1955 Chevy Gasser spotted at Lowes Parking Lot

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So, February in Utah isn’t a great time to bust out the street driven Gasser, you’d think, but the owner of this ‘55 Gasser called “Hemi Hunter” gets a big high 5 for doing just that.  Of course, it is the warmest day since November 22, it was a balmy 46.  Ha ha  I’ve got no info except for the pics I took.  But its a gorgeous example of an early 60’s Gasser built to run on the street.

This car was immaculate!  Cherry black paint, all the correct Gasser mods, like radiused rear fender, bumperless, big long tube headers, no front fender wells to block the headers and straight front axle.  Those keystone mags set the car off nicely as well.  Rad!!!

“Hemi Hunter” is right, that’s what a 502ci big block will get ya.

Love the gold lettering.  Period correct and Rad!

Super clean, that’s the word that comes to mind.  I dig the scoop sittin’ under the vette hood bulge.

That paint is reflecting everything.  Wow!  Dig that vette hood bulge/scoop and big street meats in the rear!

I dig the white steering wheel and white accents.  That interior is so clean!  There’s that word again, CLEAN.

…and one more pic for your hot rod enjoyment.

So, all in all, an amazing find for a Saturday morning in February.  If you own this ride, comment below and help us with the info and history of this car.

Is that “Barnes and Sperry” name a tribute or is this the same car from back in the day?  See this link to Gasser Madness website and let me know if you guys think this is the same car?

The World’s Fastest Hippie – Go ahead and Inhale

At the Grand National Roadster Show, one exhibition hall, #9 I think, always has a theme.  Last year, it was former America’s Most Beautiful Roadster winners. The hall was filled with with AMBR winning roadsters from back when the show was still in Oakland, CA. This year, the theme hall was the “History of the Race Car”. I just published another story about the Drag Race cars in this hall, but this one’s just about this 1969 Corvette named, “Revolution” and owned by the late Mike Mitchell.

In a hall filled with wild race cars, this one, as you can see stands out. The paint is fantastic!  The “Fastest Hippie” theme is carried out throughout the car with the psychedelic rainbow patterns on the side then the jumbo hookah on the hood and the zig-zag man near the cockpit. I bet Mike was alot of fun! (click on these pics to see them full size)

Researching for this story, I found a bit more info about Mike Mitchell, and about his passing in 2000. The story’s written by Phil Elliot at our friend Draglist.com.  The story’s called, “Farewell to the Hippie” and tells about Phil’s experience helping out at a drag race in Boise. Phil writes:

Anyway, I started the day in my wildest of hippyesque red, white and blue bell-bottoms, which had no back pockets. My wallet went on the dashboard of the truck — soon the wallet was gone with every cent I had. Not a good feeling 12 hours from home.

It’s a cool story, check it out.

Still looking, I found a video.  It’s a pretty serious look at Mike getting ready to race his equally wild painted Cuda funny car with, “Impeach Nixon” lettered on the back.  With pull-top Oly sipping spectators looking on, you’re treated to a smoky burnout at the end.

Is that exactly how you don’t really remember it? Any stories you can share about Mike and his rides? We’d love to hear them!

Nostalgia Drag Race History from 2010 GNRS

You can almost smell the tires burning cruising through the “History of the Race Car” hall at the 2010 Grand National Roadster Show.  The exhibit, of course featured drag racer from the way-back-machine, especially my favorite: Nose in the air gassers!

Getting up-close and personal with the “Outer Limits” Mopar, I’m reminded of a buddy who saw his first altered wheelbase A/FX’r and asked, “Who’d do that?!”  That’s exactly why I love them! Make noise, look near ridiculous and have more fun than anyone! I want one, and some day I’ll get it.  I might have to build my 61 Rambler American wagon as a gasser. Low-buck, fast and loud = funner-mostess.

Continuing my stroll, I found the, “Fastest un-blown Ford V-8 powered dragster running in National Nostalgia Drag Racing.” …and it’s driven by a woman named Kathy Lloyd out of Castro Valley, CA. According to their show card, the car was built in 1969, then restored in ‘85, then back-halfed in 1996, no doubt to return to racing. Safety rules have changed, juuuuussst a little since 1969. Running on a cocktail of 85% Nitro and 15% methanol, this 286 cubic inch flattie’s best speed is 158.337 mph at 8.94 seconds. Go Kathy!

