Post by johnbalich on Jan 7, 2008 22:08:20 GMT -7
“Freight Train”….”Star Dust” ……..”Rambunctious”…”Pure Hell” ….”The Winged Express”…..Do you remember these names? There are a thousand more and then some. These names were the stuff of dreams to a twelve year old Los Angeles boy. Every Saturday night at Lions Drag strip, they could be seen battling with the likes of “The Hawaiian” or “Brutus” and any other number of similar cars. In those days, the Cars were the stars. Today’s Funny Cars could never be the stars. They are as alike one another, as the next Ford Focus is alike the one before it.
The Drakes Second Law: The Golden Age of Drag Racing was the sixties and early seventies. I don’t say this with ‘old guy’ prejudice; I say it because it is true.
When Drag Racing was young, it was pursued by any number of racers, the vast majority just common guys with a desire to go faster and quicker than the next guy, and most without formal education, most on small budgets. I imagine the majority of cars were built in everyday auto garages with exotic names like “Mel’s Transmission” or “Fred’s Muffler”. Everyone’s budget was different, and the most common resource was the auto wrecking yard. No wonder every car was an individual! In “Gas” classes, and other modified classes, one often started with what one had on hand. If you had a tired 56 Buick on hand, that’s what you raced. If Dad handed down a Pontiac, that became your canvas. Find a straight axle if you could, strip off the heavy a- arms and springs type suspension, remove the front bumper and grille, then slowly start on a few engine modifications.
The early Gasser classes were a wonderful mix of old and new. Add to this the fact there were no ‘crate motors’, no dynamometers and no ONE guy had the formula to fast and quick. Theories in practice were the norm. One car would feature a Pontiac engine (Mickey Thompson used many of them, Tommy Ivo favored Buicks) the next might have an Olds or even a Cadillac. Chevies abounded of course, Ford power plants less so once the 265 (later 283) Chevy became widely available. In Altered class there was at least once famous early Ford sedan running an Allison airplane engine, and there were similarly powered dragsters. What a mechanical feast for the eyes!
While Stock and Super-Stock classes did not enjoy the wild variety, they did enjoy visual similarity and lots of mechanical similarity to the family sedan. Then came the Horsepower Wars. Chrysler and Ford really started it. Ford Lincoln Introduced the over head valve engine in 1952 and Ford itself followed in 1954. With identical displacement they gained a quick 20 horsepower, bone stock. Twenty may not sound like much, but consider they were only putting out 110 H.P. the year before. That is like taking your 300 horsepower Mustang GT and gaining 54 horses. Yes, you would feel the difference!! Dodge introduced the 241 cubic inch Red Ram Hemi engine in 1953 at 140 Horsepower. By 1957 this engine was 325 cubic inches and putting out 310 horses! Imagine obtaining well over double the power in four model years. Chevy intro’d one of the great V-8 engines of all time, the 265 small block. By 1957 they offered fuel injection. Ford countered with a supercharged 312! The 1958 Chevy was available with a three carb set up in the 348, soon to become the famous 409. Horsepower was the coin of the realm. Factories were ‘in’ with both feet. By 1964 the race was given a bigger boost when John De Lorean (yes THAT John De Lorean) stuffed a 389 engine (intended for full size Pontiacs) into a Tempest and gave it a racy name along with the tri power carbs; GTO. What this meant was, Dad could drive the car, or nearly the car, that he was seeing at the drag strip on Sunday. Stock and Super-Stock meets were not uncommon. Fan interest was very high.
NHRA miss-stepped when it did not limit Gas Class cars In “A Gas” “B Gas” and “C Gas” to pre 1949 bodies, and when classes D and E were not limited to pre 1957 bodies.
When a full tube frame Mustang Fastback showed up at the nationals, and was permitted to run as AA/G, the death Nell of the Gassers was being sounded. Soon all the gassers were sporting these much slipperier bodies. Meanwhile, Funny cars sported the SAME shells. So now you had fast funny cars on fuel and slow funny cars on gas. Where is the charm in that? I don’t know if we will ever have these cars back except at grass roots events, like nostalgia drags etc. where they remain very popular.
The history of Funny Cars is much the same. At first shunned by the NHRA as outlaws, they were accepted officially when their popularity ran wild. Oh those early days! We had Corvette Funny car roadsters, stretched Jeep roadsters, Corvair Funny cars, rear engine Funny cars, and Station Wagon Funny cars, along with the usual suspects, i.e. stretch Camaros, Mustangs and ‘Cudas. The Funny cars of today have nowhere near the character or unpredictability of those early cars. What we have are Gumby-Like blobs that barely suggest anything approaching the vehicles they claim to represent. Expenses are through the roof a hundred fold. I have a poster advertising a ‘meet’ of “100 Funny Cars” at Orange County International Raceway. I attended another ‘meet’ at Irwindale Raceway in about 1975; I’d guess featuring 124 funny cars! I wonder how many we could raise today.
