100% RETRO
NOVEMBER 2017
RACING 1967:
PUSHING THE LIMITS
NOT JUNK NOW! PG. 32
★T THE RACE OF
GENTLEMEN ★H HOT ROD REUNION ★B BUILDING A MODEL A BODY
• PICS: PETERSEN PUBLISHING CO. ARCHIVE
> Our Menu features cool coupes from Bonneville 1953. The “Double-Threat” So-Cal Speed Shop coupe likely needs no introduction, and was profiled in-depth in the May 1954 HRM. Alex Xydias’ team ran a two-way average of 172 mph to capture the C Competition Coupe class, then went drag racing later that year (sans the blower on the Merc flathead) to set a B/Modified record of 121.16 mph at Pomona.
MENU • NOVEMBER 2017 06 FLAG MAN
32 COVER STORY: RESURRECTED
The accidental hot rodder.
A basket-case coupe was his very first hot rod build.
08 WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
40 COUPE WITH ATTITUDE
A most talented father-and-son team.
This Cad-motored Deuce started as an “atrocious” body shell.
10 RODDIN’ @ RANDOM
48 000
Nickey builds a T-Bird gasser; a boat builder crafts a wooden Deuce; and making the scene at the F.A.S.T. Time Trials, Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green, the York Nostalgia Weekend, and TROG Jersey.
A one-time relic with righteous stock car race history.
58 POWER STRUGGLES Part 13: 1967 brings our racing review to a close.
HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 3
MENU • NOVEMBER 2017 68 PARTS THAT APPEAL New Navarro blower parts, vintage-look evaporators, and the classic Slingshot manifold.
70 BODY BUILDING Parts old and new contribute to our Racing Roadster body.
78 SCRAPBOOK Happy Birthday Prowlers, more Snap Jack memories, Henslee T info, and Top Fuel photos from the 1960s.
82 TROPHY GIRL A get-well card to our favorite trophy girl.
> One of the “big sensations” at Bonneville in 1953 was Don Bishop’s Chrysler-powered coupe, said HRM in its Nov. 1953 issue. “Bishop’s Barn” ran the course “at a consistent speed of 161.57 mph.” Bishop’s efforts earned him one of “several valuable merchandise awards given for outstanding performance.” In his case that was a complete Halibrand quick-change center section “given for the fastest car without a quick-change.”
ON THE COVER Steve Patton took “do it yourself” to a new level when he taught himself how to build a hot rod while putting together his Hemi-powered Model A coupe. Turn to page 32 to find out how he did it, and to see more from Wes Allison’s photo shoot.
4 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
Kits Available for: – Small-Block Chevy – Small-Block Ford – Flathead Ford
Edelbrock Vintage Intake Manifold and Carb Kits Nothing says cool and vintage like a multi-carb setup under the hood. Edelbrock now offers street rodders the choice of dual, triple or six deuce setups! These kits include the core components you need for installaton on a small-block Chevy, small-block or Flathead Ford — all in one box. These kits include a new aluminum intake manifold, new Edelbrock 94 carburetors and linkage kit for the best allin-one-box performance package. Add an optional fuel log kit and air cleaners and you have a period correct hot rod! And best of all, every Edelbrock intake manifold is designed, cast and machined in the USA for the quality and performance you and your hot rod deserve!
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PASSION FOR PERFORMANCE
FLAG MAN The Accidental Hot Rodder To hear him tell it, Alex Xydias essentially stumbled into the role of being one of hot rodding’s most influential pioneers. Not that Alex would call himself that; he’s too modest. But how else would you describe the man who founded the SoCal Speed Shop; whose cars set numerous speed records on dry lakes and the salt flats; and who helped start not one, but two landmark performance trade shows? Alex himself described his “Life in the Fast Lane” at a celebration of his 95th birthday that was held during the L.A. Roadsters show in June. The event was also a fundraiser to support his namesake vocational/technical school at the Pomona Fairplex, the Alex Xydias Center of Automotive Arts. It’s a small building with a big job—to train young people for hands-on careers in the automotive industry—that’s a literal stone’s throw away from the landmark dragstrip on the fairgrounds’ edge. Alex claims he wasn’t originally a car guy, saying, “I grew up playing cowboys and Indians.” Once he got to high school, though, things changed. He bought his first car, a ’29
6 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
Model A roadster, for $65. His second car was a ’34 three> Alex Xydias’ window Ford. “It boiled over all So-Cal Speed Shop the time, but it looked good,” he cars were featured remembered. “And it was loud, on two HOT ROD with the best mufflers in town.” magazine covers in After his World War II ser1949. The January issue shows the vice in the Army Air Corps, he belly tanker at was looking for a new opporEl Mirage, while tunity and “jumped in—foolthe October issue ishly—and opened a speed featured the recordshop. I don’t know why, and I setting streamliner don’t know where I came up at Bonneville. with the So-Cal name.” Early on the store sold small stuff, “acorn head nuts and steel wheels,” he > Below, Alex said, but “started selling bigger and Dick Day look things, like Edelbrock heads,” over Steve Scott’s when it seemed like “every Uncertain T during guy after the war bought a ’32 Alex’s tenure as roadster.” Car Craft Editor. To promote his new business, “I decided to put the So-Cal cars pictured in a book owned name on a race car.” From Bill by local hot rodder Dean BatchBurke, who had pioneered the elor. The slippery bodywork use of aircraft drop tanks as was formed by Valley Custom’s streamlined lakes racers, Alex Neil Emory, learning how to bought a belly tanker that utiwork with aluminum as he lized a Model T frame and pow- went. “We wanted to have the fastest hot rod in the world, ered it with a V8/60 flathead. with the So-Cal name on it,” “The next thing I knew, I was Alex said. He got his wish. With going 135 mph across this flat Batchelor at the wheel and dirt called El Mirage.” power via a Bobby Meeks–built Alex went to the first BonnMerc flathead, the ’liner went eville Speed Trials in 1949 with 154 in one direction, and an a streamliner whose shape was astonishing 193 on the return, inspired by Auto Union racing despite “both front tires blowing the rubber off,” Alex said. Alex would race for just a few more years, until a friend died in a tragic 1954 dragstrip accident in the So-Cal “Double Threat” coupe. “There was no safety equipment then,” he said. “We raced in T-shirts. All we had were helmets and seatbelts.” So once again, he “jumped into something I knew nothing about” and filmed races using a war-surplus Bell & Howell camera. “My idea was to do what Warren Miller did with ski movies,” he said of the films he shot at Indy, Sebring, Daytona, and other venues. “But there were more skiers than hot rodders, so it didn’t do well.” Alex’s next life chapter began when Robert Petersen offered him a job as the editor of Car
Craft magazine. “I had taken typing in high school,” Alex said, “because that’s where the girls were.” After a year at CC, Petersen put Alex on a new trade magazine, Hot Rod Industry News. “And then Petersen said, ‘Now that we have a book, let’s do a trade show.’” Alex and Petersen’s executive secretary, Gigi Carleton, put together that show, which drew about 100 vendors to a cold and drafty Dodger Stadium in January 1967. “We didn’t know what we were doing,” Alex admitted, but that first High Performance & Custom Trade Show eventually grew into the monster we now know as the SEMA Show. And then, “at 55 years old, and after 12 years at Petersen, I once again jumped into something I didn’t know anything about.” Mickey Thompson, who was putting on successful short-course off-road races, asked Alex to stage a SEMAlike trade show for the off-road industry. The SCORE Show “packed the Anaheim Convention Center for 10 years,” Alex said proudly. At 65 Alex wanted to retire, but something new in the hot rodding world would soon change his life again. “Bruce Meyer started restoring hot rods and started a trend.” After
• PICS PICS: PETERSEN PUBLISHING CO CO. ARCHIVE Pete Chapouris restored the vaunted Pierson Bros. coupe for Meyer, “Bruce asked me if I knew where the belly tanker was.” Alex did, Bruce bought it, and during Chapouris’ restoration of the lakester, “Pete and I got to be best friends.” “Pete turned my life completely around,” Alex said of the man who asked if he could use the storied So-Cal name on his hot rod shop. “He’s the reason my name is on this school, and now his name is paired with mine forever.” It was Chapouris’ idea to name the vocational school after Alex, and when Chapouris passed away earlier this year, Alex had Pete’s name added to the school. It is now the Alex Xydias and Pete Chapouris Center for Automotive Arts. Pete’s spirit looms large over the new PC3 Welding and Fabrication Program, which not only carries his initials but houses his personal welding table and helmet. You can learn more about the school, as a student or a supporter of a very worthy endeavor, by visiting tlcfairplex. org/axc. —DREW HARDIN
NOVEMBER 2017 EDITORIAL
Network Content Director Douglas R. Glad Editor Drew Hardin Managing Editor Michelle McCarthy ART DIRECTION & DESIGN
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WHERE IT ALL BEGAN “A Most Talented Father-and-Son Team”
That’s how HOT ROD’s Racer Brown described the Edelbrocks, Vic Sr. and Jr., as they undertook a months-long deep dive into the performance parameters of the then-new small-block Chevy V8. Brown shot photos at the Edelbrock shop in October 1955 to document the tests, which were still ongoing when he wrote what would be HRM’s January 1956 cover story. In a caption for a photo similar to this outtake, Brown noted, “Vic Jr. did the work, was supervised by his dad.” “Junior” grew up in his father’s shop, sweeping floors as a pre-teenager and working there part-time while he went to school, even while attending USC on a football scholarship. He was being groomed to take over the family business, but that day came sooner than anyone expected when his father died battling cancer in 1962. Vic Sr. was 49 years old; his son was 26. Fortunately, several of Edelbrock’s longtime employees, including Bobby Meeks, Don Towle, and Robert Bradford, were there to help with day-to-day operations during the transition, as was his mother, Katie. He also got support from friends in the industry, including Ed Iskenderian, Bob Hedman, and engine builder Bob Joehnck. (Though Brown didn’t identify any of the makers of the 20 cams Edelbrock tested “to prevent any thoughts of discrimination,” it was an Iskenderian cam that performed best during Edelbrock’s extensive comparison, seeing 229 hp on the Clayton dyno. “The power figures represent a gain of a whopping 94 horsepower, or 69.9 percent over the stock engine,” Brown wrote. The cam spec’d with 256 degrees of duration and 0.410 inch lift.) In 1962, the Edelbrock Equipment Company had 10 employees and did $450,000 in annual sales. In the years that followed, Vic Jr. guided the company to become a multi-million-dollar corporation with six facilities (including its own foundry), some 700 employees, and a range of products that goes far beyond (but still includes) the slingshot manifolds and flathead cylinder heads that earned Vic Sr. a reputation as a premier speed parts innovator. In June, at age 80, Vic Jr. passed away, “from complications following a recent cold,” said the company. “His passing was peaceful and in the company of his closest friends and family.” —DREW HARDIN
8 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
• PIC: RACER BROWN, PETERSEN PUBLISHING CO. ARCHIVE
HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 9
RODDIN’ @ RANDOM JOYRIDE: The return road for the racers was a dirt road along the backside of the airstrip. A lot of the racers took this opportunity to have a little extra fun, like Tyler Weeks and his girlfriend in their Model A coupe. SPRINT: Lee Hammock handbuilt his replica of a ’50sera midget racer, which uses Model-T-style framerails and an in-out-style transmission. He was able to click off a time of 9.33 seconds at 64.93 mph.
SUPER BEE
PICS: KLEET NORRIS
SUPER BEE: Max McLain, from San Luis Obispo, California, cast his own intake for his roadster named “Max’s Super Bee.” Max’s best time was a 10.48 at 67.77 mph.
FOUR-BANGERS GO F.A.S.T.
The historic Santa Margarita Ranch in Central California played host to this year’s F.A.S.T. (Ford A Speed Technology) time trials, where a small gathering of hot rodders pushed their four-cylinder-powered vehicles to their limits along a tenth-mile course on the ranch’s airstrip. The banger-powered vehicles competing in the trials ranged from stock Model As to early Teens Fords. There were also several purpose-built race cars and some historic race cars as well. The 27 cars competing in the trials were grouped into several classes, depending on
JOYRIDE
what modifications were done to either the engine or the car itself. With the air temperature reaching around 108 degrees, officials decided to stop the event early to help protect the racers, spectators, and the cars, which were getting slower as the temperature increased. The overall winner of the event with the fastest time and speed was Wesley Eisenga, who was driving a ’30 Model A speedster owned by Bob Miller. Wesley’s best time was 8.56 seconds at 71.7 miles per hour in the little speedster. —KLEET NORRIS
HOMEBUILT: Jack Connolly spent several years building his ’29 Indy car tribute. The handbuilt chassis has underslung suspension with a quickchange rearend and Lincoln brakes that are modified to look like early Kinmont disc brakes. The car’s best time was 10.25 seconds at 59.1 mph.
SPRINT
WINNER
WINNER: Wesley Eisenga, driving Bob Miller’s ’30 Model A speedster, would end up winning the event overall with the best time of 8.56 seconds at 71.7 mph.
HOMEBUILT
10 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
NEW INTAKE MANIFOLD DISPLAY AT MUSEUM OF AMERICAN SPEED
Automotive historian, journalist, and HRD contributor Ken Gross wrote to tell us he has donated his collection of flathead intake manifolds to the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln, Nebraska. They will join the intakes already in the Museum’s collection, which include manifolds it purchased from Floyd Hulegaard, Ken says. “There are nearly 300 manifolds on display, and the Museum is completing another wall with polished intakes, so there will be even more,” he tells us. “They’ve really done this justice, and I’m very pleased that my collection is in such a great place.” Learn more at museumofamericanspeed.com.
PICS: SCOTTY LACHENAUER
WOODEN DEUCE
Steven Rounseville has had a lot of experience over the years building interesting things out of wood. A fulltime carpenter and parttime hot rodder and vintage wood boat buff, he’s rebuilt more than 10 runabouts and more hot rods than he can count. Recently, the Red Bank, New Jersey, resident took both of his life-long passions and melded them together to craft this incredible, mahoganybodied, ’32-styled roadster. Steve designed his new ride using a ’28 Model A frame as its foundation. There were no plans; it just all came together in his head. “I thought about building a dovetail roadster, but then it came to my attention there were quite a few around, so my idea was not so original,” says Steve. “So I used my wood skills and boat knowledge and built an original hot rod wood roadster with a flathead V8.” The woodwork you see here makes use of traditional wood boat construction techniques, applied on some of today’s modern products. All the mahogany planks are sistered, which means they started as the same piece of 11⁄4-inch wood plank that was sawed in half to 7⁄16 of an inch. These “matching” pieces were placed in a mirror image of each other (from center out and from bottom up) on passenger and driver sides. The wood was then finished with 12 coats of hand-brushed marine varnish. Steve used original Model A door hardware in the car’s construction, and it sports a healthy ’49 8BA flathead built with Offy heads and dual Strombergs. The Hallock styled windshield brackets are mahogany, painted with stainless steel paint. And that steel grille shell is hand painted to look like mahogany burl. Outrageous, to say the least.—SCOTTY LACHENAUER HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 11
RODDIN’ @ RANDOM T-BIRD TEASER
John Tinberg and Randy Schmitt of the Nickey Gasser Shop are at it again. This time they are working their gasser magic on Jim Jard’s ’55 T-Bird. It sits on one of their Nickey subframes and uses a Nickey straight axle up front. Under the hood is a Y-block Ford built by Keith and Jeff Dorton of Automotive Specialists Racing Engines using electronic small-block Chevy (!) fuel injection that was massaged to fit the alloy Y-block heads. Kyle Fuoss built the custom (and ceramic-coated) fenderwell headers. Backing the motor is a Midwest Muncie M23 built by Jeff Collins and a 9-inch rear with 4.11 gears. 35-spline axles and a Strange-built Wave posi. Tinberg sent us these photos mid-summer with the note, “We hope to fire it this coming week.” Watch for a full feature on the Jard Bird when it’s finished.
