Roberta's 1960 El Camino would still have been a 283-170 horse with a Powerglide to run J/S in 1962. It fell 21.56 in the classguide on a 21.50 class break for J/S. Automatics and sticks from H/S (17.00 to 18.99) on down ran together. This info was put together by looking it up in my 1962 NHRA rulebook and my original red book NHRA classification guide.
Thank you Chuck. The feeling is mutual. It is the political "climate" that I refer to. Plus I can not speak Spanish nor do I care to.
I I lived in Md. for almost 64 years Near D.C.. Md had turned into a Commie state like Commiefornia. So now I have lived in Fla. for over ten years. No snow. I'm away from both coasts near Sebring. I paid $2.53 a gal. for regular yesterday and has been as low as $1.97 a gal. last fall. . If you have a clean record you can legally own a fully automatic weapon if you so desire. I have a son and a cousin living in Cal. and wish them luck.
Back to the cars Arlen Vanke and Bill Abraham teamed up to win Indy in 1964 and 1965 with this Plymouth station wagon.
Thanks for putting the record straight on Roberta's El Camino, Travis. Guess that proves that my memory isn't all that it should be when I try to extrapolate the early class structures. I am positive about the later '65 Impala convertible but in 1962 I was still buying a pit pass in order to get close to the cars. It's good to know that you're still following this thread.
LB, I'm not sure what happened in 1965 but a different '63 wagon won A/SA class in 1964. This is a picture of my good friend, Ron Mandella (R.I.P.), who flat-towed all the way from Temple City, California to win A/SA that year. He had made the trip in '63 as well but lost in the class final to a '62 Pontiac driven by, I believe, Bill Abrams. I still have the Hot Rod Magazines reporting on that event but I haven't had time to dig it out this morning. c
Can't tell you folks how much I appreciate both the incredible photos and stories. Lots of history with this class of very colourful cars and people. Big thumbs up.
All these folks on the HAMB that complain about the cost of living in California and how everyone is moving out, etc. This photo was taken in 1955 when I was 16 years old. California was crowded back then and it's still crowded today. I'm 80 years old and have lived here my entire life. There has NEVER been a single year in which California's population has NOT increased. California is the most populous state in the nation. With slightly more than 40 million people (as of 2018), its poulation is almost one and a half times that of second-place Texas (28 million). I have traveled in almost every state in the union (I missed North Dakota) and have found something beautiful in every one of them. Beautiful country and nice people. But.....I wouldn't trade living in California for any of them. Yeah, it's more expensive to live here but so what? California's economy of $2.7 trillion sits behind the U.S., China, Japan and Germany (5th largest economy in the world). California's large economy is attributed to its thriving tech sector and Hollywood, according to the Associated Press. It has 12% of the U.S. population, but has contributed 16% of total job growth between 2012 and 2017. Assuming that there is a God, he (or she) is probably living in Malibu...
The Crispy Critter was owned by Wayne Dokken and raced out his Clearwater, Florida gas station back in the 60's. Wayne passed away a few years ago. Jimbo
Back in the 60's and early 70's it seemed like all of the fast cars were running out of Bob Duffy's shop in Red Bank, N.J. Jimbo
I was able to drool over this 1961 Pontiac every weekend I went to Capitol Raceway back in the day. Mike Miatico(sp?) had brought this car back east when he purchased it. He was for a long time owner of Capitol Raceway in Crofton Md. off of Rt. 301so if you got there early you could watch him make a couple of passes in this beautiful blue SD. I'm not sure if he is still with the living today but hope so. At the age of 90 something he still owned it and was a member of the "Indian Tribe" so named as many who raced at Aquasco, Capitol, and 75&80 race tracks all ran SD Pontiacs in stock elim. . He also raced a 1961 Pontiac SD Catalina station wagon in D/SA after he raced the Ventura hard top. Many other racers were also members of the Indian Tribe such as Joe Perzan, Sam Samuels, Max Sterling, Johnny Walker, and Al Sylvester who owned a beautiful Red 1962 421 SD. They all ran Gebler Headers as his shop was close. I wanted to buy the 1960 SD Pontiac of Sam Samuels when it came up for sale but at the time I was to young to sign for it and my dad said no. The price was only $1000 and it broke my heart. This was around 1964-65. Oh well the Army drafted me in Feb. of 1966 and I was bound for the First Air Cav.