Next up? Another sky-scraping injector stacked hemi in a 1941 Willys. The lettering on this old racer belonging to long time Willys racers, the Reinero Bros. out of Merced, CA is terrific! Did this car race at the same time as the flamboyant “Hippie” Corvette we covered? here’s a closeup of the lettering on the back…

Sticking with the Willyseze’ (plural of Willys if you’re wondering) this is the legendary Stone, Woods and Cook racer. I won’t say much about the “Gasser War” dominating car right now, but watch for a story about this with the help of the current co-owner Joe Troilo. Joe held onto the original race gear, undisturbed in his garage for over 20 years until it was all put back into this, the original race car.

Talking drag racing from the way back, it shouldn’t surprise you to find yet another Willys, this time the sedan variety, set next to something I don’t see enough of: A gasser styled model A roadster.  This is a race I would love to have seen.

You probably noticed the trophies next to the Reinero Bros car. Here’s a few more. Remember when the trophies were made of metal, marble and real wood? What looks like a spider web is a metal wire securing all the trophies. I’m sure they’re priceless to the owner.

Although not the gasser style, no talk of drag racing history would be complete without mentioning the earliest “rail jobs” that were nothing more than an engine, frame and wheels. With nothing left to strip out of it, they started cutting holes in said frame to lose more weight. Safe no, fast yes. There’s a special place in the driver’s compartment to store and protect the over-sized rollers the driver needed.

Finally, in all it’s beauty, “The Bug”.  This stripped down lakes race car built by Dick Kraft is as simple as it gets.  The Encyclopedia Britannica (yea, you read that right!) says, “Kraft’s obsession with weight extended to peeling of his T-shirt!” Good for 109.09 mph and top speed at Santa Ana in 1950, you’re looking at the birth of the dragster and the shock of moms across all of California!

Our friends at Speedhunters.com also got some great pictures from the “History of the Race Car” hall. Check out their GNRS coverage here.

Anything you like? Let us know in a comment below.

Project 1320 – Capturing Drag Racing’s Storied Past

Keep your eyes and ears open for Project 1320 described in the press release below, you’ll be glad you did.  The project’s goal is simple. Get the facts about the how, why and where drag racing started and how it developed over the years from a first hand perspective of the people who were there. Traci Hrudka is the chairman for this project and comes from a long line of drag racing herself. Traci’s uncle Joe and father Tom Hrudka started the great Mr. Gasket empire. (Click on the picture to see them full size)

Look closely at these pictures taken from Traci’s page at the community she’s making for Project 1320. Notice the “Hrudka Bro’s” and “Mr. Gasket” proudly displayed on the side? Traci worked at the family business for 20 years and in her words, “Boy do I have some stories!” That’s what this project is about. An “oral history” of everyone from the legends like Don Garlits to the no name grassroots fellas (and ladies!) that made drag racing what it is. I can’t wait to hear more about this project and keep you posted along the way.

Project 1320 to chronicle drag racing’s pioneers

Documentaries to provide an oral history of the sport

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, December 01, 2009

Contact: Traci Hrudka
Quarter Mile Entertainment, LLC
Phone: 440.888.0088/Hrudka@sbcglobal.net

Parma Heights, Ohio – Drag racing fans have long had a desire to learn about the birth of the sport from the legends and heroes of the formative years.
To this point, there has been a patchwork of efforts but without an integrated approach to tell the story of how men and women with mechanical talent, fearless determination and skill built the cars and events to capture the glory of being the quickest and the fastest down 1320 feet of asphalt.

The focus of Quarter Mile Entertainment LLC (QME) and its Project 1320 is to capture first person narratives about the life and times of these early heroes…from the period immediately after World War II through to the beginning of the “modern era”. The narratives of the sport’s pioneers will be supported with still images and home movies of the period to deliver the “Who, What, When, Where, Why” of the times.

