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History The Great Camgrinder Wars PART2

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by loudbang, Dec 9, 2019.

  1. loudbang
    Joined: Jul 23, 2013
    Posts: 40,276

    loudbang
    Member

    We continue from part one. This one has better and more photos. :)

    From here:
    https://www.hotrod.com/articles/who-started-the-camgrinder-wars/


    The '60s Were "A/Gas"
    Last month, we tracked the Camgrinder Wars’ innocent beginnings to a series of confrontational “hero” and “antihero” advertisements placed by a trio of Southern California camshaft companies. Not long after arch rivals Ed Iskenderian and Howard Johansen fired the first shots in 1956, Jack Engle opened a third front. By demonstrating that a shop needn’t be big to compete—even dominate—on this playing field, Engle Cams inspired a second wave of strategic advertising by small competitors, including Hubbard, Herbert, Weber, Dempsey Wilson, Moon, and Crane.

    Most of their collective ink was spilled on a newsprint tabloid that debuted just in time to catch and ride this wave. In fact, had Drag News (1955-78) not presented fledgling manufacturers with an inexpensive, timely, anything-goes alternative to Robert E. Petersen’s slick, civilized monthlies, this war might’ve never been fought at all.

    Now, let’s examine the classes capable of generating such intense attention, loyalty, and controversy. We’ve seen that open-wheeled or “hot” cars starred in the vast majority of mid-to-late-’50s ads. Besides being far faster than so-called “stockers,” crowd-pleasing rails, competition coupes and sedans, modified roadsters, and altereds burning nitromethane and/or alcohol were basically banished from Petersen publications during NHRA’s 1957-63 fuel ban.

    Not coincidentally, Petersen’s editorial director for the duration was none other than NHRA president Wally Parks. If not for occasional nitro-hero ads in Hot Rod and Car Craft—typically small and stuck in the back—magazine readers might’ve thought that the entire drag racing world ran on pump gas.

    Meanwhile, Drag News not only embraced fuel cars, but celebrated them on most covers and front pages. The newspaper even maintained its own set of Standard 1320 national records for all popular fuel and gas classes, plus jets (“Unlimited Dragster”). Earning a top 10 spot on Drag News‘ Mr. Eliminator Top Fuel or Top Gas lists was the match-racing equivalent of winning a major NHRA, AHRA, NASCAR, or independent event. Free editorial space was made available to all track operators submitting race results and photos, whether sanctioned or “outlaw.” Moreover, among all national media, only Drag News delivered fresh drag news each Wednesday, within days of weekend meets. Many of us turned to camgrinders’ ads before reading a single article—the pleasurable experience of every print advertiser, then and now.

    As documented by early-’60s HRM and Drag News ads, the camshaft industry’s focus shifted from dragsters to full-bodied cars, particularly gas coupes and sedans, around the turn of the decade. Though the terms Camgrinder Wars and Gasser Wars are often erroneously interchanged, the latter was an outgrowth of the former, conducted simultaneously. As “hydro-stick” manufacturers and other gasser sponsors began copying the hero/antihero promotional tactics pioneered by camgrinders, local racers became national heroes—and publishers became wealthy and powerful.

    While both wars would sputter into the next decade, public interest probably peaked with the gassers’ mid-’60s popularity. The reasons why are still being debated in bleachers and bars worldwide. Among other causes, Detroit’s “factory hot rods,” European-bodied gassers with tube frames, the first Funny Cars, and a return to traditional product ads are blamed for ending the wars that raged on paper battlefields during the Golden Age of drag racing.

    Fueled By Camgrinders’ Hero Ads, Class Competition In Both A/ And B/GS Commanded As Much Or More Attention By 1965 Than Most NHRA Eliminator Categories. A Much Anticipated Indy Showdown Saw Dick Bourgeois Foul Away Big John’s Chances. Doug Cook Went On To Take The A/GS Trophy With Best Times Of 9.53/152.54.

