Indholdsfortegnelse for November 1969 i Hot Rod

Mark Donohue knew better. Let’s face it. Sears isn’t the place where you’d expect your ordinary TransAm racing team to buy their equipment. We never thought of the DieHard as a racing battery. Then we got a surprise. We discovered the DieHard kicking over the most respected engine on the TransAm circuit. There were no paid testimonials. No free gifts. Without us even knowing about it beforehand, TransAm champion Mark Donohue bought himself a DieHard to give his Penske Camaro start after roaring start. And most of his starts ended in the winner’s circle. This year, the DieHard turned up with the Penske team at Indy, where it gave Donohue the start he rode to Rookie-of-the-Year Honors. Why did Mark Donohue choose the DieHard? New ideas. Ideas like a super…

…another Crane Cam. lust as an artist works for hours perfecting the right color combinations, Crane’s camshaft designers also spend long hours working with and applying “polynomial equations” to cam design programs in Comshare’s SDS 940 time-sharing computer system. This all adds up to the finest precision camshafts manufactured today. You’ll find this exceptional quality in every Crane product…cams, valve train components, Super Port Flow Cylinder Heads and Crane rocker arms. Want to find out more about Crane and its products? Fill out the coupon at right and send to Crane Engineering…you might even be taking the first step to becoming one of racing’s “Great Masters.”…

Don Garlits. The man NATIONAL DRAGSTER calls drag racing’s “first super star.” DRAG NEWS says, “He’s the King. No question about it.” “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, the only man to win the NHRA Nationals three times and the first driver ever to set an official NHRA record over 200 mph.—uses Valvoline® Racing Oil. Valvoline Racing Oil. The “Super Lubricator.” Valvoline Racing Oil is used by more top drag racers than all other motor oils combined. “Big Daddy” knows that Valvoline Racing Oil gives the ultimate in engine protection—increases RPM. Don Garlits, like serious drivers everywhere, understands the importance of motor oil for top engine performance. That’s why he uses Valvoline Racing Oil in his AA fuel dragster. Serious about your own car? Get Valvoline Racing Motor Oil. VALVOLINE OIL COMPANY,…

If you would like to dice it up in style on the sprint car circuit, Jim Culbert of Culbert Automotive Engineering (CAE) in San Diego, California, is building a rather sturdy big brother of the rear-engined Indy-type racer. Jim’s machine features a swing axle rear end in combination with a tube axle up front, resulting in a three-bar chassis. Airheart discs are mounted conventionally in front but are attached directly to the new 2-speed full-synchro rear end. The super-light space frame chassis has upper and lower rails of 1¼-inch and 1¾-inch chrome moly tube respectively. The entire car weighs in at 1400 pounds. This car has a 365-cu.-in. Chevy, but the engine plate comes drilled for any engine you wish. Half shafts are stock heavy-duty Spicer units, making repairs in…

From Buick 1970. The GS455. It’s what you’ve been asking for, right? An automobile to really light your fire. The GS455, equipped with the Stage I performance package, has a big 455 cubic-inch 360 horsepower engine with a high-lift cam and four barrel carburetor which breathes through real air scoops to increase performance. Four on the floor or a three-speed automatic transmission are available. The Stage I performance option includes a low backpressure dual exhaust system. Plus a high-speed valve train and a positive traction axle. It all means more performance. Plus wide-tread fiberglass belted tires. That means more traction and longer wear. It has plenty of luxury, too. Bucket seats are available. Altogether lots of features to excite you. But maybe it’s the name Buick, with all the goodness…

The sport of drag racing is growing fast here in Northern Europe. Since the inaugural meet held in Sweden last year, Scandinavia has seen a rash of drag car construction. Most of it has been for the Competition Altered classes, which currently boast about thirty cars. The popular combination seems to be a Chevy V8 covered by a Volkswagen or Anglia body. We are justifiably proud of the recently completed “Hot Tomato,” a Hilborn-injected, L-88 Chevy-powered Volvo that cost the owners an absolute fortune to build. The Competition Altered crown in this year’s Scandinavian International Drag Meet was won by an English entry, John Woolfe Racing’s “Whistler.” Since its sponsor, John Woolfe, was killed in the 1969 Le Mans 24-Hour Race, the sponsorship has been taken over by Woolfe’s father-in-law.…

