Hot Rods THE BADDEST CAR IN TOWN

In high school, [mid 60s] There was a gas station where the town's gear heads hung out. Everyone who worked there had projects/race cars. One of the older guys [2 years older than me and already graduated] was nic-named Stinky.
On Friday and Saturday night everybody would bring there hot rods out to cline falls....a spot where the old road had been replaced. The 1/4 was marked off and Stinky had his 55 150 series out there...beat all comers that night and I was able to get a ride in that car for a 'bye run down the 1/4. Holy shit! Was a 327/4 speed/Olds rear. That's all I can remember except he had the car painted Verdoro green metallic...and it pasted my skinny ass to the seatback the entire 1/4 mile!

 

In my time, 16 in 1964 cruising, street racing was big here in Wi. and as I remember there was no specific Baddest car in town, (Milwaukee is pretty big town) A LOT of fast cars, Chevy 327/348/409/396/427, 406/427 Fords, 383/413 426 hemi Mopars. As I remember it the muscle car's were the most popular and guys set them up tires, headers, etc. In 1964 I had a neighbor that had a 62 chevy impala SS with 425 409 4 speed, setup that was king of street racing for couple of summers and he said they won enough money to pay for car, true ? don't know, But I never saw that car with his wife driving lose a $$$ race. It got pretty serious with guys bringing cars on trailers, have many stories, raced some myself with my 57 Chevy, had the fastest car in our high school/neighborhood for a while, but could not compete with the big dogs. To this day when some hard hitting car comes barking in, still will make my heart flutter, just like racing/race engines. Been There, Done That !

 

WAS IT BLACK? HIGH IN FRONT?

 

Lou, the races would take place on Concord after you passed the big Church after passing Reed Road, at that time it was nothing but farms out that way and the connector didn't exist.

As you know that area is packed full of homes now.

White street was a little more dangerous but that was where you raced if you were on that side of town. HRP

 

This roadster was pretty quick in 1963 with a 365 H.P. 327 with Enderle injectors, 4-speed stick Hydro and a Cyclone quickie with sometimes gears in the 5s.



(It was my only car for a few years.)

 

growing up 5 miles from Fremont Drag Strip there were plenty of "baddest cars in town" here. Fremont Blvd was a big cruising spot, and we street raced out by the Drag strip on Boscell road where there was a marked quarter mile.

one fast car that I can remember was a big block powered 55 Chevy painted black with "Frantic Rat" painted on the side. I raced him once in my GTO just for kicks when he was waiting for another car to show up. he gave me a big head start and passed me like I was standing still. pretty sure it was a low 12 second car, my GTO was pretty much stock ... plus he was running slicks.

one night there was a SBC powered rail out there. same guy with the rail had a short El Camino that pulled wheelies ... "Greasy George" was his name

some guys dad had a Blown Hemi Cuda that he cruised the strip with. not sure if he ever raced it.

I wish I had been into photography back then and taken pictures of it all. fun times for a punk kid.

 

Back then the car was a toned-down red (not bright) and it had more of a stock ride height.

 

1962 Chevrolet Biscayne 409
Hello,

For the years of 1959-62 June, the 1958 Chevy 348 Impala was the top tier in cruising and hot rodding. With the experiences at Lions Dragstrip in the racing classes, it was always fun to be the winner, crossing the finish line ahead of others. While cruising during our teenage high school years was fun, one knows what is what and when our friend told us that he wanted to buy a new car, we were happy for him. But, he not only wanted a new 409 powered Impala, but also did not want to wait several weeks to have one at one of the three Chevy dealers in town.

So, one of the dealers saw a sure fire sale in this teenager. He offered a new red, Chevy 409 Biscayne and a 4 speed, 4:11 Positraction with all heavy duty stuff, shocks, springs, radiator, etc. all from the factory ordering list. That could be driven out of the in the afternoon, when the order list was signed and paid. Our friend jumped at the chance and signed on the dotted line.

The odd thing was another friend that went to the dealer with us drove home in the Biscayne. Why? The guy that bought it was new to a 4 speed and such power. So, he wanted us to teach him to shift and get in tuned to the new 409. That was a fun project as we took him out everyday after school and did our thing with that powerful car and 4 speed.

