|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your story
[Re: Mopar Grandpa]
#506017
11/03/09 11:14 PM
11/03/09 11:14 PM
|
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 96,655
On The Boat, On The Lake, Wa. ...
amxautox
Still Retired. Still Posting on Moparts. A Lot.
|
Still Retired. Still Posting on Moparts. A Lot.
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 96,655
On The Boat, On The Lake, Wa. ...
|
Quote:
Quote:
The best time I had was when I was going to the McDonalds one Oct evening. Ran across a guy on the street that had a stock red T/A Challenger, I was driving my built 390 '67 Mustang, both 4-speeds. We'd met before as we had a mutual friend and we both knew what each other had.
That road was the main drag thru the cruise area of Aurora, Ill. past the shopping centers and along the river.
There was about 10 or so traffic lights.
We drove side by side while talking the whole ways doing about 15 mph in a 30 or 35. We got stopped at each and every light. I'm sure all the cars behind us were expecing us to race sooner or later. I turned off into McDonalds and he went on home. The traffic finaly cleared out. 
Okay, Okay. I liken this story to that high school girl friend, that would nibble on your ear, french kiss you to death, melt in your arms and then when you were just about to make your move she said..." well I have to go home now". We all had a name for those sweethearts and you know what it is, she was a _ _ _ _ _ teaser. This story puts me in the same frame of mind. Are you sure you didn't race that night? Were those your doors on the road? Say it ain't so Joe, say it ain't so!
Nope, no racing that night. A couple nights later I raced the friend. He had a new stock '72 340 Challenger on the same road, but going the other direction. I beat him, AND got the ticket.
Tom
"Everyone should believe in something; I believe I'll go fishing."
-Henry David Thoreau
Men and fish are alike. They both get into trouble when they open their mouths
author unknown
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your story
[Re: amxautox]
#506018
11/03/09 11:37 PM
11/03/09 11:37 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 85
Iowa
Rodder
member
|
member
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 85
Iowa
|
Everyone tells of the ones they won, here is one of the worst times I have ever been beat. I had a friend in high school that was a ford guy. He was a cool loner, very popular guy that very much reminds me of John Milner in American Graffetti. In high school, he had a pumpkin orange 57 ford Fairlane that he raced anyone that would challenge him. The hot set up then was a 57 Chevy 283 bored to 301. Everyone was scared of those 301's, but he just ate up all comers. He traded cars while I was in college and when I came home he had a 64 Falcon sprint. It was a cool car with 260 badges, and it some how carried on his reputation. By then he was known for 50 miles around as never been beaten. It was fall of 1967 and I ordered and got a new 68 barracuda with 3:23 sure grip 4 speed and a 318. I got home from college and ran into him in town on Saturday night. He was at the local gas station hanging out just exactly like a John Milner would have been. When I pulled in, he gave me some crap about my new barracuda. I said ok we used to push each other all the time in high school, I have never raced you, so tonight is the night. He didn't want to but after some crap from me in front of the locals, he opened the trunk and tossed out a couple of 4 speed transmissions and a clutch and said "lets go." We have a clover leaf inter section on two highways that cross in the country and one side has a long truck lane on it. That gives two lanes to race on for a perfect measured quarter mile. It was fall and pretty chilly, the local high school crowd gathered, while he did a few "tweeks" to his car. We lined up and took off, his being cold (and non stock) jumped and died on the line. I took the clover leaf and came back around. "Cold engine lets run again". So we did and the same thing happened. I came back around and said ok this is the third time and cold engine or not I am going to win if that thing dies. You Loose! This time we took off and I power shifted all that 318 had. Like before, the Falcon jumped and died on the line. Believe it or not, then he actually started that Falcon again and blew my doors off about 50 yards from end of the quarter! All I remember seeing in the rear view mirror was the pavement on fire under that Falcon lit up from the open headers. The next day I stopped at his place and said ok, I have to see the engine. He would never open his hood for anyone in the past, but being an old friend he finally did for me. To my amazement it was a solid lifter full race Cobra 289 under the hood. He just smiled and said "you loose". A couple years later, he came home completely messed up from Vietnam and I never heard where that Falcon ended up. He now resides staring out the window here in the local rest home at age 58.