PICS: JOHN TINBERG
DATE DAT E S SERIE R S/E S VEN VENT T 9/ 15/17 LIVE! Lamborghini Super Trofeo - Europe, Nürburgring LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Sandown 500 LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Sandown 500 Auto Mundial FIM Motocross World Championship, Netherlands Hot Rod Drag Week Motorsport Mundial Trans-Am Racing Series, Road America 9/ 16/17 LIVE! Pirelli World Challenge, Sonoma Raceway LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Sandown 500 9/ 17/17 LIVE! ADAC GT Masters, Sachsenring LIVE! Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup, Nürburgring LIVE! GT4 Europe Northern Series, Nürburgring LIVE! Lamborghini Super Trofeo - Europe, Nürburgring LIVE! Pirelli World Challenge, Sonoma Raceway 9/ 18/17 Best Driver’s Car British Touring Car Championship, Rockingham IGNITION, Episode 183 9/ 19/17 LIVE! FIM Speedway World Championship, Germany Best Driver’s Car 9/ 20/17 Best Driver’s Car MODIFIED, Episode 4 9/ 21/17 Best Driver’s Car FIA World Rallycross, Latvia Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, Nürburgring ROADKILL GARAGE, Episode 22 9/ 22/17 LIVE! Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Auto Mundial Best Driver’s Car FIM Motocross World Championship, France Motorsport Mundial 9/ 23/17 LIVE! DTM Championship, Red Bull Ring LIVE! FIA Formula 3 Championship, Red Bull Ring LIVE! FIM Speedway World Championship, Sweden LIVE! VLN Endurance Racing, Nürburgring 9/ 24/17 LIVE! ADAC GT Masters, Hockenheim LIVE! British GT Championship, Donington Park LIVE! FIA Formula 3 Championship, Red Bull Ring LIVE! Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca 9/ 25/17 LIVE! European Le Mans Series, Spa Mobil 1 The Grid 9/ 26/17 DIRT EVERY DAY, Episode 69 9/ 27/17 Goodwood Revival, Goodwood, UK GP Confidential, Post Singapore + Preview Malaya GP 9/ 28/17 HOT ROD GARAGE, Episode 57 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, Sachsenring 9/ 29/17 Auto Mundial Motorsport Mundial ROADKILL, Episode 70 9/ 30/17 LIVE! Blancpain GT Sports Club, Catalunya, Spain LIVE! Euroformula Open, Monza LIVE! International GT Open, Monza 10/01/17 LIVE! Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, Barcelona LIVE! Blancpain GT Sports Club, Catalunya, Spain LIVE! Euroformula Open, Monza LIVE! International GT Open, Monza 10/02/17 IGNITION, Episode 184 10/03/17 THE HOUSE OF MUSCLE, Episode 12 10/04/17 MODIFIED, Episode 5 10/05/17 Ferrari Challenge Europe, Silverstone FIA World Rallycross, Germany 10/06/17 Auto Mundial FIM Motocross World Championship, Great Britain Motorsport Mundial * The program information provided is subject to change. SCHEDULE KEY: VOD MOTORSPORT ORIGINAL O PROGRAMS S LIVE
12 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
DATE DAT E
SERIES/E SERIE S/E / VEN ENT T
10/07/17 LIVE! Euroformula Open, Jerez LIVE! FIM Speedway World Championship, Poland LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Bathurst 1000 LIVE! VLN Endurance Racing, Nürburgring 10/08/17 LIVE! Euroformula Open, Jerez 10/09/17 British Touring Car Championship, Silverstone ENGINE MASTERS, Episode 27 GP Confidential, Post Malaya + Preview Japan GP Mobil 1 The Grid 10/11/17 HEAD 2 HEAD, Episode 95 10/12/17 PUT UP OR SHUT UP, Episode 4 10/13/17 LIVE! Formula D, Irwindale, CA Auto Mundial Motorsport Mundial Real Road Racing, Scarborough Gold Cup 10/14/17 LIVE! DTM Championship, Hockenheimring LIVE! Formula D, Irwindale, CA LIVE! Intercontinental Challenge Series, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca LIVE! Pirelli World Challenge, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca 10/15/17 LIVE! FIA Formula 3 Championship, Hockenheim LIVE! FIA Formula 3 Championship, Hockenheim LIVE! Pirelli World Challenge, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca 10/16/17 IGNITION, Episode 185 Porsche Carrera Cup Germany, Hockenheim Real Road Racing, Scarborough Gold Cup 10/18/17 GP Confidential, Post Japan + Preview USA GP MODIFIED, Episode 6 10/19/17 Ferrari Challenge Europe, Imola ROADKILL GARAGE, Episode 23 10/20/17 LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Gold Coast 600 Auto Mundial Motorsport Mundial 10/21/17 LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Gold Coast 600 LIVE! VLN Endurance Racing, Nürburgring 10/23/17 LIVE! European Le Mans Series, Portimao British Touring Car Championship, Brands Hatch Mobil 1 The Grid 10/24/17 DIRT EVERY DAY, Episode 70 10/26/17 HOT ROD GARAGE, Episode 58 Porsche Carrera Cup Australia, Sandown 10/27/17 Auto Mundial Motorsport Mundial ROADKILL, Episode 71 10/28/17 LIVE! Euroformula Open, Barcelona LIVE! FIM Speedway World Championship, Australia LIVE! International GT Open, Barcelona 10/29/17 LIVE! Euroformula Open, Barcelona LIVE! International GT Open, Barcelona 10/30/17 GP Confidential, Post USA + Preview Mexico GP IGNITION, Episode 186 10/20/17 LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Auckland SuperSprint Auto Mundial FIM Motocross World Championship, Season Review Motorsport Mundial 11/04/17 LIVE! Virgin Australia Supercars, Auckland SuperSprint 11/06/17 ENGINE MASTERS, Episode 28 Mobil 1 The Grid 11/08/17 GP Confidential, Post Mexico + Preview Brazil HEAD 2 HEAD, Episode 96 11/09/17 Ferrari Challenge Europe, Mugello PUT UP OR SHUT UP, Episode 5 11/10/17 Auto Mundial Motorsport Mundial 11/11/17 LIVE! 24H Series, Circuit of the Americas 11/16/17 LIVE! Lamborghini Super Trofeo - Europe, Imola FIA World Rallycross, South Africa ROADKILL GARAGE, Episode 24
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FIND IT AT
RODDIN’ SCENE • WORDS: SCOTTY LACHENAUER • PICS: WES ALLISON
SCENE AT THE 2017 RACE OF GENTLEMEN
PACKED PACKED: The beach was packed with spectators waiting for the “Greatest Show on the Sand.” They weren’t disappointed!
After an incredible weekend of racing on the beautiful beaches of Wildwood, New Jersey, The Race of Gentlemen 2017 will go down as one of the event’s best efforts to date. The stage was set, the sand berms packed with spectators, and this time around Mother Nature didn’t let us down, offering up some of the finest weather the Garden State has seen this year. The conditions were perfect for racing, and the TROG participants took every advantage of the gorgeous weekend. The action actually started mid-week, as racers and fans converged on the bustling shore town. The ’50s-styled beach town is the perfect backdrop for an event like TROG, with its mid-century architecture and old-school vibe. The town has been home to TROG since 2013, and Meldon Stultz and his Oiler crew plan to keep it that way for good. Thursday night the petrolpowered party kicked into gear, with a good smattering of vintage rods and bikes making it into town. By Friday morning, 14 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
the town was alive with jalopies on the streets and bikes running the town grid. TROG set up shop in and around the Star Lux hotel, the official home base, and started registration and inspections. Each participant must pass a safety inspection in order to race. TROG, in its sixth year here at the Jersey Shore, has become a well-oiled machine. Things ran smoothly through Friday, getting the participants ready for the racing days ahead. There was still more pre-race fun to be had, as The Night of the Troglodytes party was about to kick off. The bike-themed fiesta is one of the mainstays of the race weekend. As Saturday a.m. rolled around, the sound of hoppedup rods and bikes could be heard on the streets of town. A police escort brought many of the drivers to the meet-up point at Ocean Avenue for the driver’s ceremonial entrance at the boardwalk. Once through the tunnel, the participants take the long trek down the sand path to the pit area.
STREET RODS STREET RODS: Hot rods lined up on the street outside of the Star Lux Hotel in Wildwood. This is a typical sight on almost any street in central Wildwood during race week.
One interesting addition this year to TROG is the “rail” class. These Spartan rides are built as they would have been in the 1940s, basically a Model T or A frame, with just the necessities: motor, seat, wheels, and driver. Mel was smart to add this class, as it brought a new twist to the roadsters, coupes, and speedsters typical at TROG. Saturday is usually the “testand-tune” day, as participants get a feel for driving on sand,
figuring out a good launch strategy and recovery down the track. It’s a slippery surface, and one has to get used to it. After a run or two, usually the driver gets it figured out—as long as conditions prevail. Luckily this year, the weather was consistent. Instead of worrying about rain and fog like in the past, the drivers only had to worry about sunburn! Sunday was the day for heads-up racing. After an
SPEAKING ENGLISH: Two of the more well-known rods at the race belong to the husband-andwife team of Eli and Lisa English. Eli is owner of Traditional Speed and Custom in Pittsfield, New Hampshire, and builds killer rods like these at his extensive shop. Eli’s ’32 coupe runs a flatty and has a narrowed truck grille up front. Behind that is Lisa’s ’29 roadster, also boasting a flathead, a narrowed ’35 truck grille, and Mother Nature’s own homemade patina.
SPEAKING ENGLISH
BAD BONES
MC JOE
BAD BONES: Wearing No. 591 is Ken Schmidt’s “bad to the bones” ’34 Ford. The Rolling Bones–built ride is a staple at TROG and performs with the best of them out on the sand.
early-morning warm-up, brackets were drawn up, with each car falling in by engine size. There is a banger class and a V8 class on the hot rod side of things, to keep cars as evenly matched as possible. Even though there is an emphasis on “fun,” the matches are fiercely competitive. It made for good viewing, and the spectators showed their approval. When it was all said and done, TROG 2017 will go down as the race’s finest hours to date. With the race machine running at full tilt, hats off to Mel and his Oiler CC/MC, as the show went on without a misstep. Also, let’s give a shout-out to Mother Nature herself, for giving TROG one hell of a beautiful weekend to race!
MC JOE: Master of Ceremonies and staging boss Joe Oz has been a staple at TROG since day one. He leads the contingent out onto the course on his steel steed: a ’45 Indian Chief NYPD bike. STUD STUDIE: One of the more interesting rides out on the sand was Jean-Marc Lazzari’s ’31 Studebaker speedster. He came all the way from Scottsdale, Arizona, boasting straight-eight power!
STUD STUDIE
HARDIE HOT ROD
HARDIE HOT ROD: Entering the field of play is Hardie Boy Racing’s beautiful ’23 Ford T track roadster. Back in the day, it was a HOT ROD feature car and moves down the beach with 286ci flathead power. ROADSTER CITY: Lined up and ready to race, a series of TROG roadsters get last-minute check-ups before they hit the eighth-mile.
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RODDIN’ SCENE OUT ON RAILS
START ME UP
OUT ON RAILS: For the first time, rails were viable entrants in a TROG event. Ted Haarke built a pretty fast ride. It starts with a ’21 T frame and was built with a Model A rear and front end. A ’47 G-series 226ci flathead and original transmission give it motivation. A wheelbarrow was used as the cockpit! Here he zooms past flag girl Kailey Hankins. START ME UP: In days past, starting line traffic at TROG could be a long wait. But with the new bulk return system in place, waiting times were cut down and drivers made more runs than ever before. It also was a lot safer out on the sand; a win/win situation for sure. fo e
JAMMIN’ JERRY
JAMMIN’ JERRY: Jerry Laboranti and his decked-out ’31 roadster scream down the sands. The Cyclonepowered flathead ride has both the looks that kill and plenty of power up front between the rails.
SCENE AT THE 2017 RACE OF GENTLEMEN (CONT’D)
BEACH BLAST
A HOT HEAT A HOT HEAT: “Mercury” Pete Haurd in his ’34 255ci Mercuryflathead-powered Ford Cabriolet takes on Tom Freund in his ’31 roadster, which runs a ’46 flathead with Fenton heads and an Offy dual intake. Tom’s ride is known as the “Basement Roadster,” as it was found after years of storage downstairs in a house. IN MEMORIUM: Richard Winson drives this beautiful post-war-style sprint car in memory of his good friend Paul Monds. Paul passed away before The Race of Gentlemen and never got a chance to live out his dream of racing at TROG. The “Trackmondster” comes out of Brazil, Indiana, and features a Model T chassis, ’39 trans, handbuilt body, and ’49 flathead built with Offy heads, Isky cam, and a trio of 94s up top.
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IN MEMORIUM
BEACH BLAST: In another tightly contested battle, Thomas Berry from Orlando, Florida, in his banger-powered ’31 roadster takes on Jersey Shore local Shawn Mazor and his ’27 roadster. Shawn’s ride was built on A rails and motivated by an A/B banger motor.
MEL
MEL: The Race of Gentlemen creator Meldon Van Riper Stultz III.
DOUBLE G-MAN
CLASS ACT
DOUBLE G-MAN: George Gudat out of Toms River, New Jersey, runs his ’28 roadster full tilt out on the eighth-mile. A 286ci flathead gives this ride the push it needs. It sports Offy heads, Hexagon tool intake, and a pair of 94 carbs.
BATTLIN’ ’29S
CLASS ACT: Jonathan Ruvio pilots his banger-powered ’31 coupe on the Wildwood sands. He teaches automotive tech in Great Neck, New York. This hot rod is a product of his class’ effort; the students worked on the car to get it ready for TROG.
TOWER OF POWER OUR THROTTLE JOCKEY
OILER BROTHER
BATTLIN’ ’29S: Matt Lanigan of Olney, Maryland, does his best to catch Mark Wellnitz of Westfield, New Jersey. Both drivers are running bangerpowered ’29 roadsters. Matt runs a high-compression Thomas head, while Mark favors an aluminum Lion speed head. OUR THROTTLE JOCKEY: Yes, our Racing Roadster project car did make the scene at TROG, with much success. We’re saving Scotty’s firstperson report on his exciting weekend for the final chapter in the roadster’s build. Stay tuned. TOWER OF POWER: Cruising past the Oiler tower is Mike McLaughlin, all the way from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His ’27 T roadster is powered by a potent flathead. OILER BROTHER: With the roller coaster as a backdrop, two hot rods fight it out on the sand. H&H Flatheads’ Max Herman and his bangerpowered Model T roadster take on the “?” car of fellow Oiler CC member Jason “Elrod” Ellis.
HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 17
RODDIN’ SCENE FUELISH PLEASURE
SCENE AT THE NHRA HOT ROD REUNION
• WORDS & PICS: GERRY BURGER The official name is The Holley National Hot Rod Reunion presented by AAA Insurance at Beech Bend Raceway Park, produced by the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum. OK, that mouthful is the official name, but to real hot rodders everywhere it is simply and reverentially known as “The Hot Rod Reunion.” This vintage drag race/rod run remains at the top of our must-attend list. The event is all about elapsed time, and that applies to every car and driver in attendance, because time is truly elapsing at an alarming rate of speed. Going to the Hot Rod Reunion is the perfect venue for serious bench racing with friends old and new. Every year, we manage to meet another legend of the sport and share great stories about the golden years of drag racing. While other racetracks incorporate the term park in their name, Beech Bend truly is a park-like setting, with a large campground and amusement park adjoining the dragstrip. Of course, for hot rodders the real source of 18 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
amusement is a sticky stretch of asphalt running two lanes wide for a quarter of a mile. The atmosphere is one of pure hot rodding. From the Circle of Legends to the nearly 1,500 show-and-shine cars, it’s the real deal. The racers aren’t here to win a big purse; they’re here for the love of vintage drag racing, and it shows. But don’t think for one minute this is exhibition racing. The competition is hot and heavy, and the vintage racers are turning times that were unimaginable in the 1960s. For
FUELISH PLEASURE: Few things compare to a pair of short-wheelbase AA/FA cars making a side-by-side burnout. The Rat Trap is always a fan favorite and consistently runs in the low 6s at over 200 mph. In the far lane the name Havoc seems appropriate.
example, the top six Nostalgia Fuel Dragsters were all in the 5-second range, with speeds up to 260 mph. We love the Gassers, Super Stock, and ’09 groups, but the fuel cars (Top Fuel, Funny Car, and Fuel Altered) bring a different dimension to this weekend. Nothing compares to nitro cars, and we can honestly say when the fuel cars run, there isn’t a dry eye in the place. The racing was non-stop with practice and qualifying on Thursday and Friday, followed by eliminations on Saturday.
