Anybody follow drag racing in the '60s?
 

Does anyone else have fond memories of the drag racing scene of the '50s and '60s? I kept up with drag racing in the 1960s and followed all the big names. Sox&Martin, Garlits, Ivo, etc etc. One guy I liked in particular was "Ohio" George Montgomery because I could go to his shop and look at all the exotic stuff he was doing (and get yelled at). George's '33 Willys gasser was the terror of drag strips all over the country. Fast forward 55 years and I'm doing a story on a truck he won in 1960 for my magazine. Meeting and interviewing him has led to ghost-writing his biography. George is one of the most amazing people you'd ever want to meet and this is going to be one heck of a fun project.


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I hate you.....................really really hate you...............it's supposed to be ME doing this.....

The Rodder's Journal did a story on Ohio George a few years ago and he still has the '33 Willys, blown 427 SOHC and all. That photo might be recent as I think he still has the Ranchero he won at the nationals in '60 or '61 (can't read the door lettering).

My father used to run aa altered in the late 50's and early 60's. He ran on Edmonton, Calgary, and Spokane. The last car he raced was a Messerschmidt with a blown 392 hemi.

I have some vague memories of going to Lyons drag strip as a kid... the big deal back then were the "Jet Cars", seem to remember some guy who had a Cadillac El Dorado dragster too...

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I grew up in that era you could say. I remember the first really big super stock meet at the new drag strip in Cecil County MD and in the final run, the Ramchargers ran against Dyno Don's Comet with that 427 side oiler monster engine. I remember the Ramchargers car sitting on the starting line and the front brakes locked (very new idea) and those rear tires turning and starting to smoke!!!! Dyno Don sitting there with the engine revved to 7000 RPMs waiting......When the green light came on, that Mopar car took off like a rocket! Poor Don never had a chance.

Also saw Don Garlits race Art Arfons in the Green Monster at Atco New Jersey. Don beat him 2 out of 3 runs. That was before slipper clutches so the slicks smoked ALL the way through the quarter mile!

My favorites though were the 55, 56 and 57 chevy "gassers" with flip open front ends and straight axles! Of course the English Anglia gassers were pretty cool as they did a lot of wheel stands!

I went to Lyons many times during the 60's. Always had a good time and a lot of memories. I still can't remember the guys name that was running the claimed worlds fastest flat ford engine. I believe he was running around 186 mph in the 1/4 but, don't remember his time. He was running a flat head ford v8 with a reverse ground camshaft. The intake ports became the exhaust and the exhausts became the intakes. He used old bread pan tins as covers over the carbs to keep out dirt and water out. Good life back then with not a care in the world..

I grew up at Lions Drag Strip! My Dad was president of the local Lions Club that built the strip in 1955. By the mid '60s he was the Director of Operations with Mickey Thompson.
I started going with my Dad every weekend and would watch the races from the tower. I would also watch this guy that would show up in an old station wagon full of white tshirts and sweatshirts. He would set up an easel and airbrush whatever you wanted or he would do one of his own crazy cars. He would also do incredible pin striping on cars or pretty much anything you might want striped. I would watch him work and forget about the cars racing. He had quite an influence on my own desire to do things in my career.......He was Big Daddy Ed Roth.
I was there the night Don Garlits blew part of his foot off when the motor exploded between his legs.
The track was the only thing out there, but house were built right up next to the property line and the home owners complained and sued over the noise. Lions closed shop in December of '72.
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My Mom wearing my Dads jacket.....

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This was way before safety regulations and insurance dictated how things were done.

Look how close the public could stand next to the track!!!!!
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Loved dragsters and funny cars from late 60's to 70's. I worked with George Tuers, who piloted Hell On Wheels, Little Red Wagon, Back-Up Pickup and other wheel standers.

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Back up pickup...

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I raced A DMP 55 chevie wagon, 301, with a 4 speed crash box & a 6.17 Pontiac rear end, back in the late 60s....best. 13.01 @ 116 mph. Launch @ 7k rpms & shift @ 8700 (give or take). The thing I remember most was its lack of brakes. I'd get it down to about 20 mph WAYYY down in the shut down area with the TF cars.