At the heart of the project is the goal to produce a series of high quality documentary films centering on the individuals, manufacturers, sanctioning bodies and the behind the scenes people…what it took to bring this great sport to its current level. The individuals and manufacturers who will be a part of this series will include many household names but will also include many of the “lesser-knowns” whose contributions have faded in our minds, but who helped launch the sport, nurtured it through its early growth and finally saw it become a major motorsport. The goal is to place the series on a cable network to expose the greatest number of viewers to why and how this sport has grown in popularity.

“Our greatest concern is to capture the stories and personal perspectives of the legends of the sport that are still living,” says Traci Hrudka, chairman of Quarter Mile Entertainment. “We have lost a tremendous number of these people over the years, and time is running out to capture those oral histories in a digital format. If we ever want to do this, now is the time!”

The initial effort will be to provide an overview of the historical perspective of the sport – the key people and moments…the passion and the blood, sweat and tears it took to evolve the sport from a grassroots, never quit, “run whatcha brung” level to the point where corporate America and thousands of racers are involved on a weekly basis. It will also touch on how successful racers became successful business owners, supporting the racers with the products needed to get the finish line quicker and faster.

The blueprint for Project 1320 calls for a breaking down of the sport’s dramatic growth…by decades, the evolution of today’s major classes of competition, plus a look at the growth of the racing parts aftermarket, the influence of automaker participation and the support of corporate America, the historic race tracks and their owners and how the ideas of a small handful of men and women created the sanctioning bodies that have guided the sport.

The early grassroots support of Project 1320 has been amazing, fed by a word of mouth, internet-based network of old racers. A significant number of fans and racers have volunteered their home movies and pictures to this project. These images and movies will be digitized and archived for future use, as well as the first person interviews. The archives will provide much of the resource material for the subsequent project episodes.

Project 1320 will be seeking both corporate and grassroots support to document drag racing’s historic moments and personalities. The “Friends of Project 1320” program will soon be launched to allow individuals to help produce this undertaking, and to build additional support.

The Board of Directors of QME hope the project will generate even more support by fans and racers who uncover their personal archives of yesterday and share it with future generations of fans and racers.

The Board of Directors of Quarter Mile Entertainment LLC consists of: Traci Hrudka (Chairman), Harry Hibler, Don Garlits, Steve Cole and Wayne Wolfe. The Board of Directors is assisted by an Advisory Board of Wally Booth, Darwin Doll, Don Ewald, Carl Olson, Stephen Krystek and Bill Pratt.

NOTE: The Project 1320 website at www.project1320.com. Check it out, sign-up and if it moves you, donate to the cause!

All photos courtesy of Traci Hrudka

Vintage Front Engine Dragster with a Six!

I bumped into Wayne and this cool front engine dragster at the Nostalgia Drags here in AZ at Speedworld. Always on the lookout for something different, I couldn’t help but notice the the six cylinder, a not-so-obvious choice for an engine, let alone in a vintage dragster.

Travelling into Arizona from Alamogordo, NM for the drags, here’s some info about Wayne’s digger:

I decided to build an inline car because I raced my Flathead car with the Denver Flathead Inline guys and saw there weren’t many “Late inline” dragsters and when there were, they all ran Chevys… so I thought about the best engineered inline and came up with the Ford. (12 port head and very Strong bottom end).

• Chassis: 1968 Race Car Engineering (Woody Gilmore) 182″ wheelbase.
• Engine: 1975 Ford 300 cu in, bored .030 with Weisco flat top forged pistons with zero deck clearance.
• Crankshaft: is out of an F-650 which is steel.
• Rods: Crower H- beam.
• Cam and lifters: Crower (flat tappet)
• Head: From a 240 cu in Ford (much smaller chamber than a 300) that I ported and put in Chev. 1.94 and 1.60 stainless valves and added some BBChev. Crower roller rockers.
• Injection: Hilborn which came off a 351 Winsdor. Modified, by me to work on the six.
• Exhust: zoomies I made and are 1 3/4 X 18″ long.
• Ignition: Vertex Magneto with rare earth magnets
• Transmission: Powerglide with 1.82 ratio gears and 3000 stall converter and trans brake.
• Rear: Chrysler 8 3/4 with 3.91 gears with 11 1/2 X 31″ tires.
• Weight: 1190 lb. without fuel and driver.

Cars best time was 9.34 @ 134.

I couldn’t run under 10 sec. this weekend at Speedworld because the Chassis certification had expired in Nov. 08.

