[Racer Duck]

Thought I ought to at least relate a story or two about some form of racing before anyone thinks this forum is about anything but racing.

Right after High School I went to work for one of the two newspapers in San Antonio, the San Antonio Light, to be exact. I was an advertising copy boy and had a "walking" route that took me to most of the major stores and movie theaters in downtown San Antonio. It was while there that these two unrelated events happened.

Some of my fellow copy boys were heavily into drag racing .. actually, when they couldn't find a street race they'd pony up the bucks to go to the drag strip and compete. One of the guys, I'll call him Sammy, had a '56 Chevy with a 283 4bbl 4 on the floor. Well, Sammy liked to boast .. a lot. And one day he got called. Seems a mechanic working at the local Pontiac dealership had heard his boasting and challenged him to a race. Just so you know, this Pontiac dealership was sponsoring the fastest 421 in the city. Well, Sammy knew he'd probably bit off more than he could chew, but was not inclined to back down. So the day before the "meet", he called in a few favors: he and his buddies put a dual quad setup on that Chevy and he came to work with a logging chain and lock on his hood - didn't want anyone nosing around seeing what he had under the hood. I really don't remember what tricks the Pontiac mechanic came up with, but they were substantial to say the least. The appointed time arrived and the two racers ventured off to the "secret" location for their match .. unfortunately, I had been told by my parents to be somewhere else (Church, actually) that night. and since they were feeding and housing me it seemed the right thing to do. So I didn't actually see the race but I heard stories for days. And the question of who won is still unclear. But Sammy wasn't as boisterous and bragging as I would have imagined if he had won...

The other story was about a couple guys who had almost identical cars. They both worked at the paper, one was a printer and the other worked in the etching lab (where they made the plates for the pictures in the paper.) They both had '62 Chevy Impalas, silver and blue. the only difference was the engine. The guy in the etching lab had a 327 4bb 4 on the floor and the other had the legendary 409 4bbl 4 on the floor. They loved to ride around "picking" races of unsuspecting hot rodders. Usually the drill went that the 327 would challenge the other car to a race at a spot a mile or so away. On the way there the 409 would take it's place and .. well you know the rest of the story. But both of these guys were always at the drag strip on Sunday .. winning their class. 'Cept the 409 had some tough competition: there was the aforementioned Pontiac 421, a dealership sponsored Ford 406, and usually a Chrysler hemi or two would show up.

those were the days...

[Bob Tanner]

We were discussion engine sounds over in NA__AR awhile back. My personal story:

Back in the early 60's I had a '58 Studebaker Silver Hawk, that was special ordered by a Studebaker salesman, with the Golden hawk engine, 3-speed floor shift transmission and 4:12 Twin-Traction (Stude's answer to Chevie's 4:11 Posi-traction) rear end. When I bought it the original owner had replaced the Paxton blower with a 450 (I was told) cfm four-barrel. It was fast and I surprised the devil out of a many 283 c.i. 57 Chevie owners. (discounting the cheating SOB's who had replaced the stock heads with the hi-compression fuelie heads, of course. Grrrrrrr)

Anyway, I was in the Navy then at Glenview NAS, north of Chicago. Many night we would cruise down to Skip's, on North Ave in Maywood, a drive-in and hangout for hot cars in the Chgo. area.

One night I and a buddy were in there and as we pulled out to make a pass down North Ave this guy in a ratty '53 or '54 Ford pulled out beside us, and went up through the gears right beside me (the normal challenge for a race). This car looked bad. faded light green, half-assed attempt at customization ( bondo falling out of where the hood ornament was, primered over bondo on the deck, rusted quarter panels, and a busted-out 53 Olds taillight lens. (a 5 minute bolt-on if you remember)

