Known as the Ridge Route Terrors, James Warren, Roger Coburn, and Marvin Miller earned their much-feared reputation. Their competition went out of their way to avoid these guys. (Photo Courtesy James Handy)
58 Have you ever wondered where that long-standing feud between Garlits and the late NHRA President Wally Parks originated? Well, wonder no more. It harkens back to the first Winternationals held in 1960 at Spruce Creek Drag Strip in Daytona, Florida. The winter meet was a mix of the NHRA and the recently formed drag race division of NASCAR. After a week’s worth of dragging, local hero Garlits was crowned overall points champion and Top Eliminator champion. After driving back up the track in the wrong direction, Garlits became involved in a heated argument with Parks, who immediately disqualified him. Although the two were the biggest names in the sport, they never had what you might call an agreeable relationship.
59 Early A/FD heroes were Steve Porter and Herb Reis and their world’s quickest and fastest Oldsmobile. The Olds became just the fourth Top Fueler to crank out a 7-second time when Porter and Reis hit a 7.96 at 189 mph on December 9, 1962, at Pomona. They came close to defeating Garlits in the final at the 1963 NHRA Winternationals.
60 Pete Robinson didn’t earn the nickname “Sneaky” for no reason. Prior to the 1963 running of the NHRA Nationals, Pete had installed a jacking system on his small-block Chevy-powered AA/Dragster (sound familiar?). Trying to get one up on the Hemi competition, Pete staged his dragster, raised the rear, and spun the tires at approximately half throttle. When the light turned green, he lowered the rear and got the jump on the Hemis. Although nothing in the rulebook noted that the jacks were illegal, after Robinson set low ET with an 8.50, NHRA Director Ed Eaton quickly banned their use.
61 With Ford support, Sneaky Pete made the switch from his fuel-fed small-block Ford late in 1965 to an SOHC 427. The manufacturer had built the engine specifically to battle Chrysler’s Hemi in NASCAR, but when Bill France said no to the exotic engine, it was passed on to the drag guys. Unike the Hemi, the SOHC was never tamed for street use and after 1968 was no longer available.
Sneaky Pete really SOHC’ed it to them with his 427 Cammer. Among other innovations, he designed his own gear drive for the Cammer, which replaced the flexible chain Ford used to run the two cams. (Photo Courtesy Joel Naprstek)
62 Pete Robinson’s only world championship came in 1966. In the finals, Pete downed Division 7 champ Dave Beebe with a 7.19 clocking.
63 In 1963, Drag News hailed Dale Grantham’s turbine dragster as the future of the sport. Dale’s turbine weighed a meager 725 pounds and produced 800 hp. The turbines, originally used as DC-8 starters, were modified and used just one combustor for both turbines. Fueling the turbine was kerosene. The fuel and air were admitted through the combustor and ignited by a Champion igniter plug. Water injection cooled the charge from 35,000 degrees to a manageable 1,000 to 1,200 degrees. Built in just six months at a cost of $14,000, the car had quarter-mile times well into the 9-second range. Due to poor traction, the dragster’s true potential was never realized.
64 Garlits cracked the magical 200-mph mark at New York National Speedway on August 2, 1964. Big Daddy pushed his Wynn’s Jammer to a once-unthought-of 201.34 in 7.78 seconds. As Don climbed out, he was quoted saying, “It’s like being in another world.”
65 Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, Rat Fink extraordinaire, entered the custom rail scene in 1965 when he debuted his Yellow Fang full-body dragster. The 392-powered car featured a full Tom Hanna body with a (some say) grossly extended, pointed, tail end. Piloted by George “Bushmaster” Schreiber, the 153-inch rail initially featured an enclosed canopy. The NHRA frowned upon the enclosed cockpit, which Roth solved by cutting a square out of the plexiglass. In mid–1966, Yellow Fang was one of the few streamliners capable of cracking 200 mph.
66 Why is it that rock ’n’ roll super groups are rarely super? Drag racing has had its share of super groups. The Magicar of chassis builder Kent Fuller, engine man Ron Winkel, and PR man Kaye Trapp showcases just one. Although Magicar failed to meet performance expectations, its uniqueness made it an instant standout and a key in the evolution of the dragster. While most rails of the day relied upon a solid mounted rear axle, the Magicar used a coil-spring suspension, mounted on a subframe.
Gerry Glenn makes what may have been his very first pass in a Top Fuel car. Magicar was one trick piece back in the day and has been beautifully restored.
In the September 1965 issue of Drag Racing, Fuller, Winkel, and Trapp described the chassis setup this way: “Basically the whole power train is mounted in a separate sub-frame, which is suspended on coil springs within the main chassis. The engine then is an isolated, cushioned component. Its horrendous vibration isn’t transferred directly to the car’s main structure and its weight is allowed to shift rearward slightly for added bite coming off the line.” Magicar made its debut at San Fernando in October 1964. Trapp, who was track photographer and worked for Drag News, ensured the car received plenty of ink.
Well, after all the hype and publicity, the debut proved to be a little anticlimatic. The car performed well but failed to meet the unrealistic expectations. Hampering the car’s ongoing development was the fact that three different drivers took the controls during the first season. Gary Casaday was the first and found the car a handful, relinquishing the seat almost immediately to Gerald “Jeep” Hampshire. Jeep was an experienced driver who, at the 1964 NHRA Winternationals, had set the low elapsed time of 7.85 behind the wheel of the Stellings-Hampshire Red Stamp Special.
After transplanting the Red Stamp engine into Magicar, Jeep laid down the car’s best time of 7.62 at 204.08 mph. By season’s end, Magicar had won three Top Eliminators and grabbed top speed at meets at Fremont and L.A. County. By the end of 1965, Magicar was back in builder Kent Fuller’s shop. In Kent’s eyes, the car was a success, having proven a few of the ideas that had been kicking around in his head.
By all appearances, the Rodger Lindwall Re-Entry showed great potential. It’s a shame that potential was never realized; the exercise in aerodynamics fizzled at Indy in 1966. (Photo Courtesy Pete Gemar)
67 Chicago’s Bob Lindwall put his hydroplane experience to work when creating his Re-Entry dragster. The mid-engine rail featured an aluminum body, which enclosed the supercharged 392 Hemi along with the driver and the rear wheels. Re-Entry has been credited as being the first rear-engine car to crack 200 mph, accomplishing the feat in 1966 at the World Series of Drag Racing at Cordova. Driver Wayne Hill crashed the car a week later at Indy while running against Connie Kalitta in the second round. Hill hit 201.34