Drag car enthusiasts - old timers only!

[R K T]

Originally Posted by URY914

Don Garlits is from here in Tampa. I grew up going to his speed shop and seeing him working the counter on Saturdays. Seemed funny to see the guy that was on the cover of the Hot Rod magazine sitting on the counter to be selling a guy a set of piston rings. After this wreck he walked with a limp as he lost half his foot but he went on to build his rear (actully mid) engine dragster.

I was standing just to the right of the track when this happened! The grandstands were only about 20 feet away back then. It was chaos.

[imaircooled]

I think I was born 20 years too late but I love the altered cars. Got to see Pure Hell at Indy a few years ago.

Ohio George Montgomery


Think I posted this one before


Cammer


Altered Thunderbolt or Fairlane at least

[Mo_Gearhead]

Polaroid Swinger! LMAO. That's it.



Possibly the camera that started the 'self-produced' porn industry. (previously, if you took that roll of film to the camera shop - they would call your parents) But with that camera - anyone could be Russ Meyer.

( Personal note to Sandra M. - I burned those photos, so....rest easy.)

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by URY914

Don Garlits is from here in Tampa. I grew up going to his speed shop and seeing him working the counter on Saturdays. Seemed funny to see the guy that was on the cover of the Hot Rod magazine sitting on the counter to be selling a guy a set of piston rings. After this wreck he walked with a limp as he lost half his foot but he went on to build his rear (actully mid) engine dragster.

Very cool. We used to buy most of our stuff through Jim Green's Speed Shop right here in Lynnwood. It's still open, but it's moved about 20 miles east to Monroe. My neighbor and good buddy is actually still his head machinist.

Jim won the Funny Car "World Championship" in '71 or '72.



The other local hero was Jerry Ruth, running Top Fuel out of Auburn. He still has a shop down there, too, building absolutely stunning street rods.

When I was actively racing in the late '70's and early '80's, Jerry would show up on a Saturday morning with his Top Fuel car on a trailer behind his pickup truck. With no more than a bunch of tools, a few parts, and a drum of fuel in the back and a couple of buddies in the front. He would typically make a couple of testing and tuning passes over the course of the day, then head home. He lived right down the highway from SIR. He ran a Funny Car for years, but we will always remember him as "our" Top Fuel World Champ.

[URY914]

[sammyg2]

This was Mert Littlefield's 70 dart at lyons.
Mert passed away a couple weeks ago.


edit, picture won't post. Oh well.

[scottmandue]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

I remember OCIR well and ran there in high school, but almost all of those cool cars were gone long before that.

Wow.. I very likely saw you race!

Have a bunch of 35mm film from OCIR, including a nice shot of two jet cars launching at night.

[89-944NA]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Wow.. I very likely saw you race!

Have a bunch of 35mm film from OCIR, including a nice shot of two jet cars launching at night.

If you have a shot of a Gold 1964 Olds 442, that's most likely me...Irwindale and OCIR were my home strips while campaigning that and a B/GAS 55 Chevy.

[89-944NA]

More greats!!!!!!!!!!!!! Blue Max
Candies & Hughes
I think we have a problem
Chi-Town Hustler
Mountain Monza
The Hawaiian
Tasmanian Devil
USA-1

And then there were the Big promotional races that Irwindale Raceway (and when Irwindale closed OCIR took them over) used to have....Remember the shows; "64 Funny Cars" the ALL AA/FC nights or the "Fox Hunt" where ladies got in free....Hot Damn there were a lot of hot chicks and great music between rounds there for that promotion. Way back in the day, Irwindale even had an "ALL ALTERED'S NIGHT". And a big purse then was $500, and the loser usually got $100....and that was for Top Fuel (AA/FD)....The US Nationals at Indy paid the unheard of purse of $2000 for the Top Fuel Winner.

[URY914]

Do you guys know about H.A.M.B. ?

[89-944NA]

Isn't that some vintage car drag race?

[89-944NA]

Here's one more blast down memory lane for my WEST COAST friends....how about the "Ridge Route Terrors" James Warren, Roger Coburn and Marvin Miller....Warren, Coburn & Miller's "Rain For Rent" AA/FD

[89-944NA]

Ooppss for got these:
Warren & Coburn v Shirley "CHA CHA" Muldowney

[KevinP73]

$5.00 via paypal to first original photo of "The Trojan Horse" AA/FC
P.S. "Don't call me Cha Cha!". She hated that. Connie started that just to get under her helmet on race day.

[89-944NA]

Here's a site for us "old" guys....and the young guys who missed all the fun

70s Funny Cars - Photos and info on over 500 funny cars!

[VINMAN]

Originally Posted by URY914

Do you guys know about H.A.M.B. ?

Awesome site! Another one that I'm addicted to.

[89-944NA]

Originally Posted by KevinP73

$5.00 via paypal to first original photo of "The Trojan Horse" AA/FC
P.S. "Don't call me Cha Cha!". She hated that. Connie started that just to get under her helmet on race day.

Yes she did hate it, but she actually had it painted on some of her early T/F cars. "CHA CHA" on front of the cockpit

[89-944NA]

and her funny car she dropped the "CHA CHA" nickname in 1973, after she said "There is no room for bimboism in drag racing"

[KevinP73]

Originally Posted by 89-944NA

and her funny car she dropped the "CHA CHA" nickname in 1973, after she said "There is no room for bimboism in drag racing"

Correct me if I'm wrong but didn't Connie own the race team when she ran AA/FC?

[89-944NA]

yes he did, if you look at the quater panel behind Ms Muldowney, you can see where "Bounty Huntress" is lettered...in more or less reference to Connie Kalitta's nickname the "Bounty Hunter"

Though Kalitta owned the team, the car belonged to Muldowney, who had purchased it from Kalitta...they then teamed up for Match Races, much like the Mattel Hot Wheels team of Don "The Snake" Prudhomme and Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen.

Those "Match Races" were headliners and big money makers for the drag strips.

I remember one in particular at OCIR, when McEwen blew his engine in the first round of a 3 round match race with Prudhomme. Between rounds, McEwen installed the backup engine, which he promptly blew in the next round. Prudhomme loaned McEwen his spare engine for the final round, because all us fans came to see a show....Prudhomme beat McEwen in the final round. Back then, there wasn't the BIG BUCK$ that is involved today. Those guys were showmen, and they certainly put on a show