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: 1_WILD_RT]
#506019
11/03/09 11:38 PM
11/03/09 11:38 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 540
murfreesboro, TN
Qbird
mopar
|
mopar
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 540
murfreesboro, TN
|
Quote:
Quote:
Street racing...yup. I did some of that......
 Say it isn't so...
Yeah, I had to get that off my chest...I feel better now.
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: Qbird]
#506020
11/03/09 11:44 PM
11/03/09 11:44 PM
|
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,732
Watertown, WI
MikeyT
master
|
master
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 4,732
Watertown, WI
|
cool stories!
Yet I want to know who was the baddest of the bad? Who was out there, that you knew by and large you were like don't "f" with this guys car, he'll blow your doors off kind of thing?
I always figured 6 pack cars would be really stout on the street with a deep set of gears. I mean give me a six pack Superbee 4:10 gears in a trackpack and I would be good to go!
Mike
1969 Dodge Dart Swinger
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: MikeyT]
#506021
11/04/09 12:26 AM
11/04/09 12:26 AM
|
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,179
California
mickm
master
|
master
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 4,179
California
|
Quote:
Yet I want to know who was the baddest of the bad? Who was out there, that you knew by and large you were like don't "f" with this guys car, he'll blow your doors off kind of thing?
there were these guys in denver, one of whom is still around, tony richards and his brother, bruce. late 70's early 80's, tony was building stroker RB's long before there were kits or anything. he was building 511's, and they were wicked.
they had a shop and did mostly high performance stuff, but any kind of mopar work.
bruce had a hemi cuda, built from the ground up. besides strokers, tony's real specialty was torquflites. i'm sure it probably was, but i never knew or saw that cuda beat.
bruce used to laugh that he would take people for a ride, and they would come back impressed as hell. then he told them that all they got was the rear primaries on the progressive carb setup, and he would take them out for another ride. this time they came back scared ----less!
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: MikeyT]
#506023
11/04/09 12:42 AM
11/04/09 12:42 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,271
Vista, California
67Satty
pro stock
|
pro stock
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,271
Vista, California
|
Baddest of the bad, in it's own time and place, was my buddy's '67 Belvedere. In Minneapolis, in the mid-80s, for one or two summers, nothing would touch it. I'm talking 30 wins, zero losses record. It was a 440, .590 DC cam, tunnel ram, 3800 stall Turbo Action, 3.91s, SS Springs, subframe connectors, L60-15 street tires. But that thing would always hook hard on the street. The fastest it ever ran at the strip was low 12s but that was fast enough at that time and place to be untouchable on the street.
The body had been pulled out of a junkyard, and it had "Rock and Roll Machine" painted in big letters on the sides. Everyone laughed at it until they got stomped by it.
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: Mopar Grandpa]
#506024
11/04/09 12:47 AM
11/04/09 12:47 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 540
murfreesboro, TN
Qbird
mopar
|
mopar
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 540
murfreesboro, TN
|
Quote:
Quote:
Street racing...yup. I did some of that......
Wanna share a story with some of the young pups that are reading these posts? I think they enjoy hearing about our little racing habits of yesteryear.
OK, so one night I'm supposed to race Scotty Guadagno and his bottle Buick 225 with this Hemi Challenger that I used to drive for a guy named Stan. Super Stock Hemi, 14x32's, stick car.
So, I make a couple of warm up passes on South Ave...spit the driveshaft out on the first run, fixed it, and then grenade the trans just about 10 minutes before we're supposed to run.
So Scotty shows up with his car, and a big old Ford pick-up...his shop truck/support vehicle...and I'm standing there with no race car.
But..we were there to race and nothing was gonna stop us. My buddy Neil was there with his girlfriends brand new Nissan Sentra. After a few minutes of negotiation we decide to run the Sentra heads up against the truck.
So, We line up, go...and a quarter mile later, we go across the stripe DEAD even. Way too close to call without electronics. So, we decide to go again...and again, the same result. Now it's tme for a little strategy. Back in "the pits", Scotty and his crew are pulling hunks of wood, and tools and parts out of the pick-up. In the meantime, Niel and I are yanking the spare, backseat and floormats out of the Nissan. Again we go, AGAIN, it's a dead heat.
