Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2022 i Custom Car

Santa Pod falls silent RACING WAS BROUGHT TO A HALT AT SANTA POD ON THE FIRST DAY OF THE FIA EUROPEAN FINALS, after the death of Queen Elizabeth II was announced. At 11.30 the following morning, then again at 1.30 on Saturday afternoon, the Santa Pod crew and officials gathered at the startline to observe two minutes’ silence in Her Majesty’s honour, with the years of her life (1926-2022) THE FORMER OWNER OF A CUSTOMISED MUSTANG is appealing for information on its whereabouts today. Geoff Schofield won the car at a show in Shipley, West Yorkshire, in 1978 – having paid just £1 for four tickets in a charity raffle which had seen it transported around a series of events around the country. The sweet taste of victory was to turn sour when…

So, Custom Car is under new ownership. More or less everyone who reads these words will have known that already, but to give you the full gen it’s now the property of Assignment Media. We’re a very small family company which also publishes a couple of 4x4 titles, and we’re only the third owners in Custom Car’s history. And we certainly know that what we’ve got on our hands is an icon among motoring magazines. Custom Car has had many incarnations. Many of you have been along for almost the whole ride and will know that to start with, it was trying to be like everyday car magazines but with a sense of fun. It used to include road tests on new cars and vans as well as stuff about…

Pulled together by the NSRA’s Chris Smith, the display overcame a few unfortunate last-minute no-shows to boast a staggering total of 110 Deuces representing the full range of body styles – roadsters, sedans, pick-ups and coupes, some with more windows than others. These included a number of new builds – while others in the line-up were first rodded way back in the 1980s, making this a display of historical significance in more ways than one.…

And back at Santa Pod we were again in early July, under glorious blue skies, for arguably our favourite drag race meet of the year. It may not have the Top Fuellers and visiting Scandinavian racers of an event like the recent Euro Finals, but Dragstalgia has a unique vibe all of its own and those who are into it make sure they never miss it. In many ways, there’s too much to cover in a show report like this, as a big part of the fun of this event is just being amongst it all, milling about in the pits with the 57-car Nostalgia Superstock field, checking out the new Nostalgia Funny Cars and restored vintage slingshots, or former CC feature cars, that were on display. Or just listening…

It was a battle of the breakouts on the first qualifying session for the 57-car field in this hugely popular class, with no less than three double breakouts and a further ten cars running quicker than their chosen index. The end result was Jake Cawthorne in the number one spot, just .0043 off his 11.75 dial in at 11.754/113, but that was just the beginning. Catching our eye was the beautiful, multi-coloured Challenger from the Watts Shop team, being driven this weekend by daughter Shelby Watts. 11.09/112 in practice showed their potential, but Shelby was a long way down the field in qualifying. Round two on Saturday morning saw Dave Billadeau (9.781 on a 9.78 dial) perform the biggest leapfrog of all, from number 48 to top of the ladder.…

Undoubtedly one of the most diverse and entertaining drag racing classes, Supercharged Outlaws opened its account on Friday evening with some rapid runs, notably Jim Usher’s 8.027/164 and Gary Parkes’ 7.472/171 (number one qualifier). Come lunchtime Saturday, the drama continued with a major engine explosion mid-track in Steve Wright’s Fugly Pacer, which was swiftly brought under control by the fire crew. Jim Tucker then laid down an 8.834/152 PB in his ’34 street car, while Jim Usher was back in the sevens and Leo Knight clocked a new PB of 7.727/155.76 in the Pennzoil Altered running against Paul Watts’ ’57 Chevy, putting him into second place, ahead of Roy Wilding. James Charman was out getting some seat time in Norm Wheeldon and dad Nigel’s new SBC slingshot Gotavit. After a…

