Golden-Era Hot-Rodding

[JimInSoCalif]

I believe the drags in Santa Ana near the old blimp hangers were the first organized drags in the country. I went in the early 50's and for most of the day the top time was 109 mph.

Late in the day there was a run by the Pierson (sp) Brothers chopped 1934 Ford that normally ran at the dry lakes and it turned 112 mph - very exciting.

I think that car is now restored and owned by Bruce Meyer (not Bruce Meyers of dune buggy fame) and is sometimes displayed at the Peterson Museum.

As an aside, after a recent fatal accident one of the major sanctioning groups is running drags of 1,000 feet instead of the traditional 1/4 mile. This change does not seem popular with anyone.

I don't follow the sport, but my guess is that the drag strips will upgrade their run off area to be safer with the amazing 330 mph speeds that the cars can reach in a 1/4 of a mile and that they will return to the traditional distance.

Cheers, Jim.

[suitedcboy]

The 1000 foot race track is applied to tracks without an adequate run out length. The cars need a braking area and the tracks that do not have a long enough area by the new rules (I can't cite the length but I believe it is 3000+ feet) have to run the abbreviated length.

[HOP UP]

I believe the drags in Santa Ana near the old blimp hangers were the first organized drags in the country. I went in the early 50's and for most of the day the top time was 109 mph.

Late in the day there was a run by the Pierson (sp) Brothers chopped 1934 Ford that normally ran at the dry lakes and it turned 112 mph - very exciting.

I think that car is now restored and owned by Bruce Meyer (not Bruce Meyers of dune buggy fame) and is sometimes displayed at the Peterson Museum.

As an aside, after a recent fatal accident one of the major sanctioning groups is running drags of 1,000 feet instead of the traditional 1/4 mile. This change does not seem popular with anyone.

I don't follow the sport, but my guess is that the drag strips will upgrade their run off area to be safer with the amazing 330 mph speeds that the cars can reach in a 1/4 of a mile and that they will return to the traditional distance.

Cheers, Jim.

You called it as it happened !

HOP UP

[David Conwill]

Hi All;

If I may jump in here, I know second hand that drag racing was happening in St. Louis in the `30s. My grandma used to talk about how my grandpa and his racing buddies would block off Market St. (The main east-west street at that time.) and race on Sundays. She said there was no flying start and the raced a straight course. (Gotta be drag racing.) She also said that grandpa would work on other guys cars in a little shed that he kept on near their house. According to her, gramps had a `27 Durant and did pretty well.

Interestingly, there were no 1927 Durants (I just found this out). There were 1926s, and 1928s, but no ‘27s. The company was reorganizing production.

There were no Durant vehicles produced in 1927, but 1928 saw the launch of an entirely new line of Durant cars (models 55, 65, 75). Initially, Durant was to have only six-cylinder cars in its lineup leaving the four cylinder market to its companion Star line. However, by April 1928 economics dictated the shutdown of Star production, so the Star model M four-cylinder found a new home in the Durant line as the model M2. The M2 was replaced towards the end of the year with the M4.

Source:http://www.durantcars.com/catalogs/durant/index.shtml (Accessed July 14, 2009)

The 1928 was a handsome vehicle:



I do enjoy that radiator shell. I’d be in heaven if somebody gave me a ‘28 Durant M2 roadster that I could hop up in a period style. Their 4-cylinder Continental engines were produced in my hometown, Muskegon, Michigan.

-Dave

[David Conwill]

Those following this thread might also enjoy this thread on the HAMB. It’s a fellow putting together a largely period-correct 1930s gow job - in New Zealand! Which means he has the added challenge of making the whole thing right-hand drive.


c. 1923 Ford with 1929 Ford running gear

-Dave

[David Conwill]

Just happened to have this in my clipboard:



This car was finished c. 1939, so it fits squarely within the Golden Era.

-Dave

[vitanola]

So all this was a strictly SoCal phenomenon at the time.

I've sometimes wondered if there were hot rodders in the Midwest in those days, what with plenty of young mechanical talent and 1000s of miles of straight flat roads with (mostly) no speed limits. But I've seen no evidence of it hereabouts till well after WW2. So maybe there had to be an ethnic or counterculture angle to make it happen (in the corn belt we had neither).

Back in the Model T days the upper Midwest was a hotbed of "scorching". The Chevrolet Brothers Frontenac Mfg. Co., RAJO, PACO, Murphy, Warford, Hayes, Schebler, and many, many other firms made speed accessories for the Ford and (to a lesser extent) the Chevrolet machines.

Accessory "racing", "torpedo" or "speedster" bodies were readily available, as were overhead valve rigs, improved suspension components, underslung axels, disc and wire wheels, balloon tires, sliding-gear transmissions, accessory brakes, counterbalanced crankshafts, special carburetters, headers, and polished intake manifolds.

With careful tuning and the proper accessories nearly a hundred horsepower could be coaxed out of the Flivver block. An indifferent job might but double the power of the engine. A properly set up speedster would weigh betwixt 1200 and 1300 pounds, wet. This set-up would have produced a power-to-weight ratio that would still be impressive.

Many young blades built up such machines for street use.

Read Murray Fahnestock's "The Model T Ford in Speed and Sport", "Model T Speed Secrets" and "The Fast Ford Handbook".

[David Conwill]

Vitanola,

Great minds think alike. Read Post #12.

-Dave

[Talbot]

Those following this thread might also enjoy this thread on the HAMB. It’s a fellow putting together a largely period-correct 1930s gow job - in New Zealand! Which means he has the added challenge of making the whole thing right-hand drive.


c. 1923 Ford with 1929 Ford running gear

-Dave

Haha,

I have a buddy building a 40's style 27 turte deck roadster. He's just converted it to left hand drive to keep it era correct!

Talbot

[David Conwill]

Talbot,

Does he live in a state that had left-hand-drive in the '40s? Seems like a lot of work, just to make it harder to pass!

That being said, I'd love to see pictures of his project, if he'll let you post them.

-Dave