Back to the pits...the ashtray, the contents of the glove compartment, the washer bottle...anything we can yank out of the car is now piled on the side of the road...Scotty and his crew have the same thing going on across the road. Again, we run and again it's dead even, BUT, this time, I felt we had just the slightest hair of an advantage the first few feet of the run..we were close to having the edge.
Time to get drastic. We found a few more trinkets to add to the pile, as did Scotty's guys. At the last second, I decide to pull out all the stops. Scotty is in the truck waiting for me to line up..I motion for him to wait a minute while I take a leak. I stepped out into the weeds, drained my bladder, and then took off all my clothes and tossed them on the pile. I jumped in the car, lined up, and off we went. At the end of the quarter, we had it by half a bumper..VICTORY at LAST!
Lemme tell ya. I street raced NYC 7 nights a week everywhere and in everything you can imagine, but that one night with the truck and the borrowed car was the tightest, most fun racing I think I ever had.
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: Rodder]
#506025
11/04/09 01:30 AM
11/04/09 01:30 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 540
murfreesboro, TN
Qbird
mopar
|
mopar
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 540
murfreesboro, TN
|
Quote:
Everyone tells of the ones they won, here is one of the worst times I have ever been beat. I had a friend in high school that was a ford guy. He was a cool loner, very popular guy that very much reminds me of John Milner in American Graffetti. In high school, he had a pumpkin orange 57 ford Fairlane that he raced anyone that would challenge him. The hot set up then was a 57 Chevy 283 bored to 301. Everyone was scared of those 301's, but he just ate up all comers. He traded cars while I was in college and when I came home he had a 64 Falcon sprint. It was a cool car with 260 badges, and it some how carried on his reputation. By then he was known for 50 miles around as never been beaten. It was fall of 1967 and I ordered and got a new 68 barracuda with 3:23 sure grip 4 speed and a 318. I got home from college and ran into him in town on Saturday night. He was at the local gas station hanging out just exactly like a John Milner would have been. When I pulled in, he gave me some crap about my new barracuda. I said ok we used to push each other all the time in high school, I have never raced you, so tonight is the night. He didn't want to but after some crap from me in front of the locals, he opened the trunk and tossed out a couple of 4 speed transmissions and a clutch and said "lets go." We have a clover leaf inter section on two highways that cross in the country and one side has a long truck lane on it. That gives two lanes to race on for a perfect measured quarter mile. It was fall and pretty chilly, the local high school crowd gathered, while he did a few "tweeks" to his car. We lined up and took off, his being cold (and non stock) jumped and died on the line. I took the clover leaf and came back around. "Cold engine lets run again". So we did and the same thing happened. I came back around and said ok this is the third time and cold engine or not I am going to win if that thing dies. You Loose! This time we took off and I power shifted all that 318 had. Like before, the Falcon jumped and died on the line. Believe it or not, then he actually started that Falcon again and blew my doors off about 50 yards from end of the quarter! All I remember seeing in the rear view mirror was the pavement on fire under that Falcon lit up from the open headers. The next day I stopped at his place and said ok, I have to see the engine. He would never open his hood for anyone in the past, but being an old friend he finally did for me. To my amazement it was a solid lifter full race Cobra 289 under the hood. He just smiled and said "you loose". A couple years later, he came home completely messed up from Vietnam and I never heard where that Falcon ended up. He now resides staring out the window here in the local rest home at age 58.
Sounds like this is a person who needs to be taken out for a day trip to the local track, or at least strapped into something loud and fast for a little cruising.
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: 67Satty]
#506026
11/04/09 12:07 PM
11/04/09 12:07 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,527
minnesota
Kirby
pro stock
|
pro stock
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 1,527
minnesota
|
Quote:
Baddest of the bad, in it's own time and place, was my buddy's '67 Belvedere. In Minneapolis, in the mid-80s, for one or two summers, nothing would touch it. I'm talking 30 wins, zero losses record. It was a 440, .590 DC cam, tunnel ram, 3800 stall Turbo Action, 3.91s, SS Springs, subframe connectors, L60-15 street tires. But that thing would always hook hard on the street. The fastest it ever ran at the strip was low 12s but that was fast enough at that time and place to be untouchable on the street.