We taught him to shift well, but also to look around for the blind spots and even how to back up. Even though he had the most powerful 409 Chevy sedan in our neck of the town, he did not intimidate others. The 409 red Biscayne did that for him.

Jnaki

He learned to shift well, maybe not a total speed shift, but for daily driving and some acceleration runs, he did well. So, we were happy for him. But, as everyone knew, that 1962 409 Biscayne was one powerful car and no one bothered to challenge him as we all knew no one could beat him. Well, almost.

When he was in the final learning stages, we wanted him to race or at least be ready. He did not like to race, but liked to be inside of our 57 dual quad 283, Chevy Bel Air Hardtop and my 58 Impala when we were doing full on power runs down Cherry Avenue.
Not the exact car, but, the same look and speed.

So, one night we all laughed at the thought of my 58 Impala racing against the 409 Biscayne. Everyone wanted to see that race. But, smarter heads knew the outcome and it was over before it ended. Upon rolling up to the starting line on Cherry Avenue. Both cars and drivers put on their serious faces, but were laughing all the way.

When the flag dropped, my C&O Stick Hydro jumped out to a car length lead as my friend was having clutch, shifting, and traction problems. By the time he was situated and coming up on me, I showed him the 6 red brake lights to signify the race was over when the brake lights can be seen.

We all laughed and knew the race meant nothing to either of us, as we all remained friends until we moved away for college. For the time that red 409 Biscayne was in Bixby Knolls, it ruled the roost without even racing anyone. It was just one of those cars that had the “BADDEST REPUTATION IN TOWN…”

But, for those of us that had been in the car from the beginning, there was endless amounts of power coming from that 409. A 409 IN THE IMPALA? That would have been rather nice...

A time and place, far, far away.

 

