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They are nostalgic. They are not going away. The one I remember back in the day back in Monroe, LA was an orange Anglia called the Hangman. The thing would do some awesome wheelies. That was back in the mid 60's.
Okie. My engine is old but uses alot of high tech stuff to make it shake. Tubular control arms, modern cam grind , along with more modern ligtlht weight products. My basic combination may be old but it sure as hell wasnt built like it was in the 60's . Although i built my car to look like an nhra stocker from the 70's lots of more.contemporary modern parts are at play making it go.
Last edited by coppercutlass; January 5th, 2018 at 11:31 AM.
Oldsmobiles are great, so are Gassers, A/FX S/S Stockers and Bonneville cars. I guess, if someone doesn't care for a certain type car, they should do what I do at car shows....... pass by quickly.
I sent a text of the black '55 OLDS D/G posted earlier. His reply was "I want one !" He owned a '54 Olds when he was a lot younger. I owned a black '55 many, many years ago, and neither was a Gasser.
Now I am kicking myself for driving by a carcass black and white '55 Olds and telling myself...."I don't need another project". I wonder what a "twin turbo" 455 would do ?
Like i said i love gassers and real guys running them like the southeast gasser association i wanna say do a bad *** job of going seriously fast . Like rat rods. They are neat but so over played. Thats all im saying.
I cant wait until the gasser bubble burst. I'm so tired of it. Its become over done. Any true racer would not embrace old technology. I was at the meltdown drags at Byron dragway this past summer and there where so many cars that looked the look but where so dog s**t slow. I love gassers but its just over done over played and over hyped.
Most of us gasser owners around here would agree about the "dog s**t slow" . We do it for the nostalgia thingy. True...We are not serious racers..recreational mostly.
There is nothing wrong with that but to me id rather see em in action. Im helping my buddy build one. A 54 belair with a 427 with a tunnel ram. 456 gears and a dough nash 4 + 1 gear box. He wants it to look the look and run in what he feels would be a good representstion of power.shooting for low 11's
Last edited by coppercutlass; January 6th, 2018 at 07:28 AM.
I liked Gassers back in the day and still love them today. They make me feel warm and fuzzy all over and they are a great excuse to get together with friends. Nothing like pulling the wheels and banging gears.
There are lots of Kool as well as quirky Gassers, which only adds to the entertainment.
While we do have some younger guys getting involved, many unfortunatley are even older than I am.
We Run/ and have Sponsored some of the Nostalgic type events, such as the Melt Down Drags, Super Car Reunion, Midwest Gassers Assoc and Midwest Nostalgic Super Stock events. Our cars are competitive and run the numbers based on the rules, but not one person does it to make $$$$$$, (a.k.a. serious racing) it's all about having fun doing what you like. Don't get me wrong we like to win too ; )
With 500 plus cars / vehicles at the Melt Down Drags actually racing, there are going to be some slower cars in the mix as well as some which push the boundaries of safety (that is a subject upon itself). But there are also some very quick and fast cars too. The point is that its a "NOSTALGIC" event, structured to take you back to the Summer of 1966 and I for one, applaud them for a job well done.
Last edited by Stefano; January 6th, 2018 at 10:33 AM.
I cant wait until the gasser bubble burst. I'm so tired of it. Its become over done. Any true racer would not embrace old technology. I was at the meltdown drags at Byron dragway this past summer and there where so many cars that looked the look but where so dog s**t slow. I love gassers but its just over done over played and over hyped.
Coppercutlass I was wondering how fast your car is.
Low 12's with a small block will be 11's in the spring once we iron out the suspension issues. Im also wrapping up and engine that should go solid mid 11's. Both combinations are set up for pump gas with iron heads and they get driven to the track and back 120 miles round trip. I may add almost all work is done in my garage by me. Body, engine, trans etc etc. I only farm out machine work and the diff although i build them for others oddly enough and I worked in a machine shop for a bout a year.