What about AA/ Fuel Altereds? These wild men of drag racing held court for a few years in the mid to latter sixties. Short wheelbases, hemi horsepower and iron nerves were the order of the day. Who will ever forget Wild Willie Borsch, driving one handed as was his trademark, as the Winged Express skittered sideways crab-like down the track as we all held our breath. I don’t know for sure, but I assume safety considerations doomed these cars. They were notoriously difficult to pilot. When NHRA allowed them to lengthen wheelbases, handling improved greatly, but they lost their innate charm.
Pro Stock on the other hand was a very good idea. Alarmed at the sight of pro Super Stock racers skidding with tires burning through the timing lights, to avoid ‘breaking out”, NHRA decided to create a ‘heads up’ class of Super Super- Stockers. This formula was a hit, although NHRA again stumbled I think with the handicap placed on Hemi- Engine cars. The handicap was likely necessary lest the Hemi dominate all competition, but the weight penalty was too severe. Over the years, more and more modifications were permitted to these cars, until they again morphed into nearly identical race cars. The concept of “stock’ is completely gone. NASCAR has similarly gone so far as to use ONE SINGLE template for all cars, the only difference being painted on details. The racing is faster, but somehow much more sterile to my eye.
Top Fuel class has not escaped this bland trend. With huge sponsorships, wind tunnel testing, computer data gathering, all teams reach pretty much the same conclusion as to the best design. As soon as any variation appears, it is summarily adopted by all teams.
The very essence of Top Fuel class is unlimited experimentation. Many factors have reined this in, not the least of which is NHRA’s understandable concern about excessive speeds. If NHRA did not place limits over the last ten years or so, I assure you the top speed record would likely be 350 M.P.H. or better.
Yes we have lost some of the charm of those Golden Days, yet not altogether. Nostalgia drag racing is in the rise. Front engine dragsters, period correct Funny Cars, and “Double A Fuel Altereds” are alive. Check listings for nostalgia meets, and you can still see these wondrous, even beautiful, machines.
Perhaps I was wrong at the outset. Maybe these are the longings of a seasoned fan yearning for the cars that excited during his youth. I am interested in your take on all of this, as well as any discussion of what direction NHRA and other sanctioning bodies should take. Comments and discussion are welcomed.
THE DRAKE
The Drakes Second Law: The Golden Age of Drag Racing was the sixties and early seventies. I don’t say this with ‘old guy’ prejudice; I say it because it is true.
When Drag Racing was young, it was pursued by any number of racers, the vast majority just common guys with a desire to go faster and quicker than the next guy, and most without formal education, most on small budgets. I imagine the majority of cars were built in everyday auto garages with exotic names like “Mel’s Transmission” or “Fred’s Muffler”. Everyone’s budget was different, and the most common resource was the auto wrecking yard. No wonder every car was an individual! In “Gas” classes, and other modified classes, one often started with what one had on hand. If you had a tired 56 Buick on hand, that’s what you raced. If Dad handed down a Pontiac, that became your canvas. Find a straight axle if you could, strip off the heavy a- arms and springs type suspension, remove the front bumper and grille, then slowly start on a few engine modifications.
The early Gasser classes were a wonderful mix of old and new. Add to this the fact there were no ‘crate motors’, no dynamometers and no ONE guy had the formula to fast and quick. Theories in practice were the norm. One car would feature a Pontiac engine (Mickey Thompson used many of them, Tommy Ivo favored Buicks) the next might have an Olds or even a Cadillac. Chevies abounded of course, Ford power plants less so once the 265 (later 283) Chevy became widely available. In Altered class there was at least once famous early Ford sedan running an Allison airplane engine, and there were similarly powered dragsters. What a mechanical feast for the eyes!