A Street Racing Story:
The year was 1979 and I was into the off road scene with my first Early Bronco and knew very little about street racing. A couple of friends of mine who were versed on the street race scene near LAX, the Westchester Bob's Big Boy, to be exact, asked me to go with them to check out the races. I agreed and off we went from our hood' in Venice. We arrived at the Bob's and I noticed a few muscle cars in the parking lot and thought this may a cool night. One of my buddies pointed out an ugly 30's car that was flat black, full of road grime, no engine cover, just the radiator out front with rods holding it in place and one vey ugly, oil stained small block chevy beneath the radiator rods. It had oil leaks everywhere, backyard ass looking wiring, some wrapped around the radiator rods and a slightly leaking radiator. It had a old Plastic dune buggy high back seat in it, the roof was cutout and you could see some of the wood in the doors inside. He told me to pay attention as the night went on as this was the fastest and baddest car there. I doubted him just by the looks of this POS (in my mind anyway). The night went on with the usual BS and crap talking in the lot and it started to fill up with more cars. He told me to also keep my eye on the big fat white Hillbilly guy with the overalls and no shirt underneath, quietly standing around with his unkempt beard, leaned over stance and clear liquid bottle in his hand as HE was the owner of the baddest car there-More doubts in my mind as I thought these guys were just playing me since I was green to the whole scene.
At around 9:45, in rolls this 79' Gold Trans Am with the nicest wheels and paint you ever saw. It had a chrome roll bar inside along with three dirtbag young Iranians with more gold around their necks than Mr. T and just as much mouth BS as they could all spit out. These pieces of work were from the "Valley", San Fernando style and were looking for a race with someone there and they had a lot of money to prove their point-must have been connected to oil at that time. There was no hood on the Trans AM, just an engine bay full of polished stainless steel and one 455 with a big blower on it, all polished out too-No expense was spared here!
Many people scurried over to this beautiful machine and once the Iranians had a crowd around and saw the interest, they really ratcheted up their crap talking as it seemed no one would take on this car as they would surely lose! Then, they overstepped their bounds, and started calling everyone "American Pussies"-I will never forget this as the crowd were just ready to stomp these clowns and burn their car in front of them.
This is when my friend nudged me in the ribs and the big white Hillbilly stepped up and told these guys he would race them for $500.00, big money back then! They replied, with what? He pointed over to his coupe, neatly parked in the corner of the lot and they looked over and laughed at him, saying it would be easy money! They were cocky enough and did not even bother to go look at his car further, assuming they had this in the bag and would be $500.00 richer.
Once the money was passed on to a third party, the crowd moved to Pershing Drive, a short drive from Bob's, behind LAX, where the "strip" was crudely painted on the street. This is a 4 lane street with two lanes either way and a nice center divider in the middle, you know to keep the cars on their side of the street. My friends told me to come with them and stand on the center divider at just past mid track and to just watch and, mainly, listen carefully.
As I looked back north to where the starting line was, I saw the two cars line up, the Trans AM with bright headlights and, even in the dark, that gold glistening paint under the street lights. The Coupe, with its barely lit headlights (probably from that nice wiring) was idling there just rattling and waiting.........
The flag guy drops the flag and the Trans AM quickly gets out in front and is now barreling towards us at high speed, with the blower whining and the 3" exhaust bellowing its nasty tones as the exhaust struggled to escape from the red hot Turbo Mufflers.
But wait....here comes the Coupe, with its own distinct whine and it catches the Trans AM at half track right in front of us!
Next, something happens that, to this day, still is burned into my mind....The Coupe's small block motor suddenly begins to scream bloody murder, oil spewing from the leaking areas, radiator fluid spraying out of the worn out cap and a shit eating grin on the Hillbilly's face as he literally walks away from the Trans AM and just sprays the Trans AM with these nasty fluids all the way to the finish line.
I thought, "What the hell was that!?!?" much like what I believe the Iranians were thinking as they drove back to the start line, chewing on the black crow they had just unwittingly just eaten.
My friends just looked at me, smiled and said "Nitrous"...........
To this day, it was one of the best experiences I have ever had or seen and once back at Bob's, EVERYONE congratulated the Hillbilly and his Coupe for defending America. The Iranians, and the now spewed upon Trans AM left quietly left without even so much as a see ya later burnout.
I walked over to the car and took a real good look at it, this is what a real sleeper looked like and noticed the flat black painted beer gas looking bottle in it just behind the seat and some fugly plumbing neatly hidden up to the engine compartment.
The Hillbilly looked at me, checking out his now severely overheated car and said he enjoyed looking at my face as he screamed by us as he could see more teeth on me smiling than he was. I just shook his hand and said nothing, wiser for the experience and full of motorhead joy.
What a col night it was indeed.........Michael V

 

My first car was a 57 Chevy convertible. I always loved old cars, and my father bought it for me, to commute to school with. I had to pay all insurance and repairs on it, though, and seeing it was a 500$ car, back in 1975, it was in pretty bad condition!
After driving for a year and a half, it was so bad, I bought a better 57 hardtop, and set about to rebuild the convertible. Ever spare dime I made went into the car. All my car buddies helped out with the bodywork and assemble, but I had a local racer build me and engine!
He convinced me to go all out with the car. So, he did the old 327 with 283 crank swap, found a set of ported, angle plug heads from a guy parting out his dragster, and built me a powerful engine. Next was a roller cam, roller rockers, 12 1/2-1 pistons, single 750 double pumper Holley.
I installed a 4 speed, and saved up half a year to get a 12 bolt narrowed. This was at the beginning of Pro Street, and very uncommon. Even local speed shops didn't know where to get shorter axles! The rear got some 4.88's and a Posi.
It was the baddest car in town for a while, with the sound of that engine, valves clattering, the hi-compression, and steep gearing, no one even wanted to try it. Then a local guy bought an old race car Camaro (Huckleberry Hound) and put IT on the street, with it's 427.
I raced it at Englishtown's Raceway Park a couple times, and it was stolen out of there! I was heartbroken. It took me 2 years, putting every dollar I had into it, working 2 jobs, besides going to school, spending every spare moment of time working on it, as well.
Later, I got into building custom cars, and got out of the hot rod, 55-7 Chevy groove. But that's the one I miss the most!