This isn't my typical road race post. Typically I sit down with a bit of guilt, try my best to put it aside, and then figure the most eloquent way to force feed a bunch of brute-force hotrodders the merits and grace of road racing. Not this time... A... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
Great video! The sliding and spin outs, wow. Thanks for posting this on a Monday morning, today might just suck a little less. Sean
Many guys don't know all that went on in that Fairgrounds parking lot... Lots of road racing, police pursuit technique training, Frank Hawley Drag Racing School, great old footage of drag racing in "Bikini Blanket Bingo" and the race of the roadsters in "The Lively Set...and, of course the Nations oldest still alive drag strip...Pomona. Below is the road race course as featured in Ryan's video. The drag strip is on the left and was the long straightaway used in the road races. The arrow points to the bridge in the next photo... this is that bridge...still there today Many of us pass underneath it when we go to the L.A. Roadsters Show over Father's Day weekend...this was taken last June here's an old aerial photo that shows the road course...drag strip on the left and I put a yellow dot where that bridge is just for a reference point great video...thanks!
thats great. My father and I have had conversations specifically about the way the "dress code" has changed. Looking back at pictures of my grandfather at his dealership, or at the race track, he always had a button down shirt and pressed pants....... I think there is a (s)lacking of PRIDE also.....which would 'splain the rat rod trend, rather than take the time to finish it proper, just create a new genre with more liberal definitions of what's acceptable, and everyone can fit in. I think folks back then had more pride; in the country, city, school, car...whatever. With the slackening of the social norms, there's a de-generation of pride, and the general attitued of "whatever".
The Dougster comes through again with great vintage photos. Kind of strange to see Pomona in a different race setup from the drag photos I've been looking at for 50 years.
Joe Scalzo's book on LA racing has some pretty interesting stories about these races and times. Got my copy from the Coastal 181 website. (neat stuff on there as well)
Great shots! Loved seeing the PV-series Volvo dicing it with a couple of Simca sedans, along with the Panhard racer and other classics. Has anyone ever seen the original (1950s), The Fast & The Furious? It's got a lot of great sports car racing as a backdrop to a weak storyline. I picked it up on DVD in the Bargain Bin at one of the local consumer electronics stores over here awhile back. What a hoot!
Thanks Ryan, Love the variety of cars. Not a lot of roll bars there. And if you closely that looks like Doug trying to grab that hay bail. Great stuff. Slim
Panhards, and Cisitalias racing. That's something you don't see everyday. Thanks for posting that. It turned the clock back a little. ...and that is a good thing.
Skinny tires, body lean, cars that move around in corners and you can see the driver. So much more fun to watch than today.
If you've got some time, you can view the entrants to the October, 1956 Pomona races here: http://www.racingsportscars.com/races/search.html?track=Pomona&year=1956 Matching up the car numbers with the drivers is pretty cool. Some of the entrants that weekend included Jim Hall, Mickey Thompson, Ken Miles, Richie Ginther, Lance Reventlow, Masten Gregory, Tim Considine and Elliott Forbes-Robinson.
Cool, my best friend growing up was Tim Considines nephew and "Uncle Tim" used to take us for joyrides in one of his Mini's, man that was a kick! My dad & his friends roadraced in the 50's through the early 60's, he said someone was damn near killed everyweekend and they were crazy for racing with no rollbars.
Great post Ryan, love American Sports Car racing! How can yougo wrong with a PV Volvo and a Ragtop bug! Speaking of how people dressed here is a shot of my dad looking kinda dapper on the day he and his buddy Chuck Parsons took delivery of the Birdcage they bought from Jim Hall. They both worked at a used car lot together and were total gear heads spending most of their time messing with cars. I have shots of them working on cars and tearing stuff apart and they are in slacks, or kakhis and polo shirts or dress shirts! Also here is a shot of the ol' man getting ready to race his MG TC back in Dublin's Phoenix Park before he immigrated. i asked him he really raced in a jacket and tie, he said, yeah thats what we wore pretty much all the time to do anything.
^^^ Great shots of the ol' man, Unk. Not too many race cars prettier than a Birdcage Maser. Nice Healey, too. Ryan's video featured three Healey 100S in one race. Pretty good, since the factory only turned out 50 of them.
The Healey he is sitting in belonged to his buddy Earle Don Grafton, my dad helped wrench on Don's cars and occasionaly racd one too. Dad LOVED the Healeys, both the four & the six, they would tune them prior to a race weekend and literally street race them to test them out. They built their own "Le Mans" kit using De Soto pistons and various other bits and pieces, I guess the car would show its heels to cars running the factory Le Mans kit! Here is another pic of him in one of the Healeys, bet he would have loved one hot rodded with a Ford SB in it! PS Rick just checked out your engine swap blog, damn cool (like New England Winter cool !)! I love sports cars as well as rods and have to say I'm a fan of interesting engine swaps. Saw a gods honest 20's Bugatti racer with a hot Ford four banger in it at Laguna Seca, man did I do a double take and the people were really pleased to find someone else who actually knew what the mill was.
Most of been a pretty quick Healey, indeed. He's starting in front of two of the factory 100S cars in that pic.
The famous fitness expert Jack LaLanne recently commented on America's social decline, saying "Americans have really lost their self-discipline." We eat like pigs and dress (and behave) like children. As for the video, I like the Simca sedans out there mixing it up. My dad was in the Nevada Air Guard in the mid-50s and they held road races out at Stead Field (where the air races are held today). Jag XKs, MGs, Allards, Healeys. My dad had an MG TD that he and my mother drove back and forth from Reno to Sacramento every weekend on old Highway 40. (My mom's parents lived in Sac, hence the weekend trips home.) My dad traded-in the TD for a new '56 VW Bug for the growing family. It wasn't until 1966 that he was able to get another MG, a new Midget. Then he heard that Healeys were being discontinued so he rushed down and got the last new '67 3000 Mk. III at the local British dealership (SF Bay Area). Healey Blue, blue leather, teak dash and steering wheel, radio delete, overdrive. I learned to drive in the Healey and it was a great heel-and-toe trainer. Dad's '66 Midget: '67 BJ8 Healey: Me and dad getting in to drive home from Sacramento to the East Bay, 1969. My grandfather took this picture:
Sadly I don't remember, my dad passed away two years ago and Chuck Parsons passed away many years ago so I can't ask them . I know it was not super expensive, but not cheap either. My dad really helped Chuck Parsons buy it and he and Chuck wrenched on it, it was the car that helped launch Chuck into a higher level of racing. I think Jim Hall sold it to help bankroll the Chaparral cars. The car was competitive for about a year and a half my dad said then it was outclassed by newer cars. Chuck went on to race in Can-Am. I guess one could actually ask Jim Hall about it? They went through cars back then like nothing, my dad once had three Vette's at once, a 56,57 & 58! Had & raced a slew of 356 Porches, they even had a Lotus 11 they put a Ferrari four cylinder in, it was called the Ferotus and was scary fast (waaay to fast for its brakes according to dad).
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