If you’re a tin-bender by trade, or know a shop in your area that takes to this work with a passion, then follow the example of this racer if you want a boost in performance without opening up that engine. In this instance, we find a pair of four-barrels riding sidesaddle on an Offy manifold, thereby necessitating twin air ducts. If you run a single carb (any type — two-, three-, or four-barrel) all you would have to do is run a single duct. The air box over the carbs is formed of aluminum and pop-riveted together. The end pieces are neatly formed to take flexible ducting about six inches in diameter, the ends of which are mounted through holes neatly cut into panels astride the radiator, and are attached…

owner: Anonymous, Hollywood, California, car: ‘69 Volkswagen…

owner: James Williams, Louisville, Kentucky, car: ‘23 T’ Roadster…

TOP FUEL—sparked for the sixth straight year by Champions! This time, 1965 Nationals Top Fuel Eliminator Don “The Snake” Prodhomme strikes again—again on Champions! Don and his Champion-fired Plymouth rail shut down the fastest field of six-second fuelers in drag racing history with a final go of 6.51-223.34 Over 125,000 cheering fans jammed Indianapolis Raceway Park to witness one of the world’s largest motorsport events—the 1969 Nationals. All Labor Day weekend long, they saw speed marks tumble as the fastest field in drag racing history pushed their machines ever faster. When the speed battle had ended, Champion-sparked cars again ruled the Nationals, capturing 5 eliminator titles, Top Speed, and 54 class championships! A record this outstanding is proof Champion spark plugs deliver peak performance—in all makes of engines! When you…

Cars that are raced in stock-body categories are hardly stock elsewhere. But that doesn’t detract from the racing. It tends to make them better, and the racing better — and safer. Ronnie Kaplan has set up the AMC Trans-Am Javelins for the past two years, and he’s held to the rule of a stock exterior and improving everything else. Among the changes to make Javelins into race cars, one is refining the rear suspension. His mastery here can be simply applied to street-and/or strip-active Javelins and AMX’s. Pre-1970 Javelins and AMX models had no provision for front anti-dive, and while the rear suspension modifications out-lined here won’t overcome that defect altogether, inclusion of them will help the problem slightly. What the improvements will do is reduce rear wheel hop and…

“STREETERVILLE SCRAMBLERS”… Being interviewed by Dave McLean of San Francisco’s Channel 7 is Richard Henrich, president of the famed “Streeterville Scramblers” millionaire’s motorcycle club. The Scramblers recently completed a week-long tour of the California coast. They flew from Chicago to Los Angeles, where the tour originated, and immediately began their trek via the coast route to San Francisco, making overnight stops in Lom poc and Monterey before settling into the Miyako in San Francisco for two nights of on-the-town activity. This unique group of business executives and professional men seems an unlikely band of motorcyclists, but they are, in fact, ardent enthusiasts of the sport. Several are former sports car racing drivers, such as Fred Wacker, Jr., who piloted those hot Cad-Allards around the Sebring track. SPACE AGE DISPLAY… Stewart-Warner…

Don Edmunds may not change the shape of midget auto racing with his new rear-engine design, but the odds are at least 50-50 that he will. Edmunds contends that the general configuration of midgets hasn’t changed in the past 30 or 40 years. There have been a lot of new cars built, and suspension improvements have been made along the way, but that is the extent of car development. It’s very likely that a person attending a midget race today, after having been absent from that field for 20 years, would not notice a difference in what he sees now from what he viewed in 1949, drivers and driving notwithstanding. Edmunds’ first rear-engined midget design employs a very visible design change from the conventional front-engined car, but he has refrained…

In fact, anyone qualifies to buy Sunoco 260. All we ask is that you pay for it. Now this may not sound startling at first, but it is. Because of all the people who make racing gas, we’re the only ones who don’t limit our ‘ sales to racing teams. We re the only ones who sell our racing gas at every pump we have. We call it Sunoco 260. And it s the highest octane gasoline you can buy at any station in the world. Take ‘ advantage of our unlimited sales policy soon. Fill up on 260 at a nearby Sunoco pump. And don’t worry a bit about qualifying. If you’ve got the money, we’ve got the gas. 260-Racing gas at every pump.…