Unfortunately, I did a dumb thing… when I built the car, I never took any pics, not until it was done. Looking back, I bought the chassis out of New Brunswick Canada in 2004 and had to replace the right top rail as they had bashed it out to fit a Big Block Chevy. After that, I ended up rebuilding everything on the chassis.

I don’t have any history on the car but through other Std. 1320 members we have pinned it down to a 1968 or 69. I found evidence of old Chrysler mounts and I’m sure it was high gear only with a double disc clutch. That Chrysler rear axle appears to be original.

I’m strictly into nostalgia cars and don’t like the looks of a RED.

Thanks for the info Wayne! The six looks great and a 9.34 ain’t slow! Good luck with future races…

Got a front engine dragster? Whether you know the history or not, let us know!

80 Icons of Speed and Style All For Sale

As much as we love our home-built cars that we’ve poured blood, sweat, and sometimes tears into – most of us recognize we don’t have the skill or talent to produce cars along the caliber that greats such as Boyd Coddington, Ed Roth, Harry Bradley, and the Alexander Brothers do. Which is why its such good news that coming this September we all have a chance to own one of these “Icons of Speed and Style”. Yep, that’s right. Nearly 80 cars, all from a single-owner collection, will be up for grabs in a no-reserve auction billed “Icons of Speed and Style” held September 26, 2009 at The Peterson Museum in Los Angeles, California by RM Auctions. Whether its speed, style, or history you’re into, this well-rounded collection offers it all.

Legendary cars such as the famous Dodge “Little Red Wagon” wheel-standing drag truck, the dominating Ray Allen LS6 Chevelle Convertible, legendary “Big John” Mazmanian’s Corvette gasser, the original “Road Agent” show car by Ed “Big Daddy” Roth as well as famous customs from the Ayala Brothers, Sonny Mazza, the Alexander Brothers, George Barris, Daryl Starbird and Boyd Coddington will be on the block going to the highest bidder.

“Each of these cars on offer are cultural icons of the roads and race tracks of America because they encompass every aspect of American engineering, racing ingenuity and cutting edge customization”, said Ian Kelleher, President and COO of RM Auctions.

So start saving your pennies now!

I invite you to join me in LA at the auction – catch all the bidding and event details by visiting RM Auctions at www.rmauctions.com. And check back often at MyRideIsMe.com because we’ll be featuring a number of cars that’ll be up for auction. If you’re lucky one of these could be in your garage, but until September… feast your eyes on these beautiful rides!
(All photos courtesy of RM Auctions and Darin Schnabel)

“Internet Barn Finds #3″: 70’s Funny Cars

For #3, MyRideisMe.com went in search of Nostalgia Funny Cars.  We scored a great find when we discovered the  www.70sfunnycars.com website in our internet search.  The website itself is vintage too, as it was established in 1998…was the internet even around back then? Ha Ha

This Vintage Funny Car website has many hidden jewels and is sure to bring back memories!  You’ll need a couple hours to soak in all this ‘Nostalgia’.  We’ll launch into more in the future from 70sFunnyCars.com…we’ve only just gone through the waterbox and started our 1st burnout (…”Remember when Funny Cars would do 5 burnouts”)!

Have your own pictures or stories about your favorite Nostalgia Funny Car from ‘back in the day’?

Please share them by emailing to: nostalgiaFC@MyRideisMe.com

Or, leave a comment below, you don’t need to be a member.   If you like what you see, please Join us! as a member and add your rides to your MyRideisMe virtual garage. Here’s an example: Vintage Dragster Garage

Take a minute and look around at our other Nostalgia/Vintage Car stories here at MyRideisMe… it don’t cost-ya nut’n!

Green Gas Runnin’ Ford Falcon Turbo

I met, Kelly McLearran at the Speedworld Nostalgia Drags and found out she’s was more then just the pilot of this 10 second quarter mile 1963 Ford Falcon.

As if that blasting 10’s with 2 less cylinders than the average racer weren’t enough, she’s also known to turn a few wrenches, they run E85 instead of race fuel and I’m delighted to say she’s a breast cancer survivor.

