Has anyone REALLY street raced? (pics)

racing for "PINKS"

 

Yes



Ray

 

I may have posted it before but, too bad! I've had this cool-ass poster of Big Willie hanging on my wall for like 40 yrs. Never get tired of looking at it.

 

Big Willie was a bad dude! RIP Big Willie.

 

May have posted before. Lots of good stories here. Did plenty in the Fresno/Merced area in late 59 thru 62. Won some lost some-got caught finally and spent a few days in the can. CHP had been after all of us for a while. Lost my license for a while too. Had a provisional to drive to College and drive farm trucks to the grain dryer. It was issued by Judge Brown in Madera-don't think they do that any more. I grew up out in the country and in 59 had a very fast 57 Pontiac (the one I was running when CHP caught me). There was a little Beer Joint near our house where everyone went after work. We were under age but could score some beer out the back door. The Bar Tender would bet on anything. Many times I raced locals out there and he would put up the money.
One time we had a kinda weird race of sorts. These farmers guys had bought two new 59 Ford pickups with 4 spds and V8's and were saying how powerful they were. Across the street was a cotton gin with a big dirt lot. The deal was pulling contest so we hooked my Pontiac and the new pickup back to back and Charlie the bar tender said go!!! That ol Pontiac drug that pickup all over the gin yard for a bit--he had no chance with the stick and no weight in the back. The Pontiac had rear end weight and a hydro--away I went. My folks heard about it and were not happy.

 

Couple of mine. A 4 door sleeper some of you from Va Beach Blvd in 73 might remember, and my old Smokey 427/Halibrand rear wagon. I used to like sleepers

 

And yes, that Sattelite had a Hemi and 456 rear, for those who were wondering back then. It doesn't really show in the pic of the Sattelite but it was kind of a metallic blue/ grey primer camoflage paint job. All the money and work was under the hood. Pretty quick for a navy kid going thru radar school at Damneck...

Car always smelled from the burnt carpet in the back seat above where the glass packs dumped out. Tuned it way too rich once and had flames out the gutted glass packs under the car. Didn't notice it till it was pointed out to me by a cop who pulled me over on the freeway. as, soon as I stopped I could smell it. The carpet melted to the floor. No pad under the carpet. Shaved weight everywhere we could. LOL

No roll bars on street cars back then. Bars were extra weight and we all thought we were gonna live forever.

 

Street racing in SF in the early 70s, here's some shots of our friend's cars back then;
taken by our friend Brian. Yep, lots of straight axle cars...
Mick Coyne

 

Any SF guys remember racing this pickup of mine?
Here's a shot of it back then, and now.
Been driving it for 50 years, still a 4-speed.
now live in Walnut Creek, Ca.
Mick

 

Back when I did a little unsanctioned street racing they were usually a spur of the moment and there were n cameras around, I raced my 63 1/2 Falcon Sprint & my 67 GTO, I actually won more driving the Falcon.

I am also guilty of racing a Rambler with my mom's 66 Corvair, that was pathetic. HRP

 

Mick, thanks for posting your pics. I don't care how anyone else feels,
I love the look of the so-called street freaks. CAR CRAFT or HOT ROD
did a story on them in an annual way, way, way back and I was hooked.

 

Great pics Mick. Brings back memories I have when I street raced my 69 nova, 671 blown 327. I street raced any night of the week, at the drop of a hat. Most friday nights were good, saturday nights were even better. Like HRP said, to bad their was hardly ever any cameras around back then..

 

Yeah , and if was still street racing during that era, I would have had a big smile if I saw something like that in the other lane

 

I'll never forget the day I was driving my grandmother's Saratoga 300 2 dr (383 2 bl; 305 Hp/410 ft-lbs) with my cousin, back in the early nineties when a Civic "ricer"pulled up beside us. I was driving, and he told my cousin he wanted to race our "boat". We said sure. The light turns green, and beast leaps out in front of the Civic, squawking the tires in second with a 2.76 rear ratio!. At the next light he asks us what we had under the hood - my cousin replies "a V8". I almost pissed myself.
I also remember beating a guy in his "supped up" IROC Z. That was much closer, but he gave me a big thumbs up. Damn I miss driving that thing.