The concept of lakes racing is not supposed to be taken literally. It’s supposed to be fast and fun, if a little dusty or salty depending on the venue. This year, however, despite global warming, nature put the kybosh on Bonneville Speed Week with afloodofbiblicalproportions. I woke up to the sound of rain, rain in my room as water poured out of the light fittings. Brit Geoff Stilwell’s record-holding 7707 team gathered in the hotel lobby only to be told nobody on the lake today – it’s a lake. And it was. When we finally drove out, it was axle deep for a couple miles and the pits were ankle deep despite being on higher ground. All we could do, along with ex-CC editor Kev Elliott, who was there with his…

Jon Morton THE DRAG RACING FAMILY IS MOURNING THE LOSS OF ONE OF ITS MOST GREGARIOUS MEMBERS, following the sudden death of Jon Morton on Thursday 8 Septembert, the first day of the European Finals at Santa Pod. Jon suffered a heart attack in the pits shortly after completing a 9.8491-second Super Gas qualifying run in his famous yellow No Hair Camaro and passed away despite repeated attempts by the emergency crews to revive him. The tragedy happened shortly before the passing of Queen Elizabeth II was announced, which added to the sombre note of what became a difficult event for everyone involved. Jon suffered some major setbacks along his drag racing journey. But he always had a sense of fun and would go out of his way to help…

Johnny Morris is a quiet, unassuming guy. He’s not one to expound endless details of what he is or isn’t going to build next; instead, he gets stuck in and brings each project to a pretty rapid conclusion. That probably explains why the pick-up depicted here wasn’t even on my radar. Photographer Matt Richardson was on assignment at Johnny’s earlier this year snapping his TorqStorm supercharged, small block Ford-powered Zephyr sleeper when he rang me: ‘Johnny’s just shown me his new work truck. He admits to getting a bit carried away with the build and I have to say it is rather nice. Do you want me to shoot it while I’m here?’ Knowing that Matt has a keen eye for such things and that Johnny is a no-compromise builder,…

Even though we gave the 50th Anniversary NSRA Hot Rod Supernationals a huge 12 pages last month, we still couldn’t fit everything in. Here’s the rest of the pics we had to hold back until this issue……

After initially saying there wouldn’t be a CC Invitational this year, plans changed close to the event and one was included in the programme. Consequently, several of the entries had made other plans. However, of those that did participate, special mention should go to Lee Johnstone in the Ain’t no Saint Volvo who, after dumping parts of his diff on the track on Friday, performed a late night replacement in the pits and then bagged his first ever nine on Saturday afternoon, 9.964 at 134mph. Similarly, Dave Mahoney was another one celebrating, scoring his first eight in the same session, 8.972/151.…

Team Cooper were on a roll this weekend, Bradley setting a new PB in the family rail on Friday, 11.099 at 120mph, and then clocking his first ever 10 (10.832/119) on Saturday morning. That’s hugely impressive from Flathead V8 power. It was great to see some European interest in this class, too, with Luca Govoni from Italy (10.726/121), new cars from the likes of Alan Skipp (Chasin’ Time slingshot), a new team running the Sonic Attack 2 slingshot, with Steve Garlant at the wheel, and of course some much-loved oldies too, including Alan Loten’s Paranoia, Allan Schofield and the Rough Diamond crew (PB 8.409/155) and Ian/Alan Lloyd’s Gonzo the Great. Alan hasn’t seen a seven on the gantry for a while, but healthy doses of nitrous had the screaming small…

One of the highlights of the weekend’s racing was surely Colin Millar’s Friday night flyer in the Flyin’ Fyfer, storming through to a 6.985 at 194.56mph in the first qualifying round to bring racing to a close in spectacular style. Nice one Colin, and a well-deserved winner of this year’s Spirit of Dragstalgia award, too. With 23 runners in the class, a brand new car in the shape of Lee Taylor’s stunning The Outlaw pick-up doing checkout runs, and two entries now capable of sixes, it was going to be an epic battle. Simon Barlow was back, his sights set on 200mph in the Orange Pop Racing Fordson, and also brought his nephew Nathan Barlow over from the States to race at the event. Paul Watson was another welcome returnee…