The sound of then blown fulie cars coming at you from way down there was incredible. All you could hear was that blower sucking air:eek:......definitely worth the price of admission.

There were some guys running Allison V12's too

That was back when the top fuel cars and funny cars did their burnouts with a bleach/water mixture in the burn out box with a huge fireball! Now it is just water......Here's a pic of "TV" Tommy Ivo's dragster.
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The Surfers!!
Skinner, Jobe and Sorokin.

My photographer took the photo a few years ago. I think George sold the car. Rumor has it that it sold for $1million, but who knows, he may not have sold it at all. This is a situation where getting the true history takes some skepticism and probing questioning. For example, the story I got was that he, "...owned the Ranchero since it was given to me in 1960." But the public record shows it was sold by RM Auctions a few years ago. Going back to the source - "Oh yeah, I sold it. But I got it back." Silence and long stare, as if to say, "Don't ask any more questions." Yes, this is going to be interesting.

I was a kid in the 70's, and many of the model kits I built were 1960's drag cars. They were unique, creative machines. Today's funny cars.....not so much.

Those photos bring back great memories.
Fremont Drag Strip for me.
I lived in Oakland and my friend and I would ride our 10 speeds all the way to
Fremont on Sunday. Watch all the greats like the light blue 40 Willys of Stone, Woods
& Cook, then bike back home and I would complain to my Mom on monday morning that I didn't feel good. So sore and tired but worth it. It was worth missing school
on Monday, if my Mom would fall for it.

I remember when Don Garlets was running like 197 mph and we all wanted to
witness the historical break through of 200 mph.
Tommy Ivo, Danny Ongias (sp?), LIttle Red Wagon, Glass Slipper, Henry J's,
and so many other awesome dragsters.
I liked the AA class the best.

some of the cars in my neighborhood in 66-68

59 ford anglia with a 283 that was 1/2 in the front seat area driven from the rear seat
a real ex race car austin healy 100m with alloy body fully race 283v8 4 speed got as junk
56 ford ranchwagon with a 406 tri-power big block
57 chevy 2 door with a vetts 327 and 4 speed swaped in
65 mustang 289 4 speed full NHRA class legal mods headers Tbars ect
all those were street driven daily by their owners who built them
and street raced for cash in addition to the track on week ends [ we did the street races out in the farm fields way out of town never in traffic
there was also guys my dads age with gullwings 427 cobras hk500 and fasel II e-jag ect
and a few who owned fast cars like a 66 tri-power 4 speed GTO or a 390 mustang
but never raced street or strip

Where I grew up in Delaware, 60% or the roads were still dirt when I got my license in 1963. We used to go out in the country where there were a couple paved roads that were straight for over 2 miles due to the huge soy bean fields and had races. Many times for money, some times just for bragging rights. I bought a 1961 Ford Starliner with the 390 Police Intercepter Tri-Power engine, a three speed/over drive trans mission and a 4.11 limited slip rear end (forget what Ford called them back then?). It was fast and would squeal the rear tires when shifting into over drive in 2nd and 3rd both! It got 4 to 5 MPG and I was glad gas was cheap!

I recall George's car, of course. There was a blown GMC six cylinder rail dragster. A beautiful Cream and Salmon colored '55 Cheyv gasser with a straight front axle. A black/red interior '63 Chevy Bel Aire with a honest to goodness 4 speed, dual quad, posi traction 409. My friend had white '58 Chevy station wagon with a 348 Tri-Power that I would love to duplicate. Then there was the guy with the '57 Corvette w/ a dual quad 327.

I loved the Chrysler factory altered wheelbase cars, especially Dick Landy's Dodge. I couldn't wait to get the nexti issue of hot rod to see pictures of them in action.

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I saw Landy launch THAT car so hard when the rear bumper hit the track it buckled the quarter panels above the center line of the wheels
I LOVE the AFX cars

When I saw one of Landy's cars it had those weird or 180 degree headers and it sounded like a herd of Corvairs!

Here's a claimed factory AFX--took the pic at last years World of Wheels. I dig the paint.