If you didn’t know already I’m a Ford Falcon fan. Pops was a Ford mechanic for 25+ years, so when it came to drag racing, sprint cars or of course NASCAR, we were always routing for the blue oval boys.

So when I found this killer home built Falcon at the drags way up town at Speedworld, I had to take a look. I’ve seen this car before and heard about the woman driving it from the forum at fordsix.com. Between rounds, we had a chat about how she made a Ford six cylinder run that hard and why, My Ride is Me.

Kelly’s website, Quarter Mile for a Cure, tells her story. On her 30th birthday, she found out she had cancer and joined several relatives who had also been diagnosed. While receiving Chemotherapy, she made the decision to go racing. With her new found zest for living, she didn’t want to be on a crew either, she wanted to drive.

She started out running her husband Will’s 69 Mustang with a mostly stock 351. She liked it, but that was their driver too. I know that feeling. You don’t want to run really hard in a car you’re planning to drive home when the race is done. Then they found the Falcon.

With a little looking a Falcon Futura that already had a 5-lug 9 inch came along. It still had the stock 170 cu. in six. With seat belts fastened, she tore up the strip running 20 second passes all day long. The six cylinder car brought on alot of attention, but like every true drag racing enthusiast, she want to go FASTER!

It would’ve been easy to drop in a V8, especially since Will was running a darn serious 86 Mustang with a turbo-V8. (pics at their website) But Kelly’s Falcon was like her, a fighter, so she chose a little tougher path by sticking with the inline 6. Don’t be fooled though, this 250 cube “little” six has all the go-fast goodies… how about a Classic Inlines aluminum head and 450 cfm four barrel Holley stuffed by a turbo that’s been dialed up to 18lbs when they’re running all out. It hasn’t been easy though! This is their second (third?) motor now. In this picture, Kelly’s holding the grenaded parts from a failed motor.

On top of running the quirky-cool inline 6 and beating Hemi cars running a best of 10.95, The McLearran’s are also Green Racers! Instead of dropping 9 bucks or so on racing gas, they chose to use the cleaner burning E85. In case you haven’t seen it, E85 is 85% Ethanol and 15% regular gasoline. In Arizona, it’s also just about 100% hard to find.

At 103 octane (compared to premium fuel’s low 90’s octane), E85’s potent stuff and perfect for racing a turbo since alcohol runs super cool (think frost forming on the intake). Will told me the E85’s like it’s own intercooler on their Falcon. To run E85, you need to supply lots of it! Your fuel pump and fuel feed system needs to supply about 25% more E85 than if you were running gas. That’s cause the stoichiometric (big word meaning balanced) combustion ratio of fuel to air for E85 is about 25% higher than what you find with gasoline. You could also say the energy per gallon of E85 is less than gas. That’s also why your fuel economy is worse too.

It was my pleasure to meet Kelly and tell her story. I hope to see her and other fast Ford Falcons at other races in Arizona. If you see Kelly on the other side of the track, don’t let the quiet idle and the friendly smile fool ya… you’re about to get smoked.

“Internet Barn Finds” #2: ‘33 Willys Gasser Tribute

“The Gasser Tribute Car was built as a tribute to all the drivers, owners and fans that loved these kinds of cars. It is probably one of the last A Gas Supercharged Olds powered Willys coupes left in the country.” Del Wiesner

The Dean Seevers, Del Wiesner and Harold Owens ‘33 Willy’s Olds-powered A-Gas Supercharged Gasser original reigned from Loveland, Colorado and ran at dragstrips across the country from 1962-1966. These 3 Loveland High School grads and car nuts started the first car club in town, the “Loveland Zephyrs” and soon after began racing the Willys.

One highlight for the 3 friends was holding the American Hot Rod Association National Record in 1964 with a 10.00 seconds at 146.86 mph run. The crew raced some of the top names of the day and were very competitive. Del says after working 40 years with his businesses, he never forgot the impact that car had on him. “Once you get that in your blood, it’s hard to let it go. It was the most exciting time of my life, so I decided to rebuild a part of history.”

Do yourself a favor and check out this Gasser Car Tribute website. I struggled to figure out what pictures to share here. You just need to spend 10 minutes on the site and soak in the history Del shares, along with some 40+ year old pictures of the original Willy’s in action.

