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History Fremont Drag Strip ... PICS from 1964!!!

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by HEMI32, May 15, 2010.

  1. sololobo
    Joined: Aug 23, 2006
    Posts: 8,378

    sololobo
    Member

    Sensational pix and documentary film. I never got to Fremont but it looked like a way cool spot in the day. What a thrill to se all these historical diggers. Yeah, love the white pants on the crews, a very classic look from the day, when Omaha legend drag racer Gene Kidder came to my hometown track, I would be knocked out with the white pants and chain stitched logo crew shirts. Thanx for this historic glimpse of an important era. ~sololobo~
     
  2. NHRANUT
    Joined: Feb 24, 2009
    Posts: 1,100

    NHRANUT
    Member
    from Western PA


    [​IMG]
     
  3. fremont rugrat
    Joined: Dec 23, 2010
    Posts: 134

    fremont rugrat
    Member

    Just a bump to the top. Can't let this one go. Still looking for friends of Al Jewell. Thanks.
     
    Last edited: Jan 22, 2012
  4. gnight
    Joined: Dec 29, 2010
    Posts: 4

    gnight
    Member
    from colorado

    Goodnight-Keith-Williamson 1st week debut at Fremont, Ca. Ron Love (RL)
    and another familiar face checkin it out. Fuller chassis Jack Hagemann body 1965. Soon to be Courtesy Chevrolet BIG Block Chevrolet after U.S Drag Racing Festival in England.
    Head Wrench and "Shoe" Bob Keith. My Job.....Helping pack the parachute, getting in the way and Chief Hamburger, Soda chaser. I was good at all of the above!
     

    Attached Files:

  5. sophisto79
    Joined: Apr 21, 2010
    Posts: 189

    sophisto79
    Member

    Can't believe I missed this thread. Made my evening. Back up top please!
     
  6. 56Firedome
    Joined: Jun 23, 2010
    Posts: 74

    56Firedome
    Member

    I remember watching the drags here as a kid. remember seeing Sprint cars too. Same place? Seems my fuzzy memory wants to say it was called Baylands or something.

    Those pictures are amazing!!
     
  7. Jalopy Joker
    Joined: Sep 3, 2006
    Posts: 31,179

    Jalopy Joker
    Member

    Very Cool - the land where the actual strip is still there, just dirt now. plans to develop on it never happened. what a waste.
     
  8. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    Right you are. 'Baylands Race Park' was its proposed new name, they dredged a man-made lake in the '60s, ran weekly boat drags.
    And later, (1969) a trans-terra course for off-road racing. (we ran some fast VWs and a Cortina under the J.B. Beetle banner from Santa Cruz at the time...)
    The Snarr family was track champ then, those boys ran fast and consistent!

    Anyone remember the 'ripples' at the end of the original Fremont strip shutoff area? Shivers!
    Like to shook the axle out of our channeled 'A' Coupe...(1957)
     
    Just Gary likes this.
  9. Atwater Mike
    Joined: May 31, 2002
    Posts: 11,625

    Atwater Mike
    Member

    Yep. A contingent of local racers (and Wally Parks himself) met with the Fremont city fathers after it closed...cited the 'Grandfather clause' of a historic site, as it was opened in 1957.

    Their cries fell on deaf ears.
     
  10. ahh cool thanks I lived a block away from the booby hatch In Newark as a kid circled the building a few times. ;-)
     
  11. fremont rugrat
    Joined: Dec 23, 2010
    Posts: 134

    fremont rugrat
    Member

    Just a bump to the top.
     
  12. Last edited: Oct 30, 2014
  13. M.Edell
    Joined: Jun 5, 2009
    Posts: 4,179

    M.Edell
    Member

  14. ... and Thank You for adding the watermark to all of my father's images before posting them on facebook ... much appreciated!
     
  15. M.Edell
    Joined: Jun 5, 2009
    Posts: 4,179

    M.Edell
    Member

    I cant take all the credit for that."Skid" Mark Johnson is the one who has really been an asset to my page.I made him the Page manager and he has taken it to a whole other level.He really devotes a lot of time and effort to that page and it shows.The numbers have gone through the roof and Im very proud of the page and what Mark has contributed.Mark seems to know and be able to ID most of the race cars and their owners and background which blows me away.We are trying to put on a Fremont Reunion Car Show, it would be excellent if we could do it this year since its the 25th anniversary of its closing in November.That page would be nothing of course if it weren't for the fans who contribute pictures and information as well.Its about time Fremont Drag Strip gets the recognition it deserves.It managed to stay open for 30 years, almost twice as long as Lions.
     
    HEMI32 likes this.
  16. Thanks for bringing back this thread.
     
  17. town sedan
    Joined: Aug 18, 2011
    Posts: 1,290

    town sedan
    Member

    To cool. Must have missed this the first time around. Thank you HEMI32 for your post and to Brinna B for bringing it back around! Dave.
     
    Brianna B likes this.
  18. damit.....thanks....and happy birthday....
     
  19. it's my birthday tomorrow....and another link to the 195hr that ran Fremont....
     
  20. B -195.jpg where can we buy the tapes ?
     
    Brianna B likes this.
  21. Just a bump of an old thread ... 'cuz I spent a couple hours fixing all my posts with images hosted on Photobucket ... and replaced them with higher rez versions of the images.
     
  22. Thanks Hemi 32....my avatar is the builder of the original late 50's 195 A/H fuel roadster which held the 1320 record for a time and the later nostalgic - late 80's 195 A/H fuel roadster - with me..........he was my Uncle Lawrence Brocchini.....out of Sacramento.......
     