MURPHY’S LAW
GLASS GASSER GLASS GASSER: As always, the Gassers at the Reunion were a huge hit with the fans. Smoky burnouts, big wheelstands, and speedshifting are all part of driving Dustin Corn’s wild ’57 Corvette gasser. A de-stroked 310-inch small-block and four-speed make this a real gasser. MURPHY’S LAW: Jim Murphy and the WWII team lined up against top qualifier James Young in the Young Guns car for the final round. Murphy pulled strong on the top end to go around Young with a 5.713/257.33 mph over the 5.920/253.56 of Young.
THINGS IDA NEVER KNOWN THINGS IDA NEVER KNOWN: East Coast drag racer and hot rod builder extraordinaire Bob Ida was on hand with two of his 1960s drag cars. The Willys originally ran B/GS with a blown 409, and later a blown Hemi. When Bob realized a Willys has about the same drag coefficient as a sheet of plywood, he decided to transplant the Hemi into a low profile ’56 AustinHealey, allowing him to remain in B/GS with the 331-inch Hemi. After a couple years of devouring the competition, the car was crumpled in a wild wheelstand landing and subsequently scrapped. Miraculously, the car was discovered 40 years later and restored to its former glory by Bob and Rob Ida, complete with the Roto-Faze-huffed Hemi hiding under a hood scoop formed from a sliced and diced wheelbarrow. Tales such as this bring us back to the Hot Rod Reunion year after year. ALL WRINKLED UP: While big burnouts get the fans fired up, when it comes time to race, the smoke is replaced by wrinkled rear tires, wide open butterflies and front wheels ever-soslightly airborne. That is exactly how Randy Bradford launches his AA/FA. THE PREFECT CABBIE: A big part of the fun at the Reunion is discovering obscure cars such as this former drag car dubbed the Tennessee Taxi. Based on an English Ford Prefect, this former race car was powered by a Ford inline-six that placed it in G/G. The offset hood scoop on the fiberglass tilt nose is an inline indicator.
TRUE BLUE CUSTOM: Billy Jack and Gayle Ethridge of Meridian, Mississippi, have captured the look of a mid-1950s custom perfectly with this ’39 Mercury. From the Carson top to the one-piece louvered hood and smoothed doors, this car is period perfect. Add a custom grille, white running boards, and a set of ’57 Caddy caps to complete the look.
TRUE BLUE CUSTOM
EARNING HIS STRIPES EARNING HIS STRIPES: The long-roof Chevrolets from 1955-1957 became drag race favorites in both Junior Stock and Modified Production classes of the 1960s. While we’re not sure who first striped the roof on these cars, today it is their signature paint scheme. The striped roof on this ’57 wagon with wheels high was a total time warp.
THE PREFECT CABBIE ALL WRINKLED UP
HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 19
RODDIN’ SCENE There is also a vintage swap meet filled with “all the right stuff,” ranging from a roller Funny Car to huffers to Model A bodies. Every year, while mining this area for parts, we seem to unearth large deposits of magnesium. When the eliminations were complete (go to nhramuseum. org for all race results), it was time for the Cacklefest. If you have never seen a big Cacklefest, you have one more reason to attend the NHRA Museum Hot Rod Reunion. At Bowling Green, half of the cars are rolled into place and fired up with starter motors, while the other half are push-started and arrive rumbling and snorting fire. It is a sight and sound you won’t soon forget. And then, one by one, the cackle cars shut down. And so, with tears streaming from my eyes, another NHRA Museum Hot Rod Reunion was in the books. We’ll be back again next year for the Sweet Sixteen celebration. —GERRY BURGER FROM WOODSTOCK: Well, OK, not the home of the famed rock festival. Longtime hot rodder Bob Knaack and his Model A coupe hail from Woodstock, Illinois. The dual-quad-fed Hemi is nestled between the Deuce rails, while a hard chop and lots-o-louvers continue the traditional theme.
STAGING FOR FATHER’S DAY STAGING FOR FATHER’S DAY: Ed Beaumont’s Orange Peel is a gennie split-window Corvette with a colorful race history. The straight-axle, blown big-block, and four-speed combination makes for exciting passes. Since the Reunion is held on Father’s Day weekend, it seems fitting to see a younger crew member in the staging lanes.
ROOM AT THE HILTON: Members of the Hilton family were Honorees for 2017. While in recent years a lot of attention has been focused on a string of sinister Model A hot rods built by Hilton Hot Rods, there is also a long heritage of drag racing, including their current nostalgia NTF entry, with Tyler Hilton driving.
FROM WOODSTOCK
GOING FOR THE RIDDLER: Holy Reunion Batman! Yeah, anything goes at the Hot Rod Reunion, including this version of the Batmobile. The details are a bit sketchy, but current owner Steve Anderson told us his car was on display in a casino for a while and went through a couple of owners before he purchased the car for his own Bat Cave. The car rides on a ’98 Corvette chassis with LS power. This makes “going after the Riddler” take on a whole new meaning. Yes, it was street-driven from Indiana.
GOING FOR THE RIDDLER
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ROOM AT THE HILTON
DAILY SUPPLEMENT: Dave Schultz had his Super Stock Plymouth Savoy, Vitamin C, on hand for the weekend. This is the best way we can think of to take your vitamins, and Mopar lovers know the hot orange paint, dubbed Vitamin C, as one of the High Impact Colors. Hey, it was the 1960s.
DAILY SUPPLEMENT
THE BRITISH ARE COMING
PERIOD PAINT
TRACKSIDE AGAIN
THE BRITISH ARE COMING: And they seem to be in a hurry. Owner/driver Nick Davies raced against the famed Rat Trap during a European tour. After the race, Ron Hope discovered Havoc really didn’t have anyone to race against in England. The natural solution was to bring the car and crew to the U.S. for a 2017 tour and share shop space with the Rat Trap. Running a 6.460 at 223.84 proves they are ready to take on the Yanks.
CACKLE CAMMER
SCENE AT THE NHRA HOT ROD REUNION
PERIOD PAINT: Endless line, flake, pearl, freak spots, and lace: Pure 1960s trick paint, and you could find all of those effects on this ’56 Chevy gasser. Redline front tires and a fenderwell filled with white headers complete the appropriate appearance package. TRACKSIDE AGAIN: The term “barn find” may be wearing thin, but this B/A Fiat qualifies. Originally built in the 1960s by Stan Radauskas, aka Stan Adams, the car sits on a Lakewood chassis. Stan raced it for several years with an injected small-block before selling the car to the Untouchables Car Club in 1969. The club promptly swapped in an injected L88. Stan bought the car back in the 1970s, but never realized his dream of restoring the car. It sat in Stan’s shop for 46 years until Curt Vogt purchased the car. Today the restored car is owned by the Shane Weckerly family. This is the first time the car has been to a dragstrip in 47 years.
(CONT’D)
CACKLE CAMMER: Larry Coleman’s Super Ford is a rare Torino Funny Car. Making the car even more interesting is the SOHC engine and automatic transmission. The car was built in 1968 and was a great addition to the Cacklefest.
HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 21
RODDIN’ SCENE
FLATTIE FOR THE RECORD
BLUE OVAL
INNOVATION
INNOVATION: Great race cars are built by innovators. Jim Mize of Harriman, Tennessee, built this 1950 Anglia with a Hilborn-injected Red Ram 260-inch Hemi under the hood. A set of rare D-500 heads was ported and installed. Up front, the stock Anglia wheels are still in use, but out back a set of Olds Toronado wheels bolt to the ’58 Olds rear, providing the negative offset required q to put p the big g slicks partially under the rear fenders. The car was last raced in 1974.
FLATTIE FOR THE RECORD: In drag racing circles, the diminutive V8/60 was not a common sight. Harold and Jeanne Revis built this F/Dragster in their home garage in Travelers Rest, South Carolina. The rail was raced throughout the Southeast in the early 1960s, setting records at many tracks. The car was raced at the NHRA Nationals as late as 1968. BLUE OVAL: We often marvel at how simple it can be to build a really cool hot rod hauler. Shave a little trim, pick a cool color, and find the absolute perfect stance. Finish it all off with a great set of contrasting wheels and the job is done. The only thing missing for this weekend is a big board bolted to the front bumper, as this Blue Oval hauler would make a great push truck. CHANNELING THE PAST: Steve and Anne Gamache motored in from Ray, Michigan, in this deeply channeled ’33 Ford pickup. A dual-quad-fed nailhead Buick provides equal parts good looks and power. The white firewall, interior, and tonneau cover combine with wide whites and steelies to nail the early 1960s look.
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SCENE AT THE NHRA HOT ROD REUNION (CONT’D)
CHANNELING THE PAST SCRAMBLIN’ RAMBLER: Let’s face it, you just don’t see many 1967 Rambler gassers. Michael Rados pilots this S/C-flavored Rambler aptly named American Scrambled in the Nostalgia Gasser ranks. Red, white, and blue paint with old-school velocity stacks complete the visual package.
DA MOB: The show-and-shine side of the grassy fields was filled with street-going gassers. Joey Bridges drove down from Louisville with Sweet Pea, a 1961 Falcon gasser. The metalflake roof is the perfect touch for this nose-high lightweight. Look closely and you will see Joey runs with the Straight Axle Mafia car club, a street and strip club.
SCRAMBLIN’ RAMBLER DA MOB
QUICK-ON-THE-DRAW: James Young and the Young Guns team began the weekend by capturing the number-one qualifier spot in NTF. But as we know, this is an intensely competitive class; while the team made it all the way to final round, in the end Jim Murphy snuck past them by 0.207 second. However, the Young Guns team effectively served notice, they are a force to be reckoned with.
QUICK-ON-THE-DRAW
FRYIN’ THE HIDES INTERNATIONAL CACKLE, EH?: The Alien II was born to cackle. John Chandler is semi-retired from his race car building business in Ontario, Canada. Over the years, John has built more than 30 rearengine rails. Now that he has a bit more time, he decided to build a period-correct, frontengine T/F cackle car. This car is spot on, period-correct enough to fool most folks. The hot Canadian had the motor tuned and “firing” on all cylinders.
FRYIN’ THE HIDES: After winning the big March Meet, the High Speed team rolled into Beech Bend with the points lead. When all the smoke cleared, Mendy Fry and the High Speed team had slipped to second place after a close loss in the semi-finals. The 2017 NTF points race is going to be interesting.
BODY IN WHITE INTERNATIONAL CACKLE, EH?
BODY IN WHITE: If you frequented any dragstrip in America in 1962, we guarantee there was a Sport Fury that looked just like this car in the staging lanes. Chances are it had a 413 Max Wedge under the hood, and it may have been street driven to the track. FESTIVAL OF FUEL: As the sun goes down on Saturday afternoon, the Cacklefest begins. Dozens of nitromethane-gulping race cars line the track and fill the night air with fire, fumes, and noise. It is a fitting close to a fantastic weekend.
FESTIVAL OF FUEL
HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 23
RODDIN’ SCENE • PICS: GEOFF STUNKARD
SCENE AT THE 2017 YORK NOSTALGIA WEEKEND
FIRST TIME For fans of East Coast racing history, the second weekend of July has been the best time to come to the hills of central Pennsylvania, as the combined York Nostalgia show and accompanying York US30 Nostalgia Nationals takes place, honoring the heritage of the stars and cars from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. The pair of shows has been a dedicated celebration of speed for 12 years now. Indeed, this year featured a TV crew from France as well as local news organizations, with nonstop activity from the opening on Friday through 24 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
the last pass down the 1,320 on Sunday evening. The show portion is held at the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing in York Springs, located on the Latimer Valley Fairgrounds 20 miles north of Gettysburg. Promoted by longtime NHRA Division Director Darwin Doll; his wife, Pat; and a crew of volunteers, York Nostalgia was created to honor the racing heritage of the nowdefunct track/airport near the city of York. York US30 Dragway operated from 1959-1979 and was the location of several major races. With a large
number of automotive enthusiasts based in the surrounding states, the show moved to the museum location two years ago and is again growing. Among the special activities are the Legion of Honor ceremonies on Friday, where gasser pilot Gene Altizer, longtime NHRA racer Al Brown, and photographer (and Deluxe contributor) Bob McClurg were among the 2017 inductees. This was also titled Dave Strickler Day, with a special afternoon discussion among his noted associates and family. George Curetan’s newly completed
Tokyo Rose sedan delivery was there, as was George and other racers. Saturday saw a large turnout for the annual car show, which Doll calls “Cruising Into Summer.” More than 100 cars came from around the region to participate. Meanwhile, there were other cars invited to display all around the museum grounds, a swap meet, ongoing seminar programs, gatherings for group photos, and more. The Best of Show award this year went to a gorgeous ’59 Chevrolet Apache pickup owned by Carl Lynes, whose appearance summed up
FIRST TIME: The era of Junior Stock roared to life as Junior Stock racers George Curetan and Wayne Jesel raced each other for the first time in history. Neither could recall a time they had met in eliminations back in the day, and they always ran cars in different classes. Curetan had not lost his touch and was off the line first in the faster car to take it. Jesel later raced the Daddy Warbucks Falcon and won with a 7-second handicap.
JUNIOR STOCK HEROES
DAVE’S DAY
BEST OF SHOW BEST OF SHOW: Carl Lynes’ beautifully restored ’59 Chevy Apache pickup was the victor in the Saturday Cruising Into Summer car show, as the wonderfully refinished truck won Best of Show honors. While some might want to make it a little bigger and badder, it would be a perfect evening driver to the ice cream store just as it is.
BIG JOHN TRIBUTE
JUNIOR STOCK HEROES: The men joked before the impromptu race at Beaver Springs on Sunday morning. Curetan (left) won the 1967 NHRA World Championship at Tulsa, and his tribute Tokyo Rose sedan delivery came in courtesy Mike and Connie Szczepanski of Winona, Minnesota. Jesel’s tribute was completed about three years ago, but this was his first time driving it on the track in a race environment. These kinds of reunions have helped establish the weekend’s legacy for fans.
FLAMED FORD
DAVE’S DAY: Here is the Larry Brinkley-owned ’62 409 Impala with Ammon R. Smith and Jenkins Competition lettering. Its driver, the late Dave Strickler, was honored with a Dave Strickler Day this year, which included friends recounting his career with much of his family present. A number of them talked about the FX days at York, when Strickler was willing to spot cars a half-track length and still row through the gears to beat them. BIG JOHN TRIBUTE: Rocky Pirrone’s Big John Mazmanian race-ready Willys tribute was placed in the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing drag racing hall for display. The EMMR uses the wall behind it for sponsorship bricks, which had been widely supported by fans of all types of motorsports. There were many other notable cars on display both here and down in the show field area. FLAMED FORD: Dan Mentzell Jr.’s Tudor wasn’t the fastest car in its class, but Dan enjoyed a great weekend of racing it. The track runs quarter-mile for most classes during this event, and several quicker cars had to play catch-up with him during qualifying and racing. They had nothing on him for style points, however. The ’30 Model A has a 350ci Chevy engine and TH350 transmission with 3.25 gears in a 9-inch Ford rearend.
HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 25
RODDIN’ SCENE RAMP UP CHEVY DEUCE
CHEVY DEUCE: One of the nicest period-style rods was the ’32 Chevy coupe of Podunk, Pennsylvania’s Tony Barone. Featuring a great small-block engine with the correct vintage parts and a circa-’60 scalloped paint job, the car took the top place in the Special Interest category on Saturday during the cruise-in.
WINNING BUCKET WINNING BUCKET: Meanwhile, the 2017 winner in Comp was this hot little yellow T-bucket called the Hilltown Shaker and raced by Josh Nevells, who is a regular at the event. He ran consistent times with his small-block Chevrolet combo, with just enough wheel-lift to make it interesting.
