysler, ran 130s in early '50s. Harry was a construction company owner ("Duncan-bilt Homes") and built lots of really nice cars. This one would later be sold to Fran Goodyear and run as the "Pacific Auto Body Special." Harry also ran with the Chrisman's, and it was his Chrysler that ran in the HRM "Suddenly" '57 Plymouth Bonneville/Daytona car.


Ernie's Camera Shop, at Bakersfield. I first saw it run there, no nose, no paint, but it was really impressive, did well in the gas ranks. This was one of Kent Fuller's earliest cars with the single torsion bar suspension. Later it would get a full nose and paint, once red and also black....


I have no idea whose Ardun dragster this is, or where the photo was taken...pass safety inspection today??


Chuck Jones/Paul Nicolini sidewinder at Bakersfield. It was very competitive on gas, but fuel caused it to plane...I don't remember if this meet was one where they ran fuel, but I do remember that it didn't get far in eliminations...probably the '60 or '61 Smoker's meet.





Not in motion, not even at the drag strip...but pretty historic...Willy Borsch on the left, Al Marcellus on the right, forgot who is in the middle. Al Marcellus ran a street roadster for several years before he partnered with Willy. The roadster in this picture was possibly the forerunner of the "Winged Express," as H.R. Harrell and Willy Borsch ran a '29 roadster, initially with a flathead, then with a gas Chrysler, then a blown Chrysler before switching to the T body.


Early PVTA dragster, full body, well engineered...I think that Chuck Griffith and Dawson Hadley were involved in this...


I know these images are grainy, but they are still a part of our history...San Fernando in '64. John Mitchell would later put this car into the ditch at the right side of the track, later ran the "Red Mountain Boys" fueler, and even later the "Montana Express" REF....

 

That German DKW. There was one in our neighbors yard around the corner from us for at least 20-30 years. I thought it was cool & different. Its the only one I ever saw, except for your photo, & I always wondered what kind of car it was.., just found out!

 

Cool!...They were apparently a part of Auto Union, which I guess became Audi...don't really know the history of German car mergers...but the one that Danny cut up was the only one I knew that got hot-rodded until I found this...

 

Well, I screwed that one up.

Paul Nicolini never did get the credit he deserved with the Sidewinder, in my opinion. A great guy and a great craftsman...

 

Larry Carlyon in his car in 1958. My brother has owned the car since 1974.

 

These were posted on Facebook. Nothing in motion sooooo cool. He bought a box of photos at an estate sale. Had these and many more.

 

Bill Hopper and Red Hensley, before Hopper partnered with Ted Cyr.


Bristol, Marvin Schwartz in the far lane, not sure who he is racing. Marvin was originally from Colorado, ran a Ford powered fueler, later moved to Florida, ran a car that was pretty much a twin to Garlits' car...later ran the "Anaconda" which has been restored.....



No ID, classic shot from Maple Grove

No
No, these guys didn't get the ink that the big guys did, but they were the backbone of drag racing...and if you got the local Dairy Queen to sponsor you, so much the better...I think that this is in Oregon, not sure of track.. IDs thanks to Marty Strode, Gary Reynolds, and DDDenny, copied from Marty's post below: The 40 Chev belonged to Al Blodgett, 409, B&M Hydro. Al bought it from a guy named Bob Gibson ( an upstart chassis builder), who went on to build some great Gassers, Altereds, and specialty cars. Here is a shot of the car after is was finished. BTW, Al Managed the DQ....The power of the HAMB, three guy ID car and track in an hour! Thanks!


chute shot of Mickey slowing...really not sure where this is but Mickey did try record runs at March AFB near Riverside...anyone else??


This may be the same car above but with a different unblown engine, given where the hole is on the cover, maybe a Pontiac 4?


Caption says "Austin," presumably Austin TX...ID appreciated...


Not entirely sure on this, might be Dick Belfatti at Island Dragway, NJ. Dick was from Willow Grove, PA, and built some really fast fuelers.



Russ Palmer's fuel coupe at Santa Ana. Russ ran a Dodge, ran over 130, pretty good in the early '50's. Sponsored by Blair's in Pasadena.

 

Ardun.....
The Newberg Dairy Queen Chevy was from Oregon and I'm guessing the strip is McMinnville.
HAMB pal Marty Strode would be the one to fill in the blanks as he grew up in
McMinnville.
BTW, the Newberg DQ had a bad fire a couple months back, not sure, may have been a complete loss, I live about 15 miles from it.

 

The track is McMinneville airport.
Marty has the info on this, it was originally posted in my Great Oregon Racers thread.

 

Thanks, Denny and Gary, I've got to get back to the great Oregon racers thread! (too bad about the Newberg DQ, good that it lasted that long...we had one in Montgomery AL but after a murder in the drive in lane it understandably closed...now abandoned after a Chinese restaurant gave it a go......)

 

The 40 Chev belonged to Al Blodgett, 409, B&M Hydro. Al bought it from a guy named Bob Gibson ( an upstart chassis builder), who went on to build some great Gassers, Altereds, and specialty cars. Here is a shot of the car after is was finished. BTW, Al Managed the DQ.

 

The old McMinnville Track, that used to host NHRA Regional and Divisional races, is hosting a 1/2 mile acceleration event this Sat, in conjunction with the "Drag The Gut" street cruise.