Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your story
[Re: MIKES_DUSTER]
#506177
12/26/09 11:57 AM
12/26/09 11:57 AM
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,973 SoCal
jake4cars
top fuel
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top fuel
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 1,973
SoCal
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I didn't start my street racing until the early 70's but I was lucky that my neighborhood was full of guys a little older than I who took me with them. This crowd included big block Chevelles and Camaros plus a lot of RoadRunners and even a couple of Six Pack cars. I grew up in central Conn so we had the Berlin Turnpike where a real mean black 67 Hemi GTX hung out and the East West service roads in Hartford. It was a great time to be young. I remember one of the older guys had Tourette's syndrome pretty bad where he couldn't hardly carry on a conversation but after three beers he settled down, stopped shaking and could really row his 4 speed Chevelle with the best of them, go figure!. The streets today are too crowded to do the same stuff but it was fun then. Joey
My dad hung out at the Berlin Turnpike back in the 70's with a 440 68 GTX. then the both of us hung out there is the 80's and 90's with a 69 Black RR and a 69 HEMI orange notchback cuda that was tubbed. We raced ALOT on rt 71,rt 72 and rt 9. The BIG hang out was Roy Rogers in the 80's-90's. We used to do our burn-outs in the parking lot or Roys and then drive out onto the pike, and race from the light, up the hill towards the Grantmore!!!
Heres the RR
Heres the cuda at a Papas Dodge Cruise.
I knew a guy from East Hartford that bought an old pro stock Vega from a guy named Jack Chin who did very well at Conn dragway along with his brother Eddie. At any rate, this guy buys Chin's Vega and proceeds to put in a blown big block Chevy, what a ride to say the least. One night I rode with him in the Vega to the Berlin Turnpike, to say we stopped traffic is an understatement, we pulled into the Roy Rogers and as he was trying to back in it a parking space a Berlin cop pulled up and told us there was no way that car was legal and we needed to get lost, knowing of course the cop was right we proceeded to motor on home, what a ball. I moved out of Conn in the late 80's and haven't been back to the turnpike since but back when I was a kid there was a whole lot of racing going on there. Joey
BTW, your Cuda is awesome!!, reminds me of one that was for sale in East Hartford that had a Hemi in it, supposedly a Sox and Martin built engine, the car was primered and was sitting in a barn when I seen it, mid 80's maybe.
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Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your story
[Re: fullmetaljacket]
#506181
02/08/10 12:14 PM
02/08/10 12:14 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,002 Long Island, NY
shakerjoe
master
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master
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 3,002
Long Island, NY
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Lee, I still laugh to myself when I banged the u turn on FLB in my blue and white and stopped you at the gas station...and only wanted to see what was under the hood of the Dodge. And that was before I knew you and found out you knew SK ! We moved from Elmhurst off Queens Blvd. to Middle Village right by Juniper Valley Park on the north side - summer of '69, I was 6. The north side strightaway was about 1/2 mile long , we used to sit right on the curb as cars raced each night down there and blasted within feet of us, I can still hear my mother "Don't you go up there !" Guy on my block bought a triple black 70 hemi cuda STP 4 spd. from S&W Dodge - original owner (still has it)there was an orange and white stripe Camaro on the block - big blockI think, around the corner was a red w/white stripe Olds W30, couple of blocks away was a 68 F8 GTX original owner also -he still has it. There was a huge parking lot in the park opposite my house on 77st., I'd bet that's where alot of the action took place to set up the runs of the night. The civic association eventually got the lot closed and filled, no more racing, once we started driving we had to go to Laurel Hill/Crossbay/FLB - I picked up 4 yellowbirds there one night in my 69 Charger R/T - (went up against a black 69 AMX with a blue and white sitting across the street -I stopped - he didn't- HA HA) about 2 years before I entered the ranks -LOL- only made it downto Fountain Ave.a few times, never got involved there - heavy action going on there! - This was a good reading thread !
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Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your story
[Re: Mopar Grandpa]
#506183
02/08/10 07:41 PM
02/08/10 07:41 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,474 Florida STAYcation
dOc !
The village idiot's idiot
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The village idiot's idiot
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,474
Florida STAYcation
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M G ..... oh - I got beat - and VERY badly ! HE hooked ... and I did not. LIKE it would have made a diff anyways !! The THING that was the most-impressive about that car .... was it was QUIET.... ...and FAST !
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Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your story
[Re: dOc !]
#506186
02/08/10 08:55 PM
02/08/10 08:55 PM
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,212 Minnesota
peabodyracing
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top fuel
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,212
Minnesota
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1971 San Francisco Bay area, cruising El Camino Real in my 61 Lancer wagon with straight axle, 426 wedge, fender well headers, etc. (the car was Isky car of the month in 69 Rod and Custom) Anyway the car was anything but subtle.
