Hot Rods Racing on public streets

I grew up on Staten Island, the often forgotten about fifth borough of New York City. As a teenager in the early 80’s, there was plenty of street racing to get caught up in. Back then, you could buy a big block Chevelle, or any other brand of muscle car for about $1500.00. A few engine and suspension tweaks, and you were ready to race.
The best spot was a service road that linked up to the West Shore Expressway. Back then, the south side of the island wasn’t built up yet. There were still actual working farms out there. Don’t get me wrong, it certainly wasn’t rural, but it wasn’t close to being as built up as it is today. Anyway, this particular service road had one way in and one way out. It even had a start and finish line at a 1/4 mile painted across the asphalt.
Thursday night was race night as there was a giant cruise night in the Masters Shopping Center parking lot. The cruise would break up around 9PM, and the street racers would make their way to the south shore and the “strip”. It got to a point where there were over a hundred spectators showing up just to watch the races. Of course, it didn’t take long before New York’s Finest found out about the strip and started to show up en mass to shut it down. When they came, they arrived with multiple cars, a helicopter, and a small fleet of tow trucks. They also came in from both ways, essentially shutting down the road and blocking everyone from leaving. They would check everything before allowing a car to leave. If you had your buddies or your girl in your car, they got checked as well. Many cars got towed because of minor violations. To cap it off, they would call in the fire department, and they would show up and hose down the entire road, which shut down the racing even more so than the violation tickets. I never did get arrested, but I had quite a few friends who did. I did pay a lot of fines back then for inspection violations. Drag racing in NYC was quite an experience back then!

 

I raced plenty back in the sixties telegraph road, woodward and stecker roads in southeast Michigan. Got caught a few times by the cops but they were decent with me because I respected them and usually wrote me up for a five over instead of drag racing. Hell a lot of the auto companies had cars out there street racing testing out factory prototypes especially on Woodward ave.

 

My 55 Buick wasn't much for street racing but was all too well known to local state patrol officers for being driven fast on the highway. One allegedly had a note book with my speeds marked down in it from his well hidden radar spot when I was on the way to school in the morning in a stretch I usually ran at 75+ That notebook was said to have been found by the chief of the state patrol and word was that I was to be stopped if I was even 3 over.
When I lived in McGregor TX in the early 70's a group of us street raced on a road a couple of miles out of town on a regular basis until too many locals showed up to spectate. The town constable ran out one night and told us to get the hell out of there because the Texas highway patrol was headed our way in numbers to round us up. I was sitting on the starting line next a 55 Chevy when he pulled up and 2 minutes later the place was deserted.
Caught one time and that was caught sitting outside of Renton Wa when I had raced a Road runner too many times out by the radio station and we were pulled over in a spot with his hood open as that was the only 4 speed 383 that had ever beaten me. I still think he had a 440 in it.

 

Old Adobe road Petaluma CA .

Same place the American Graffiti race was filmed .
End of town near the river were the sand and gravel place was in Petaluma.

Hall Road Santa Rosa Ca.
Industry west industrial park Santa Rosa .
The road near Optical Coating in Santa Rosa.

All in the late 70,s early 80,s
Lucky no one died .

 

When I was young and dumb enough to street race I couldn’t afford anything worth racing.

 

I feel the car I have now is gonna get me in a heap of trouble.... It'll do 10.90s if I bang the gears just right.....

 

""Don’t know all the details, but it was somewhere in the fifties I think, before a car was built that would beat a good quarter horse in a quarter mile drag race. I think the race happened in So Cal. I remember my Dad talking about it when we lived there""

Yes, didn't race for a 1/4 mile, although the distance was probably confused with the horse being a "Quarter Horse". Distance was more likely couple telephone poles as horse's top speed maybe around 35 mph but could get there in a heartbeat. Plus that particular horse was good at the "tree". Quick search: https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2017/...ter-mile-standard-by-beating-a-quarter-horse/

 

Thinking back I was never in a pre arranged race, always an impromptu off a lite...Surprising how well a 65 Comet 6L [200] could do against the 300hp boats; up to 60 mph or so..

 

Hello,

There are plenty of places that a shortened acceleration location is well suited for some power. As the barren outback areas of the densely populated suburban areas start getting developed, new roads pop up. They remain barren until the housing starts getting popular and then that road goes bye-bye.

Recently, a new section of Orange County is being developed for what the locals hope is one last time. The barren hillsides are ripe for development and some big company has their eyes open for more development on their own, huge amount of acres.


Many years ago, it was land that could be used for casual motorcycle riding with the roads on the county map, but still undeveloped. As the big master planned communities got developed that created monsters, the open land began to shrink and limitations were put on the area. Now, the future is here and this development is the last extension of creeping suburbia toward the ocean.

Jnaki

In reading some recent stories about hot rod road trips and cruising streets/roadways in Orange County, it was surprising that these drivers were happy with what was on the maps. Road trips are fun and if the hot rod or sports car is in great shape, it makes the trip worth while. These roads on the outskirts of the development are currently, empty. But, there is the feel of housing creeping toward the road in question. While the roads are new and empty, it is a great time for the hot rods to see and feel what Orange County use to look like while cruising down the fairly empty highway.

Hopefully, this road won’t lead the local teenagers from the neighborhood high school to do dumb stuff…

One in particular is located in a wide open hilly area far from the closest housing development. But, the road will one day be used to the maximum as most roads are in So Cal. Driving is in the blood of hot rodders and sports car guys/girls. So, for now, it is a road to find and use not necessarily to race another, but just to use as a pleasurable drive from South to Northeast in the last barren area of Orange County. “Racing” your motor is what we all like, to get the cobwebs out and feel the surge of power. Of course, without disturbing anyone else.

We recently took the road nearby (Rancho Mission Viejo) to get to a developed area (Coto de Caza) North of us and there were two other cars on the road. Without noticing, we all stayed within three/four car lengths on the empty road, but going 80 mph. It is one of those roads with empty hillsides that just creates a place of solitude doing what we all like to do, drive our cars. The new road shortened the normal time to get to our destination.

Normally, we had planned on a 35 -40 minute drive, so we told our granddaughter that it would be 4 pm instead of a 3 pm pickup. We got to the destination in record time and arrived at 3:25 pm. It was the nicest drive we had in a long time. We will be using that empty back road for some time until it gets clogged up in the future.

Part of the road felt like a developed race track with barriers in the middle and walls on the other. One part was what we called the acceleration area, with no homes within miles. Beware, there are two blind, on ramps that could spell disaster if a B/W is around. (these days, the CHP is driving all white sedans, too…)

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I street raced all the time for a few years right out of high school. I had a hot 72 RS Z-28 with a 4 speed and a 3.73 posi. I lost very few races with that car, but I was picky about who I'd run against – only true driver street cars. There were plenty of "street legal" race cars in my area at the time, and I was smart enough to steer clear. Luckily I never got caught racing and even more luckily, I never injured or killed anyone. Now all my racing is reserved for the drag strip or Bonneville.