    HEMI32 likes this.
  23. Sheep Dip
    Joined: Dec 29, 2010
    Posts: 1,572

    Sheep Dip
    Member
    from Central Ca

    Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe that is the old GM plant in the back ground shadowing the drag strip which later became NUMMI and is now the Tesla plant. Wasn't much out there then.
     
    loudbang and HEMI32 like this.
  24. You are correct! ...

    1962-1982: General Motors Fremont Assembly Plant

    Fremont GM Assembly Plant.JPG
    General Motors Co. opened the 5 million square foot assembly plant in 1962. Over the next 20
    years, Fremont Assembly turned out midsize GMC trucks alongside some of today’s most highly
    prized muscle cars: the Pontiac GTO, Oldsmobile 4-4-2, Chevrolet Chevelle and Buick Skylark.



    1984-2009: New United Motors Manufacturing Inc.


    Fremont NUMMI.jpg
    In the early 1980s, both General Motors and Toyota faced obstacles. GM had to build small cars, but
    they were lousy and lost money, and Toyota was facing import restrictions from the U.S. Congress so
    it had to start building cars in United States. It wanted a U.S. partner who would teach it how to deal
    with American workers (i.e., UAW union members). Toyota settled on the rough bunch in Fremont.
    The partnership, which lasted a quarter of a century, ended with GM’s bankruptcy in 2009.



    October 27, 2010-Present: Tesla Motors


    Tesla Fremont Factory.jpg
     
    bchctybob, chryslerfan55 and loudbang like this.
  25. Last edited: Jul 3, 2020
  26. Marty Strode
    Joined: Apr 28, 2011
    Posts: 8,798

    Marty Strode
    Member

    Great thread, Fremont was a special place, got me back into racing in 86, after an 11 year hiatus.
     
    Just Gary and HEMI32 like this.
  27. M.Edell
    Joined: Jun 5, 2009
    Posts: 4,179

    M.Edell
    Member

    Wow forgot about this one.
     
    HEMI32 likes this.
  28. 302GMC
    Joined: Dec 15, 2005
    Posts: 7,856

    302GMC
    Member
    from Idaho

    Mid 1967 - I was there when one of those twin engine Olds was running. Can't remember if it was Smyser's "Terrifying Toronado" or the other one, but mid track, it either caught fire or filled full of tire smoke … the driver bailed out, threw his helmet as far as he could, & walked off …..
    1985 Inliner's & Flathead nostalgia meet. Saw Jerry Moreland's '40 Tudor run 140 first time he'd ever driven the car since completion.
     
    HEMI32 likes this.
  29. BrerHair
    Joined: Jan 30, 2007
    Posts: 5,006

    BrerHair
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    Thanks for the bump, managed to miss this the first eight or nine times. Simply outstanding!
     
    HEMI32 likes this.
  30. jnaki
    Joined: Jan 1, 2015
    Posts: 9,291

    jnaki









    upload_2020-7-5_5-9-28.png
    Jerry Card’s swoopy, streamlined Competition Coupe

    https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/friday-art-show-5-1-20.1192441/#post-13562367 Jerry Card’s Competition Coupe
    upload_2020-7-5_5-9-52.png
    The later version of Jerry Card's Competition Coupe was based on his fast short wheelbase car from March 1960.

    JERRY CARD AT BAKERSFIELD 1960

    upload_2020-7-5_5-11-15.png
    After the 1960 Bakersfield race, despite the “rolling start,” he was a little “BLUE…”

    Hey H,


    To keep the theme of Red, White and Blue going on this 4th of July weekend, I thought of my red 1965 El Camino and its history in Northern California. Thanks for the nice thread on the Fremont Dragstrip story from 1964. Don’t forget the GM Factory plant in Fremont also made the 1964/65 El Caminos. When I had my 1965 El Camino on the dealer’s ordering desk in Long Beach during the fall of 1964, I asked where it was being made. He said up in Fremont.

    So, when the El Camino rolled into the dealer’s lot ready for me to drive home, I told it (the El Camino) that we would be going back up to his birth place very soon.

    upload_2020-7-5_5-12-22.png SF Bay Area photo shoot

    Three months later in 1965, I drove approximately 420 miles to San Jose to go to college. Within the first month of January 1965, I was sitting in the stands at Fremont, just up the freeway from my apartment. On the way home, I stopped at the GM Factory to introduce my new El Camino to his birthplace. What stupid 20 somethings will do to keep the car satisfied and nice. Ha!


    Jnaki

    We did that drag race scene one more time, to try and keep the spirit of drag racing alive after our accident. But, that was strange, sitting in the bleachers and not being in the pits working or getting a race car ready. So, I was satisfied with the drags visits. The visit to the GM Factory sealed the car ties and closed the door to that whole chapter in our lives. Within a year, I was enrolled in Long Beach State College in So Cal until graduation.

    The early prep talk and visit to the GM Factory must have worked as my wife and I drove over 100k miles together in the El Camino, all over So Cal, the mountains, deserts, Northern California bay/ocean coastlines and into Baja coastal areas several times. The only repair we had to do was a month before we decided to sell it in 1972, with over 125k miles on it. The water pump needed replacing at 125k. We sold El Camino to a gracious surfer guy from Dana Point, who immediately mentioned that the interior was brand new.

    The Sure Fit Plastic Seat Covers were necessary for our desert motorcycle racing years. The clear seat covers paid off as it did look brand new when I took them off for the sale. He was a happy camper (surfer) and within a year, I saw the El Camino tooling down Coast Highway painted a different color, blue.
     
    HEMI32 likes this.

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