You can see from this example that the Nostaligia Gassers had a huge impact on both drag racing and the people who built and raced them. A car like this ‘33 Willy’s Gasser is the definition of MyRideisMe.

I love these last two pictures of the crew and a couple close friends who acted as pitcrew. Oh, the good old days! I had to post them up. Car nuts enjoying a friendship that originated from a love of the automobile and racing.

Come and share your “Internet Barn Finds” in the forum. Post up those cool Nostalgia Gassers for all to see. Until next time, happy internet hunting…

Hechtspeed

Funny Car Fever in Sacramento -16 Cars Full

I can never get too much Nostalgia Funny Car racing! If you can, then maybe you ain’t right. When I saw that Lisa Jennings was promoting Funny car fever at my old “home track” of Sacramento Raceway, I wanted to help, so here’s some info for you die-hard cracklefest-ing nostalgia drag racing folks!

Funny Car Fever Is Back with it’s first 16 Funny Car Field At Sacramento Raceway.

The 28th Annual Funny Car Fever is back April 24th – 25th at Sacramento Raceway Park. 619 Promotions has added a new marketing partner… Mickey Thompson Performance Tire and Wheels.

“Having such a valuable marketing partner as Mickey Thompson, has made it possible to put on the first ever 16 nitro funny car elimination field at Sacramento Raceway Park, giving the fans twice the show of last year’s event.” said Lisa Jennings at 619 Promotions. “We are looking forward to working with Mickey Thompson on this historical event and hope this turns into a long partnership that benefits us both in the years to come.”

Mickey Thompson will have a fully manned support trailer on hand at Funny Car Fever at Sacramento Raceway Park for those racers that run their tires for sales and tech support.

The Nitro Funny Car Association (NFCA) is guaranteeing the 16 car field. Therefore, this event is exclusive to the NFCA members. “With having the 16 Nitro Funny Car qualified field, and adding the Outlaw Pro Mods this year, we feel the fans are in for exciting side by side racing!” said Lee Paul Jennings of 619 Promotions.

Among those already expected to appear at Funny Car Fever is last year’s Champ Kris Krabill in the “Pedaler” Arrow, last year’s runner up Bucky Austin in the “Northwest Hitter” Arrow, Garrett Bateman in the “Plueger & Gyger” Mustang, Mike Adams in the “Coors” Corvette, John Powers in the “Powers Steel” Camaro, Mike Halstead in the “Nitro Charger” Dodge Daytona, Lee Paul Jennings in the brand new “An American Revolution” Camaro, and Bob Godfrey in the “Burn N Money” Camaro.

Other classes that will be competing at Funny Car Fever include Outlaw Pro Mods, 7.0 Pro, Top Sportsman, Top Eliminator West, Big Bucks ET, Pro Gas A,B,C, & D, Drag Bikes, and a Jet Dragster.

This just in!

“Fast” Jack Beckman To Drive “American Revolution” Nitro Funny Car in Sacramento in April

“”Fast” Jack Beckman, driver of the Valvoline/Mail Terminal Services Dodge Charger Funny Car for Don Schumacher Racing in the 2009 NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, will change pace on one of his off weekends and drive Lee Jennings’ Nostalgia “American Revolution” Camaro at the 28th Annual Funny Car Fever at Sacramento Raceway Park on April 24-25, 2009.

Beckman recently had a chance to familiarize himself with the Jennings-owned funny car at a test session at Auto Club Famoso Raceway, located outside of Bakersfield, Calif., where he ran an on-and-off-the-throttle 6.07 seconds at 224 mph.

Funny Car Race details:

Friday night qualifying will begin at 4 PM.
Admission: 12 and under FREE with paid adult. 12 and over $20.00

Saturday: Pit gates open at 8:00 AM. Qualifying begins at 9:00 AM. First round of funny car eliminations begins at noon.

General Admission: Under 12 free with paid adult. 12 and over $20.00.
Or Pit Admission: 6-11 $5.00. 12 and over $25.00.

General Parking is FREE! Pit Parking $20.00 (Motorhomes $40.00)

Pre Buy Tickets Online and SAVE at http://www.619promotions.com.

For more information on this historic event visit http://www.SacramentoRaceway.com, and http://www.funnycarfeverseries.com.

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