    7a part 2 class-competition-big-john-doug-cookie-cook1.jpg

    7b fred-stone-blown-chrysler.jpg

    8 drag-news-january-25-1964-isky-ad.jpg

    9 drag-news-december-21-1963-pete-miller-cartoon.jpg


    Only the tow bar hints that this is not just another pretty face on any Los Angeles street in 1957. HRM’s Eric Rickman shot a quickie feature in front of Doug Cook’s house.
    10b eric-rickman-feature-shot-doug-cook.jpg
    At a time when a supercharger automatically advanced a gasser one class, blown and unblown gassers ran together. Doug Cook’s economical combination of small displacement, low weight, and Tri-Power regularly upset more-powerful blower cars, endearing him to Chevy fans worldwide.
    10c eric-rickman-feature-shot-doug-cook.jpg

    10a eric-rickman-feature-shot-doug-cook-iskederian-racing-cams-logo-engine.jpg
    Regionalism Might’ve Played A Role In The Starkly Different Cover Treatments Immediately Following Reports Of Unprecedented Performances By The Fuelers Of Jocko Johnson At Riverside, Right In Drag News’ Own Backyard, And Chris Karamesines In Far Off Alton, IL. Then Again, Though Neither “record” Run Was Backed Up, The Greeks Announced 204.54 Was More Than 10 Mph—fully 5 Percent—faster Than Any Credible Speed To Date. Further, His Next Closest Alton Pass Clocked Just 180.00, Despite A Comparable E.t. 8.84 Versus 8.87

    11 drag-news-april-30-1960-cover-blank-space.jpg

    Apr. 30, 1960 Drag News Leave It To Isky To Capitalize On And Legitimize A Sensational Time Slip, Official Or Otherwise. Drag News’ Cover Photo Reappeared Inside The Issue In This Atypically Simple Isky Ad, Almost Certainly Designed And Pasted Together By The Newspaper’s Staff The Day After The Controversial Run, Just In Time For Tuesday Morning’s Press Run. Not For Another Four Years Would 200 Mph Speeds Achieve Universal Acceptance.

    12b drag-news-april-30-1960-isky-ad.jpg

    12a  drag-news-june-6-1959-cover-jocko.jpg


    Has Any Cam Customer Ever Been As Loyal To A Single Speed Equipment Manufacturer As Gene Adams? His Blown ’50 Olds Was Flying Engle’s Colors At NHRA’s Second Oklahoma City Nationals. Fifty Seven Years Later, Jack Engle Is Gone And The Company Has Changed Hands, Yet Lean Gene Still Slides Engle Cams Into Nostalgia Racing’s Dominant Injected Nitro A/Fuel Dragsters.

    13 gene-adams-1950-oldsmobile-racing-engle-cams.jpg

    Yes, That’s The Required Windshield Wiper On NHRA’s Olds Powered C/GS Winner At Indy’s First Nationals In Late 1961. Driver KS Pittman And Builder Bill Edwards, SoCal Stars Even Before The Gasser Wars, Had The Nation’s Quickest And Fastest “C/Super” Car All Season, Owning Both Ends Of The National Record At 11.28/126.22.

    14 nhra-oldsmobile-powered-c-gs-winner-indy-nationals-1961.jpg

    For 1964, With Two Major Drag Racing “barriers” In Their Sights, Owners John Mazmanian And Fred Stone Both Upgraded To Blown Chryslers. Bones Balogh Broke Into The 9s At The Season Opening United Drag Racers Association Meet At Lions, Following Up At The NHRA Winternationals With An NHRA Officiated 9.99 Seconds At An Unprecedented 149.00 Mph. By Midseason, Both Cars Were Touring Nationally, Cracking 150 Mph In Match Races, And Earning Some Of The First Guaranties Paid To Doorslammer Racers.

    15 john-mazmanian-blown-chrysler  hemi int.jpg

    Interestingly, The Most Dominating Single Gasser Of This Entire Golden Age Was Rarely Targeted By Rival Camgrinders. Besides The Fact That George Montgomery Operated Far From Their SoCal Playground, How Could Any Advertiser Credibly Ridicule A Homebuilt Coupe That Won U.S. Nationals Eliminator Titles In 1959, 1960, And 1963?

    16 george-montgomery-homebuilt willys-coupe.jpg


    Note The Flat Hood. After A Couple Of College Kids, Still Living Here At Home, And Their Little 327 Came Out Of Nowhere To Shock SW&C At Lions In Late 1963 (see Cartoon Ad), Then Sweep B/GS Trophies At Both 1964 NHRA National Events, Jerry And Gary Mallicoat Unleashed A Twin Turbocharged Combination That Upset Mazmanian’s Willys In The ’65 Winternationals B/GS Final. Their Homebuilt, Rochester Injected Approach Reportedly Produced 720 Hp (versus 580 With A Conventional GMC 6/71.)

    17 jerry-gary-mallicoat-twin-turbocharg.jpg

    That's it on to looking for more stories. :)
     
    47ragtop, dana barlow, egads and 5 others like this.
  2. catdad49
    Joined: Sep 25, 2005
    Posts: 6,401

    catdad49
    Member

    What a great thread(s) about an amazing era! Thanks, Banger.
     

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