I asked my buddy what the engine sounded like (you could tell a small block from the 409's and 348's) and he said, "It don't sound like a Chevie."
"Big block Ford?" I asked
"Doesn't sound like that, either."
He pulled ahead of me a bit and the car had Wisconsin plates. "Damn this must be some Wisconsin farm boy with a flathead he's built up!"
My first hint that something was radically wrong was when I yelled to him if he wanted to race and he yelled back, "Sure, $50." (Remember this was 1963 and I was making only $99.50 a month in the Canoe Club!)
After some serious haggling we got the amount down to $10 (which basically would break both of us if we lost) and went to a deserted strip of road, with about a dozen other cars. None of the others had seen this car before.
As I got out to look at things the second hint that I was in over my head came when I noticed a chain and padlock securing his hood.
End of story: I got my doors blown off not once but THREE times. BAD ( 4-5 car lengths!) We gave him the ten but asked him what he was running.
"Just an old flathead with three deuces," he said.
I argued a bit and finally he said OK, I could look at his engine. Under that ratty paint job and crappy body was the cleanest and most professional job I ever saw of shoehorning a 401 Buick in a '53 Ford I ever saw! The perfect drag hustler's car! Plus, back in '63, who ever knew what a hot Buick engine sounded like?
End of story...

[Racer Duck]

you may have seen this before .. it's been around for a while. and it fits in just fine with the subject of this thread.

The Cars e Drove In The 50s & 60s

here's a trivia question associated with this video: there's a song in the video which is the only recording every made for publication by this popular actor .. can you name the actor and the song (before the credits roll)? let me know if you got it or not.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

you may have seen this before .. it's been around for a while. and it fits in just fine with the subject of this thread.

The Cars e Drove In The 50s & 60s

here's a trivia question associated with this video: there's a song in the video which is the only recording every made for publication by this popular actor .. can you name the actor and the song (before the credits roll)? let me know if you got it or not.

Off the top of my head, I can think of only four actors who made lyrical recordings; Robert Mitchum (Thunder Road), Lorne Green (Ringo), William Shatner (Mr. Bojangles) and Leonard Nimoy (Proud Mary). The only one I can think of who made a recording about cars was Mitchum.

I'll look at the site. You've piqued my interest. I can deal with 50's-60's trivia, especially when it comes to cars.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Off the top of my head, I can think of only four actors who made lyrical recordings; Robert Mitchum (Thunder Road), Lorne Green (Ringo), William Shatner (Mr. Bojangles) and Leonard Nimoy (Proud Mary). The only one I can think of who made a recording about cars was Mitchum.

I'll look at the site. You've piqued my interest. I can deal with 50's-60's trivia, especially when it comes to cars.

Well, Bob, you got it right. Ya gotta watch the video .. it'll bring back lots of memories.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

Well, Bob, you got it right. Ya gotta watch the video .. it'll bring back lots of memories.

I did, and it did. It takes me back to "The Bad Old Days" as some "more currently enlightened" would put it. I term it the days of American Graffiti, when racing was dangerous and sex was fun. Now, it's kinda the reverse.

[Racer Duck]

I used to work at IBM as a programmer and one of the other programmers in my area was a devout street racer. And he had a real "sleeper" for a car: it was an '82 Buick 2 door Sedan, in that yucky light green that was so popular back then.

Most folks looked at it and called it a "grandma" car. But what they didn't see was that turbo V6 under the hood that had been "massaged" to perfection. With the turbo, he was able to drive it to and from work every day, go out on dates and make runs to the grocery store without any ill manners coming from the beast. But watch out when he put the gas pedal down! It was smoking tires and gone in a flash! In fact, he told me he went thru a set of BF Goodrich Radial T/A's every 8-10 weeks!

Don't know if he ever got beat when he went "street racing", but he sure did tell lots of stories on Monday at work about his "races" over the weekend.

I was able to "ride along" one time and can swear that was one fast car -- he loved picking on Corvettes!!! He took 2 down the night I rode with him. Like I said, he was super quick in his "granny car".

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

I used to work at IBM as a programmer and one of the other programmers in my area was a devout street racer. And he had a real "sleeper" for a car: it was an '82 Buick 2 door Sedan, in that yucky light green that was so popular back then.

Most folks looked at it and called it a "grandma" car. But what they didn't see was that turbo V6 under the hood that had been "massaged" to perfection. With the turbo, he was able to drive it to and from work every day, go out on dates and make runs to the grocery store without any ill manners coming from the beast. But watch out when he put the gas pedal down! It was smoking tires and gone in a flash! In fact, he told me he went thru a set of BF Goodrich Radial T/A's every 8-10 weeks!

Don't know if he ever got beat when he went "street racing", but he sure did tell lots of stories on Monday at work about his "races" over the weekend.

I was able to "ride along" one time and can swear that was one fast car -- he loved picking on Corvettes!!! He took 2 down the night I rode with him. Like I said, he was super quick in his "granny car".

