Hot Rods Old Hot Rods photos

Here is a picture from Westhampton NY Drag Strip that appeared in the newspaper in the early sixties. Its our 36 Ford drag car. It originally had a pretty decent Flathead which was later upgraded to an SBC. I'm the skinny guy in the middle.

Gary

 

Here are a few more pictures of the Ayala Mercury as a custom and in racing form.

 

Here are a few track roadster photos from Tim Timmerman's collection. In Southern California track roadster racing really took of in 1946 and then disappeared in the early 1950s as the cars were converted to, or replaced, by sprint cars. But in the early years it was big with races almost every day of the week at various tracks in California. Around here, the guys who were involved were mostly guys who had been in the clubs and running at the Lakes. Their first efforts were made with the roadsters that that they had raced at the Lakes. Here is a photo of Manuel Ayulo (Outriders club) is shown here getting ready to compete. This is an early 1946 photo before the guys added nerf bars or other protection bars, roll bars or bumpers.

 

Manuel Ayulo was one of the first to move on the the small T roadsters. Both Manuel and Jack McGrath quickly build '27 T track roadsters to be more competitive. They had a shop together. Here is a photo of Manuel celebrating a successful night at the track. This is the same roadster that Marty Strode posted earlier. Timmerman photo

 

Wow !
Thanks for posting.

 

Tim is shown here working on Manuel Ayulo's '27 T track roadster. Note the layout with the engine and radiator moved back to improve the handling. The T track roadsters were not only lighter but they had a better weight distribution when compared to the typical street/Lakes roadster. Notice the proper way to tune the engine is to reach through the cowl vent hole
.

 

This '24 style T track roadster was unique because it had a Ford 6 engine. This was Connie Weidell (Gophers club) who was best remembered for his fast (125 mph at the Lakes), flathead Cadillac V-8 powered Chrysler roadster with the outside headers. This photo was taken soon after he started racing it on the circle track.

 

This second photo of Weidell's T track roadster shows it after he had improved the appearance and painted it. The track roadster guys formed the California Roadster Assn. (CRA) and were trying to put on a professional show so they could earn some real money. Although the Ford 6 did not put out a lot of power, Connie Weidell was able to use the Ford engine's torque to advantage and be competitive.

 

Phil Weiand had been injured before the was in a hot rod. But a wheelchair did not stop him from being a successful speed equipment manufacturer or a track roadster owner. Here is Bud Van Maanen (Outriders club) in the roadster he and Phil built to go to the Lakes, but it ended up on the circle tracks. The '27 T roadster featured Ford flathead engine with Weiand equipment (of course). This is in the pit area (infield) probably at the Gardena Bowl. Note that Bud had not set the engine as far back as Manuel Ayulo had as shown earlier.

 

Thanks for posting all those neat pix!-----I was in hi school 1946-1950 in Inglewood,Ca. On Monday morning each week we always wondered who went the fastest at the lakes over the weekend.
When building my roadster in 1962 it had all the lakes look, roll bar mounts in the rear trunk area, filled in cowl & door handles, '39 tailight holes & license plate centered between, & radio antenna holes on the driver side.
I never could trace the previous history, but sure it was in the midst of all the lakes happenings at that time.---Don

 

Here is another Tim Timmerman photo of Phil Weiand's '27 T track roadster. Note that the roadster is cleaned up and painted to be a good representative for the Weiand Equipment Co. Phil was a good friend and I always admired his accomplishments. Note that in the first year or more the roadsters did not have roll bars. That would soon come.

 

It was restored about 10 years ago and has been in several HAMB threads over the years. Bob

 

Was this car legal back in the day? Roadster cowl, flush mounted doors, and the rear quarters from a Coupe. Bob

 

Thank you to Rockerhead and everyone else who have posted photos on this thread, they have salvaged a bad day. These historic photos are certainly my favorite threads on the HAMB.

 

Thanks Don for these wonderful stories and photos. We still beleave that Bob "Buzz" Buswell's car was sold to
Mac Schutt, another Glendale Stoker. With the info you gave me, I was able to locate Bob's business in Bakersfield.
As things go he had passed away 4 days earlier. He was only 45 miles from me all that time. Sure would have been
nice to spend some time, and share stories with him. Rich...

 

THANKS,
I SPENT ALL AFTERNOON GOING OVER AND OVER EVERY BIT OF EVERY PICTURE, HOW I LOVE THIS STUFF !!!!!

 

In 1950, for the filming of "To Please A Lady", Manny removed the turtle deck from his roadster, and mounted a camera platform on the back. The "Indy action" scenes were shot off the back of that platform, with Manny wheeling the roadster. He would get killed at Indy 5 years later. Thanks again Don, for the historic pictures.

 

Here's one

 

and another

 

one more

 

G'day Bob, yes it was legal, even though it looks like a mix of roadster and coupe panels that is a stock '25 Chev roadster body.

 

Don,I have always considered Joan to be one of Phils best accomplishments..What a lady she was..

 

I'm still running the "Weiand accelerator" manifold that Phil gave to me in 1963.

 

Photo of the Weiand/Van Maanen T roadster at the lakes in '48.

 

Outstanding!

 

WOW! You guys are on a roll. Thanks to all of you for sharing this very important and interesting history. Fantastic thread.

 

A huge thank you to Don Montgomery for preserving this part of auto racing history and an even larger THANK YOU to 99.999% of the guys shown in the photos we admire so much: they were all WWII veterans getting back into civilian life. With Veteran's Day approaching on November 11 say thanks to the ones that are still with us and say a prayer for those who have passed on. Their ranks are dwindling rapidly and soon their photos will be the only link we have with them. THANKS again vets.

 

I agree with you in regard to the WW II vets. They were the guys who made hot rodding what it was. Unfortunately, so many of the guys who loaned me photos are gone now, but hopefully not forgotten.
Don

 

Here are a few photos from Bob Wright's album. He was in the Pasadena Roadster club. Bob and Don Berg built a sleek looking '27 T roadster that was featured on the cover of an issue of Hot Rod magazine. Bob was in the auto parts business (Butler and Wright) in Pasadena. I got to know him over 50 years ago when he was helping Gil Hayward run his Fuel Altered drag roadster. Gil had been in the GCRC with me and had lived previously in the next block from me in La Canada. This photo shows Bob at the wheel of the Wright and Berg roadster. The most distinctive feature of the roadster was the chrome headers. The exhaust came out the top because the engine was a prewar flathead Cadillac V-8. This photo was taken at El Mirage dry lake at a 1949 SCTA meet. I appreciated the opportunity to use some of Bob's photo
.

 

Here is another photo from Bob Wright's album. This is a side view of the Wright and Berg roadster taken at home. As a side note, Don Berg became the owner of his family's business - Berg Hardware in Pasadena. It was a real hardware store where you could buy most anything you needed in the way of hardware (unlike most of the stores today). Here is a good look at the way the headers were laid out with the body of the roadster. If anyone should ask- the door did not open. Later, the guys installed a Ford flathead in the roadster in an effort to find some more speed.