Download or read book Vintage and Historic Drag Racers written by Robert Genat and published by . This book was released on with total page 102 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Diggers, funny cars and more of the best vintage drag racers of the late 1950s and 1960s! Genat describes each car's race history and looks at well-known drivers and tuners of the era. See Melvin Heath's Dragster, Don Garlits' Swamp Rat 1, Mickey Weise's 1968 Hemi Dart, and many others. Super Stock drag racing of the 1960s is covered extensively, most notably the radically altered stock bodied vehicles that would forever change the face of drag racing.
Download or read book Drag Racing in the 1960s written by Doug Boyce and published by CarTech Inc. This book was released on 2021-03-15 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 1960s were a fascinating decade on the race scene. Relive the memories today through this wonderful new book. Drag racing has a long and storied history. Many have said that the first drag race happened shortly after the second car was made. While that may or may not be true, racing prior to World War II was mostly centered around dry-lake activities and top-speed runs. After the war, drag racing became organized with the formation of the NHRA, and during the 1950s, many tracks were built across America to accommodate the racers. Technology in the 1950s centered on the manufacturers updating old flathead designs into newer overhead-valve designs, and the horsepower race really started to heat up. In many forms of racing, the 1960s brought technological evolution. The decade began with big engines in even bigger stock chassis and ended with purpose-built race-only chassis, fiberglass bodies, fuel injection, nitro methane, and blowers. Quarter-mile times that were in the 13-second range in the beginning of the decade were in the 7-second range by the end. New classes were formed, dedicated cars were built for them, and many racers themselves became recognized names in the sports landscape. In Drag Racing in the 60s: The Evolution in Race Car Technology, veteran author Doug Boyce takes you on a ride through the entire decade from a technological point of view rather than a results-based one. Covered are all the classes, including Super Stocks, Altered Wheelbase cars (which led to Funny Cars), Top Fuelers, Gassers, and more.
Download or read book Drag Racing s Exhibition Attractions written by Lou Hart and published by Enthusiast Books. This book was released on 2008-05-15 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book showcases photographically the wide variety of cars and drivers that fit into the exhibition theme: the jets, wheelstanders, rockets and other exhibition vehicles which have thrilled millions of spectators. Their entire basis was who had the fastest vehicle. But in 1959 complaints from other competitors and Detroit automakers got all aircraft-powered dragsters banned, so they became the sideshow attached to the legitimate circus that is drag racing. The Green Monster became the first exhibition car exceeding 200 mph everywhere it ran. Wanting even more, Walt Arfons debuted the first jet-powered dragster which became the desire of every fan and promoter throughout the country. At virtually the same instant, Tom Ivo had Kent Fuller build a four-engine dragster and although it was too heavy to be competitive, the tire-smoke show became arguably the most famous exhibition car in history. See Bill “Maverick” Golden and the Little Red Wagon, “Wild Bill” Shrewsberry’s and the Hurst Hemi Under Glass, LA Dart and Knott’s Berry Wagon, Chuck Poole and his Chuckwagon, Doug Rose and The Green Mamba, plus many more.
Download or read book Early Funny Cars written by Lou Hart and published by CarTech Inc. This book was released on 2022-04-15 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blast through the evolving early years of Funny Car drag racing when doorslammers morphed into flip-top rail monsters. The era features historic mounts from Arnie "the Farmer" Beswick, Al “the Flying Dutchman” Vanderwoude, "Jungle" Jim Liberman, Don “the Snake” Prudhomme, and many more! The metamorphosis from doorslammers to fiberglass flip-top dragsters wasn’t ever a cut and dry plan. As drag racers pushed the envelope for more speed, a series of innovations quickly evolved and refined the genre. Funny Cars cut their teeth in the A/Factory Experimental (A/FX) and Experimental Stock (X/S) classes in 1964 with the 2-percent Mopars that looked funny with their axles moved forward. However, it was Jack Chrisman’s supercharged, nitro-fueled 427 Supercharged Factory Experimental (S/FX) Comet Caliente that trailblazed the class on which the NHRA turned its back and the AHRA fully accepted. Showmanship became the draw in the dawn of Funny Car with half-track burnouts and flame-throwing headers that packed fans five deep at the fence. By 1969, the NHRA had no choice but to create a class for these nitro-breathing, flip-top-sporting rail bruisers, indoctrinating the Funny Car (F/C) class at the Winternationals with 40 cars vying for 16 places in the field. The rest, as they say, is history!
