Auto focus ■ Words and Pics: Keith Lee
This month, Keith looks at the exploits of the Stones team – newly indicted to the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame
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his year’s British Drag Racing Hall of Fame gala will be taking place just a few days after this issue of Custom Car is sent out. The event will be overshadowed by the sad loss of Jon Morton, who was just so joyous at being selected for induction into the HoF but tragically succumbed to a heart attack at the Euro Finals. Now, Jon would be the last person to want those present to be downbeat, as his prescription would be to raise a glass or two – and enjoy the food, with gusto! There will no doubt be many stories about Mort shared during the evening. Also being honoured are the National Street Rod Association, Mark Flavell, the Stones team and overseas inductee, the late Dutch bike racer Henk Vink. It is the Stones team who I wanted to look back at, as they were such a prominent part of UK and European drag racing – especially in the hectic days of the seventies. Dave Stone was out on track in a
Lotus Cortina back in 1969, and by 1970 he and his father Dennis were racing together as a two car team. Dennis had bought a Chevy-powered Opus from Cliff Jones, which was running in the Competition Altered division. This wild little car might have been handled by Dennis originally, but his lanky son was soon to be found having a run in the aptly named Opus One. A distinctive Crower injection system and other goodies were fitted to provide more performance, as the little blue car became a crowd pleaser. Not standing still, a more substantial T-bodied car was procured from the team of Benbow and Fullerton for 1972 – with the injected Chevy motor replacing the car’s original Pontiac power unit. This car would become well known in drag racing circles as Tee Rat, as it would become THE most memorable altered of the era – both for its performance and the manner it achieved it! A Pro Stock class was introduced in 1973, which was the domain of Chevrolet power,
with Camaro being the car of choice. The Stones came from the Ford stronghold of Dagenham, but Chevy was their preference for power also. However the body for their entry was the humble Ford Escort, with a 302 motor shoe horned into the engine bay. Gerry Andrews was the main driver of this little pocket rocket, which they named Tender Trap. By 1974, the Stones were competing with no less than three entries. A real master stroke was the inclusion of the Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis as part of the team. DLT loved his cars and proved to be an excellent advocate for the sport – and no mean driver. He was now driving the team’s Escort when he was available over a couple of seasons, before the car was initially retired. The other big news for the team was the inclusion of a dragster for Gerry Andrews to drive. This Allan Herridge built car was fitted with the injected motor from Tee Rat, which itself was now sporting a blown lump, for even quicker times. A notable success came at Silverstone, where DLT won his class in the Escort and Gerry clinched the Top Dragster victory. That left Dave Stone, who became the first 7-second altered runner, as he defeated Mike Hall with a best of 7.96 / 198 to make it a clean sweep for the team! A new Roland Pratt built chassis formed the basis for a revised Tee Rat, which ended up taking on the funny cars of the day – and winning – as it propelled Dave to 7.5s times in what was a very short life he hevy powered scort first appeared in ’ . ender rap resurfaced in the late s, resplendent in tardust inspired livery
54 CUSTOM CAR DECEMBER 2022
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