Last edited by coppercutlass; January 6th, 2018 at 07:09 PM.
hey coppercutlass, heres a street gasser you don't wanna see at a stoplight. 57 chevy, sbc, liberty 5 speed, runs/races on 91 octane, full interior, working radio, heater, true street car. no nitros, turbo, supercharger, runs 11:0s and has dipped into the 10"s driven to and from track. gassers will never die!!!!!! lol if you look closely you can see a tiny bit of air under the driver tire . that's on the 1-2 shift! compliments of the nicky gasser shop build and tune! thanks Stefano.
Thats what i like to see. Nothing wrong with that at all. Just like pro street in the 90s real dual purpose cars where few and far in between. I like gassers but im tired of seeing them everywhere more or less as a fashion statement. They are awesome but over played. I love lynyrd skynyrd but wont listen to them everyday all day you know what i mean. Another thing about my build i left out is between engine trans and diff i have maybe 6500 bucks. Most guys will spend that much on an SBO engine alone to run the numbers i run with a small block olds and I'm N/A as well.
Last edited by coppercutlass; January 7th, 2018 at 12:49 PM.
I may add I never said I didn't like gassers or want them to die. But when the bubble burst's which it will eventually only the die hards will continue. Much like any other car phase. Like pro street which currently is now pro touring street cars, Or the N50 mag craze etc etc. It comes full circle and goes full circle. I was at the meltdown drags last year and it was fun but there was so many cars that looked the look but where depressingly slow. There is nothing wrong with a 13 sec car but don't church it up. One of the highlights for me was watching the old junior stock wagon ( Tokyo rose ) that was one really exciting 13 sec car to watch. Specially knowing how they are set up and I'm pretty positive if it was class legal they had to run 265's which is impressive. If not it was still a pretty exciting 13 sec car to watch .
Gasser's are cool, so were the A/FX cars. Found a video on youtube of some A/FX cars racing in Texas back in 1966 and I think some of you might find it interesting that these injected non supercharged mostly stock engines used as much as 90% Nitro in their fuel tanks.
What I learned from this video is Gas Ronda is a guy, I always thought it was a chick that drove those altered wheel base 1965 Mustang's. This was 1966, the cars used slightly modified BBC's, Mopar 392ci Hemi's and the Fords used the 427 Hemi. They weighed around 2400lbs with driver. Drag Racing has come a long way since then but the fact they ran a Nitro in the AHRA OutLaw A/FXer's blows my mind.
That is a great video I have never seen before. Gas Rhonda just passed away last October. I believe that car and the one before it was recently sold by Mecom.
Gasser have always been cool.
One reason that drag racing is loosing its appeal is because of the cookie cutter cars, fast yes but boring.
I find that the nostalgic drags are the most entertaining and just plane fun.
I would build one if money and time allowed, for now I have to be happy just enjoying other car enthusiast art.
The old builds had way more creativity.
Gasser's are cool, so were the A/FX cars. Found a video on youtube of some A/FX cars racing in Texas back in 1966 and I think some of you might find it interesting that these injected non supercharged mostly stock engines used as much as 90% Nitro in their fuel tanks.
What I learned from this video is Gas Ronda is a guy, I always thought it was a chick that drove those altered wheel base 1965 Mustang's. This was 1966, the cars used slightly modified BBC's, Mopar 392ci Hemi's and the Fords used the 427 Hemi. They weighed around 2400lbs with driver. Drag Racing has come a long way since then but the fact they ran a Nitro in the AHRA OutLaw A/FXer's blows my mind.
The "NicKey" '66 Nova a/fx was an axle car and we continue to build and sell this front bolt on stub / frame, just like you could have purchased back in 1966.
I love the Gassers. It brings back memories of my miss-spent youth. My favorites were Stone Woods and Cook and of course Ohio George Montgomery. Back in the early 1960s the big names of drag racing use to "Barn Storm" and they always had match races, SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! Lately I've gotten hooked on Southeast Gasser Association. So much that I'm going to go see the last race of the season at Shadyside in Shelby, NC. Check them out on YouTube.
The Nostalgic Vintage / Gasser events are so much fun. Here we are at Glory Days at Byron Drag way this year, right after the long time owner Ron Leek passed. Notice the street sign they put up in his honor. This '56 runs in the 10s at 125ish on pump gas.
January 5th, 2018, 07:53 AM