2 kids in a 69 Chevelle 396 kept harassing me, trying to get me to race. This went on for several lights until they pulled in front of me and jumped on the brakes at the next light. I'd had enough by then and when the light changed I unloaded the Lancer, went left and around them and passed them as I went into third gear, right past a parked squad car...
Lights came on the squad and I quickly pulled over and stopped, while the Chevelle decided to make a run for it. The squad actually drove past me, realized I'd stopped, locked up the brakes, burned rubber in reverse till he was next to me, pointed and said "stay there" and burned rubber going after the Chevelle. Now I'm sitting there thinking I should just drive away, but sure as heck no one could miss my car, so I figured I better just sit and wait. A few minutes later, two squads come back escorting the Chevelle and they all park behind me.
The police have both us drivers out on the curb going over licenses, inspecting the cars, etc. All the while this is going on, the other idiot keeps mouthing off to the police. The police are getting more and more militant and writing feverishly. I finally walk over to the other driver and tell him to shut his mouth, we're in enough trouble as it is.
They were apparently getting ready to have the cars towed, but when they overheard me talking to the idiot, I guess they decided to cut me some slack. I left with an exhibition of speed ticket (75 in a 35) and a court date. They did tow his car.
I decide to play it smart and wear my dress whites to traffic court. The judge says, you're in service? "yes sir". How do you plead. "Guilty your honor". $125 fine. The courtroom gasped, as till that time the highest fine anyone had gotten was under $60. I was broke for months after paying that darn fine.
Lead, follow or get the hell out of the way
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Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: BigBlockBill1951]
#506187
02/18/10 07:59 PM
02/18/10 07:59 PM
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Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,275 Desert Tracker
HYPER8oSoNic
top fuel
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top fuel
Joined: Nov 2009
Posts: 2,275
Desert Tracker
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There was a guy I knew way back, his name was Walter...... he was a big hit at 150 st back in the mid-70's. He had a 63 Savoy (Tan) that cleaned up from the stories I heard. He was fast and good at the game you need to play. They even gave him a nick name "The Conduit Killer" At first he had no headers and street tires, then slicks, then headers, then a cage had to go into the car. Talk about a plain brown wrapper, he almost suckered me in with my nova, but just something about his car didn't sit right with me.... good thing, I saved my money, this was just when I first met him
That my friend could have been a Max-Wedge Incognito 426 Style or even 440. Hey do you remember the Connecting?
"Stupidity is Ignorance on Steroids" "Yeah, it's hopped to over 160" (quote by Kowalski in the movie Vanishing Point 1970 - Cupid Productions)
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Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your story
[Re: fullmetaljacket]
#506191
02/19/10 12:34 AM
02/19/10 12:34 AM
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Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 12,592 Great Neck,LI,new york
hemi-itis
I Live Here
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I Live Here
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 12,592
Great Neck,LI,new york
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ShakerJoe. Put out an APB, I'm coming back out onto the streets with all cylinders blazing. LOL. Just getting minute details done with the help of Special K for the coming warm months.
Don't sell that six barrel, I mean the car, not the OD weapon.LOL.
I smell trouble,er o ahh I meam rubber Sounds like you,ll be cruzin with a wad lookin for the "NEXT VICTIM"
HEMI-ITIS has no cure. My condition is fully BLOWN!!
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Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your story
[Re: HYPER8oSoNic]
#506193
02/20/10 10:34 PM
02/20/10 10:34 PM
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Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 894 Connecticut, USA
sixty7gtx
super stock
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super stock
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 894
Connecticut, USA
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this pic, from the late 80s with my son,
Last edited by plymouth gtx; 02/20/10 10:36 PM.
1967 Plymouth GTX, 1968 HEMI, 4 Spd. Super Bee, 2010 Chrysler 300 Touring,
MOPAR = Machines Of Performance And Racing!!
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Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your story
[Re: sixty7gtx]
#506194
02/20/10 11:51 PM
02/20/10 11:51 PM
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,849
fullmetaljacket
master
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master
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 6,849
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Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your story
[Re: HYPER8oSoNic]
#506195
02/20/10 11:58 PM
02/20/10 11:58 PM
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,474 Florida STAYcation
dOc !
The village idiot's idiot
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The village idiot's idiot
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 30,474
Florida STAYcation
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Quote:
Quote:
M G ..... oh - I got beat - and VERY badly !
HE hooked ... and I did not. LIKE it would have made a diff anyways !!
The THING that was the most-impressive about that car .... was it was QUIET....
...and FAST !
Doc, at least you tried. My hat is off to you. Had it been me, he would have burned me 60 feet from the start. I pick my street fights well, he would have knocked me out of the ring!! Good thread, man.
H S ... TRIED ? ..... that "race" was done with a MAJOR .....
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