SURPRISE
HONORED
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SCENE AT THE 2017 YORK NOSTALGIA WEEKEND (CONT’D)
RAMP UP: No award was given for the largest displayed vehicle in the show on Saturday, but Earl Metzler’s ’54 11⁄2-ton truck with its primered ’41 Willy coupe on the back ramp would have been a shoe-in. The Cruising Into Summer event featured a lot of variety this year, with an even divide between rods and muscle. SURPRISE: You never know what will turn up on Sunday, which included exhibition cars and eight race classes. This Cheetah was a surprise, as the originals are rare and pricey, and few people even remember them today. Modified Production is a simple breakdown: A/MP for pre-’66 cars, B/MP for ’66-’72, and run your dial-in. A faster Comp class, two NETO groups, the East Coast gassers, Nostalgia Super Stock, and Junior Stock round it out. HONORED: Among the inductees to the Legion of Honor in 2017 was the late Al Brown, who attended and raced at the NHRA Nationals for more than 40 years. His son Tom, now a chaplain for Racers for Christ, gave a moving eulogy on the family of racers. The Legion adds new members each year, and those accolades are held in perpetual honor at the EMMR facility.
the event quite well. The grand finale was a Cackling Thunder fire-up session before people packed up for the next day. By then, action was already under way 90 miles north, where Bob and Donna Marie McCardle hosted racers, fans, and even campers at the Beaver Springs Dragway. The wide, grassy aprons; quaint tower; and personal hospitality make this perhaps the ultimate nostalgia racing facility. Though they run a selection of eliminators on Saturday, the big day is Sunday, the annual York US30 Nostalgia Nationals. This year had eight classes of racing plus a select group of exhibition cars. No body style later than 1972 is allowed to run, no whining permitted, and leave your delay box at home. It is old school all the way, including a qualifying session that is flag-started. The track had its own Legends of Drag Racing program, then more than 200 cars made the first round call, including more than three dozen Nostalgia Super Stockers and several grouped exhibition racers like the Ohio Gassers and Pure Vintage Drags. What always makes the weekend special is the people: friends seen year after year, racers who tow in from far away just to enjoy the scene, and a solidarity with the past. Why is this a great event? Think back on the heroes of racing, the colorful cars they ran, and the less-stressful era they existed in. The clock turns back for one weekend each year for those memories and new ones, and you can look forward to more of them. —GEOFF STUNKARD
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RODDIN’ SCENE IN TRAINING IN TRAINING: Longtime racer Mickey Hale and his football-type Austin run on the Ohio Gasser match-race circuit. Showing there is still a place for younger people in racing, his crew here included a back-up girl in training. These cars put on an amazing show with long burnouts and sometimes-violent wheelstands, while keeping the distance to 1⁄8-mile to maintain parts longevity.
SCENE AT THE 2017 YORK NOSTALGIA WEEKEND (CONT’D)
WILLYS WHEELIE
FIRED UP
LEGENDS: Comp racer Larry Lombardo (left), best known for driving for Bill Jenkins later in Pro Stock, recalled that his firstever paying match race was for $20 offered by Bob McCardle the year the track opened. He took the opportunity during BSD’s Legends of Drag Racing ceremony to give the money back to Bob in appreciation, and to the cheers of the crowd.
LEGENDS
WILLYS WHEELIE: Once again, Mike Etchberger and his Willys gasser were stars of the wheelstanding effort, though this one would end up maxing out the suspension travel and making for a short day during round one. However, every camera in the place was focused on him each time the black primered coupe came into the water box. Go big or go home; this one goes big…
STILL ACTIVE
FIRED UP: For a grand finale as the show closed late Saturday afternoon, several nitro cars were fired up. A crowd gathered as Bob Bilbow warmed up the Lynwood Engineering dragster, complete with weed-burner headers and a lopey, period-type camshaft. The York events tend to gather East Coast cars, and Lynwood built cars for a number of big names in those early years of the sport “back east.” STILL ACTIVE: For a track that closed almost 30 years ago, memories and commitment remain strong. These are the former York US30 employees gathered for a photo. As can be seen from their yellow shirts, several remain active helping with the annual reunion. Darwin and Pat Doll are on the left. BIG TENT: Without the large buildings (and overhead) from the York Fairgrounds, this large tent was erected for the invited cars. It holds approximately 20 vehicles. Other cars were displayed in pavilions nearby, with a select few in the museum itself on an adjacent ridgeline.
BIG TENT
28 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
ALL-409 FINAL: When the smoke had cleared, for the first time in the 12-year history of the race, a pair of 409 Chevys had hammered all the Fords and Mopars into oblivion before the final. Bob Conway won the race in his New Jersey-based 1963 model with runs in the 11-second zone, besting a field of almost four dozen cars that made the round one NSS call. McCardle also ran special 409, FE Ford and Hemi-only programs on Saturday for racers who wanted two days of action, as well several other classes that ran again on Sunday. OHIO GEORGE: George Montgomery made the trek up to the dragstrip on Sunday and was seated on the starting line for a quick interview. Noteworthy for his many accomplishments, the Dayton, Ohio, racer has had a well-rounded career, with drag racing titles and later management of the entire engine business for the former Indy Lights open wheel series.
FLAG MAN
ALL-409 FINAL
OHIO GEORGE
FLAG MAN: A tradition of the event is the flag starting of round two of Nostalgia Super Stock, handled by “Spry George” Nye, the former flag starter at York before the advent of the Christmas tree, and later its best-known announcer. Today he conducts guided bus tours at the Hershey facility near Harrisburg. On Sunday, he was playing “tuck in tight” as a combined 800-plus horsepower passed on either side.
FLATHEADS ON FUEL
FLATHEADS ON FUEL: The Pure Vintage Racing group runs a self-contained bracket that consists of vintage, all-steel Ford-bodied or -powered cars. Running period-original speed equipment and older highwheel Indy car tires, these cars harken back to the very earliest days of the hobby. Make the best of your paint skills, buy the pieces you need to look good and go faster, and bring it. An eighth-mile course keeps it safe, even for those flatheads on fuel. The cars run drags, salt, beach front, and more. Seven were on hand this year. RECYCLER: Owner Barry Bowers of York was displaying this nice 1930 coupe in the cruise-in, in a 1970s-style blue with red flames paint job and detailed engine. While not in the condition of some Deluxe survivor feature cars, his photo in the front window showed how it all began. Don’t let them kid you about wastefulness; we hot rodders were among the first recyclers!
RECYCLER HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 29
RODDIN’ SCENE NOSE BLEED: A regular at the Saturday cruise-in is Maryland hot-rodder Ken Hobbs and his street-driven ’63 Dodge Polara. The car is powered by an early Hemi, and Hobbs made the trip up and back in this car. The chromed front axle and nosebleed stance make it popular with attendees. VINTAGE SIGNAGE: People with an old-school NASCAR bent will get a kick out these two drawings in the EMMR collection showing the late Norm Friel’s tech area. Friel and his crew in the pits at Daytona and elsewhere were respectfully noted for detecting new things that guys like Smokey, Maurice, and Junior might have dreamed up for any given weekend. Again, you never know what you will see hanging up or tucked into a corner in this incredible museum. INDUSTRIAL: While early Hemi power is always popular, not often seen are chromed factory Chrysler Industrial covers like those on this dragster. The company built a number of Hemi-headed engines for stationary use, and those in agriculture and oil service in west Texas that needed service eventually lured car builder Don Hardy away from the racetrack to a more lucrative vocation.
INDUSTRIAL
NOSE BLEED VINTAGE SIGNAGE
MOM CACKLE: The final car to get fired up that evening was this flathead dragster of E.J. Kowalski. In the cockpit, his mother has a blast as he also put some nitro fumes into the air using the vintage manual-feed fuel pump on the old-school engine. Flatheads may not be the fastest cars on hand, but Kowalski’s Kustoms had a great time at the event both racing in the Pure Vintage group and displaying their cars. SEE YOU NEXT YEAR: Waving them off in the tradition of the region’s sprint car heritage, the mascot of the Eastern Museum of Motor Racing beckons fans to come and see the show during summer weekends. Located off of Route 15 approximately 20 miles north of Gettysburg, the museum is scheduled to play host to York Nostalgia again in 2018. For more info, log on to yorknostalgia.com for the York Reunion and beaversprings.com for the BSD Nostalgia Nationals.
30 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
TREASURE: We do not have a clue what this poster from the late Teens/early Twenties might be worth. Barney Oldfield and his legendary Golden Submarine circle track car traveled by rail to locations nationwide for match races on fairgrounds dirt tracks like the one now restored at Latimer Valley. The EMMR museum is filled with treasures like this, and well worth a careful walk through to see it all.
TREASURE
MOM CACKLE
SEE YOU NEXT YEAR
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DIIN D ARDIN N W HAR ON TO ATT DREW S: DR DS: VE PA RDS RD EV E T TE OR O ST WO •W SY S ESY ES TE T RT R UR U OU O CO CS C ICS ILD PIC BU ; ON LIS AL ES W S: • PIC • CAR: STEVE PATTON
> “When you first look at the car, you don’t catch everything that’s going on,” says Steve Patton about his Hemi-fied Model A coupe. He built the car himself, with assistance and advice from family, friends, and fellow hot rodders.
32 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
> Before and after side views illustrate the results of more than three years of hard work on Steve’s “rusty body out of Colorado.” The doors had to be completely redone (they were held in place with baling wire and duct tape when he bought the car), as did the 2-inch top chop.
DIY.
It takes a certain amount of faith to dive headlong into a do-it-yourself, traditional hot rod build project, especially one that begins with a basket-case shell of an old Ford. Faith that you’ll find the parts you need. Faith that you can marry disparate—and sometimes ancient—components into some cohesive whole. Faith that the end result will not only move under its own power but do so safely, while looking good, too. Many of us have the dream. We know a lot of people with garages full of old parts. But not everyone has the skills and patience to put them all together. Steve Patton did all that: had the vision, collected the parts, and assembled them with his own two hands—and a lot of help from his father, Leonard; his wife, Kate; his sons, Connor and Christian; his father-in-law, Steve Tanner; plus a number of old-time hot rodders, fellow members of the H.A.M.B., and even some vintage HOT ROD magazine articles. What’s remarkable about Steve is the fact that he isn’t a mechanic by trade. As he tells it, he taught himself to build this hot rod while building this hot rod. Most of his hands-on experience with cars came from high school metal shop classes he took years ago. “I turned that into the hobby I love,” he says. Steve’s au utomotive love affair began when he was a kid and h d brought home a brand-new ’68 Road Runner. his da hi dad SSt Steeve e nurtured his automotive passion building plastic model kits and owned his own Road Runner when he was a teen. “I had quite a few cars after that,” he says, including a nailhead-powered ’29 roadster pickup. “I enjoyed the heck out of that car, but I really wanted a coupe.” So the pickup was sold to help finance this project.
HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 33
> Dale Snoke, a friend and fellow car guy, found this 331-inch ’54 Hemi on Craigslist and tipped off Steve about the mill. It had been rebuilt in the 1980s, sat in a garage for 20 years, and was in great shape, Steve says.
Steve’s idea was to build a traditional Ford hot rod “with nothing on it newer than 1955. I wanted a coupe that would make Milner nervous.” (That makes two references to $PHULFDQ *UDI¿WL in one issue, by the way. Check out Stephan Szantai’s “Coupe with Attitude” for the other.) The coupe body was an eBay find out of Colorado, one Steve picked up for cheap because the pictures of the rough tin “scared everybody away,” he recalls. When the transporter arrived at Steve’s Southern California home with the body, he was expecting rough. But he wasn’t expecting damaged. “The decklid was lying under the car, all scratched and gouged. The truck driver said it literally blew off on the highway, landed upside down, and slid like a sled across the road. Somehow he saw it, turned the rig around, and put it back on the trailer.” The lid was “tweaked a little,” but Steve was able to straighten it enough to use it. Turns out that was one of the more minor fixes the body needed. “Somebody back in the day decided to suicide the doors,” Steve says. “It was rough, terrible. I threw all that away.” He had to start over with “just a shell. There was no wood left in the car. I had to build the inner door structure myself.” He was able to use a hinge kit and went with bear-claw latches to make sure the doors wouldn’t “pop open going down the road.” He also decided to modify the doors so they would fit flush when closed and not overlap the rear quarter as they do from the factory. Remember, Steve took all this on with little more than high school shop classes under his belt. “I had to borrow a plasma cutter. I did have a welder, a small Miller. I had to buy a second torch because I needed two to bend the front axle. I got both my sons involved heating the axle while I was running the jack and pulling measurements.” Yes, Steve (and sons) dropped his own axle, a Model A piece he downed 4 inches. He also built a whole new floor to channel the car 4 inches, using 20-gauge steel and a bead roller he bought from Harbor Freight. “My son Christian turned the roller while I fed the material through it.” 34 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
PIC: ERIC RICKMAN
Colorado
> The intake on Steve’s Hemi is an unusual Edmunds manifold that has been sectioned in the middle to add a third carburetor. Steve has seen just one like it, in a photo that appeared in Deluxe in July 2010. That manifold was on a customized Kurtis sports car that Eric Rickman photographed at the Thrifty Car Show in 1955. Close examination reveals similarities between the two, but they are not the same manifold.
> The beautiful valve
> Triple Strombergs top
covers were with the engine when Steve bought it. They were painted silver then; he had them chromed.
the Edmunds intake. The outer two are 48s; the center carb is a 97.
Steve also had to deal with the car’s top. “Somebody attempted tto chop the top before I bought it. It was rough, and I had to redo iit.” That first whack at the lid cut off 2 inches. “I’m 6 foot 5, and with a 4-inch channel already in the plan and 2 inches out of the w ttop, there were already 6 inches out of the car. To make sure I’d fit, I built the car around me.” He left the roof height where it was, but fixed the prior poor workmanship, squaring what wasn’t square fi aand taking kinks out of the laid-back A-pillars. The coupe’s roof panel was in such poor shape, “I was afraid I’d have to cut it out,” Steve says. But his father-in-law, Steve Tanner, h sstepped in to help. “He had a skill I didn’t have, how to stretch and sshrink metal. He came over, ran his hands over the roof, and told me, ‘We can save this.’ He spent an hour, hour and a half, working m on it with me watching, and then had me finish.” o
California C
> Steve’s “favorite hot rod of all time” is the Ross Heale/Jack Foye Model T roadster pickup that Deluxe put on its cover in May 2010. He copied the shape and sweep of the truck’s headers when building the exhaust for his Hemi.
S Steve bought a second Model A frame that had a small-block Chevy between its framerails. “I was going to go with the smallC block and mount an Offy 4x2 intake on it. But I’ve been a Chrysb ller-Dodge guy all my life, and I really wanted a Mopar in it. I was dragging my feet on the small-block when Dale called me. That’s d when all the gears changed.” w Dale Snoke, a friend of Steve’s, had spotted a ’54 331-inch Chrysler Hemi for sale on Craigslist. He knew Steve was looking for one and rang him up. Steve took the day off from work to drive to Torrance and check it out. “The owner told me it was a good running motor when it was pulled, but it had been sitting in his garage for a lot of years and he never got to it.” A tag on the engine indicated it had been rebuilt in the 1980s with a 0.040-inch overbore. “When I got it home I pulled the heads off and checked the cylinders, and they looked great. The heads looked good. I dropped the main cap on the crank, the furthest in the oil circuit, and that bearing looked good, so I took a chance that the rest of the bearings were good.” Steve got a new oil pump, plus lifters and pushrods from Hot Heads, had the cam reground, and asked All Star Clutch to make him a new 12-volt starter as the factory starter “was mammoth and wouldn’t fit in the car.” The intake is unusual, an Edmunds two-pot manifold that had been cut apart and reworked to add a third carb between the outside two. He’s only seen one other like it, in a photo of a “Mystery Kurtis” featured in Pat Ganahl’s story on “The Thrifty Show” in the July 2010 Deluxe. (Close inspection of Rickman’s original photography of the Kurtis shows that the manifold is similar but not the same manifold as Steve’s.) HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 35
> Rick’s Radiator in Azusa, California, built a
> Under the body is a ’29 roadster frame that Steve bought from
new radiator to Steve’s specs. “I told them it was for a ’32 so it would fit inside the grille shell,” he said. While the body is original Henry steel, the shell is a reproduction, which better fit Steve’s budget.
a local hot rodder who wanted to upgrade his own car with a more modern chassis. “It still had all the early stuff on it,” says Steve, including a ’32 front axle, ’32 trans crossmember, split wishbones, a later ’40 Ford rear axle, and a platform for the buggy spring behind the rear crossmember. The Deuce axle hangs in his garage; he opted for a Model A beam as it was smaller and would be easier to drop.
> Steve Z’d the frame 3 inches in the rear and “re-stacked and chopped up the springs three times” to get the rake he wanted. There are ’40-’41 Ford juice brakes at both ends.