 

Very few cameras back in the days somebody here said.
True but once we were cruising down El Camino around Burlingame, Ca. in the early 1970s and all three of our cars had tunnel ram at the time. A black 58 Corvette, a 65 Mustang and myself in my 30 pickup.
What a photo op so we all pulled into a gas station and took some pictures of the three cars in a row.
I've got it here somewhere; I'll look,
Mick

 

Hey Mike, how did that cage come out???
That blown 327 must have kicked some butt,
Mick

 

Sure, did'int everyone? My 2 big races were against Jerry Harold's built HD sportster and my Model A roadster. We raced 3 times, once from a dead stop, once from a 5 mph roll and once from a 20 mph roll. We did this on I-95 in Stamford. From the top of the entrance to the second overpass was a 1/4 mile. My roadster won all 3 times.
My second was with a friend Vic Bova. We both had identical 64 Supersports. Same location. Vic had been telling everyone his was faster. Mine was Black and his was Dark Blue. From the top of the overpass the crowd
(Yes Crowd) could not tell who was who. Anyway I out drove Vic who smoked his tires a bit too much and I won. By the time I got back to Jo Ann's Drive-In Everyone one knew and I got lots of high fives. Ah, the good old days!


View attachment 4536076 Jerry Harold also had an A coupe with a Buick in it. Never got to race that.
Jerry second from the....!....right back row.
Joe second from left first row..........! Rare shot without his trade/mark sunglasses.
My roadster was fast but my cousin Midnight Joe's 49 Chevy I think was faster.
Joe's 49.
RIP

I should also mention that I-95 was not that old back then and after 6pm no one was on it, but us crazy teenagers!

 

If we could only see more of them.

 

does road rage count as racing .. Ive seen that a lot lately on the freeway

 

Glad you like 'em quick85, fun sharing old pictures,
Mick

 

Anybody here from the SF Bay Area?
Friday nights at The Great Highway, Brotherhood Way, NBC Mountain with a 1/4 miler marked off.
Crusin' El Camino from SF to Redwood City, street racing.
NBC Mountian, even saw a front engine dragster come off the trailer, make a pass then leave, yeow!
Mick

 

Forgot to mention the 1968 movie Bullitt was filmed at NBC Mountain as well.
I was in the military and saw it at the show, instant homesick,
Mick

 

I think some of that was done on east Harry in Wichita at the Butler Co line in the late 60s.

 

Found a picture of the 58 Vette with tunnel ram I mentioned and another one of my 30 pickup with tunnel ram way back when. Haven't come across the three cars in a row yet,
Mick

 

No pictures of the cars but this was our "strip" back in the mid to late 80s.
Lynn marsh rd. AKA route 107 in Saugus, Ma.
Many late nights spent in the turn-around talking smack and lining up races. Cops gave us parking tickets and threatened us with a tow, fines, etc. I was lucky enough to never get in trouble here, man that was some good times!

 

I made more money off of street racing than my day job, at least in the summer months. But that was when I was young, and a little more careless. We did block off the street, sometimes with the assistance of the local PD. One night they shot radar for us so we had an actual mph. Once my daughter was born, I took it off the streets and onto the track. FYI, street racing is still alive, and faster than ever in KC. Catch some youtube videos.

 

Stoplight racing in Portland, Or back in the 70s. 389/Muncie 4 speed/3.63 gears. Was too big to be really fast but I beat a bunch of 55-57 chevies with it.

 

Rocky, don't know if you know who Steve Castelli is [Willys coupe from the 1979 movie Hot Rod]
but his cousin Jerry Kenny [now deceased] had a 50 something Pontiac running a 502 BBC.
He hung out with us for years,
Mick

 

Our friend Mike [a fellow Viet Nam Vet] also has a 50 something Pontiac
with a 455 4-speed,
Mick