That's a great post, Terry! Anyone who has survived the nearly 500 pages of accumulated Stocker lore contained within this post will probably also be interested in following up by reading more about the achievements of Carol Cox and her talented husband, Lloyd, in the Wikipedia article under her name. c
It's a shame that those big cars aren't still being raced. But alas, NHRA has figured out a way to get a Camaro or a Firebird into every possible class. Progress? Eye of the beholder.
Here is the article from Wiki. If anyone has access to HOT ROD archives there was a longer similar article where that photo appeared. But alas it's been so long since I downloaded it I forget where I found the photo. "Women had been competing at local tracks for years -– often in a “Powder Puff" class", but never in a national event.[1] At the time, of course, single women were denied credit cards, and all women were banned from jury duty.[1] Cox followed her husband, Lloyd, an engineer who also raced Oldsmobile stockers (and got sponsorship from a car dealership in Whitier), into racing, encouraged by racer Peggy Hart after they met at the Santa Ana Drags.[1] After switching to Pontiac in 1958, Lloyd had so many problems with the factory Hydramatic automatic transmission, he had to take night classes. In time, his skill at tuning them reached the point he opened his own shop, which helped finance Carol's racing.[1] Her racing at Lions Dragstrip, which Mickey Thompson ran at the time, earned Lloyd a job working for him.[1] Early in 1961, Lloyd bought a Ventura for the new season. The car was powered by a 348 cu in (5,700 cc) big-block V8 with Tri-Power, outfitted with headers from Lloyd's friend, Doug Thorley (later famous for building headers), and mounted Lakewood prototype shock absorbers in front. They spend months tuning the handling of the car before driving to Indianapolis to enter the U.S. Nationals.[1] At the time, NHRA banned women from national events. Cox disagreed, as did a number of other women racers, notably Shirley Shahan, Roberta Leighton, Barbara Hamilton, and Paula Murphy (driver of the Miss STP Mustang FC.[2]). Llyod drove the Ventura, instead. Cox responded by contacting the Los Angeles Herald Examiner (where her mother and father had once worked) and the Los Angeles Times, and her congressman. In 1962, under additional pressure from Peggy Hart (wife of track owner "Pappy" Hart) and Thompson, as well as fellow racers Shahan and Leighton, Cox was the first woman allowed to race at an NHRA national event.[1] Cox drove the 1961 Ventura (which was not trailered) to Pomona for the Winternats.[1] Cox won the title in S/SA (Super Stock, automatic transmission), making her the first woman ever to take a win at an NHRA national event; the 9 March 1962 issue of National Dragster recorded her as a "crowd favorite", with a winning pass of 13.06 seconds at 107.65 mph (173.25 km/h), but says nothing about it being a first for a woman, dismissively calling her a "'powder puff' handler".[3] Some racers believe a class win is more difficult to achieve than a handicap (eliminator) win.[1] The win attracted a lot of local media attention.[1] Several months later, the family loaded the Ventura, and a Hayden Proffitt-built A/FX Pontiac Tempest (owned by Thompson), on their hauler and drove again to Indianapolis. Cox won S/SA again, at the Nationals, NHRA's most prestigious event.[1] Lloyd also won, in A/FX.[1] In subsequent competition, Cox was frequently accused of cheating.[1]
Found the Hot Rod article and it has much more info on Carol. Too long to post here. https://www.nhra.com/news/2018/carol-cox-nhra-s-first-class-winner
There are also photos I posted of Lloyd in this thread by it was some time ago he is in the winner circle in the photos.
Ick!! No, the 368 HP is the 389 Pontiac Super Duty engine for ‘61. I’ve read that he ordered the car New with the 348 Hp Tripower 389. The super duty engine was rated at 368. I have not found if they changed the rating from 348 to 368 or he changed to a super duty engine (or added the heads, cam, etc.). A lot of the written history about this car centers around their fight for Carol to drive (rightfully so). Regards, Randy Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
The Jalopy Journal