Mother Nature relented this year and made the SCTA’s 21st (and coming of age) Bonneville meet one of the most successful in many years. The salt was perfect — in fact a little too perfect, as a few contestants will testify. Several areas in mid-course were so smooth and hard they were actually slick, resulting in some rather spectacular spinouts. The 128 car entries this year were a little short of average, probably due to skepticism on the part of many who were disappointed by last year’s rainout. Those who showed were ready, at least most of them, as was proven by the posting of 25 new records and the addition of ten men to the exclusive Isky 200 Miles Per Hour Club — the greatest number ever to make…

“And now it boils down to the final! Kelly Brown and Don Prudhomme! Kelly would like to win this meet; Prudhomme won it in 1965! Both cars coming down, here on the tower side is Don ‘The Snake’ Prudhomme. On the spectator side, it is Kelly Brown, the unsinkable one, driving Leland Kolb’s machine, in what can almost be described as a grudge race. All right, here we go, Kelly Brown approaching the line, in the big red car, Don Prudhomme, who did it in ‘65, on the tower side. Ladies and gentlemen, this is your Top … Fuel … Eliminator! They’re staged! The countdown! And the winner is…” With these words, NHRA’s fine team of announcers urged thousands of Indy Nationals fans to their feet for the final race…

The grueling “Mexican 1000.” I Drivers call it the world’s toughest grind —1000 miles down the Baja, across the blistering desert I from Ensenada to La Paz. Guy Jones, who beat the Baja, I kept his engine running clean with AC Oil and Air Filters. AC Filters provide nearly twice the filtering protection, so Guy kept going through the choking dust. You may never drive the Baja, but AC can help keep your car in ACtion. The same AC Filters Guy Jones used to protect his engine are original equipment on all GM cars. When changed regularly, they virtually eliminate engine wear caused by dirt and sludge. Next time, insist on AC Oil and Air Filters … the ones that beat the Baja. AC Spark Plug Division MARK OF EXCELLENCE…

The 1970 AMX comes with a new 360 cu. in. engine as standard equipment. It develops 290 horsepower, 65 more than we had last year. And this year we’ve added to our list of standard items. To go with our completely redesigned instrument panel, we offer contoured high-back bucket seats with integral head restraints. Mag style wheels. A new air scoop system in the front bumper to aid brake cooling. And the Corning safety windshield is also available. It’s an American Motors exclusive. Of course, an all-synchromesh 4-on-the-floor with Hurst shifter is standard for ‘70 just as it was for ‘69. So are dual exhausts, fiberglass belted wide profile tires, an energy absorbing anti-theft steering column, heavy duty shocks and springs, rear torque links, a 140 m.p.h. speedometer, and a…

owner: John Lombardo, North Hollywood, California, car: BB/A Corvette…

owner: Bruce Dodds, Arlington Heights, Illinois, car: AA/FD…

The stage was all set for the American Hot Rod Association’s three-act play entitled “Summer Nationals.” Over 1100 actors, along with their machinery, were on hand for Act I, which was scheduled for a curtain raising on Friday night. A record Friday audience was in attendance. Some of the participants began w’arming up by powering their rigs across the quarter-mile stage known as New York National Speedway. But as so often happens in New York, somebody didn’t like the way things were going and decided to call a strike. In this case it was the good weather that went on strike, and just to prove it meant business, it sent in the rain pickets to clear the entire area. Rain checks where issued with the understanding that if negotiations were…

Have you ever seen a real snake when he makes his move? He’s incredibly fast, precise, powerful. And so it is with the man they call The Snake. He’s Don Prudhomme, and his amazing record proves how well the nickname suits him. He’s conquered every major title at least once. He’s the only man ever to win both the NHRA Winternationals and Nationals the same year. And, in 1969, The Snake won the Nationals again, becoming the second driver in racing history to win that event a second time. A born winner like Don demands an oil that’s with him 100% of the way. It’s Pennzoil Racing Oil, of course. 100% pure Pennsylvania. Available in SAE grades 20 through 60, and now in the new 20W-40. For champions like Don…