The body had been pulled out of a junkyard, and it had "Rock and Roll Machine" painted in big letters on the sides. Everyone laughed at it until they got stomped by it.
Big Al's gold one? 
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: Qbird]
#506028
11/04/09 08:21 PM
11/04/09 08:21 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 931
dulcich
super stock
|
super stock
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 931
|
OK, so one night I'm supposed to race Scotty Guadagno...
Time to get drastic. We found a few more trinkets to add to the pile, as did Scotty's guys. At the last second, I decide to pull out all the stops. Scotty is in the truck waiting for me to line up..I motion for him to wait a minute while I take a leak. I stepped out into the weeds, drained my bladder, and then took off all my clothes and tossed them on the pile. I jumped in the car, lined up, and off we went. At the end of the quarter, we had it by half a bumper..VICTORY at LAST!
Lemme tell ya. I street raced NYC 7 nights a week everywhere and in everything you can imagine, but that one night with the truck and the borrowed car was the tightest, most fun racing I think I ever had.
Hey Tony, the way I heard it you went out behind Scotty's trailer to take a dump and then pulled him by a car.
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: Kirby]
#506030
11/04/09 09:44 PM
11/04/09 09:44 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,271
Vista, California
67Satty
pro stock
|
pro stock
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,271
Vista, California
|
Quote:
Quote:
Baddest of the bad, in it's own time and place, was my buddy's '67 Belvedere. In Minneapolis, in the mid-80s, for one or two summers, nothing would touch it. I'm talking 30 wins, zero losses record. It was a 440, .590 DC cam, tunnel ram, 3800 stall Turbo Action, 3.91s, SS Springs, subframe connectors, L60-15 street tires. But that thing would always hook hard on the street. The fastest it ever ran at the strip was low 12s but that was fast enough at that time and place to be untouchable on the street.
The body had been pulled out of a junkyard, and it had "Rock and Roll Machine" painted in big letters on the sides. Everyone laughed at it until they got stomped by it.
Big Al's gold one?
No, but I remember that car and guy. It was a gold '66 or '67 Coronet that used to cruise Central Ave. in northeast Minneapolis. I remember he was running aluminum rods on the street, something we considered pretty radical at the time. I don't think my friend ever raced him.
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: buildanother]
#506033
11/04/09 11:55 PM
11/04/09 11:55 PM
|
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,080
organ
maximum entropy
master
|
master
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 5,080
organ
|
growing up in southern california in the 70s was a gearhead's dream come true. but before that, we lived in northern california, and i was just too young to drive. my best buddy lived in schellville, an unincorporated area just south of sonoma. we'd sleep outside in his backyard, and listen to the street races all night long. that happens to be where the race scene in american graffiti was filmed. we moved to socal, and i started driving and racing. every weekend we raced. the local scene in santa barbara was hopping. cruising state street all night long, the burger joints would be packed with local legends and their cars. my first hotrod was a 69 satellite wagon with a 318 i built in my parent's garage. it had a street hemi cam, headers, a holley 600, 4:10s, and a 3000 stall converter. the preferred local race venue was highway 217, which went from hwy 101, to the beach and ucsb. divided 4 lane highway as flat and smooth as, well, a dragstrip. the return lanes had a 1/4 mile stretch marked for our convenience and enjoyment. a white starting line (marked start, for the neophytes), and a red line EXACTLY 1/4 mile down the road marked "finish". that's where all the big local races went down. we were very organized. there was an area the police would gather in anticipation of a busy night, and if they were there, we'd eschew racing for the moment. we'd meet at the beach for a "drivers meeting", and agree on starting line protocol, and egress protocol, should the need arise. if we were feeling like a road trip, we'd go down to ventura, where the big guys were. some would come up from los angeles, and a lot were on trailers. the bean fields west of town were the place. rose, and rice ave. there was a dairy queen in the middle of the bean fields, with divided road, and a stop light thoughtfully erected for the sole purpose of facilitating our shenanigans. the police would be lurking in the shadows, but, as long as we adhered to "the code of common sense", they'd leave us alone. if someone did something stupid, the police would descend upon us with a great vengeance, and we would disperse immediately, if not sooner. by that time i had a nitrous injected 340 duster, and was the only car i (or anyone else for that matter) knew of that had nitrous. i was hailed as the "mad scientist" of the bunch. the car was untouchable with fresh spark plugs and a full bottle. it ran 12s, which was super fast back then. it was undefeated, and i refused to race for money. most of the "heavies" thought that strange, but, really, i think the thrill of street racing was such that involving money would dilute the experience for me. and of course, there were the buffoons screaming for a "race for pinks". i'd jeer, telling them i didn't want their car, i just wanted to race! my boys are grown men now, and i feel free to share (some) of my adventures with them. and when we watch "american graffiti", i tell them, with maybe just a little wetness in the eyes, "yes, it was just like that."
