Indholdsfortegnelse for August 1985 i Hot Rod

I was born at the right time for street racing. The best street racers of all time were being sold to baby boomers—while I was trying to get myself through high school. In my senior year the rich kids were taking delivery of ’66 396 Chevelle SS’s and the older guys were already modifying the ’57-’62s with all of the trick new hardware being offered on new cars. It was the heyday for street racing, at least in my area of the country. Everywhere you turned there was a bunch of kids with tire-burners. And when we congregated in a drive-in burger joint or a vacant parking lot it was just a matter of time before we were choosing each other off for a best three-out-of-five match race, heads-up, of…

I’ve done it. You’ve done it. Your father probably did it. My mother’s done it. We’re talking about short-distance, straight-line speed contests on the street. An acceleration run. A drag race. It could be pre-planned and held on a marked quarter-mile somewhere in the boonies. It might be impromptu and staged at a stoplight. Maybe it was late at night on the expressway—with another car, or just yours alone-punching it to see what she’ll do. When we initiated this article (partially because of escalating street racing intensity in Southern California) we were going to blame it on the disappearance of dragstrips. But that’s not true. People have always street raced, and they always will. Street racing, drag racing, and hot rodding were born together. It started with modified cars. Stock…

It seems that every rod. builder has a distinctive trademark. Magoo’s is highboys. Coddington’s is high tech. But, in the case of Fat Jack Robinson, his trademark is laying ’em low… or in his novel vernacular, “beaned out.” Jack likes them in the weeds, or so low that even a dachshund would feel at home. Consequently, Jack’s ’46 is the epitome of being low profile-or the product of being put on a low-fat diet. Yet for all its Pro Rod performance potential, Jack’s”46, with its surprisingly simple silhouette, wouldn’t be costly to emulate aesthetically. “I like my cars to look bitchin’,” Jack says. “Clean, not gaudy. But low. I want to be able to keep the cars I build just as stock appearing as possible on the outside, with a…

I like to think of Brain Burnett and Town Prufer’s 5th Annual Nostalgia Nationals as being more than a time wrap, a rear-view mirror, or déjà vu. To me it’s a return to dual-purpose racing…where both the participants and the spectators share in the fun. And that’s the way it’s been for five years—when nitro cackles and street rod rumbles shake out the winter doldrums early each May at Baylands Raceway in Fremont, California. But after two days of non-stop racing I can safely say that I’m still a purist. Jerry Steiner, at the wheel of the legendary Mooneyham and Sharp A/Fuel couple, put the Nostalgia Nationals back into focus when he took the old ’34 five-window down memory lane with a high-gear only, smoked-in dispaly of pyrotechnics that only…

Track Life As we watched them dig up the asphalt and tear down the timing tower at abandoned Orange County International Raceway this week, it was heartening to hear of several new dragstrips being launched. Yes, there is dragstrip survival in the ’80s. First, of course, is the excellent new Firebird Raceway near Phoenix, Arizona, constructed by former OCIR operator Jim Allen, which has hosted several major car and boat drag events already. Then there’s the new AHRA track in Eunice, Louisiana, which may or may not be faring as well. A couple months ago we announced the County of San Bernardino’s search for a builder of a racing facility near the US Festival site in Southern California. The latest substantial announcement now comes from Kenny Bernstein and Norman “Moose”…

HOT ROD’S predominantly drag racing-oriented readership all know there are two major races in Indianapolis each year. One is the U.S. Nationals and, of course, the other is the Indy 500. But not many people are aware that there is a third race which carries nearly as much prestige and reward as the others. It is the race to qualify on the pole for the Indy 500. This year’s high-speed sprint brought added significance because an American-built-and-developed V6 Buick engine captured the honored position, and a second Buick-powered car grabbed the number two position in the middle of the front row. The last time an American built stock-block engine sat on the pole was 1931, when Russ Snowberger put his Studebaker ahead of the pack. For years after that the…

We couldn’t give away a car that we hadn’t spent some time in, could we? With the GTO being the premier musclecar—and this one loaded with neat stuff like a tri-power 389, real live Halibrand mags, a Concord stereo, and a paint job by California Street Rods—we just had to go for a cruise. In this last installment of the HOT ROD Giveaway GTO story, we’ll show you some of the last-minute detailing and final assembly that went into the car before it headed for the ’85 HOT ROD Super Nationals in Indianapolis, to be driven home by a lucky winning participant in the best party we throw each year. As you remember from last month, H-0 Racing Specialties had just put the buff on the 389. At Chuck Lombardo’s…

“PRIDE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT LASTS A LIFETIME!” It’s Saturday, May 11, and like the song says, I’m “Back Home in Indiana.” Qualifying is over. The Buick V6 stock blocks have qualified one/two, the first time a stock block has been on the pole since a Studebaker did it back in 1931. The Buick people need to be congratulated for a job well done. Poncho Carter is on the pole and Scott Brayton is right next to him. Poncho got a new four-lap official track record of 212.583 miles-per-hour and Brayton now holds the official one-lap record of 214.199 mph. If USAC would go to flat-bottom cars (like they’re talking about, to slow the cars down), it’s conceivable that both Poncho’s and Brayton’s track records could stand forever. Some guys find it…

PONY EXPRESS The first real factory musclecars were the “police specials.” These were stripped-down, no-frills, lightweight sedans with the biggest engines and heftiest drivetrains the factory had to offer. Two-door versions were sometimes known as “NASCAR specials.” Then came the real musclecars, when Detroit dropped V8’s, 4-speeds, and 4.11 posi rears in light and lean midsize or compact production-line models. Later, many of these muscle machines acquired lots of package options, like mag wheels and stripes and center consoles; but in the beginning these were barebones cars with plenty of horsepower and little else. Then came the ponycars, so named for Ford’s Mustang, which was small, sporty, brawny … but still priced within a student’s budget. Well, Ford is doing it again. At a base sticker price of around $10,500,…

Musclecars have finally become collectable. For enthusiasts like us, this new found “respectability” brings both good news and bad news. Bad news, because prices of rare gennie originals are skyrocketing (like $45,000 for a ’68 L88 Roadster Corvette). The good news is, now that these cars are worth collecting, they’re worth making reproduction parts for. In the last few years, traditional collectors and repro parts houses have started catering to late ’50s and ’60s restorers, while dedicated musclecar-only companies have sprung up across the nation. Although we may not be able to afford that L88 Corvette or Shelby Mustang, there are now enough parts around to let us turn the bread-and-butter versions into the Real Thing. Witnessing this parts explosion, HOT ROD decided it was time to let our readers…

I Like the verbal ring of “dual-purpose.” It conjures up images of drag-race dig mixed with grocery-getting dependability. In the old horseswappin’ days of the ’40s, 50s, and 60s, A-V8’s, Studillacs, and Mercmobiles were proof positive that cubic inches and dual-purpose went hand in hand. Well, hot rodders don’t have to travel that path any more—unless they want to. Swaps are still neat and practical. But 30 years of hands-on development has transformed the flathead-killing Chevy V8 into an extremely flexible and powerful alternative to the big-inch philosophy of yesteryear. And that’s what went down when Pete Chapouris (Pete & Jake’s Hot Rod Parts, 8827 E. Las Tunas Dr., Temple City, CA 91780, 818/287-6175) decided to mix some hot rod with his customized ’39 ragtop and transform this visual lead…