Download or read book Tales from the Drag Strip written by Don Garlits and published by Sports Publishing. This book was released on 2013-06-01 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the moment that young men began modifying and personalizing their automobiles back in the 1940s and ’50s, “Big Daddy” Don Garlits was squarely in the thick of this intoxicating pursuit. Tales from the Drag Strip with “Big Daddy” Don Garlits is a first-person account of the many memorable experiences this drag racing icon has lived through in his half-century of nitromethane-fueled exploits. The many races, racers, race fans, and race tracks that have touched his colorful career are recounted as only Big Daddy can, painting a vivid picture of his life at speed and the triumphs and tragedies that came along the way. Insightful, ironic, humorous, and touching—but all true—Big Daddy’s remembrances are the next best thing to reliving the glory days of America’s quickest and fastest motorsports through the eyes of an American institution.
Download or read book High Performance written by Robert C. Post and published by JHU Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 460 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Providing a firsthand history of the sport, this book takes a detailed look at all aspects of drag racing: the sport, the business, and tracks the innovations that permitted racers to disprove the "laws of physics". 147 halftones.
Download or read book Chevy Drag Racing 1955 1980 A Celebration of Bowtie s Success at the Drag Strip written by Doug Boyce and published by CarTech Inc. This book was released on 2020-03-15 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Relive the glorious first 25 years of Chevy drag racing in this comprehensive and nostalgic history. With the introduction of Chevy’s OHV V-8 in 1955, the brand’s domination on the drag strip immediately snowballed. Drag racers loved the compact V-8. It was lightweight, revved high, and responded like no other engine previously produced to modification. Chevy saw a record year in sales in 1955, thanks to a combination of a restyled body and the new mill. It was the age of ingenuity, and those who could get their hands on the new engine were swapping it into engine bays that once housed other weaker mills. Ford’s flathead, one that had dominated for so long, was rendered obsolete almost overnight. Chevy had a winner and dominated the sales charts for years to come. Aftermarket manufacturers got on board and offered up all the go-fast goodies needed to make Chevy a winner, no matter what category they ran. From Dragsters to Stock, Chevy’s success was immediate. And it was a long-term success, thanks to a combination of years of great styling and a vast array of driveline combinations. Accomplished racing author Dour Boyce takes a celebratory look at those years of success, with a focus on the first 25 years (1955 through 1980). Chevrolets gave rise to such stars as Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, “Jungle Jim” Liberman, “Sneaky Pete” Robinson, “Dyno” Don Nicholson, Sox & Martin, Dick Harrell, Dave Strickler, and many more. World champs and fan favorites all drove Chevys. The success showed in the record books. No brand has won more races and events or has set more national records than Chevrolet. And unlike the other manufacturers, Ford and Chrysler, it was done with little to no factory support. Whether you are a hardcore Chevy fan or just love catching up on the history of drag racing during the golden age, this nostalgic look at Chevy racing history is sure to entertain for hours on end.
Download or read book Fuel and Guts written by Dave McClelland, Tom Madigan and published by . This book was released on with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Quarter mile Chaos written by Steve Reyes and published by Cartech. This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Quarter-Mile Chaos" looks at the treacherous side of drag racing's golden age. Almost 200 rare and stunning photographs from the late 1960s and early to mid 1970s capture terrifying fires, explosions, and crashes, all by-products of the quest to go faster. "Quarter-Mile Chaos" is full of up close and personal documentation of the perilous task of reaching the 1,320-foot mark first. Armed with just a couple cameras and some film, veteran drag racing photographer Steve Reyes shot some of the most dramatic and eye-catching pictures of these quarter-mile warriors. Reyes roamed the nation's hazardous strips in search of the perfect action photo. The result is some of the most breathtaking drag racing imagery ever recorded depicting out-of-control demolition and devastation during drag racing's most entertaining era.