A car in Deluxe also inspired the Hemi’s headers. “My favorite hot rod of all time is the Ross Heale/Jack Foye Model T roadster pickup [“The Wild Ride,” May ’10]. In fact, I see Jack often, and I think he’s sick of me telling him how much I love it. I looked at his headers for an idea of how to get the bends and sweeps for my car.” Steve bought the flanges and j-tubes and built the exhaust himself. Steve said his dad was “instrumental” in putting the Hemi in the car, “fabbing motor mounts, getting the motor laid out, making sure it was going to fit.” Christian helped Steve with the adapter for the Cad/LaSalle transmission. At first, Steve put a ’34 Ford transmission behind the Hemi, though several friends who are longtime hot rodders warned him the Ford box couldn’t withstand the Hemi’s torque. “I told them I understand that, and I believe you, but I want to live what you guys lived, do what you guys did,” he says. “I knew I was going to go through transmissions.” But after rebuilding that early Ford trans twice, he relented and followed their advice to put the stronger Cad/LaSalle gearbox in instead. Steve learned how to join the engine and transmission by “reading old hot rod magazines from the ’50s and ’60s that I picked up over the years. We looked for what would work to bolt up a Cad/LaSalle to an early Ford torque tube and banjo.” Among his reference sources was “From Stock to Hot,” a story in the Feb. ’57 issue of HRM about how “manufacturers are quick to meet the hot rodder’s demands for modern horsepower-early chassis combinations. You’d be surprised,” the editors said, “what fits what!”
> In keeping with his “do all the work
Alaska
> In 2012, Steve’s coupe was featured at the
The interior of Steve’s coupe is full of custom touches, from his scratch-built floor and seat (to better fit his lanky frame), to the ’41 dashboard modified to accommodate a ’51 DeSoto instrument cluster. What dominates the cab, though, is the “Hollywood wheel” 36 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
myself” mantra, Steve painted the coupe in his garage, using Hot Rod Flatz paint, a mix of Burnt Burgundy and Carnival Red Pearl.
Mooneyes Open House. “I contacted Chico at Mooneyes and arranged to meet Wildman, who does all the striping for the Mooneyes guys. He striped it right there at show.”
> Wildman also striped the Coupe’s ’41 dashboard, including the “Resurrection” lettering. The name has deep meaning for Steve. “It tells two stories. One is for my faith and refers to the resurrection of Christ. The other is about bringing this car back from the dead.”
> Steve scratch-built the seat using plywood and 2x4s. “The stock Model A seat has a
> The instrument cluster is from a ’51
beautiful contour where the sides hold the cushions in place,” he points out. “I made a template and out of plywood made them a lot shallower. The seat pads had to be shorter so I could fit in the car.” There are no springs in the seat; instead, it’s “done like a boat with nylon straps put in with the padding.” A guy named Martin, “who only fits you in if he likes you,” did the oxblood and black tuck-and-roll, along with matching panels for the trunk and headliner.
DeSoto. The speedometer and gas gauge are original DeSoto meters; Steve and his wife, Kate, disassembled them, cleaned them, and then painted the faces to match the body. They’re joined by a vintage Mooneyes tach.
he found in Alaska. “I went to Palmer, Alaska, fishing with my brother-in-law,” Steve recalls. “His uncle, Pat Hodson, builds hot rods up there in the winter in a heated shop. Pat knew I was a car guy and he told me about a wrecking yard on the other side of town where I could find a steering wheel for my coupe.” The wrecking yard turned out to be “some guy’s yard with cars spread all over it,” but among them was a ’55 Plymouth Savoy. “It’s not the prettiest car, but when I walked up to it and looked inside, I knew right then that was the wheel I wanted. I couldn’t believe a wheel that pretty came out of that car.” Steve brought the wheel home in his suitcase; but when he tried to mount it to his car’s early Ford steering column, “it just wasn’t going to work,” he says. “So I called Pat and asked him to go back to the guy’s place. I said, ‘If he still has the car, I need the top 3 feet of the steering column, including the turn indicator.’” Pat performed the surgery and mailed the column top to Steve, who then performed a successful graft, though “it took forever to tie all the wiring in.” Steve had three and a half years of adventures like these to finish the coupe, which he’s been driving now for about six years. To him, the process wasn’t just about the car; it was also about people—the family and friends who helped him, as well as the traditional hot rodders he tried to emulate. “I envy those guys. At this stage in their lives they may want a car that rides nicer, so they end up selling you their older stuff. But they’re more than happy to tell you stories about how they did things. It doesn’t get any better than when an old-timer walks up and gives the car a close looking over. They ask, ‘Who did this?’ I did. And one of the best compliments I can get is when a guy who knows what he’s looking at tells me, ‘That’s how we did it back in the old days.’”
> Steve found his coupe’s steering wheel, from a ’55 Plymouth Savoy, in an Alaskan wrecking yard. “I couldn’t believe a wheel that pretty came out of that car.”
> Evidence of Steve’s faith is also found in crosses that are stamped into the sheetmetal pieces he fabricated, including on the firewall and here on the brake master cylinder cover. “When I got to those points in the buildup, I felt influenced to reflect my faith, which is why I put the crosses there.” HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 37
THE BUILD BOOK
5
Steve Patton thoroughly documented the do-it-yourself buildup of his coupe and shared many of those photos with us. We still are amazed that he taught himself most of the techniques he used to complete the car.
1 2
6
8
7
9 10
3
11 4 38 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
> 1. The coupe body as Steve bought it. > 2. Frame Z’d in the rear. > 3. The Patton clan—Leonard, Christian, Connor, and Steve—locate the Hemi in the frame.
> 4. Steve’s father, Leonard, and Steve’s wife, Kate, await the Hemi. > 5. Steve describes this as “late-
> Under the dash is a swap-meet-find gauge panel. All are early-style Stewart-Warner gauges; at the right is an ammeter Steve switched to battery voltage. g .
night welding.””
> 6. Steve built the headers himself, inspired by the Heale/Foye roadster pickup. > 7. After rebuilding his ’34 Ford transmission twice, Steve replaced it with a stouter Cad/LaSalle gearbox. > 8. The coupe’s metal awaits paint. > 9. Steve painted the coupe in his garage. > 10. Some of the work that went
> The taillights are shoebox Ford pieces Steve recessed into the rear panel.
into recessing the Ford taillights.
“You pretty much have to recess them because they have a curve and don’t mount flat.”
> 11. Because the body he bought was a bare shell, Steve had to fabricate an inner structure. > 12. The DeSoto instrument cluster with the Ford/Savoy hybrid steering column below. > 13. Mooneyes’ Wildman striped the car, including laying down its “Resurrection” name on the dash.
> The Shortimers club was formed shortly after the Korean War. Its members were among the first to hold organized drag races at Pomona before it became an NHRAsanctioned track, Steve says. One of its founding members, Homer Overton, saw Steve’s coupe and “got it,” so Steve joined the club.
> This coupe may have been Steve’s first traditional hot rodd build, but it a l ov al verr my won’t be his last. There are parts for a ’29 roadster laid out ““al garage floor.”
12
13
HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 39
I CS: STEPHAN SZANTA • WORDS & PIC K NK RU AR: DREW ST • CA
TURBULENT
America was boomingg during d the h 1950s. Oh h sure, the h countryy experienced some angsst, especiallyy with the fear of the Ruskies blowing us to smithereens. Then came the 1960s, which saw a gradual escalation in tu urmoil and tragedies. Th The assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther Kin d Bobby bb Kennedy. d Civill rights h and d ng, and riots. Vietnam. Anger grew g h severall segments off the h populal within tion, starting with the yyounger generation. In a way, hot rods fro om the 1960s somewhat reflect that angry orted wild induction systems, from blow-attitude. More V8s spo y hile “sports wheels” created by American ers to fuel injection, while sports wheels 40 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
Racing, Halibrand, R l b d and d the h like l k often ft replaced l d steell rims, d dependd ing on the owners’ budgets. Drag racing influenced hot rodders as well; theyy borrowed the idea of installingg Moon-style y fuel tanks in front of the grille. Whitewall tires fell by the wayside around 1962, bl k ll came back b k in vogue, g with hah k b as blackwalls heavyy rake beingg some-db l k mounted d in the h rear.. times accentuated by ffat d drag racing slicks Yes, slicks like the Dragmasters mounted on Drew Strunk’s ’32 Y g h h oozes 1960s allll over. To b h Ohio h resident d coupe, which be ffair, the ll runs the h car on steell wheels h l and db l rubber; bb b occasionally bias-ply but co pelled to ask him h to keep the five-spoke five spoke rimss and a d slicks sl cks we felt compelled
> How is this for a man cave? With the weather not cooperating, we photographed Drew Strunk’s blue Deuce in this great garage, owned by one of Drew’s friends, Rob Mullins. The name sounds familiar? Rob is heavily involved in the Gasser hobby, as he has a few historical survivors.
> From this angle, you can see the curved spreader bar made by the owner, as he explains: “I shortened the back of the frame so I could install the bar. To match the curvature of the body, I heated up the back side of the bar and quenched it with water until I got the desired shape.”
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for our photo shoot. The latter proved rather epic due to heavy rain, obviously not the best conditions when driving purposely smooth tires. “I might have a solution,” Drew said. “My pal Rob Mullins owns a great building, which we might use for your article.” Following a quick phone call and approval from Rob, we hit the road. Drew skillfully kept the Deuce under control during the very wet 20-minute journey. Our destination was Mullins’ man cave, originally a church built in 1901, restored by the man himself and decorated with memorabilia reflecting his passion for vintage drag racing. It doesn’t get much better than this. The vibe of the place nicely complements the blue ’32, assembled with period correctness in mind. Drew has an acute understanding of hot rodding’s history, having been raised by a father deeply involved in the hobby for a half-century. Jack (the dad) credits family members for his own interest in the hot rod scene. He told us, “I grew up spending most of my summers with an uncle and a cousin, who rebuilt and dolled up old cars. I used my allowance each week to buy the little 25-cent hot rod books and plastic model cars, and learned everything I could.” Now in his early forties, Drew has fond memories of his childhood, when his dad wrenched on hot rods for fun. “As a kid, I remember sitting in the front seat between my parents in his ’32 five-window coupe, barely able to look over the dash. And I was taught how to weld at 7 years old.” You can say that hot rods played
an essential part in his life. Building models, cruising, car shows, and dad’s buddies in the driveway talking cars… It was a great time to be a child. Later in life, Drew held several jobs: welder, truck driver, mechanic, auto accessory detailer, parts counterman, and delivery driver. They paid the bills; but it wasn’t until his father retired and decided to start a full-fledged hot rod business that he found his dream job. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company is called Dropped Axle Productions and has built an excellent reputation in the Midwest, thanks to its quality project cars. Drew focuses on fabricating custom chassis for traditional hot rods, though the father-and-son duo also performs a ton of other tasks, from chopped tops and filled roofs to panel repairs and complete restorations. They additionally manufacture their own laser-cut boxing plates, suspension brackets, plus brake and clutch pedal assemblies. While hot rods remain the shop’s focus, the small crew of two often works on offbeat vehicles, some quite memorable. The list includes a severely chopped split-window Volkswagen Bug with a Chevy Corvair flat-six powerplant, and a funky ’62 Renault Dauphine, which lost its four-cylinder rear engine to welcome a Chevy 350ci V8 up front. Fun stuff for sure. Yet, Drew kept dreaming of a ’32 Ford fivewindow coupe, and started the search for one in his early twenties. We don’t need to tell you that Deuce coupes have been a hot rodder’s favorite forever, and their scarcity makes them expensive.
> Who needs a hood when you run such a beautiful motor? Notice the headlights of unknown origin—they might have come from a French car—mounted low, a look made popular by the Rolling Bones crew on the East Coast.
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> “When it came to the engine, I was undecided,” Drew recalled. “My grandfather always spoke highly of Cadillac engines. As a tribute to him, I chose a 390-inch 1962 Cad.” Grandpa would be proud: It’s a beauty. And it’s angry.
> Behind the rare Offenhauser manifold
> Having been employed by hot rodders for decades, Buick drums nicely fit the theme of the car. They complement a rear brake setup from a Ford pickup truck.
with three Stromberg 97s sits a Cirello magneto. The name has been associated with drag racing since the 1960s, when Cirello equipped many nitro cars. The Cirello family still services magnetos to this day from its shop in Costa Mesa, California.
> Ancient 9.00-15 Dragmaster slicks were swap meet scores, which now wrap around 15x8.5 American Racing five-spokes. Drew elected to use 15x4 magnesium reproductions in front, along with BFGoodrich 5.00-15 rubber by Coker Tire.
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Consequently, the young Strunk considered using a fiberglass body, until his dad found the real deal on the Internet: a steel shell located in Kansas City, Missouri. “We drove straight through, 12 hours one way,” Drew said. “The guy who had it for sale was going to use it for a clone of the $PHULFDQ *UDI¿WL coupe, but the body was in such bad shape that he wasn’t able to salvage it himself. He ended up using a fiberglass body, and I managed to buy a true steel body in the end.” The roof was “atrocious,” he said, and he almost did not purchase the chopped shell for that very fact. Thankfully, a friend of
> As the trunk lacks a floor, you can clearly see the Halibrand quick-change and pinstripes on the axle tubes. That fuel tank came from a late-’50s/early-’60s F5 jet fighter. It was originally used to store coolant for the engine. A trimmed ’58 Ford decklid serves as bulkhead divider between the seat and the trunk.
his dad who owned a roof section in decent shape came to the rescue. It required some work, though the surgery gave the opportunity to chop the top even more, resulting in each post losing a slice of 4 inches compared to stock. The 85-year-old tin, featuring a roof insert courtesy of a Chevy Corvair top, now displays that perfect hot rod attitude. As luck would have it, a second main component emerged shortly after, in the shape of a genuine ’32 frame. It was seriously mangled; but on the plus side, it could be fixed and—most importantly—it was free. Drew put it in Dropped Axle Productions’ jig, before picking a few items from the shop’s shelves, specifically crossmembers (flattened an inch) and a drilled front axle, which he moved forward to lengthen the wheelbase for a better profile. Notice the lack of frame horns in front. Drew elected to shorten and pinch them so that they could hide behind the stock grille. In the spirit of drag cars, several components have been drilled for weight reduction and aesthetics, including the lever shocks, most any bracket, plus the framerails. There are a couple of nods to Drew’s grandfather, in the shape of the cowl’s vent handle that came from his mother’s oven (!), along with the mighty ’62 Cadillac V8. Grandpa was a fan of these powerplants. The engine features a handful of desirable parts, starting with the intake manifold. “I searched high and low for the Offenhauser 3x2 model,” Drew said. “I finally found one without the heat riser at a local swap meet. It wasn’t cheap but well worth adding to the car’s overall look. I also admired the dimpled valve covers offered by various cam companies back in the day. I hunted for a pair, but to no avail. I finally took it upon myself to make the dimples on stock valve covers. Once I was happy with the profile, I sent them out to the chrome shop.” Finding a camshaft for the Caddy proved a bit challenging, although Schneider Racing eventually offered a blank properly machined. (“I wanted the nastiest sounding cam and I got it.”)
> The panel under the rear lid, which has been punched with 150-plus louvers, houses a pair of unusual Art Deco-styled taillights that originally equipped a ’37 DeSoto. They flank a vintage Sacramento Capitol Speed Shop license plate frame.
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> While the car occasionally sits on vintage steelies and bias-ply rubber, Drew was happy to run the ’32 with the five-spokes and old slicks during our photo shoot—until it rained, that is. He did rather well on the road, especially considering the V8 delivers about 400 horses.
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PIC: FABIEN BÉCASSE
> Drew typically works on a personal project every year, though not all of them can be considered “traditional.” Some belong to the “Dare to be Different” category, including a V8-powered Renault Dauphine and this chopped Volksrod, motivated by a Corvair flat-six!
> No less than eight Stewart-Warner gauges from the 1940s
> Th These windows i d were chopped h d just j t the th right-amount. i ht t Actually, A t ll
adorn the cool dash. We especially dig the 150-mph “Police Special” speedo. “Most were eBay finds, although dad allowed me to raid his stock pile for two of them.”
the ’32 had already lost a 3-inch slice when Drew got it; but he decided to remove an extra inch for a mean attitude. As the body has not been channeled, cabin comfort remains acceptable for sub6-foot-tall folks.
