Innehållsförteckning för June 1959 från Hot Rod

Inglewood, California…

Minneapolis, Minnesota…

North Hollywood, California Riley two-port runs 106 with 12.5 e. t. Cragar overhead cammer holds eight championships Long Beach, California Riley two-port hits 105 in 13.25 seconds…

Where they all come from nobody knows, but there’s no ill doubt that one of the most popular coupe bodies at the drags is the tiny Fiat “Topolino.” Without a couple of rails and a Chrysler to tow it along, however, one of these will do well to shatter fifty, a fact that accounted for the amazement on the streets of the Fiat’s native Turin as a 500A coupe went tearing through town with an exhaust rap that had a racing cycle ring. It was 1947 and Enrico Nardi was piloting the mobile testbed of the first Nardi sports car engine. A cycle engine it once had been, indeed, and the crankcase and cylinders were still recognizably BMW 750 cc twin. Later Enrico built a tube-framed. 790-pound sports car around…

Get a Super G a totally new kind of premium-quality glass-packed muffler! New super-power for your car Newest feature of Super G Mufflers is the exclusive Spiral Core design. It creates a swirling action-thrust of faster, quieter exhaust gas flow. Back pressure is at a new low, letting the engine exhaust smoothly and evenly to give you new power—new driving economy. New ultra-quiet power tones Super G is expertly engineered and glass packed to let out only the soft, deep power tones—no harsh blare or sudden raps with acceleration. New, longer service life Inner heads are pressure locked in place—extra-heavy outer heads are spun onto the shell under 30 tons of pressure. The seamless outer shell is double-wrapped, of continuous prime steel. With a Super G, you can count on…

Our pre-Indy tour around the race car shops in the Los Angeles area each spring has just been completed and. as usual, we've seen some interesting new cars and a lot of new ideas. With conditions as they are at Indianapolis where acceleration and cornering speed are all-important, a pattern for the cars that race there has been well established. Weight is naturally the enemy of acceleration so all cars built for the brickyard classic are designed with every consideration for minimum weight. Last year’s three front row qualifiers were built by A. J. Watson of Glendale and since these cars were so successful, it was only natural that other car builders would adapt some of the ideas he used last year for their new creations. One of A. J.’s…

In the early days of fast cars standard headgear for the daring speed demon was a cloth cap worn with the visor in back. Following World War I the aviator’s skin-tight head covering of cloth or leather became part of the classical racing driver’s costume. Then, in the early 1920’s, a small group of English racing drivers began wearing cork-lined polo helmets or duraluminum jockey’s helmets. In 1932, Land Speed Record holder Major H. O. D. Seagrave gave Wilbur Shaw the first crash helmet seen in American racing. Floyd Clymer began importing hard hats from England and his were the first approved by the AAA and AMA. These early crash helmets were primitive by today’s standards but they did help to reduce injuries and to save lives. Gradually, over the…

West Palm Beach, Florida…

Minneapolis, Minnesota…

San Diego, California…

While Art Link letter makes a career out of proving that “People Are Funny.” he is also proving that Link letter ' * likes to see people make good … On a recent Saturday night, for instance, came the dramatic climax to an intriguing cliff-hanger that began a week earlier. Link letter selected a Bell. California, boy from the audience who had competed in Plymouth's annual Trouble-Shooting contest and “gave” him a new Plymouth station wagon. Only the engine was in hundreds of parts. “Now.” said the veteran showman, “if you can put this together and have it back here in running condition next Saturday night. The boy. Don Maxwell, enlisted the aid of four classmates at Bell High's auto shop course, and between time out for classes, sleeping and…

For a small group, the Pel State twenty-five can make a bigger muscle than most clubs three times their size, being strong in drag race organization, individual competition, and finding new and better ways of expediting hot rod activities. Nucleus of the Lafayette. Louisiana club was formed in the fall of '54 when several drivers and crewmen competing on local quarter-mile dirt track ovals decided to straighten out the quarter—go draggin'—and drag they did 1 Their first strip at Esterwood in April ’55 was soon to be followed by five others; (four are still in operation—all NHRA sanctioned), with Opelousas, Houma. Hammond and Lake Charles sites manned alternately each weekend. With a self-imposed membership limitation, the boys were forced to operate with speed and efficiency; the result being the perfection…

Reporter: Don, this needle-nosed car of yours is about the ultimate in streamlining. And I know it’s powered by a “souped-up” Chrysler engine. Are these the reasons you get all that speed? Don: Well, streamlining is important in cutting wind resistance—an obstacle you try to keep at a minimum. And, of course, you want an engine that gives you top horsepower. But there’s more to it than just that. Reporter: You mean what goes into that engine? Don: That’s right. I fuel it with a mixture of nitromethane and benzine. And I use Pennzoil SAE No. 30 with T-7 … exclusively. Reporter: Exclusively? There must be a reason for that. Don: Sure is. Pennzoil keeps my engine running clean and smooth so it can develop all the horsepower it’s capable…

You don’t have to take our word for it! The experts—impartial automotive writers and editors—agree that in the low-price field, there’s no car that handles like the ’59 Plymouth! As MOTOR LIFE puts it: “”Great handling car…. May even surpass some sports cars.” Don’t take our word for Plymouth’s economy, either. It has been thoroughly documented in tough competitions. Today’s standard Plymouth V-8s save extra gas with new Fuel-Saver Choke plus new' 3-stage carburetor. As for Plymouth’s ride, it's Torsion-Aire, yours at no extra cost. There’s nothing to compare with it in the lowprice field … for smoothness, for minimum of sway or roll, for level-keel cornering, for freedom from dive on stops. And Plymouth's extra roominess inside assures you of the sort of comfort you’ve never before associated with…

Ed Johnson is a friend of mine—it’s one of those deals where ij you bump into the guy only once every few years or so. but always seem to have something in common to talk about. Years ago. Ed was running a chopped and channeled '32 in the Competition Coupe class at Russetta Timing Association meets on El Mirage dry lake at the same time yours truly was helping pack down the course with his own competition sedan. Time passed, and we next saw Ed at Bonneville, where he showed-up to ride Chet Herbert’s streamlined version of the legendary ‘'Beast” drag motorcycle. Later on. we recall running across Ed at the drags during the reign of Art Chrisman-Leroy Neumayer's flathead dragster, where the race of the hottest car against the…

Waipahu, Oahu…

La Mirada, California…

Lake Stevens, Washington…

All Bill Moss, of Moss Engineering Co., had to say was, “Would any of you guys like to try the half-midgets?”, and the stampede was on. Moss had arranged a Saturday's use of the Go-Kart road course at Azusa. California, where owners of the speedy little “Midjets” were staging a big day of family style racing. An extra feature turned out to be a special match race between magazine staff members, each of whom was driving a car borrowed from some generous but apprehensive owner. For some it was a tight squeeze, but everyone finally found a car he could fit into. Bob Pender gast, lightest and perhaps most fearless of the crew, set fastest qualifying time. Eric Rickman, no lightweight, grabbed the inverted-start pole position with slowest time. 220-lb.…