Download or read book Quarter Mile Mustangs written by Doug Boyce and published by CarTech Inc. This book was released on 2022-05-15 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Blast down the quarter mile in the first two generations of Ford’s legendary pony car across all drag racing classes in Quarter-Mile Mustangs! Since first becoming a mass-market success in mid-1964, the Ford Mustang has made millions of passes down the quarter mile on sanctioned drag strips. With styling flared toward the youth, aftermarket parts manufacturers saw an enormous opportunity to produce go-fast components to aid in propelling Ford’s pony car down the 1320. The success of these cars was immediate. In the hands of successful and seasoned pros, such as Gas Ronda, Bill Lawton, and Dick Brannan, Ford unleashed the devastatingly potent 1965 A/FX Mustang fastback, which was built by Blue Oval stalwarts Holman & Moody with the 427 SOHC (Cammer) engine that unleashed havoc on mother Mopar. From those very first factory drag cars through the fabled 1968-1/2 Cobra Jets, drag racing historian Doug Boyce highlights the many successes of pioneers, such as “Dyno” Don Nicholson, Les Ritchey, Phil Bonner, Hubert Platt, and Al Joniec. However, it’s not just all doorslammers. As A/FX transitioned into Funny Car, a whole new chapter in Mustang drag racing was written with Mickey Thompson taking the reins and steering Mustangs to success throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. The muscle car-era Mustangs joined the Mustang II and soldiered on the best they could as ever-changing rules hampered Ford’s new pony body, with drivers Bob Glidden and Nicholson trying to squeeze every bit of performance out of the diminutive pony. Quarter-Mile Mustangs: The History of Ford’s Pony Car at the Drag Strip 1964-1/2-1978 brings forth the most in-depth coverage of these cars at the drag strip. Don’t get caught sleeping at the light!
Download or read book Match Race Mayhem written by Doug Boyce and published by CarTech Inc. This book was released on 2017-06-15 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drag racing is a very regulated sport. In the history of the NHRA, IHRA, and other sanctioning bodies, many classes existed in an effort to make sure the cars racing against each other are as equal as possible. It is a noble, if not futile, pursuit. You have two cars facing off that have very similar statistics in terms of weight, transmission type, fuel type, estimated horsepower, and all other sorts of measurables. The byproduct is that often the races that were "fair" were not the races that the fans wanted to see. During the golden age of drag racing, fans didn't care as much about class racing as much as they wanted to see scores settled, rivalries battled, and interesting match-ups. There were the manufacturer rivalries, Ford versus Chevy, Chevy versus Mopar, Mopar versus Ford, as well as numerous driver rivalries. Match races were also a great way to feature wildly popular cars that no longer had a class in which to compete, yet the fans still wanted to see them. So popular and intense were these races that many track promoters didn't bother to promote class racing at all. Instead, they used the match races as headliners, similar to the marquee at your local arena or a billboard in Las Vegas, all resulting in putting more fans in the stands. And the drivers loved it too. Although the prize money for national events was fairly average for the day, the extra appearance fees and prize money to lure the most popular match racers to events increased the driver's take exponentially. Many of the most popular pro drivers quit class racing altogether just to go match racing. Veteran drag race author Doug Boyce tells the tale of the history of match racing through the cars, the drivers, the events, the classes, the rivalries, and everything else that was fun about match racing during the golden era. It's all here, complemented by wonderful vintage photography provided by fans and professionals in attendance. If you are a fan of any class of drag racing, from any era, Match Race Mayhem is a fun addition to your racing library. p.p1 {margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; font: 12.0px Arial}
Download or read book Drag Racing Funny Cars written by Lou Hart and published by Enthusiast Books. This book was released on 2008-11-01 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since the early 1960s, dealer-sponsored Super Stockers battled for supremacy on the quarter-mile and in the dealer showrooms. Evolving into the Factory Experimental class, these wild steel bodied, altered–wheelbase monsters were stuffed with massive fuel injected and supercharged engines that attracted crowds to the dragstrip! Legendary pioneers “Dyno” Don Nicholson, Jack Chrisman, Bill Shrewsberry, Butch Leal, Dick Landy, Arnie Beswick, Phil Bonner, Gas Ronda, Don Gay, Sox & Martin, Richard Petty, and many other A/FX stars were instrumental in the development of the funny car as it morphed from a heavy production car into seven-second 250mph aerodynamic fiberglass, tubular chassis missile. The popularity of funny cars led “Jungle Jim” Lieberman, Bill Lawton, Lew Arrington, Bill Flynn, Norm Kraus, and “Big” John Mazmanian to become household names. Tom ”Mongoose” McEwen, Don “Snake” Prudhomme, Tom Hoover, Kenny Safford, Terry Capp, John Force, Kenny Bernstein, Jake Johnston, Larry Reyes, Richard Tharp, Roland Leong, Randy Walls, Jess Tyree, Rich Siroonian and others who achieved success racing funny cars are all featured in over 300 incredible color and black and white photos.
Download or read book Junior Stock written by Doug Boyce and published by Cartech. This book was released on 2012-08-28 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Stock-class drag racing is celebrated in this new book, with hundreds of vintage color photographs showing the way it used to be. If you were a fan or participant back in the day, or love vintage drag cars, this is a book you'll thoroughly enjoy.