He also custom made the motor mounts featuring a cast-piece appearance, then riveted them to the frame. They have become quite popular since, having been duplicated by others on their hot rods. The exhaust system, purchased from lakeheaders.com and welded by Drew, does not muffle much of the V8’s growl. “I’ve made several babies cry as I started the coupe at gas stations. Needless to say, I get dirty looks from mothers.” Kids might be scared just staring at the car, which looks mean just standing still. With enjoyable road trips in mind, our man made a concession by installing a modern Tremec transmission with an overdrive,
thanks to a Wilcap adapter. The lack of stock fuel tank visually unclutters the back of the coupe and thereby shows the N.O.S. Halibrand rearend, scored from a local racer who never used it. It was a killer find that obviously pleased Drew, since he had put it on his “must-have” list early in the game. On average, our talented craftsman concedes building a car “on the side” in his own garage each year, and then selling it to finance the next project. But to be clear: This one, built on a surprisingly tight budget, is not for sale. It’s a keeper. Considering the scarcity of Deuce coupes, who can blame him?
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> Moving the I-beam 2 inches forward makes the coupe appear sleeker and less stubby. Yes, the color is the well-known Washington Blue, which Ford offered in 1932; a dose of matting agent contributes to the semi-gloss finish.
> Recognize the seats? Drew doesn’t (and neither do we, in fact), though he believes they might either be from a plane or a British sports car. More unanswered questions remain regarding the all-aluminum steering wheel, which was signed by Norm Grabowski shortly before he passed away.
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• WORDS & PICS: JOSHUA ELZEY • CAR: HOWARD TOWNE
> Howard Towne owned this race
car survivor more than 20 years ago but wasn’t aware of its New England heritage as he donated its parts to other regional builders. Luckily, the coupe kept coming back to his yard until it was identified.
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> The exhaust stacks that were originally on 000 are seen in many of the early images of the car, including this one with Jim Travers and his half-brother Richard. The stacks came off on Memorial Day 1959, though the mounting holes were still visible on the sides of the body.
> The Ford was in rough shape when Howard first rescued it from the New England weather. After becoming aware of its history, he sought to keep as much of the original steel as possible, leading to hours of metalwork.
BURIED.
Years ago, Dave Simard, who is known for building elaborate street rods out of Leominster, Massachusetts, picked up an old stock car from Harvey Price. Harvey had dug the relic, a ’32 three-window coupe, out of a sand pit in Lunenburg, Massachusetts. In the early 1990s, Bruce Tonneson bought the stock car’s body and a ’32 Victoria body from Dave and then left them at Howard Towne’s shop on his way home. After the parts sat around for a while—two years, it turns out—Howard ended up selling the stock car body back to Dave. Dave needed the right rear quarter, the only good panel on the body, to complete another ’32 three-window. Howard had two other three-window bodies that were in far better shape, so it wasn’t hard for him to give up the old car. Had he known its history at the time, though, things might have been very different. Dave then sold what was left of the body to Fred Ferrah, who used some of its parts to raise the roof on his chopped ’32 three-window. Fred took what was left of the car to the Hershey swap meet to
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unload it, but none of it sold. He then went to the Amherst, New Hampshire, flea market in 2002 to see if anyone would take it. A friend of Howard’s out of Enfield, New Hampshire, bought it all and then asked Howard if he was interested in any of the parts. Though he wasn’t too keen on them, Howard decided to take a look and ended up taking all the parts home. To Howard, it seemed like he did his best to get rid of the car, but it just kept coming back. Everywhere he went, he kept bumping into pieces of it. An old friend of Howard’s, Randy Haubrich from Grafton, Massachusetts, also had old stock cars, and he was visited often by Marty Harty, who sold tools, air hoses, jackstands, and so on, out of his van. On one trip Marty brought by some pictures of stock cars he had built long ago to share with Randy. One looked familiar to Randy, so he brought Marty up to meet Howard to confirm the car in the photograph was indeed the same car Howard had sitting there. Sure enough, the images depicted the same holes in the body as well as the door welds and other unique features. Howard had the car known as 000.
> Here is the 3.78:1-ratio rearend, suspended using a ’38 Ford spring with extra leaves that were flattened and ground to fit a ’32 welded crossmember under the Model T gas tank.
> This mostly stock ’37 flathead was coupled to a ’39 Ford transmission. Howard used Marty’s images and knowledge of the build to obtain the correct period parts. Howard went through three engines before finding one without cracks, then he had machine work done before final assembly using stock carbs and other components that were identified in the old photos.
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Special Number At this point Marty began to give Howard the whole history, although now Howard had a lot more to fix than if he had kept the coupe the first time it was in his hands. The 000 name was not something Marty liked, but this was a special number for Jim Travers. In the spring of 1959, Jim paid Marty $700 to have the car built and ready to race in just a week’s time. Jim and his wife came to Marty’s junkyard and picked out the only threewindow he had at the time. With the help of his brother, Marty finished the build with a ’56 Dodge Royal Blue Metallic paint job and Jim’s name on the driver side. 000 ran exhaust stacks, as seen in many of the early images, until Memorial Day 1959, when they were removed, leaving the mounting holes still visible on the sides of the body. That year Jim went to the Indy 500 with Marty’s brother to see the race, and while he was gone, Marty figured somebody should drive the coupe to keep the points up. Fred Borden drove 000 that night and won everything, though Jim was upset they had altered the car without his authorization. But if Fred hadn’t raced while Jim was away, Jim would never have won the Brookline, New Hampshire, championship. 000 raced in 1959 on four tracks, in Hudson and Brookline, New Hampshire, as well as West Peabody and Westbourough, Massachusetts. After that season, it was sold. Howard decided to restore the coupe back to that very day in 1959. It would take him eight years, off and on, to complete the project. He had to find another quarter-panel plus other pieces to put the roof back that had been cut out. He saved everything else, like the chassis, and kept as much of the original body as possible. Howard even decided to fix some items you normally wouldn’t do, like cutting up postagestamp-size pieces of metal to fill the Swiss-cheesed body, taking a considerable amount of time. The hardest challenge was fixing the rough body without 52 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
buying new parts. The door skins, for example, had been welded right into the hull so the driver had to climb through the window. Howard decided to imitate the look and was able to locate the original driver-side doorskin that had been ripped off previously. He mounted it to the wooden frame behind the original welds, but he also made the passenger door open and
shut so he wouldn’t have to get in the car through a window. With the body coming together, Howard began to further study Marty’s photographs, ask him questions, and examine the parts he had from 000 to complete the rest. For instance, the car didn’t come with a front or rear suspension, so Marty described how, instead of using shackles, he
had anchored the front spring solid on one side and made it slide on the other side (and was able to shim to adjust height for track requirements). That kept the spring action, but the front end wouldn’t sway with shocks mounted up high.
Obsolete
Marty also informed him that the five-vented rear wheels
idler. Howard also added a few gauges for convenience, so he could monitor the engine for overheating. From the vintage image, it was determined there was no toe board, so Howard left it that way but may add one later. The bulky steering linkage was a universal joint from powertake-offs used on dump trucks, which Howard found at a flea market for $10 each brand new. This helped, as the steering shaft doesn’t come straight off the steering box because it’s a later model. Marty also advised that 000 steered off the right front spindle, not the left (typical for the car) because it was better for racing. As the build neared completion, Howard was contacted by Jim’s half-brother Richard, who is the kid in many of the images Marty had. Richard told Howard that while Jim had moved to California, he was still in Massachusetts. He drove up to New Hampshire to see the project just before it was finished and has been in touch since then. Howard then started wrapping up the build. He used a ’36 Ford steering wheel, since that’s what the coupe had in one of the old photos. The pedals could be seen in a photo, looking like ’32 pedals modified to work hydraulic brakes. The remains of the original ignition switch were in the car when Howard had it, so he replaced the knife switch that was used for ignition. The seat was still in it, so he had the frame to work with plus Marty’s memory to fill in the
> The front suspension used a Model A spring with extra leaves that were fixed at one end while the other side was adjustable to allow tuning to the track requirements. The stopping power is provided by ’40 Ford brakes.
were ’39-’42 Ford 3⁄4-ton wheels, compared to the normal ’36’39 Ford passenger-car front wheels. Apparently in the 1950s, you could get the rear wheels from the Ford garage because they were obsolete and nobody wanted them. For a race car, though, they were stronger and an inch wider. Howard was able to find five of them while building the project.
The 1959 image shows the engine quite clearly. It’s a ’37 21-stud, 85hp motor with water pumps in the block. Howard went through three engines before finding one without cracks, then had machine work done before putting it together. While the coil is a ’42-’48 Ford and the fuel pump has a glass bowl, Howard did install a generator instead of the original HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 53
details. With the interior done, Marty and Richard then signed 000. The images do show a rollcage, which is the next item to install, and Howard plans on reusing as much of the original as possible. While traveling to several historical track race nights, a little more of the 000’s history from the 1980s surfaced. That’s when Harvey Price got it out of that Lunenburg sand pit, and where they later were allowed by the land owner to dig up the original motor that had been pried out while removing 000 from the ground. Saved from Mother Nature’s burial, 000 is now cruising around the New Hampshire mountains thanks to Howard. It’s that rare race car that got away, but just kept coming back!
> It would take Howard eight years off and on to complete the build. Now 000 looks very much like it did in 1959 and is a blast to drive on the winding New Hampshire dirt roads.
> Marty used Ford 3⁄4-ton wheels on the rear end when he was building 000 because they were stronger than passenger car wheels, an inch wider, and nobody wanted them because they were obsolete at the time. To set up the car as if it were headed for the track, Howard put a 550-16 on the left front, a 600-16 on the right front and left rear, then a 650-16 for the right rear.
> The bulky steering linkage was a universal joint from powertake-offs used on dump trucks. Howard found them at a flea market for $10 each brand new. Marty told Howard that 000 steered off the right front spindle, unlike the way a normal ’32 steers from the left, as it was better for racing.
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> While the coupe’s interior was mostly stripped to shed weight for racing, the Metro van seat was still in it, giving Howard a frame to work with. Tom’s Tops and Trim reupholstered the seat.
> Old photos also revealed that the car used original ’32 pedals, modified to actuate the ’40 hydraulic brakes. There was no toe board in those old pictures, so Howard left it out, for now, anyway.
> Some years ago, Howard’s friend Randy Haubrich thought something looked familiar in one of the old stock car photos Marty Harty was sharing at the time. These door welds, along with some holes in the body, confirmed the ’32 Ford was 000. Howard was able to locate the original doorskin that had been ripped off previously, which he mounted to the wooden frame behind the original welds.
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> Marty’s old photos of 000 helped Howard get many of the interior details right, including the ’36 Ford steering wheel.
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1967.
The minds of future automotive archeologists will surely be blown by all that occurred this year, on and off the track. We’d advise them that the hundreds of race cars frozen in black-and-white in the Petersen archive only begin to tell this season’s big stories. Investigating their builders, drivers, successes, and struggles for this final installment of Power Struggles led us down many rabbit holes, into some dead ends, and to the conclusion that American auto racing in 1967 was better than ever before—if not the best ever, period. Eleven of those months offered major events, at least in southern California. The best Grand National stock cars were already trading paint in January on Riverside’s road course. On a Saturday night in November, six teams of top Funny Cars—30 different drivers, plus standby alternates—squared off at brand-new Orange County International Raceway in the Manufacturers Meet. There were no shortages of race cars or controversies in between. Two years after Chrysler pulled out of NASCAR and just as Ford was ending its 1966 boycott, both factories threatened to flee again in protest of Bill France’s acceptance of each other’s questionable “optional accessories” and one radically streamlined, supposedly independent Chevelle. While General Motors officially extended its own corporate ban of all motorsports into the new year, rabble-rousers Smokey Yunick and Curtis Turner sat on the Daytona 500 pole, more than a dozen race-ready examples of the recently released Camaro materialized for Sebring’s Trans-Am series opener, and aluminum rat motors overpowered the sporty-car competition in the U.S. Road Racing Championship and Can-Am series. Thanks partly to a booming muscle-car craze, drag strip staging lanes were filled four and five days a week. Thirty-two-car, open-qualifying Top Fuel shows were not uncommon. So many “hot cars” entered NHRA’s February opener that the Winternationals instituted side-byside qualifying, thus ending a time-honored, time-wasting tradition of single runs prior to eliminations. Another historic first was the alldragster, one-day PDA Meet at Lions, headlined by 64 blown fuelers (though “only” 62 starters survived brutal qualifying attrition). Oval-track traditionalists convinced that 58 NOVEMBER 2017 HRDELUXE
mid-mounted V8s were the worst idea since women in the pits tried every trick short of sabotage to convince USAC to outlaw the pistonless powerplant entered by the influential Granatelli brothers. The little car with the big engine could’a, should’a, would’a won Indy, but for the best-known bearing failure in history. Collateral damage beyond the one-off gearbox included the end of a Firestone winning streak dating all the way back to 1915. When the Firestone-shod STP Turbine crapped out four laps short of certain victory, A.J. Foyt sped past on Goodyears. Goodyear provoked and fought tire wars on multiple fronts. M&H Racemasters had been standard dragster equipment for the decade since Marvin and Harry Rifchin rendered recaps obsolete by molding all-new slicks. That monopoly was broken by gifts of Blue Streak tires, cash, and rides in the original Goodyear blimp. Lots of pro racers jumped the blimpless M&H ship, including Don Garlits—who dramatically switched back for U.S. Nationals eliminations, chopped four tenths from his previous-best e.t., and won drag racing’s biggest event on Racemasters. Most of these historic events and innovations are illustrated here by one or more archive photos. As in all previous installments of this series, unpublished outtakes enjoyed an edge over images found in the author’s private collections of Petersen’s big three monthlies: HOT ROD, Car Craft, and Motor Trend. (Digital HRM back issues are accessible at Club.HotRod. com by Platinum-level members of the HOT ROD Club.) For every negative approved for publication by editors, hundreds more were doomed to decades of darkness in steel drawers. We’re going back for more of those. Another pictorial historical series, similar but different, debuts in the next HOT ROD Deluxe (Jan. ’18). We’ll begin by winding the clock back to 1955, when Robert E. Petersen instructed photographic director Bob D’Olivo to start tracking, numbering, and preserving any film exposed and processed by PPC employees. Subsequent years will be covered chronologically, one per issue, through the ’50s and into the mid’60s. So, stick around. Your eyes will be among the first to see images previously seen only by the long-gone employees who shot, processed, rejected, or filed film that’s waited five or six decades to be appreciated.
• WORDS: DAVE WALLACE • PICS: PETERSEN PUBLISHING CO. ARCHIVE • RESEARCH HELP: THOMAS VOEHRINGER & DRAG RACERS INC.
> An odd, mostly unwritten, near-universal requirement for dragster drivers to complete winning rounds “without outside assistance” stemmed from an era of stripped-down rail jobs pushed by healthy youths in T-shirts and jeans. By 1967, a typical Top Fueler weighed upwards of 1,300 pounds, and its pilot wore a hot, heavy, aluminized firesuit. Some strips further demanded that helmets and even face masks remain in place. These program interruptions delighted fans, who cheered the pusher as he passed and again when his win light finally flickered, and proved irresistible to photographers and editors. Drag racing’s original
jungle man, “Jungle” Larry Faust, advanced the hard way during Riverside’s 32-car HOT ROD Magazine meet after Don Prudhomme red-lighted and this car’s clutch fried on the starting line. He returned in time for the semifinals, but must’ve been all worn out, falling asleep against dark horse Glenn Brown (7.41/213.76 to 7.29/212.76), the eventual runner-up. Ironically, Faust’s frustrating outing generated the most publicity of a solid career driving fuel cars for Gene Mooneyham. Bob D’Olivo’s photo is an outtake to at least three different angles appearing in postrace coverage (June ’67 HRM; July ’67 CC).
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> Smacking a wall and shedding a front wheel just 15 laps into the Motor Trend 500 didn’t stop Curtis Turner from grinding the mile and a half back to Bud Moore’s pit. The damage proved irreparable, however, after rain arrived later this afternoon and NASCAR locked up the cars for a week, on jack stands. When the race resumed, teams were forbidden from any preparation beyond tire inflation. (See Apr. ’67 HRM & MT.)
