I was looking at January 1966 Sports Car Graphic and thought this was an odd car to do a feature on. Reading the article it says owner is Tom McMullen. I personally have never heard mention of this car, only his roadster. His or not I thought it was pretty interesting. Wasn't really positive where to post this, the car is a 52 but the magazine is 66 so?
Yes, it was Tom’s. I’ll look to see if I have the issue of Popular Hot Rodding it was in, if I do then I’ll scan and post the article. UPDATE- I couldn’t locate that issue of PHR.
Man this is a neat concept for a build. First thing I noticed was the different intakes on the motors (wonder if they are built for different rpm’s and why) and Tom needs some more tire under the thing for it to hook up Who knows the manufacturer of the wheels, I really like the rear ones?
I remember the odd bumps in the front end sheet metal to clear the oversize radiator in the PHR article. The car I'm really curious about is the unfinished chopped, sectioned and channeled Deuce fordor.
Article says Walker Wheels of Lynwood Ca. A couple searches netted this https://vintagewheelcatalogs.com/walker/
I recall a story in Street Rodder where they spoke of one night they took it out looking to choose on street racers. They pulled into a parking lot in a rough area of town where racers gathered. Shut it off, got out and a crowd gathered round. Someone said open the hood. Tom and his shotgun rider said no. Some guy got on his hands and knees, looked underneath, then quickly stood up and said "That Mother Fucker's got two oil pans"!!!! Wonder if that car is still around???
Ill put a note on my magazine storage cabinet to see if I have it. I kind of doubt it since I have no memory of the car. Course my memory isnt what it used to be. Anyway Ill post here if I run across it, thanks for looking.
When he lived in Sunny Hills (Fullerton) off of Euclid just South of Valencia Mesa, He had a very nice house with a separate 6 or 7 car garage that was always filled with cool stuff.
I'm thinking that car was well before the roadster and before the bikes. Back when he was known for his auto wiring and then Honda Choppers.
Great article so thanks! It reminded me of an A40 that cruised around east Vancouver in the late 60s with a hemi. Driver sat in the back seat area as well.
The Austin came well after he bought the roadster in 1958, the twin engine swap was done in ‘64 or ‘65.
Hello, For all of the So Cal cars, this one was one for the books. Classification for the drags? Stock motor position, but a 2nd motor puts it in an Altered Class. Unless he is sitting behind the rear axle, then it is classified as a Competition Coupe. But, it looks as if it would be an Altered sedan class. Back in the mid 60s, my brother was recovering from his burns and injuries received at Lion’s Dragstrip. But, during that time period, part of his recovery was sitting around listening to jazz music and some progressive music, not 45’s of the day. Also, he was drawing cars that buzzed through his brain and some of them were a little on the odd ball style and design. In sitting around talking about hot rods and yes, drag racing, he came up with some stuff that no one else was thinking at the time. A Hudson was driven by one of his friends and in looking at the engine compartment and wide car stance, he came up with the idea of two SBC motors for power. At first it was two side by side, but that was squeezing it a bit. So, he said there was enough room for inline SBC motors. Everyone laughed at that idea and thought of a teenager driving a 51 Hudson as his high school car was silly anyways, let alone a hot rod version with two SBC motors. Like Lefty Mudersbach's twin inline SBC motor set up. He tried drawing two inline SBC motors inside of a Hudson photo and it was an awful idea. So, he still said it would work, but since he did not like it that almost everyone laughed at his idea, it took awhile, but, he eventually dropped it. Jnaki It was 1961 and there were already a smattering of dual engine race cars at the drags and I am sure those made an impression on his creative mind. But a 1951 Hudson? Definitely a sleeper... NOTE: This unusual Model A sedan needs a little more information. It was built and run by Ray Callejo from the SF Bay Area. It was in a lot of car shows and as the early Drag News ad/photo shows, competed in the Altered Sedan class in those early days. The odd aluminum covering below the body and doors may be to cover up the other SBC injected motor sitting closer to the driver sitting in the far reaches of the sedan. As the photo looks, an altered set up with 25% set back was standard and this one was a good build from Ray Callejo. It has been well documented in various articles and photo arrays. From other posts from the past: Here are a couple of drawings and some actual facts found in my research of old Altered Coupes and Sedans. There were a few multiple engine Altereds and this was one of the most popular during our time at the drags and in car shows, but it was located in the S.F. Bay Area. The drawings and info were posted in the Friday Art Show back in August, 2020. We had never seen it in person, despite the fact that they were sponsored by Clay Smith Cams from Long Beach, CA near our old house. Ray Callejo had/has a well rounded background in hot rods and drag racing. He was at the Fremont Dragstrip with his 1931 Model A Sedan and a 283 C.I. SBC that ran in the B/Altered class. This was the Altered Coupe and Sedan Class many years before they dropped the designation and included Altered Roadsters. The research shows that the copyright for all show photos belongs to a person that has not made them public. If anyone has a Bay Area color photo, I would be happy to change what I thought and a digital imaging company thought was the actual color from a B/W photo. In all of the stacks of old car magazines, there must be a color photo of the multiple engine sedan. 1961 So, does anyone have a June 1961 Hot Rod Mag or October 1961 Car Craft Magazine for comparisons? Note 2: Friday Art The old designation of BA-7 is no longer correct and should have read A/A-7. (with 584 c.i.) The Model A Sedan with the twin 292 SBC motors was featured in Car Craft and Hot Rod Magazines back in the early 1960s.It has been a long time. If no one noticed, a change of front wheels and the Model A sedan could be mistaken for an early version of a competitive gas coupe for the once popular class of Gas Coupes and Sedans at all dragstrips across the USA. 10% set back = gas coupe… 25% set back = altered coupe/sedan ... but a dual inline SBC motor set up definitely puts it in A/Altered or AA/Altered class designation. YRMV
Tom's pickup, this pic is probably from a two part article in Street Rodder titled "A Rodder's Auto-biography". Wish I could recall what issues it was in, there was a pic of the Austin in it as well. [edit, turns out this pic wasn't in that article, see below]
After 5 minutes of searching. found part 2 of the article at archive.org (please donate to keep it alive!) How evil looking is that 34 Tudor!! And check out the hemi powered taxi. Also tons of other '70s goodness in this issue btw...
Part III of the "Auto" Biography- No doubt most of these photos have been seen before but there may be some interesting facts to read about.
There's been a Tom McMullen bio in the works for years, that, if it ever gets printed, will be quite the read. Cool stuff!
The Jalopy Journal