This ‘66 Jeep pickup truck has had quite a history. It began life naturally enough with a stock Jeep six-cylinder engine, was next fitted with a V8 Cadillac mill, and now boasts a 383-cubic-inch Plymouth Road Runner powerplant complete with Chrysler power steering, power brakes, and a Dodge Monaco rear end. A 396 Chevrolet and a GM power steering unit would have been easier to install, but here in the West they want an arm and a leg for a 396 Chevy mill. The Road Runner installation was accomplished by Drag Machine in Gardena, California, who, incidentally, did the original Caddy engine swap. The customer simply wanted an even more deluxe truck and, in addition to the strong engine, specified power brakes, power steering, air conditioning, and a higher ratio…

owner: Harry Luzader Monroeville, Pennsylvania car: ‘32 Ford D/A Coupe…

Better late than never may be an old cliché, but it’s quite true in the case of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966. It was under the provisions of this act that Detroit was required to install first seat belts, then shoulder harnesses. Now, all 1970 cars must have either head restraints or seat backs not less than 27½ inches high. The reason should be obvious: Rear end collisions account for 29 percent of the accidents that occur on high speed roads, and the most prevalent type of injury sustained in these collisions is the whiplash. It results from the head’s inability to accelerate with the body (and the car) after impact. The seat takes care of accelerating the body, but unless the seat back is…

Back on my favorite soapbox this month — safety! Had a long and interesting visit with a man who was actually pronounced dead at the scene of a boating accident, but due to a fortuitous combination of the right doctor, station wagon ambulance, and hospital, he is very much alive today and still active in boat racing. A year ago, Bill Cooper was driving in a 250-mile boat race at Clear Lake, Texas, when his boat flipped. Bill bailed out, but the boat did a 360-degree barrel-roll and landed on top of him, right side up. The prop, rudder, and skeg all got in their share of dirty work. After being dragged from the water, pumped out, and his heart restarted by external cardiac massage, Bill was taken to the…

Buick may have the surprise issue in the super-car series this model year. The 400-cubic-inch engine in their GS series has been replaced by a 455-inch version, conservatively rated at 360 horsepower in Stage 1 dress. The standard GS 455 engine has a 350 rating, and both figures are taken at 4600 rpm. Torque is 510 lbs-ft at 2800 rpm on both 455’s. Combined with the new powerplant is one of the most eyeappealing exterior shapes this car has ever had, and it may qualify as the bestlooking intermediate and/or muscle car of the season. The auto-buying world may not be ready for — or in need of — plus-400-cubic-inch V8-engined super cars, but that’s gradually becoming the only size to be offered in the identity-laden performance cars. Time will…

The low, wide look of action—from Goodyear. Beautiful. Goodyear’s Wide Boots high-performance street tires. In sizes to fit most cars. Handling? You’ve never felt anything like it. Check the specs: they’re up to a third wider than standard tires with 7 riding ribs, 6 traction grooves. Reverse molded to lay more rubber where it counts. With low cord angle for better stability. Made with 4 plies of Vytacord polyester cord. Ask for Wide Tread GT tires. With the big, white “Goodyear” on the side. Get the low, wide look of action.…

He already has. It’s the Mario Andretti hi-performance, hi-tension tach by Hawk. It’s Mario’s tach. It will ride with him in the 1970 Indy ‘500’. This is a new kind of tach. The only electronic tach you can use with complete confidence in any competition or street machine. It’s guaranteed for a full five years. No, it isn’t the cheapest tach you can buy. But quality is never cheap. Hawk makes many other fine performance and test instruments. All are guaranteed for five years. For owners, drivers and mechanics who are ready to get serious about performance. Hawk is here. Send $1 for the 36-page, full-color Hawk catalog.…

1970 Chevelle SS 396. It’s getting tougher and tougher to resist. The standard V8 has been kicked up to 350 hp. A new air-gulping Cowl Induction Hood awaits your order. You can also order your choice of a floor-mounted 4-speed or the 3-range Turbo Hydra-matic. Under that lean and hungry look is a lean and agile suspension. F70 × 14 white-lettered wide oval treads. 7”-wide mag-type wheels. And power disc brakes. Your mission is to infiltrate your Chevy dealer’s and escape with this car. It will go willingly. Putting you first, keeps us first. On The Move…