> Like you, we saw this and assumed that the flying ’58 Fairlane surely was done for the day, if not forever more. Research revealed that regional racer Frank Deiny miraculously bounced back for a second-place finish (to Oren Prosser) in Riverside’s Permatex 100 undercard. We also learned that Deiny drove Grand National cars, though never finishing higher than 30th, and is better known as the founder of Speedway Engineering. > Eventual Motor Trend 500 winner Parnelli Jones provided plenty of excitement enroute, spinning out both weekends in virtually the same spot, then recovering in Riverside’s notorious Turn Six. He became the first event champion not named Gurney since 1963’s inaugural. Note the unprecedented sheetmetal stretching that factory teams applied to FoMoCo’s new Fairlane-Comet intermediate. Beyond chopping, channeling, and flaring, some cars sported shortened A-pillars that drooped the roof edges but maintained stock windshield height in the center, where inspectors measured. The streamlining and tunnel-port 427s were loudly protested by Chrysler, which threatened a repeat of its 1965 boycott over NASCAR’s failure to enforce its own rules.
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> Even Ford’s powerful new tunnel-port 427 must’ve struggled to deliver the Wood brothers’ team to the winner’s circle. Leonard and Glen Wood, who’d crewed for Dan Gurney during his last three (of four straight) Motor Trend 500 wins, came aboard only after Cale Yarborough crashed their Fairlane in practice. The brothers brought along their stash of state-of-the-art, tunnel-port 427s prepared by Holman-Moody.
> All we can tell you about this fluke photo is that it came from the shutdown area of Bee Line Dragway near Phoenix during AHRA’s Winter Nationals. None of our usual sources could identify the car or off-road driver, who’d presumably been blinded by oil gushing from the valve-cover breather. We say fluke photo because the preceding frames on this roll are all low-speed parachute shots of Funny Cars slowing to make a turnout. Instead of running for his life when the speeding fueler approached, CC staffer Bob Swaim turned, refocused, and stopped the action for us to enjoy, 50 years later. (See Apr. ’67 HRM & CC.)
> It’s awfully tough to stump the network of geezers responsible for identifying numerous cars and people depicted in past Power Struggles, but nobody remembers this manpower struggle during NHRA’s Winternationals. (Help, readers?) Drag Racers Inc. members pointed out that the combination of blown Chrysler and skinny slicks indicates a Top Gas transplant. (See Apr. ’67 HRM, CC & MT; Aug. ’67 HRM, CC & MT.)
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> After taking a year off from rocking the Brickyard establishment, Mickey Thompson held a February press conference in Irwindale, California, to unveil his most-radical setup yet: a slingshot-style Indy roadster driven by the front wheels, steered by all four (a la hook-’n’-ladder), and pulled by a three-valve (two intake, one exhaust), all-aluminum engine based on a small-block Chevy. A single Crower roller cam in the conventional location actuated one exhaust and two intake valves per pent-roof chamber. Thompson also cast new injectors to squeeze between the dual rocker shafts. Gary Congdon was driving both here and at Indy, where neither this car nor a rear-engined backup got past practice sessions. CC’s Dan Roulston reported that the team ultimately combined surviving parts and pieces from both Huffaker cars into a hybrid that got stranded in line when qualifying closed. (See May & June ’67 HRM; May & Aug. ’67 CC.)
> Left: Only after scanning and enlarging this frame did Smokey Yunick’s silhouette emerge from what had looked like a weird shadow or film defect in the original negative. MT photographer Bob D’Olivo got the candid shot prior to the Daytona 500. Curtis Turner debuted the famous “second Chevelle” on the pole with a record average of 181.541, breaking Daytona’s 180-mph barrier and leading the rest of the field by fully three mph. After losing Smokey’s 404-inch “qualifier” motor in a 100-mile qualifying race, Turner stayed in the top five in the main event and led repeatedly before blowing the race engine, too. Nonetheless, this was the most-impressive, most-publicized effort by any Chevy race car since GM halted direct and indirect support in 1963. Mario Andretti went on to win for Ford, his only NASCAR victory. (See May & July ’67 HRM; May ’67 MT.)
> Smokey’s slippery Chevelle met a violent end during Atlanta 500 practice. After lapping effortlessly at 151 mph (while other teams struggled for 149), Curtis Turner smacked the wall, got airborne, and flipped approximately 10 times. He was knocked out but reportedly unhurt. Yunick (at right, pointing, in a rare bareheaded photo) yanked the Tri-Powered 427 and tranny before getting the wreck crushed into a four-foot-square office decoration. (See June ’67 HRM & MT.)
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> It’s hard to believe now that such an itty-bitty spoiler caused a humongous ruckus, but Ford’s brass had been simmering since mid-1966, when Dodge rushed the aero aid into its retail catalog and NASCAR blessed it as a legitimate option. The added downforce transformed ill-handling Dodge Chargers into leaders virtually overnight. Chrysler countered that Ford’s new 427 heads, tunnel-port intake, and headers were not production items, nor were chopped, channeled, sectioned, widened Fairlane and Comet bodies. At Atlanta, Chrysler officials actually encouraged its factory teams to boycott the rest of the season—a plot unrealized only because the Pettys refused to go along with fellow owners Ray Nichels and Cotton Owens. Meanwhile, David Pearson’s Charger was getting checked against one of the plywood templates introduced at Daytona. (See June ’67 HRM; Jan. & June ’67 MT.)
> Determined to demonstrate that the traditional kings of the sport could draw big crowds without Funny Cars, novice promoter and United Drag Racers Association board member Doug Kruse persuaded Lions operator C.J. Hart to host an all-dragster show paying the largest cash purse ever, from $5,100 to the Top Fuel Eliminator to round money for all qualifiers. Imagine a single Saturday of qualifying and eliminations for 64 blown fuelers, 16 Top Gassers, and 16 injected Junior Fuel rails. The respective winners were Don Prudhomme, Bob Muravez (aka Floyd Lippencott Jr.), and longshot Tom Barres (Jr. Fuel)— plus the estimated 16,000 to 17,000 fans who arrived before Hart had to lock the gates of the overflowing facility two hours early. In addition to pounding out countless aluminum race-car bodies, Kruse designed and assembled the twin-engined Invader roadster that won back-to-back AMBR awards in 1967-1968. He passed away this June 19, just shy of the 50th anniversary of his inaugural, incomparable Professional Dragster Association Championships. (See Oct. ’67 HRM & CC.)
> We’re hoping that some of you—ahem—”mature” Midwesterners will fill us in about butchered Chevelle panels wrapped around an old altered chassis. We picked the shot from Detroit Dragway’s AHRA Grand Nationals to illustrate how Funny Car variety was probably peaking in this last season before rules makers began banning Jeeps and roadsters from major events. (See Aug. ’67 HRM.)
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> A broken axle instantly spoiled Mark Donohue’s day in Loudon, New Hampshire— but not a season that produced Trans-Am wins with Roger Penske’s Z-28 and the U.S. Road Racing Championship title in Penske’s Lola-Chevy Mark III. This car was the main testbed for joint 302 development by Traco, GM engineers, and Smokey Yunick (who later shared the recipe with HRM readers, Mar. ’68 issue). Vince Piggins, Chevrolet’s racing boss, is often credited for successfully mating 327 cranks to 283 blocks, though countless drag racers did it first, dubbing the resulting hybrid a 301. An entire injectednitro category, Junior Fuel Dragster, was based on the combination (up to 310 cubic inches).
> This classic Wendover, Utah, photo almost didn’t make the final cut for lack of IDs, but it’s just too cool to put back into the file drawer. Whoever they are, these bikers were responsible motel guests: Another frame on this roll reveals a protective tarp beneath the tools and the British double. (Do you think the leggy blonde is bored yet?)
> Sir Mick never could stay away from the salt for long. Getting back to Bonneville with a canopied Indy car should’ve made some news, but we haven’t found a single published photo or any mention of the effort. (See Nov. ’67 HRM.)
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> Left: We ran this scan past Don Garlits—who always remembers everything— but Big doesn’t know what prompted his reaction, nor whom he was signaling, at Indianapolis Raceway Park. Don is sure about the day it happened, pointing out the rotating M&H slicks borrowed from James Warren and Roger Coburn for Labor Day’s eliminations. After he and James both advanced out of the semifinals, Garlits famously offered to return the rubber, his opponent famously declined, and this extra-long (175-inch), superlight (1,170-pound) slingshot won the U.S. Nationals in a career-best 6.77 seconds. Immediately afterwards, he fulfilled a vow to shave his beard in front of fans if he ever ran in the sixes. (See Nov. ’67 HRM & CC.)
Power Struggles Series • Part 1, 1955: Nov. ’15 HRD • Part 2, 1956: Jan. ’16 HRD • Part 3, 1957: Mar. ’16 HRD • Part 4, 1958: May ’16 HRD • Part 5, 1959: July ’16 HRD • Part 6, 1960: Sept. ’16 HRD • Part 7, 1961: Nov. ’16 HRD • Part 8, 1962: Jan. ’17 HRD • Part 9, 1963: Mar. ’17 HRD • Part 10, 1964: May ’17 HRD • Part 11, 1965: July ’17 HRD • Part 12, 1966: Sept. ’17 HRD • Part 13, 1967: Nov. ’17 HRD
> The hard-fought Trans-Am series’ manufacturers’ championship
> If forcing those newfangled Funny Cars into heads-up dragster classes was NHRA’s plot to eliminate them as early as possible, it backfired when Dick Jesse’s radically sectioned, blown GTO and Gene Snow’s injected Dart respectively trophied in BB/ and CC/Fuel Dragster at Indy to qualify for Super Eliminator (which Snow also won). “Mr. Unswitchable” really was: Jesse stuck with Pontiac power long after other Poncho heroes defected to 392 or 426 Chryslers.
came down to a Mercury-vs.-Ford showdown in the last of 12 races—and a missing gas cap—at Kent, Washington. Needing to finish one spot higher than the Mustangs, Dan Gurney’s factory Cougar fell back to third after acquiring a black-flag penalty for spewing fuel, a punctured rear tire, and a smashed windshield that forced him to push against the broken glass to see. In the absence of Jerry Titus’s wrecked Mustang, teammate Ron Bucknum held onto the second position (behind winner Mark Donohue) necessary for owner Carroll Shelby to secure a second title for Ford in TransAm’s second season. (Drivers would not be awarded individual points until 1972.)
> Darlington’s Southern 500 was among Richard Petty’s 10 straight NASCAR wins between August 12 and October 1. In a season that will undoubtedly never be equaled, he won 27 of 48 races driving the same ’66 Belvedere that won 13 times the previous year. In the process, he broke another record that folks figured would never be threatened: 54 career wins scored by his daddy, Lee. Darlington Raceway’s enthusiastic flag waver must’ve been wearing insulated underwear on that hot hood. Directly below sat a destroked Hemi whose 404 cubic inches netted a 206-pound weight break for short tracks, improving handling and fuel mileage. (See Nov. & Dec. ’67 MT.)
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“SILENT S S SAM,, THE WHOOSHMOBILE” OOS O
Most seasons seasons, no way could anyone narrow all types of American race cars down to a single standout. This year, no contest: Love it or hate it, the STP Turbine did everything in its debut except win the Indy 500. Its nonautomotive, nonpiston, eerily quiet engine was intended to spin inside of a train, sawmill, snowplow, boat, or standby electrical powerplant. Andy Granatelli and aircraft engineer Ken Wallis launched the build more than a year before Bill Cheesbourg cruised to 200-mph straightaway speeds in 1966 with an aircraft engine rated at 1,250 shaft horsepower. Although overheated brakes prevented that car from qualifying, USAC reacted by limiting all turbines to 600 hp this year. Undeterred, Granatelli and Wallis stuck with the project and were ultimately rewarded with 486 miles of bliss. As team members’ wives were being escorted to the winner’s circle, Parnelli Jones suddenly slowed with four laps to go, sidelined by a transmission-bearing race that disintegrated and stripped gears.
> A unique four-wheel-drive system evolved from the mechanism custom-built by Ferguson Formula in England for the previous season’s STP Novi. The engine’s projected four-to-six mpg (doubling Indy’s typical fuel mileage) enabled a small, 48-gallon kerosene load to be strategically distributed inside the chassis.
> Joseph Granatelli impressed the L.A. media by firing up the turbine (note exhaust heat) at a press party in early April, then drove the car from of the stately Ambassador Hotel’s courtyard to a makeshift photo studio nearby. HRM’s Ray Brock and Eric Rickman teamed up for the static photography.
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> The sexy skin was among the earliest computer-designed, windtunnel-tested race-car bodies. Racing weight of 1,750 pounds was distributed 60/40, left/right, and 45/55, front/rear.
> In one year, Novi diehards Andy (in suit), Joe, and Vince Granatelli graduated from perennial backmarkers to feared frontrunners while generating priceless publicity for STP.
> Littl Little-known k factoid: f t id Those Th perfect f t rows
>N Note t h how the turbine’s intense exhaust heat distorts the background. The
of rivets were proudly installed by Jim Lytle, who previously built and drove the pair of Allison-powered ’34 Fords known as Big Als I and II. The youngster tried but failed to convince boss Ken Wallis that a race car—unlike the aircraft he’d designed— needed U-joints in the drivetrain to ensure survival throughout practice laps, qualifying, and a 500-mile race. He said he quit after Wallis took issue with the suggestion and demeaned him as “a drag racer, not an engineer” who “should do more riveting and less talking.” Lytle predicted to friends that the car would be fast, but would not finish.
round shield enabled crewmen to access nearby components during pit stops.
> When Andy rushed to meet his coasting driver on the track, the turbine was running perfectly, but no power was reaching the wheels. Only later did he realize that had his crew left the disabled car where it stopped, instead of pushing it back to the pits, Parnelli Jones would’ve been awarded third place, instead of sixth.
> Above: Publisher Ray Brock’s Aug. ’67 HRM editorial lobbied USAC not to penalize future turbines for performance that might’ve been achievable with conventional Indy power: “We think that a Ford or Offy engine in this very same chassis would outrun the rearengined cars.” A leftfoot-operated flapper later attached to the exhaust pipe functioned as an air brake, partially compensating for the absence of compression braking.
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PARTS THAT APPEAL Navarro Blower Parts
H&H Flatheads is now reproducing a blower drive snout and a back plate bearing the Navarro name to fit a Roots-style 4-71 4 supercharger. These brand-new components are cast in Los L Angeles from 356 aluminum using new patterns, and are heat treated to T-6 before being CNC machined. The 7-inch sno out is available in two finishes: as-cast or polished. The back pla ate is available unfinished only. H&H also offers a complete Navvarro 4-71 blower kit, which includes a three-carb intake manifo old, two water-pump pulleys, crank pulley, Gilmer belt tension ner, two Gilmer pulleys, two generator-belt tensioners, pruned d d and polished 4-71 supercharger, and a blower snout.
Contact:
H&H Flatheads; 818/248-2371; flatheads-forever.com m
Under-Dash Evaporators
Vintage Air has just released itts new Heritage Series under-daash h evaporators. These evaporato ors are designed to “deliver Vintage A Air’s proven performance and classsic style in a good looking and easy-to-install package that doesn’t re equire dash modifications,” says the com-pany. The Heritage units are offered off in two configurations: heat an nd cooll or cool only. They include a three-speed high-output blower fan n, four f directable ball vents, and an ad djust-able electronic servo heater valve l e on heat and cool units. Four dififferent face design options incclude mother of pearl, engine-turned aluminum, brushed aluminum, m, and black anodized engine-turned aluminum.
Contact:
Vintage Air; 800/862-6658;; vintageair.com
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Slingshot
Vic Edelbrock Sr. was among the pioneers of flathead speed parts, and the Slingshot intake manifold he developed in 1938 helped put his fledgling company on the map. Edelbrock still offers the Slingshot manifold for 1938-1953 Ford and Mercury flathead engines. Each manifold comes with stainless acorn nuts to mount the two halves, and Edelbrock also offers intake manifold gasket sets and its own version of the Stromberg 97 carburetor.