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And a drag car from that era that ran around PGH PA

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I met with George Montgomery again yesterday. George has enough stories about the drag racing scene of the 60s and 70s to fill several books and he's not shy about telling them. A few years ago AMT made a plastic model kit of a Ranchero that was given to George for one of his exploits.
While trying to recover from bronchitis a few weeks ago I bought one of the models of his special Ranchero and put it together. I haven't built a plastic model in 40 years. I took it over with me when I went to do another interview and asked him to autograph the hood for me. He was happy to do it, and it set him off on yet another of his stories, this time about how the model came to be and why the model has a V8 instead of the correct 6 cylinder, etc etc. Times like this I have to remind myself that I'm working, I feel like a star struck kid having a really great dream.

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That's awesome, the car, the story, the guy, the fact that you get to be entertained while working !

Iffn Lion's was still there I could hear the cars from my office.



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The Malco Gasser has been on display at the Henry Ford Museum for a few years. I just saw a piece on Hemmings showing it as part of a new 'Engines Exposed' exhibit. Pretty sure I had a plastic model of that car as a kid and saw it at our local drag strip.

Hemmings Blog Henry Ford Museum Exhibit

You can easily kill an evening looking through this thread:

American Graffiti

Lots of nice period photos of 50's and 60's drag racers.

That vid of Grumpy Jenkins in the drivers seat demonstrating the lost art of power shifting is great.
Ah, the memories........:cool:

A current pic of the local drag strip we used to hang out at every weekend. That staging area would be full with 100s of cars. I think it finally closed in the 80s. The scoring tower (at top of pic) still stands.

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I went over to visit George Montgomery again. George is just a peach of a guy. He had triple bypass surgery this fall but is now feeling better. He called and said he wanted to talk to me about progress on his biography. He is in his 80s, way overweight, and I am afraid he is one more great person that I've come to know who I will outlive.
We had a great conversation. When he gets started talking about drag racing in the 50s and early 60s I lose all track of time. His son Gregg had to come in and tell us it was time to get moving. While I was there he took a call from a guy who wanted help building one of those 2500 hp street legal cars. Apparently there is a TV series about them? George said he would do the machine work but wanted nothing to do with what happened with the engine after he assembled the long block. It was classic George. Rough and cantankerous if he doesn't like you, but just the sweetest guy if he does.
My friendship with George is one more unexpected way my life has been blessed. How did this happen to me?

One of the machinists in my shop tuned and set up the junior dragsters for Antron brown, Morgan Lucas, Shawn Langdon, Leah Pritchett, and others when they were coming up through the ranks.

He's been racing his whole life and gets mentioned several times a year on the NHRA telecasts.

He and I can kill some serial time, just sitting there with me asking questions and him telling me stories.
That there is time well spent, bench racing is life well spent.

Raced my 57 Chevy at Lions..Blew the motor got drafted..1969

Very cool stuff indeed. It's not often we get to meet our childhood heroes, much less get to learn enough about them to actually write their biographies. How exciting...

Born in 1960 and taking a very early interest in cars (didn't hurt that my dad took us to the races quite often), I well remember all of those names. I was perhaps too young to understand just how special those times were, but looking back, racers and race fans never had it so good. There is something missing today that I guess we took for granted back then.

How long until the book comes out? I'm looking forward to reading it.

Jeff, it will be 6 to 9 months. I can't put it any further to the front burner right now.
Some "coming attractions."
..
In 1960 he wanted to save engine weight so he had some GM 6-71 blower housings cast in magnesium. He got the dimensions wrong and the aluminum rotors would slightly rub against the magnesium, but only until the aluminum machined the clearances to 0. Aluminum rotors against aluminum housing would gall and seize, but the aluminum rotors would just wear magnesium away. With 0 clearance he was able to get 17 psi blower pressure instead of the max 12-13 from an all aluminum blower. He made a small fortune selling blowers to everyone in drag racing. All the big names were using his blowers. Garlits, Kalitta, Tommy Ivo - everyone. No one knew his secret for years.
You should hear him talk about driving that blue Willys down the strip at 150 mph with the front wheels off the ground the whole way.