Vintage drag racers

[barry2952]

My friend from down-under sent these pictures of vintage drag racers.









































More, if you want them.

[Aonarch]

Awesome

[JimmyD]

More, if you want them.

ABSOLUTELY! This pics are fantastic!

Any more info on this monster below? It appears to be a twin engine with 6 wheels, having the rear wheels staggered?! Wonderful madness.

[barry2952]

Sorry, no further info, just pics.

[pattrick02]

now this is some quality stuff right here.

[G0to60]

Wow! There are some incredibly complex ones and some incredibly bare bones ones in there. Insane and awesome!

[saron81]

Pretty sure Big Daddy lost some toes in this one.

[StressStrain]

[barry2952]

Try and find another thread to screw up.

[Air and water do mix]

Pretty sure Big Daddy lost some toes in this one.

Aaaaaand that's why he invented the rear-engine dragster.

[Air and water do mix]

Well, he certainly has lots of enthusiasm for waving the flag...

Munster coach vs. Dragula? SO. MUCH. WIN.

[barry2952]

Aaaaaand that's why he invented the rear-engine dragster.

I didn't know that!

[vasillalov]

[Air and water do mix]

I didn't know that!

Yep. He's an innovative guy and suddenly saw a need for that... For some reason.

[Wheelstand]

and I thought controls on getting grip was hard on some of these.

How in the world do you control the front engine/clutch engagement???

or am I missing something here?

[Air and water do mix]

Wow! There are some incredibly complex ones and some incredibly bare bones ones in there. Insane and awesome!

Yeah, there were some real innovators and some things that looked like they were cobbled together in someone's garage. Take EMPI's sidewinder for example:



Neat, but there's no way I'd get in that thing.

[freedomgli]

I love these old drag racing pics. The 1950s and 1960s were a crazy, dangerous time. There is a huge pic thread over at the H.A.M.B. but it's always cool to see more.

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=228509

[VR6GTI72]

I love the nostalgia cars. Way better than the current breed IMO. I grew up at Fremont Raceway (Baylands) So I thought Id round up some pics from that track, back in the day.

[Air and water do mix]

I love the nostalgia cars...

I've been seeing restorations of old drag racers lately, too. Most are put together with period correct pieces to make them as authentic as possible, but you certainly can't race them if you don't update the chassis and safety equipment. Hell, some are probably too valuable to do that to anyway.

I'm good with the "tribute" cars too, as they don't have the value of the original racers, are modernized and can be raced at the tracks.

[barry2952]

I'm sure there are a bunch of "tribute" cars that are being represented as real. How do you provide provenance on what was originally just a composite of parts from various manufacturers? I'd be very leery of a drag car purchase.

[Air and water do mix]

I'm sure there are a bunch of "tribute" cars that are being represented as real. How do you provide provenance on what was originally just a composite of parts from various manufacturers? I'd be very leery of a drag car purchase.

Well, I was meaning ones that looked like them but had modern mechanicals so that they could be raced today, making it obvious that the car was new.

I've read a couple of articles about locating old drag racers and if you don't have the ownership mapped over the years to find it, then you have to find unique things that folks wouldn't know to reproduce. I remember reading about one that was a chop-top and they were able to verify it's origins because of how the car was cut, since the guy who did it was able to be consulted. Of course, I also saw an article about one guy that had "the original" because he had the chassis, but the original body was long gone... There are only rumors that never seem to pan out.

[Barefoot_]

[barry2952]

Well, I was meaning ones that looked like them but had modern mechanicals so that they could be raced today, making it obvious that the car was new.

I've read a couple of articles about locating old drag racers and if you don't have the ownership mapped over the years to find it, then you have to find unique things that folks wouldn't know to reproduce. I remember reading about one that was a chop-top and they were able to verify it's origins because of how the car was cut, since the guy who did it was able to be consulted. Of course, I also saw an article about one guy that had "the original" because he had the chassis, but the original body was long gone... There are only rumors that never seem to pan out.

That's like the old ax story. The guy claims it's an original implement, even though the handle and head have been replaced several times.

[teileguy]

I'd say a good percentage of any vintage racer is grandfathers axe. Moreso in drag racing, motors built to last seconds and chassis built out of discarded lawnchair tubing don't exactly lend themselves to provenance.

Love the pics. Though I hate SBC's in drag cars.

[A.Wilder]

awesome pics.

[BRealistic]

Aaaaaand that's why he invented the rear-engine dragster.

Necessity is the mother of invention.

[Galrot]

ABSOLUTELY! This pics are fantastic!

Any more info on this monster below? It appears to be a twin engine with 6 wheels, having the rear wheels staggered?! Wonderful madness.

And built with a Messerschmitt body.

[BRealistic]

^

Guessing..

Each engine is connected to one of the rear ends.
That's why the engines are staggered- there are two driveshafts coming back to the two rear axles.
Seems like a beast to launch properly.

And such systems may seem like a good idea, but the added complexity of getting the two separate drivetrains to work in unison meant the gains were not worth the results (and hwy this did not become common).

The driver may have even had two throttles- the idea being he could just lift the throttle on the axle that spun and keep accelerating.

[DUBLUV401]

Thanks for sharing the pictures

[vwlarry]

Some of my childhood faves from the late sixties, when I was v. interested in drag racing, and went to US 30 Dragstrip in NW Indiana a lot:

"Dyno" Don Nicholson's Comet Funny Car with SOHC 427 Ford power. Nicholson pretty much invented funny cars:



Stone Woods and Cook's Willys gasser. Many 1940 Willys coupes finished their lives as drag cars, and SW&C's Willys set the standard for them all:



"Bounty Hunter", Connie Kalitta's SOHC 427 Ford-powered AA/Fuel dragster. Kalitta was awesome.



Arnie "The Farmer" Beswick was a local hero of sorts. He lived in Pontiac, Illinois (fitting), and had a fleet of S/S Pontiacs, all painted with "tiger stripes" of one sort or another. His team always stopped for gas and restroom at the gas station near my house on Sunday evenings, on their way home from US 30, and we'd ride our bikes up and wait for them to show up so we could check out the cars up-close. Good times.



Finally, "SUNDAY, SUNDAY at smokin' US 30 Dragstrip...BE THERRRRRRE!" I was lucky to have been only 30 minutes away from this classic dragstrip. I can still smell the nitro fumes and the tire smoke now...

[dodger21]

I think they are getting ready to change tires. The engines do NOT look staggered, rather one has a taller velocity stack to get it above the other one.

Though there isnt enough photo to accurately determine this.

Anyone else notice BOTH rear wheels are off the ground?!?!?!

[devianb]

^ and there appears to no driver.

[Big_Bird]

Best thread in a while.

[vr6swap]

More here

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=228509

[VR6GTI72]

I got to see this run quite a few times. Always a crowd pleaser.















I just love the old firesuits/mask/helmet



[IMG][/IMG]

Gotta love the ol' Wagonmaster. I never got to see this one run. Ive only seen it at the hall of fame.