Contact:
Edelbrock; edelbrock.com
HRDELUXE NOVEMBER 2017 69
• WORDS: SCOTTY LACHENAUER • PICS: SCOTTY LACHENAUER & BRANDON KEMPF
Body Building
Constructing Our Roadster from Some Things Old and Some Things New If you’ve been watching our roadster build, you’ve seen how master craftsman TJ O’Grady from Throttle Jockey Originals in Bohemia, New York, has transformed the motor and chassis on our banger-powered ’29 Model A roadster. We’ve hopped up our flathead four-cylinder into a potent little race motor (“Starting Out with a Bang-er!,” July ’17) and beefed up our suspension and chassis (“A Class-A Chassis,” Sept. ’17), with the purpose of doing battle out on the sand at The Race of Gentlemen. Now that we have most of the underbelly of our beast worked out, we are going to work on the roadster’s body. A few years back, I found this roadster body in upstate New York. It came with mostly original Henry Ford steel, mixed with a new subframe and some needed patch panels. The cowl was in reasonably good shape and was patched on the lower
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1 1. Here’s the starting point for our roadster body. The cowl is mostly good ol’ Henry Ford steel, and we had the gas tank restored prior to coming to Throttle Jockey Originals. We are going to use a few replacement pieces as well as the OE steel on this future TROG racer, so we will hit up Brookville Roadster to fill our sheetmetal needs.
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2. After some thought, TJ O’Grady, proprietor at TJO, decided to add a metal rail cover over the front frame horns in the near future, so here he welds a heavy steel tube between the framerails for added strength and stability.
3 3. Once that was accomplished, we were ready to design the new front end for our hot rod Ford. Note: After some thought, we moved our Elmer friction shocks forward on the rails due to a brake clearance issue. It will not affect the shocks’ performance.
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4. Over the course of designing our
6. TJ starts designing the new front cover that th t will ill fit over the th framerails. f il
roadster, TJ decided he wanted to modify its stock grille shell. Starting with a usable grille, he cuts it up and alters its shape, using parts of two other grilles to help with the transformation. He wants to retain the overall style of the factory grille, but make it narrower than stock. The grille is tapered down 4 inches on top and a total of 6 inches at the bottom. He had already narrowed the radiator 4 inches in preparation for this design change.
He uses cardboard to make a rough design layout for the one-off custom piece.
5. Here is the finished shape. The slimmed-down styling will go a long way in separating our roadster from the other Model As on the beach, and hopefully give us an “air piercing” advantage on the sand’s eighth-mile run. On the ground are the remnants of the two other grilles, sacrificed to make this one good piece.
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BODY BUILDING 10. Once the panel has been beaded and bent, it’s test-fitted to the front of the chassis. This cover will not only look great, it will also help deflect sand and moisture away from the drivetrain.
11. TJ takes a stock ’29 hood and bends it along the new curve of the front grille just to get a look at its overall fit on the new front end. He’s also now added the stock hood trays along the lower edge of the hood and frame. Filler pieces of sheetmetal are added to extend the piece to fill in the gaps made by slimming down the nose, and give the front end an overall factory look.
7 sides. The gas tank needed some work, as it was found to have a mouse nest inside it. The debris was removed, and the tank boiled and sealed, so we could once again fill it with go-juice. We are almost ready to start our project, but there are still some issues to be addressed. We definitely need to replace some of the worn-out and beyond-rusty sheetmetal. So we called Brookville Roadster to handle our metal needs. As we sort out the issues, we will place an order or two with Brookville to fill our sheetmetal checklist. We will likely need other parts and pertinent pieces as we move through the process, so we ain’t putting the catalogs awayy just j yet. y
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7. Once the cardboard design is transferred to sheetmetal, TJ then cuts it out carefully with a cutting wheel. Next, a series of beads and bends will be put in to give the metal some backbone, and add to a period-styled look. 8. TJ takes his time, rolling perfectly straight beads onto the sheetmetal’s surface. It’s a process that harkens back to the earliest hot rods.
9. Throttle Jockey assistant, cousin Mark Leombruno, helps TJ at the metal brake, putting in bends that will not only reinforce the metal, but shape it around the front of the frame.
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12. Once he’s ’ happy ppy with the front-end mods, TJ strips the car down and puts it on the frame table to build the body. He will assemble it on a spare frame and an already completed sub-frame, to make sure all of it comes together properly, and with the right dimensions.
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15. Our original Henry Ford steel quarter-
14 13. With the cowl set in place through its bolt mounting holes, we now look at the next step in building the main section of body. We have a good mixture of original and repro parts on hand to create the roadster’s open-air form. This photo shows a few of our Brookville replacement parts. TJ makes sure he hits them with primer on the contact edges before attaching them permanently.
14. TJ starts the body build by installing the primered end cap to the subframe, and then mounts the lower trunk filler panel as well. From here we can move on to the quarterpanels and get this build into high gear!
panels were in sad shape. They came with a full set of patch panels, but it seemed like it might not be time-efficient to try to fix them. So once again we called up Brookville and got two fresh quarters. These had bracing built in, so we were ahead of the game right out of the package.
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16. Once the quarter-panels are in place, the body starts to take on the shape of a roadster. There will be extra bracing added to give the body a sound structure and a solid feel.
17. Throttle Jockey reused the factory rain rail, as it was in good shape. An original ’29 trunk lid was also sourced.
18. With both quarters locked into the subframe, we are getting close to getting the perimeter metal work done.
18 19. Our passenger-side door was in poor
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shape when we started the project. That didn’t faze TJ one bit, as he planned to do one serious exhaust. His working concept was to sweep the pipes up alongside the car, thus rendering the passenger door useless. That worked out perfectly, as now we could lock the door in place. The driver door is a new Brookville piece.
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BODY BUILDING
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20 20. Here we see the seat riser in the body, moved back as far as possible to accommodate larger size drivers. Later in the build, TJ will design a seat that will fit on the stock riser, and have it custom upholstered.
21. Once we have the body secure, next we need to install it on our ’29 chassis, and fit it around the Z in the frame out back. Here TJ cuts and augments the subframe, adding bracing where needed to keep the body structurally sound.
22. Here’s 22 H ’ another th view i off the th body b d bracing. b i Notice N ti the th steel t l square tube t b around d the th perimeter of the roadster seatback area. Without this 1-inch-square tube, the roadster would have little structural rigidity.
23. The roadster body is complete. TJ has already started the custom hood, designing it out of 18-gauge sheetmetal stock. A bead was added for structural rigidity and to add some early hot rod design cues. Next he will add some tasty louvered sides to the hood, along with the outlet for the side exhaust. 24. TJ marks the louver design and uses his in-house press to punch them in the hood. These not only add a cool touch to the hot rod, they also will help dissipate heat in the engine bay. 25. The finished hood top. Next, the sides will be built, also out of 18-gauge sheetmetal stock.
26. Here is the driver side. Two rows of louvers fill the panel nicely. Next on the list, TJ will design and build the passenger side around the lengthy exhaust. 27. Cardboard is used once again to mock up the overall design. From here it will be used as a template to transfer the design to metal. This will form the engine cover, but allow for the extended exhaust to exit.
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Schubeck’s HIGHLY TALKED about
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BODY BUILDING
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28. After cutting the form out of the sheetmetal, TJ rolls the perimeter bead in the hood side. It will also get a full assortment of louvers to match the driver side.
29 29. Once the body fabrication is complete, TJ sands the panels with 320-grit in preparation for primer.
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30. SEM black etching primer is hand sprayed on the body. Yes, TJ uses rattlecan paint and gets great results. He lets it cure for a week, and then prepares for final color.
31. After much deliberation and a sample spray out, TJ chooses another rattle-can enamel paint from SEM. It’s a light “army green” olive tone, a color he’s used before. Non-metallic colors are used for that 1940’s look, and these SEM paints are period correct for a traditional hot rod. The spray can paint laid out flawlessly on the body, and dried to a finish as hard as nails.
32. The finished body in all its glory. TJ is ecstatic about how the roadster has turned out to this point. Next up, we complete the final tasks to get this ride running and ready for the sand. Stay tuned to next issue as we finish buttoning up our racing roadster and get it ready for the beach assault at The Race of Gentlemen.
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SOURCES Antique Ford Parts Center; 631/256-0030 Brookville Roadster; 937/833-4605; brookvilleroadster.com SEM; 866/327-7829; semproducts.com Throttle Jockey Originals; 631/689-8900; hillside1213@aol.com
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SCRAPBOOK These Pages Are Your Pages
Though it’s a blow to the ol’ ego when we think about it, the Scrap Book department is one of the most popular in the magazine because these are your pages: the place for you to share memories, photos, tall tales, and other nostalgia from rodding and racing years gone by. Please keep those photos coming! High-resolution digital is best so they reproduce well; if you have prints to send, copy them first so you keep your originals. And thanks to all of you who responded to my questions in the September issue about what you like and don’t about the magazine. All that feedback will filter into my future plans.
SEND YOUR STUFF Email: DREWHARDIN57@GMAIL.COM Mail: HOT ROD Deluxe, 831 S. Douglas St., El Segundo, CA 90245
Happy Birthday, Prowlers The Prowlers hot rod club celebrated its 70th year in existence with a car show and party at Grape Park in Escondido (a suburb about 25 miles north of San Diego). They have been doing hot rod business from 1947 to the present day without a break in the action. The party was a great success. We ran out of goodie bags after about 180 cars and let in another 20 or so people for free. We were a little surprised at how many hot rodders showed up, since it was a little toasty outside. Even some of the L.A. Roadsters came after their disappointing run the weekend before. We had a history booth set up with Prowler photos of racing, hot rod runs, and meetings. Included was this photo of a Prowlers’ roadster that I have owned since the early 1970s. I’m in the middle of a complete rebuild as we speak. Roger Honey
PIC: WES ALLISON
Stoked and Humbled
I wanted to say thank you and that I was very stoked and humbled to see the article and pictures about my MonTee (Roddin @ Random, July ’17). Also, I was very happy to see the last paragraph shoutout and thank you to a lot of people who have made and had a huge influence on my and my family’s lives in a very positive way. P.S. The closed cab [originally intended for the T tub’s chassis] did get built, and I just put the first 200 miles on it. It’s the brown one; the red one is a buddy’s that I’m putting together. It’ll be pulling the No. 7 to the Santa Margarita time trials. Tim Edwards
Nasty Classy
I very much enjoyed reading your article on Cedric Meeks titled “Nasty Classy” (July 2017). The article was bought to my attention by a co-member of the L.A. Roadsters Club at a recent meeting. As the club is getting ready for the annual Father’s Day show in Pomona, it is appropriate to think about the past 60 years with hot rods such as the one you featured in your magazine. Personally, it put a skip in my heart to think about the past, including many friends who built and worked on the car, as well as other projects. I wish to extend a sincere thank you for again publishing the article and producing such a high-quality magazine. John Corno In that issue we also featured one of John’s hot rods, a rear-engine Model A roadster that he built with Cedric’s father, Russ.
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Fastest Milk Man Just finished reading the Leon Fitzgerald story (“Leon Fitzgerald: Fuel Altered Pioneer,” July 2017). It’s very interesting to have the real story behind a longtime racer and his series of race cars. Leon’s early history about living and working at various locations in Southern California struck home with me. But his reference to driving a milk truck for South Gate’s Royal Farms Dairy was the high point. Growing up in neighboring Bellflower, we had milk delivered all through the 1950s by Royal Farms Dairy. I can still remember placing the empty glass milk bottles in the pass-through compartment on our kitchen wall the night before, and then, just like magic, the following morning the same compartment would be full of cold glass bottles of Royal Farms milk. Maybe, just maybe, Leon Fitzgerald was our milkman back then! Robert Teitsworth
Henslee T
More Snap Jack Memories
I think it was about 1955, maybe 1956. I had a ’50 Plymouth convertible, pipes, lowered, nosed, and decked, done by my dad. The hood took three tries. One day I came walking in with a sack of new duds: black slacks with a white stripe down the outside of the legs with white saddle stitching and a narrow belt to match, Moonglow shirt, and Snap Jack shoes. My dad thought I got a new job as an usher at the local theater. Haha! Big thing was, the shoes were blue suede! Guess who wore them down to the local pub? Dad, natch. Still drive a Plymouth, a ’37 flatback sedan, 350/350, and so on. Still building at age 77. Jim Graf I am responding to the shoes that Ed Roth was wearing as he striped his truck. Reader Bill Wolf mentioned them in the July issue. He recognized the shoes from his youth. I did, too! I called my brother to see if he had seen the letter. He had. We grew up in the Detroit area and bought shoes at Flagg Bros. I remembered the shoes but did not remember any name for them. He did: Flagg Flyers! He checked with a buddy and got the same name. They were a neat style of shoe. I think I was in about the sixth or seventh grade at the time. We saw Ed’s updated ’56 Ford truck last spring at Cobo Hall. It looks as good as it did years ago in the magazines. Ralph Hancox
Thank you for revealing a little more history of that wonderful Henslee T dragster (“Flag Man,” July 2017). This car has been a very interesting study, and until recently was obscured by many years and a progression of great dragsters. You may be interested to know the underpinnings of Henslee’s monster were first laid by Paul Schiefer, using the pontoon struts from a PBY-5A Catalina flying boat. Schiefer first adorned the frame with a 59AB flathead, three-speed, and shopbuilt front end quick-change under a ’24 (or ’25) T roadster body. Don Waite told me the car was among the most beautiful to run the dry lakes, that everybody would stare as if a stunningly beautiful woman had walked in the room. Waite’s successes with his rear-engine T compelled Schiefer to replace the stodgy T body with a more streamlined ’27 T roadster body and a custom nose built by Eddie Kuzma. Schiefer’s business was growing so that he didn’t have time to run his mule, so he loaned the car to the Bean Bandits, who eventually modified the car to its rear-engine configuration. Some of this great car’s history is serialized on the Kustomrama website, listed as Paul Schiefer’s ’25 Ford. David Walker
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SCRAPBOOK Top Fuel Circa 1969
Photographer Tom Schiltz and correspondent (and former Editor) Dave Wallace recently started swapping old drag racing stories via email, which prompted Tom to share some of his on-the-scene-as-it-happened photos with us. So many of our archival shots are in black and white that it’s great to see these cars in color for a change. We also have to admire Tom for his effective use of that old square film’s real estate in capturing long and skinny rails. “Tom’s a real pro who shot every U.S. Nationals since the meet moved to Indy (1961!),” Dave writes. “As you can see, slingshots still ruled in 1969, and Mr. Schiltz got the big dogs.”
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> 1. Tommy Ivo, 2. Bennie Osborn, 3. The Greek, 4. Soapy Sales/Tommy Allen, 5. Dunn/ Reath, 6. Smothers/Beach Boys/ Dwight Salisbury, 7. Don the Beachcomber Johnson, 8. Powers & Riley Reverser Car, 9. Lees/ Tom Raley, 10. Rick Sutton, 11. Shreve Automotive, 12. Marvin Schwartz, 13. Ray Godman, 14. South Wind Too, 15. Tom McEwen, 16. Sneaky Pete
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TROPHY GIRL • PIC: RAY BROCK, PETERSEN PUBLISHING CO. ARCHIVE
Feel Better, Linda
HOT ROD’s Ray Brock photographed Miss Golden Shifter herself, Linda Vaughn, in May 1964 at the NASCAR Yankee 300 in Indianapolis. The world’s favorite trophy girl has been having some health issues lately, and in mid-summer underwent an hours-long surgical procedure that forced her to cancel many of her planned public appearances. According to her Facebook page, Linda is home from the hospital and “resting comfortably with her Sister Sheila and her dog, Curly Joe Cocker.”
If you wish to send her a get-well card, correspondence can be sent to Linda Vaughn, P.O. Box 9348, S. Laguna, CA 92677. You can use that same address to order a copy of her biography, Linda Vaughn, The First Lady of Motorsports, which she wrote with former HRM Editor Rob Kinnan. —DREW HARDIN
Hot Rod Deluxe (ISSN 1546-5063), November 2017; Volume 10 Number 6, is published bimonthly by TEN: The Enthusiast Network, LLC, 261 Madison Avenue, 6th floor, New York, NY 10016. Copyright 2017 by TEN: The Enthusiast Network Magazines, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the USA. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY and at additional mailing offices. Subscriptions US and US Possessions $39.97 per year (6 issues); Canadian, $45.97, Foreign, $51.97 (including surface mail postage). Payment in advance. US. Funds only. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 707.4.12.5); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: Send address corrections to Hot Rod Deluxe, P.O. Box 420235, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0235.
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