Ah, Corvettes. Possibly America's most over rated motor vehicle.

I owed one in 1964. I knew it was a mistake two or three days after I bought it (1961 Vete). Uneconomical (sucked gas like there was no tomorrow), inconvenient (every time I wanted to take a trip with more than one other I had to borrow some one's car, and changing plugs was a nightmare!) and uncomfortable (it was like having a roller skate tied to your ass!). It didn't even corner well. My 1967 Spitfire would handle a whole lot better! About the ONLY thing that car was good for was picking up pubescent teenie-boppers but Frau Tanner looked at that with more disdain than I care to remember.
One of the happiest days in my life was the morning I went out to jump in the car and it was gone! Someone had stolen it during the night. I waited three days before reporting it to the police and insurance company, just to be sure the damn thing had been chopped completely for parts!

No, Corvettes aren't my favourite auto.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Ah, Corvettes. Possibly America's most over rated motor vehicle.

I owed one in 1964. I knew it was a mistake two or three days after I bought it (1961 Vete). Uneconomical (sucked gas like there was no tomorrow), inconvenient (every time I wanted to take a trip with more than one other I had to borrow some one's car, and changing plugs was a nightmare!) and uncomfortable (it was like having a roller skate tied to your ass!). It didn't even corner well. My 1967 Spitfire would handle a whole lot better! About the ONLY thing that car was good for was picking up pubescent teenie-boppers but Frau Tanner looked at that with more disdain than I care to remember.
One of the happiest days in my life was the morning I went out to jump in the car and it was gone! Someone had stolen it during the night. I waited three days before reporting it to the police and insurance company, just to be sure the damn thing had been chopped completely for parts!

No, Corvettes aren't my favourite auto.

like you, they've gotten better with age .. not sure it any easier to change plugs, though.

[LSC9901]

I recall when I was stationed at NAS Lemoore a fellow squid fell into a bucket. He bought a '63 that had been up on blocks for a couple of years. It had belonged to some "Older" gal who had the interior designed with a leopard skin type of material. He bought it for a song and beat the crap out of it. Another mate had an AMX that had some monster of an engine in it. Last but not least there was one guy that had a new road runner. One night on the way back to the base his foot got caught on the front bumper and that beast wound out at about 140 MPH's. More than enough for this country boy.

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

I recall when I was stationed at NAS Lemoore a fellow squid fell into a bucket. He bought a '63 that had been up on blocks for a couple of years. It had belonged to some "Older" gal who had the interior designed with a leopard skin type of material. He bought it for a song and beat the crap out of it. Another mate had an AMX that had some monster of an engine in it. Last but not least there was one guy that had a new road runner. One night on the way back to the base his foot got caught on the front bumper and that beast wound out at about 140 MPH's. More than enough for this country boy.

I was lucky enough to land a job with IBM after the Navy. with it came good benefits and pay. so, when the '70 Firebird Formula 400 came out, I just had to have one. it's speedo maxed at 140 .. but I found out it'd go a tad faster ... once!

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

I was lucky enough to land a job with IBM after the Navy. with it came good benefits and pay. so, when the '70 Firebird Formula 400 came out, I just had to have one. it's speedo maxed at 140 .. but I found out it'd go a tad faster ... once!

That calls for Terror Code brown !!!!!

[Racer Duck]

Originally Posted by LSC9901

That calls for Terror Code brown !!!!!

except when you've tipped a few too many!

[LSC9901]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

except when you've tipped a few too many!

Ahhhh ... that reminds me of a night in Visalia

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

like you, they've gotten better with age .. not sure it any easier to change plugs, though.

The '61 'Vette was horrible. I changed plugs in it three times before the kindly car thief took it off my hands (I hope there is a little corner of Heaven allotted for this crook, for his kind deed).

The first time I changed plugs I never did get the rear one on the left out. The 2nd and 3rd time I got smart. I took it to a service station buddy of mine who put it on the lift then loosened the motor mount and jacked the engine up about 3", just as much as the exhaust system would allow.

Horrible car! I've found, over the years, there are only two types of Corvette owners; those who fell for the mystique of the car and swear by them, and the ones like me who have owned one and say "Never again!" Like Bobby Knight, Dale Earnhardt Sr. and A.J. Foyt, there seems to be no middle ground. People either love 'em or hate 'em.