While Stock and Super-Stock classes did not enjoy the wild variety, they did enjoy visual similarity and lots of mechanical similarity to the family sedan. Then came the Horsepower Wars. Chrysler and Ford really started it. Ford Lincoln Introduced the over head valve engine in 1952 and Ford itself followed in 1954. With identical displacement they gained a quick 20 horsepower, bone stock. Twenty may not sound like much, but consider they were only putting out 110 H.P. the year before. That is like taking your 300 horsepower Mustang GT and gaining 54 horses. Yes, you would feel the difference!! Dodge introduced the 241 cubic inch Red Ram Hemi engine in 1953 at 140 Horsepower. By 1957 this engine was 325 cubic inches and putting out 310 horses! Imagine obtaining well over double the power in four model years. Chevy intro’d one of the great V-8 engines of all time, the 265 small block. By 1957 they offered fuel injection. Ford countered with a supercharged 312! The 1958 Chevy was available with a three carb set up in the 348, soon to become the famous 409. Horsepower was the coin of the realm. Factories were ‘in’ with both feet. By 1964 the race was given a bigger boost when John De Lorean (yes THAT John De Lorean) stuffed a 389 engine (intended for full size Pontiacs) into a Tempest and gave it a racy name along with the tri power carbs; GTO. What this meant was, Dad could drive the car, or nearly the car, that he was seeing at the drag strip on Sunday. Stock and Super-Stock meets were not uncommon. Fan interest was very high.
NHRA miss-stepped when it did not limit Gas Class cars In “A Gas” “B Gas” and “C Gas” to pre 1949 bodies, and when classes D and E were not limited to pre 1957 bodies.
When a full tube frame Mustang Fastback showed up at the nationals, and was permitted to run as AA/G, the death Nell of the Gassers was being sounded. Soon all the gassers were sporting these much slipperier bodies. Meanwhile, Funny cars sported the SAME shells. So now you had fast funny cars on fuel and slow funny cars on gas. Where is the charm in that? I don’t know if we will ever have these cars back except at grass roots events, like nostalgia drags etc. where they remain very popular.
The history of Funny Cars is much the same. At first shunned by the NHRA as outlaws, they were accepted officially when their popularity ran wild. Oh those early days! We had Corvette Funny car roadsters, stretched Jeep roadsters, Corvair Funny cars, rear engine Funny cars, and Station Wagon Funny cars, along with the usual suspects, i.e. stretch Camaros, Mustangs and ‘Cudas. The Funny cars of today have nowhere near the character or unpredictability of those early cars. What we have are Gumby-Like blobs that barely suggest anything approaching the vehicles they claim to represent. Expenses are through the roof a hundred fold. I have a poster advertising a ‘meet’ of “100 Funny Cars” at Orange County International Raceway. I attended another ‘meet’ at Irwindale Raceway in about 1975; I’d guess featuring 124 funny cars! I wonder how many we could raise today.
What about AA/ Fuel Altereds? These wild men of drag racing held court for a few years in the mid to latter sixties. Short wheelbases, hemi horsepower and iron nerves were the order of the day. Who will ever forget Wild Willie Borsch, driving one handed as was his trademark, as the Winged Express skittered sideways crab-like down the track as we all held our breath. I don’t know for sure, but I assume safety considerations doomed these cars. They were notoriously difficult to pilot. When NHRA allowed them to lengthen wheelbases, handling improved greatly, but they lost their innate charm.
Pro Stock on the other hand was a very good idea. Alarmed at the sight of pro Super Stock racers skidding with tires burning through the timing lights, to avoid ‘breaking out”, NHRA decided to create a ‘heads up’ class of Super Super- Stockers. This formula was a hit, although NHRA again stumbled I think with the handicap placed on Hemi- Engine cars. The handicap was likely necessary lest the Hemi dominate all competition, but the weight penalty was too severe. Over the years, more and more modifications were permitted to these cars, until they again morphed into nearly identical race cars. The concept of “stock’ is completely gone. NASCAR has similarly gone so far as to use ONE SINGLE template for all cars, the only difference being painted on details. The racing is faster, but somehow much more sterile to my eye.
Top Fuel class has not escaped this bland trend. With huge sponsorships, wind tunnel testing, computer data gathering, all teams reach pretty much the same conclusion as to the best design. As soon as any variation appears, it is summarily adopted by all teams.
The very essence of Top Fuel class is unlimited experimentation. Many factors have reined this in, not the least of which is NHRA’s understandable concern about excessive speeds. If NHRA did not place limits over the last ten years or so, I assure you the top speed record would likely be 350 M.P.H. or better.
Yes we have lost some of the charm of those Golden Days, yet not altogether. Nostalgia drag racing is in the rise. Front engine dragsters, period correct Funny Cars, and “Double A Fuel Altereds” are alive. Check listings for nostalgia meets, and you can still see these wondrous, even beautiful, machines.
Perhaps I was wrong at the outset. Maybe these are the longings of a seasoned fan yearning for the cars that excited during his youth. I am interested in your take on all of this, as well as any discussion of what direction NHRA and other sanctioning bodies should take. Comments and discussion are welcomed.
THE DRAKE
great stuff ! just wish i could read 
next time john make it alittle shorter ;D j/k bud keep it coming