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

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by Royalshifter, Dec 12, 2007.

  1. 65pacecar
    Joined: Sep 22, 2010
    Posts: 17,299

    65pacecar
    Member
    from KY, AZ

  2. 427 sleeper and Speed Gems like this.
  3. 65pacecar
    Joined: Sep 22, 2010
    Posts: 17,299

    65pacecar
    Member
    from KY, AZ

  4. 65pacecar and 427 sleeper like this.
  5. Marty Strode
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 8,922

    Marty Strode
    Member

  6. Stan Back
    Joined: Mar 9, 2007
    Posts: 2,223

    Stan Back
    Member
    from California

    Front blower?
     
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  7. Marty Strode
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 8,922

    Marty Strode
    Member

    As I remember, he built his own twin throttle body injectors and ran Nitro, also 3 speed Lenco. Pat would have all of the info, about his car.
     
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  8. bchctybob
    Joined: Sep 18, 2011
    Posts: 5,246

    bchctybob
    Member

    As I remember it's a pretty solid, well-built car but 190 is starting to get into the twilight zone for an old car like that. Huevos grandes.
     
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  9. Marty Strode
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 8,922

    Marty Strode
    Member

    Now that Pat has the GMC back in it, speeds will be more appropriate.
     
    65pacecar, bchctybob, Fordors and 2 others like this.
  10. 296ardun
    Joined: Feb 11, 2009
    Posts: 4,682

    296ardun
    Member

    The car had a history before Tom Taros and Ike Iacano. Raul "Sonny" Balcaen first built it in the early '50s from a set of old Miller race car rails. He ran a GMC in it, but also ran Frank Startup's Fargo head Ford 4 balcaen 4.jpg
    Sonny with the GMC engine

    Balcaen famoso.jpg
    At Famoso -- Steve Justice

    balcaen startup 53 or 54.jpg
    With Frank Startup's Fargo 4, Santa Ana, around 1953.
     
  11. 65pacecar
    Joined: Sep 22, 2010
    Posts: 17,299

    65pacecar
    Member
    from KY, AZ

    Thanks for the history. Amazing car
     
    jimmy six and 296ardun like this.
  12. 65pacecar
    Joined: Sep 22, 2010
    Posts: 17,299

    65pacecar
    Member
    from KY, AZ

  13. 1967 at New England and I’m waiting in the staging lanes getting ready to make a pass in Bob Weedon’s injected nitro Chevrolet. 377A61B3-CA4A-4DA0-83ED-96D57E22959D.jpeg
     
  14. New England Dragway 1967 Smullen & O’Brien Lloyd bodied comp coupe near lane with Smiley Smullen driving and Don Roberts at the wheel of John Watson’s Fiat far lane. 53416F96-00EA-4F1E-8DC8-FC12691F3A56.jpeg
     
  15. 65pacecar
    Joined: Sep 22, 2010
    Posts: 17,299

    65pacecar
    Member
    from KY, AZ

  16. Speed Gems
    Joined: Jul 17, 2012
    Posts: 6,433

    Speed Gems
    Member

  17. I haven't heard the name Smiley Smullens for years.
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2022
    65pacecar likes this.
  18. patsurf
    Joined: Jan 18, 2018
    Posts: 1,040

    patsurf

    you can say that again!,,,,
     
  19. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,401

    jnaki

    1959 Lion’s Dragstrip The Sidewinder VS Mickey Brown in a match race of the year…
    upload_2022-7-10_4-53-22.png Race #1 AT 1:21

    upload_2022-7-10_4-54-17.png Race #2 AT 1:44
    match race 1959

    upload_2022-7-10_4-55-32.png
    "Double Trouble..."

    upload_2022-7-10_4-58-2.png At the drags: Mickey Brown, Quincy Automotive FED 1958

    Hello,

    Sometimes, tragedy strikes unexpectedly. Whether it was in the “big plan from above,” or a pure accident in the time period. We were all envious that the success of the Quincy Automotive sponsored FED blown Olds powered race car was driven by such a young kid…(actually 22). The 1958 version was a Potvin style blower. In 1959, the FED showed up with a 671 on top and blasted almost everyone on a weekly basis.

    In the pits, Mickey Brown seemed like a high school kid that was asked to drive this fast FED. But, like most of those early drag racers of the time, Ivo, Prudhomme, McEwen, etc. youth and skill played a big part in racing victories. In physical sports tests, the mean age for peak performance is 26 with some swimmers hitting their peak at 21. We have all seen a decline in our own abilities as we got older, despite the bravado that we could still do anything…

    Jnaki

    upload_2022-7-10_4-59-24.png
    Thanks, Mickey, for the fast action and great driving… We were impressed in 1959. Those were great memories of the racing at Lions.

    For us, going back to the time when we were teens to early 20s? Wowee…what a time for reflection and life…


    Mickey Brown at Lions Dragstrip 1959
    upload_2022-7-10_5-0-28.png
    upload_2022-7-10_5-1-2.png Drag News December 1959
    upload_2022-7-10_5-1-39.png
    $2000 in 1959 had the same buying power as $17060.48 in 2018 accounting for inflation over the years.

    Mickey Brown: July 26, 1937 to September 12, 1959

    Mickey Brown Memorial Drag Race in January of 1960.

    https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...picture-thread.228509/page-2040#post-14347823

    “Ronnie Scrima and Mort Smith were testing a new short wheelbase (93") dragster at Lions. They had dropped Gene Adams's Oldsmobile engine in the car, but were having a hard time getting it down the track. Mickey Brown had left his own Olds-powered dragster at home and he offered to see if he could drive the car. About 100 feet from the starting line, he lost control and flipped upside down, suffering fatal injuries because his head got outside the confines of the roll bar. He was transported to Seaside Hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His wife witnessed the crash. Racers remembered him as a kind of wild, but fun-loving kid. He was the first man to go over 150 MPH in a gas dragster.”
    upload_2022-7-10_5-5-2.png This is the Scrima, Adams, & Smith car that Mickey Brown drove.

    upload_2022-7-10_5-5-54.png
    The fine artwork for a Memorial Wall at the Lion’s Dragstrip Museum was done by Cindy Gibbs. Thank you…




     

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  20. 65pacecar
    Joined: Sep 22, 2010
    Posts: 17,299

    65pacecar
    Member
    from KY, AZ

  21. Last edited: Jul 12, 2022
    427 sleeper, 65pacecar and Speed Gems like this.
  22. ttwomotor
    Joined: Jul 26, 2012
    Posts: 732

    ttwomotor
    Member
    from Illinois

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