At the starter’s cry of “Gentlemen, start your engines … if you can,” 206 of the nation’s best auto mechanic students raced to their brand of new cars at the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway. None of the cars would start! Feverishly, the student mechanics analyzed and corrected the malfunctions that had been deliberately placed under the hoods of the new cars by Plymouth engineers. It was the national finals of the 21st Annual Plymouth TroubleShooting Contest, sponsored by the Chrysler-Plymouth Division and the Plymouth Dealers of America. The 103 two-man teams were competing for $125,000 worth of scholarships and prizes. The awards were offered in each of three separate categories through fifth place. The contest consisted of a dual competition: a written exam worth 30 percent of the team’s score,…

The only slow-moving thing in Team McLaren is Rick McTurtle, the mascot Bruce McLaren found trying to cross the track during practice at St. Jovite. Rick has a lot of torque, but he doesn’t rev very fast. The McLaren Can-Am cars are something else. They finished 1-2 at Watkins Glen and proved again that they were the fastest road-racing cars theworld had ever seen. Bruce McLaren knocked 1.99 seconds off the outright practice lap record for the Glen, set last year by a Formula One Lotus. And Denis Hulme cut 2.62 seconds off the race lap record, also set by a Formula One car, lapping at 132.27 mph. The McLaren M8B’s are powered by 427 Chevrolet engines, with a lot of McLaren magic added. They develop 625 hp at 7,000…

The Allens have owned and built five show bikes, six show cars, and a drag boat. So when it came time to get a business machine for Jim’s company (Action Sports, Ltd.), they decided to work from scratch. Jim amassed all the parts, including a rare Thames panel truck body, and with a little help from their friends — Joe Nygren, Gary Hart, and Pop Anderson — the project was completed in just five weeks. Power is supplied by a ‘68 Corvette 327-inch mill with Crower cam and lifters, Sharp rockers, Offy manifold with two Holley carbs, Belanger Bros, headers, Weber clutch and flywheel setup, and Mallory igniter. This is coupled to a Muncie four-speed. The M&W-modified ‘57 Chevy rear end is located by Watts linkage and snubbed by BSA…

Since they were first invited to the SCTA Speed Trials 20 years ago (second year of the meet), when Eugene Thiessen set the fastest bike rec-ord of the week with a 143-mph BSA twin, Bonneville motorcycle enthusiasts have grown in numbers from nine to 85. The double-century mark is no longer an impossible dream; seven two-wheelers are now members of the ex-clusive 200 Miles Per Hour Club and others are looking in the window. King of the hill for the fourth year running is Detroit Triumph dealer Bob Leppan, whose 245-mph speed of circa ‘66, established with two 40-cubic-inch Triumph twins enclosed in a fully streamlined shell, still represents the world’s fastest motorcycle. He has never reached that speed since, nor has anyone else so much as approached it. But…

Anyone who has built a stocker or super stocker knows the problems that can crop up from not adhering to the correct specifications for a particular engine/chassis combination. In the past, any and all tech info was available only from “Farmer” Dismuke, NHRA’s National Technical Director. If you needed a specific parts number, or whatever, you placed a call, he an-swered your question, and you both hung up. But as sometimes happens, you hung up before you remembered to ask your second question. You dialed again, only to find the line busy. Yeah, I know it sounds familiar; we’ve all been through it, and we’re still doing it today. Well, that has all been changed. Bill Carroll, in cooperation with the National Hot Rod Association, is offering over 500 different…

In Japan, selling motorcycles to sailors is a growing business — cash sales, free delivery, right to the ship’s gangplank. For the Japanese agent, it represents an ideal sale; the likelihood of a dissatisfied customer returning from across the pond is kind of remote. For the men in blue, a Japanese motorcycle, like a Japanese camera or kimono purchased abroad, aside from representing a cash savings, carries the added aura of a souvenir, a conversation piece with memories attached. When ships stop in the Orient for two or three days before returning home for deployment, sailors may buy such trinkets duty-free if they have been outside the United States for more than 120 days. At Yokosuka, within two blocks of the main gate of a large U.S. naval base, one…