Pure Insanity

Chicago Family is “Nuts” About Nostalgia Drags

Story by John Gunnell

The Cole family is nuts about nostalgia drag racing. Robert, David and Courtney Cole share driving chores on two really crazy drag racing machines called “Pure Insanity I” and “Pure Insanity II.” The first car is a ’65 Chevy Nova big-block. “Pure Insanity II” is a ‘32 Austin Bantam roadster that also has a big-cube motor. Both cars are big hits with nostalgia drag racing fans. Robert Cole is used to doing things big. His North Shore Towing & Recycling is a family owned and operated firm that has diversified into a wide array of services like towing, auto wrecking and recycling, used auto parts and used car sales. North Shore is a place to get “hooked on cars”—a one stop shop for Illinois and Wisconsin residents.

Also big are the Reher-Morrison-built big-block Chevy V8s that Cole stuffs into his dragsters. The 509-cubic-inch monster “mills” have pushed the Nova down the quarter mile in 9.27 seconds at 142 mph, while the lighter fibreglass-bodied Bantam replica turns an 8.15-second quarter mile at 150 mph.

Cole had John Beyer, who originally turned the Nova into a drag racing car, make most of the recent changes to it. North Shore Towing’s motto is “Get Hooked” and the Cole family really is hooked on fast cars. We ran into Cole, his son David, his daughter Courtney and their friend Mark Pappas at the Muscle Cars and Corvette Nationals in Rosemont, Ill. All three family members pilot the Pappas-Cole Motorsportssponsored drag machines. “We all race together at Great Lakes Dragaway in Union Grove, Wis.,” said Bob. “We all belong to the Midwest Gassers. It’s a family thing for us; we’re out almost every weekend with the car.”

As the name Insanity I indicates, the Nova was Cole’s first racing car. It was built into a racing car back in the ‘60s, when it competed at U.S. 30 Dragstrip with small-block Chevy

V8 power. Back then the car was painted white and called “Night Life.” The car was originally built by John Beyer and John also did a lot of the updates seen on the car today at his ChicagoOak Lawn shop.

“I just loved the look of the Nova,” Cole recalled. “I loved the nostalgic part of it, too. We were looking for an interesting race car so we could go out with the guys that want to keep the gasser thing going.” Gassers were the cars that were popular in drag racing, before the more modern, nitro-fuelled funny cars arrived. During that transition period in the ‘60s, the gassers fought to stay on top and drag races of that period that pitted the two types were labelled “gasser wars.”

David and Bob are listed on car show signs as the drivers of the Nova and Courtney and David take turns piloting the Bantam. The Nova is what’s called a “straight axle” car, since it has an I-beam style front axle and a front end that sits up high. It uses a special DRC Turbo 400 automatic transmission and a Strange (that’s the brand name) Ford nine-inch rear axle. The Bantam has an Ultra-Bell Powerglide two-speed automatic transmission and the same type of rear axle as the Nova. It is what’s called a “hard tail” car with no suspension at all.

Cole has been a car nut since he was a teenager. He still owns a 1966 Corvette that he’s had since he was 17. He says he’s, “Car crazy and the Insanity runs in the family.” Cole took ideas “from here and there” for his cars.

The Nova was pretty much together when he bought it. “Still, we changed a lot of things,” he explained. “It had a 12-bolt Chevy rear and we put in the Ford nine-inch instead. We put in rear disc brakes, a different straight axle and different springs. I wanted a racing car and it was already in that configuration when we bought it. And, yes, I am going to keep it forever.”

Courtney Cole chimed in, “The car is his baby.” The family has taken the two cars to dragstrips throughout the Midwest “We went to two Good Guys Shows,” said Courtney. “And we’ve been to other dragstrips like Cordova, Route 66 and Highway 41.” Bob Cole says that he and his team are really happy with the car. “We have a lot of fun with it and the crowd always loves it.”

Cole said that interest in all types of nostalgia drag racing continues to grow. “The gassers are coming back, the pro stocks are coming back and the nitro front-engine dragsters are all the rage again,” he noted. “Don Garlits was at the Good Guys events and they also had a cackle fest for the old cars, besides really racing the modern ones that are up to National Hot Rod Association specs. It’s all coming back in a huge way and our family is really enjoying it.”

Bob Cole, who operates North Shore Towing in Chicago and Evanston, Ill., races two nostalgia dragsters with his family. His Insanity II is on the left and Insanity I is next to it. Their slogan is “Pure Insanity - It Runs in the Family.”