for what is the good life if not doing things thoughtfully?
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your story
[Re: STINGRAY]
#506035
11/05/09 12:27 AM
11/05/09 12:27 AM
|
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 6,445
Missouri
68KillerBee
master
|
master
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 6,445
Missouri
|
Quote:
...one story comes to mind in particular...driving my 68 GTO cv home from a late nite date with my favorite girl of the week and a big white Bonneville cv in front of me motions me to pass him on a local city street...I passed him chirping the tires and he starts chasing me...we went thru several stop signs at about 90mph...they were yelling and blinking their lights etc etc...I didn't recognize the big Poncho so I just kept going...a few clever moves and they were long gone...so, I decided to do a 180, stopped in the middle of the street and waited for them to catch up...I was standing in the seat of my GTO(top was down)giving the finger to the big Poncho...they slid to a stop and jumped out, both were armed off duty cops...pretty soon, there were 5 police cars surrounding me and a major ticket was in my hand...later, one of the cops was suspended over the incident and my ticket was done away with...I still have the ticket in my archives, speeding, reckless driving, disregardind stop signs, improper lane usage no turn signals and resisting arrest...they pretty filled out the whole side of the ticket...lesson here, I didn't pass any more white Bonnevilles EVER AGAIN...
i'm enjoying these! can't wait to have my new intake and carb on this winter and try it out next spring.
|
|
|
Re: Street Racing in the 60's & 70's - Tell them your s
[Re: dulcich]
#506036
11/05/09 01:11 AM
11/05/09 01:11 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 540
murfreesboro, TN
Qbird
mopar
|
mopar
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 540
murfreesboro, TN
|
Quote:
OK, so one night I'm supposed to race Scotty Guadagno...
Time to get drastic. We found a few more trinkets to add to the pile, as did Scotty's guys. At the last second, I decide to pull out all the stops. Scotty is in the truck waiting for me to line up..I motion for him to wait a minute while I take a leak. I stepped out into the weeds, drained my bladder, and then took off all my clothes and tossed them on the pile. I jumped in the car, lined up, and off we went. At the end of the quarter, we had it by half a bumper..VICTORY at LAST!
Lemme tell ya. I street raced NYC 7 nights a week everywhere and in everything you can imagine, but that one night with the truck and the borrowed car was the tightest, most fun racing I think I ever had.
Hey Tony, the way I heard it you went out behind Scotty's trailer to take a dump and then pulled him by a car.
Awwwwww, c'mon, ya don't believe me? Ya can't make stuff like that up! I've got a long standing rep for going over-the-top, maddog for any victory. The Niel in that story is legendary Automotive Journalist to the stars Niel Van Oppre...I got witnesses!!!
There was one night I was runnin something down at the Fount, and having no luck getting any hook at all..it was brutal and I was gettin my asss handed to me lap after lap. So, my wife was standing off to the side spectating...I decided to put her to 105 pounds to use.
Lee (Full Metal Jacket) was the starter that night, and I had his 3 count down to an absolute science. I made my wife get in the back seat...leaning all the way forward, kinda hunched over the back of the front seat. When lee got to two, of the three count, I'd have Kathy throw her weight as hard as she could into the right rear corner of the seat. When I saw her body move, I would swap feet and go. The strategy worked like gangbusters and we were in the hunt for the rest of the night.
Those were some great times man....shiit...I gotta race something. Lee, is there still any action up there?
Last edited by Qbird; 11/05/09 01:14 AM.
|
|
|
|
|
people 