The hot rod world in which we live is an ever-rewarding place, I’ve met Robert Grieg in the past but I would never have said I know him. However, that has changed over the last week or so as I set about writing this feature. We chatted on the phone, emailed each other, exchanged stories and, most importantly, laughed. If you ask me now, I would say that yes, I do know Robert Greig. During our last telephone conversation, he mentioned that he was beginning to detect a definite Scottish twang in my voice. So maybe now, then, our newly found friendship has reached its peak. Seriously though, I now have an affinity with this man from Glasgow and respect the fact he has owned this ’31 Model A coupe…

I’m sitting in Fred Wilkins’ living room. His ’37 Ford cabrio is parked outside and we’re talking cars. Well, he’s talking and I’m listening. When someone who’s had as many of them as Fred talks cars, it’s a good time to listen. ‘I’ve had hundreds of Yanks,’ he says. ‘Thousands. There’s not a lot I haven’t had.’ He’s in his seventies now, and still as enthused as ever by whatever his next car is going to be. ‘I’d like a ’68 Charger,’ he tells me. ‘That’s why I bought this one, really. It was at the right money and I reckoned it would be very part-exchangeable. If I can get what I think it’s worth, it’ll help me get to the sort of money Chargers are worth.’ Head ruling heart?…

When a new show is launched, how refreshing it is not to be having to look for hotels or plan a journey. Drive Newquay is the work of Anthony Fryett and his good friend Fil, who used to run the Bristol Tattoo Convention – and the venue was literally a ten-minute stroll from my house! The purpose of the show was to bring the custom and retro scene back into Newquay after the demise, many years ago, of the famous Run to the Sun. Now, the people behind that event say they’re going to be bringing it back next year – but for now, Anthony and Fil have managed to demonstrate that the demand for shows like this is as strong as ever. The venue was Newquay Sports Centre, which…

Quickest of the 14-car field in session one time trials of this heads up, jus’ for fun class was John Dalrymple, carding 9.609 at 137mph in his chopped ’41 pick-up. He went on to prove unbeatable throughout the weekend, improving to 9.344 at 149mph to stay ahead in the first round of qualifying and never looked back. Elliot Day and Mick Payne were both in the nines, hard on his heels, while Damian Bacon, Paul Murphy and Matt Hollins all saw 10s on their timing slips. To show the diversity of this class, though, Steve Young brought up the rear at right around half the leading car’s speed, 18.272 at 71.68mph, also in a ’41 pick-up, albeit one with half the number of cylinders. Come session two, Andy Crockett showed…

Ricky Gowen had the Dragstalgia crowd on its feet when he pulled round to the start line in the ex-Don Prudhomme Plymouth Arrow NF/C, The Cannonball. It was running on methanol, not nitro, but still looks every inch the nostalgia flopper it really is. This is the chassis in which Bill Sherratt won the first ever Cannonball event at Santa Pod in 1981. Talking of Bill Sherratt, his grandson Adam Clayton was behind the wheel of the Topolino-bodied Firecracker Altered, with Bill himself on the team. As you can see from our pictures, the car was like a bouncing bomb each time it came out, but credit to Adam for clocking a 7.91 at 153 on the Sunday. Meanwhile, Paul Harris put in a solid 6.88/181 in the first round…

Overall points leader Sean Milsom set out his stall as the man to beat from the beginning, cutting a dashing 0.008 light in round one of qualifying and running closest to his dial-in (10.121 on a 10.11) to secure the top spot on what was to become a 16-car ladder. At the bottom, 20 cars later, was Santa Pod owner Keith Bartlett, running 0.314 seconds quicker than his 10.82 dial, which gives you a good indication of how competitive this class is. It was all to play for. Nick Hewison was out with a new entry into the Circus, his tough-looking black ’48 Fordson Short Fuse in the low 10s from the start. Steve Matthews wasn’t holding Honky Tonkin’ back either, banging out a solid 9.737 at 135mph on a…