Download or read book Racing Mustangs written by Steve Holmes and published by Made in America. This book was released on 2020-12-15 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Virtually from the moment of its launch in April 1964, the Ford Mustang has been a favorite among road racers. From the Tour de France, to production sports car racing, the SCCA Trans-Am series, regional and national A/Sedan competitions, and international and domestic sedan championships in Great Britain, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, the Mustang has enjoyed a following like few other models. Racing Mustangs is a photographic celebration of road racing Mustangs throughout the world. It focuses on production-based cars, rather than the heavily modified tube-frame silhouette machines that began appearing in the late 1970s. Included are images of big-budget factory-supported cars competing in the Trans-Am series, right through to low-buck independents, and cars competing throughout the world. Using only period images, including countless photos that have never before been published, this is a true photographic history, depicting the global popularity of the Ford Mustang as a road racing car.
Download or read book Speedseekers written by Alexandra Lier and published by . This book was released on 2008 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The love of fast cars has moved into top gear. From its beginnings as a rebellious underground pasttime, it has become a huge cult, spawning its own exciting subcultures in music, art and fashion. Speedseekers is the ultimate book on the world of Hot Rods and Custom Culture. Alexandra Lier spent a decade at the epicentre of the scene revving engines and burning rubber with the world's foremost mechanics, racers and adrenaline junkies. With hundreds of full colour photographs and graphics throughout, this book - more exciting than a nitro-burning supercharged Hemi - is the ultimate cult guide to the greatest human obsession of all... going fast!
Download or read book The Book on African American Drag Racers written by Robert Blackwell and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2015-04-03 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drag racing is so much fun to watch, the showmanship, the speed, the competition, the burnouts, the wheel stands and the most important thing is the accessibility. Drag racing is the only sport where you can buy a pass and go into the pits and talk to the drivers and actually watch the mechanics prepare the racecars. "The Book on African American Drag Racers" is not a comprehensive or a complete book on African Americans in the sport of drag racing. Why? Because every day, somewhere in America, there is a young man or woman who will discover this great sport and seek to try their hand at making a name for themselves, in the sport. I believe drag racing began when the first cars were produced by Ford Motor Company and two competitive guys wanted to know, whose Ford was the fastest. NHRA Top Fuel Champion, Antron Brown believes drag racing is so open for all races because it's "nothing but a foot race with vehicles." I believe drag racing is so popular in the African American community because there is such a great love for cars. Also drag racing, unlike NASCAR, CART, INDY, USAC, and ARCA, you don't have to have a special race car only, you can have any type of car as your race car. Drag racing is also a sport easy to learn. Over the past decade drag racing sanctioning bodies have done a great job growing their sport with the Junior Dragster programs. These programs allow kids to race their low horse powered reasonably priced cars and get them involved in the sport early. Some of those junior dragster racers are now competing in the professional ranks of the sport. As a matter of fact, Erica Enders-Stevens the new Pro Stock champ began in the Jr. Dragster class. This book was written to help young people learn about the contributions and history of African Americans in the sport of drag racing.
Download or read book Hubert Platt written by Allen Platt and published by CarTech Inc. This book was released on 2019-05-15 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Webster's Dictionary lists the term showman as "a notably spectacular, dramatic, or effective performer." In the art of drag racing, Hubert Platt checked all boxes. Known as the "Georgia Shaker," Platt cut his motoring teeth on the long straightaways and twisty back roads of South Carolina while bootlegging moonshine. After a run-in with the law in 1958, Platt transferred his driving skills from illegal activity to sanctioned drag racing and began one of the most dominant runs in drag racing history until his retirement in 1977. After stints in 1957, 1938, and 1962 Chevrolets, Platt's next ride was a Z11 Impala, which carried his first "Georgia Shaker" moniker. Once Chevrolet pulled out of sanctioned racing, Platt found a new home with Ford for 1964 and remained there until he hung up his helmet. Some of the cars he campaigned became icons in their own right. His factory-backed and personal machines included a 1963 Z11 Impala, 1964 Thunderbolt, 1965 Falcon, 1966 Mustang Funny Car, 1967 Fairlane 427, 1968-1/2 Cobra Jet, 1969 CJ Mustang, 1970 427 SOHC Mustang, and 1970 Boss 429 Maverick. A 1986 NHRA Hall of Fame member, Platt's lasting legacy on the sport can’t be denied. Whether he was launching his Falcon with the door open, conducting a Ford Drag Team seminar, or posting low E.T. at the 1967 US Nationals in his Fairlane, Platt's imprint on drag racing was all-encompassing. His son and biggest fan, Allen Platt, shares his dad's iconic career in, Hubert Platt: Fast Fords of the "Georgia Shaker"!
