1965 NHRA Winter National Drag Races, Pamona--Redone

[Basjuhdeuil]

haha the hurst car looks awesome!

[bubblejomay]

For those of you who don't know, in this video there was a quick glimpse of "Sneaky" Pete Robinson, who was the first ever to make 200mph pass in a dragster, yes even before Don Garlits got the record. Oh, by the was Mr. Robinson had a Ford 427 SOHC cammer engine in his dragster. Also Connie Kallita's Bounty Hunter used a SOHC motor, no brag, just fact.

[jamcousi9]

One of the best vids of real American drag racing uploaded! Man I miss old America...

[dwb131313]

Check out the 64 GTO 1:00. Great video. Always wanted to see these.

[sizzlehalt]

WOW!!! This is too cool!!! If you were able to have the sound. But in a way it gives it more of a "flavor". All of this was before my time, but is this the same track/area that they race the Winternaionals today?

[MrPLW]

@sizzlehalt

Thanks--glad you liked it---and yes, it's where they still race today.

PLW

[BuckeyeHopper]

Great Video..Thanx much...On 406 galaxies? My friend bought one new in feb 63..A black Fastback..Best tire burner I ever saw! LOL.. I was a Tasca Ford Fan in those days..I was from Conn and used to see them race @ the now defunct Connecticut Dragway...He was was almost unbeatable on his home turf.. I saw the prototype Thunderbolt unveiled @ the dragway in Nov 63...It was a 63 Fairlane 2dr HTP W/ a proto type hi rise engine in it...Turquoise in color,Dk blue writing on it! Ran 12 flats all day.

[bills7974]

WickedTornado..Speedworld is located about 40 miles north of Firebird Raceway on U.S. 60 (Grand Ave.) The track is okay but the pits need some work like a whole re-pave. If you live in Tucson-try coming up on the 7th Jan. The Arizona Drag Racing Assoc. will hold its first race of the year. Gates open at 9AM. You know I just love the door (slammers) cars,,all those supercomp rails/dragsters look alike. Genuine Detroit Steel for this kid!!...Ron aka bills7974.

[WickedTornado]

I love this so much and I keep coming up with questions....sorry if I'm being a pest. Who is the guy in the white outfit that is standing near Garlits' rail at 4:43? Was it Emory Cook? And you gotta just love the showmanship and media savvy of George Hurst. What a great American promoter: how brilliant an idea to have some gorgeous lady (who was it before Linda?) stand on the trunk of his convertible holding onto a giant Hurst shifter going down the track with ALL eyes on you?? joel in tucson

[WickedTornado]

I loved this vid so much, I had to come bk and visit once again. One thing that is kinda neat is at :47, that chev p.u. and camper, here in Ariz, since they don't rust, you will STILL see those combos driving the streets....looking x-actly like that. Man, technology has come sooo far, hasn't it? And again I'll pay kudos to the vid shooter and the uploader....magnificent job! This is a 110% joy to view. I plan to keep seeing it every now and again.

[MrPLW]

@WickedTornado Thanks, Joel, for your kind words . Your observations and obvious appreciation for those "days of the past" make finding, capturing, editing and sharing them all worth while.

PLW

[440John]

As far as I'm concerned, this was drag racing's coolest, most colorful, most innovative and creative era (mid-1960s to mid-70s).

[anthony1bad351]

where are all the BARDAHL sponsers when you need them?

[raginroadrunner]

I was there AA/S #772...427 Ford...

[MrPLW]

@raginroadrunner So how did you do? Any old drag racing photos or movies in your "shoebox" of memories? If you have any old home movies, I'd be glad to transfer them for you and post them on YouTube---and/or make some DVD's.

Thanks for viewing.

PLW

[WickedTornado]

@raginroadrunner A few questions for you, please sir. Is your car there in the video? If not, what body style and was it the "R" code (I think that's the code) dual-quad motor? What tranny / gears in back? How quick was it? And most importantly....do you still have any of it left? Also, for some reason I have been mentally infactuated about picking up some kind of old 406 car / with tri-pwr. Did you have experience with these? You rarely hear anything about those forgotten motors. Thanks!! joel

[raginroadrunner]

@WickedTornado...From what I have seen it is not in this video. I don't remember the coding of the vin number. It was a 425HP, DUAL QUAD, 427/425 HP Ford, top loader 4 spd, 4:56 gears, 12.5 et, 120 mph around the Denver Colo area ( 5280' elev) ..low 12's high 11's on the coast. We also had and ran a 63/406 car, tri power, 4 spd. It all had to go as the Viet Nam war found us all in the military the next year.(1965). I have nothing left except for regrets. These were durable engines with bad heads

[WickedTornado]

@raginroadrunner First off, thank you for you military service, sir. Secondly...thanks for the response. As I mentioned in one of my posts, the last few yrs. I've been mentally getting a yearning to pick up a fastback Ford with the 406. Seems we NEVER hear about those motors, and the mags never seem feature them and guys don't seem to build them these days. Two questions: how'd the 406 to 427 compare in perf. and what was wrong with those heads..you said they were bad? Thanks!

[raginroadrunner]

@WickedTornado..Ford got in a big hurry in 1962 when they offered the 406. The same year (1963) they featured the 427 in three configurations. The 427 ran better, and years later we found them to run better with one 4 barrel instead of two. The 406 did not have cross bolted main bearings and the 427 did. The rocker arm shafts were weak and inefficient on both engines. The heads had so much restriction that good flow was impossible to obtain which hurt them on the top end. I have more info...

[1951RKP]

@raginroadrunner --- Medium and high risers didn't respond to the two four setup. Rocker shafts were a pain. If I remember right on ours we bought billet rocket shafts that seemed to help cure the problem of breakage. Didn't have to worry about all that with the cammer. We raced the Tunnel Port version in the 70's and even then parts were so hard to find and so expensive we went to Big Block Chevy in our 69 Mustang.

[raginroadrunner]

@1951RKP ..I hated the two 600 cfm Holleys on the 427...they sucked and two four setups still do no matter what engine. The 427 had tons of problems and there wasn't much else to use. The big block Chevrolet was no better. Thin cylinder walls expanded and contracted at a different rate. The back four holes moved at a different rate than the front four holes. By 68 the Cleveland arrived and the 429 which was a far better engine than the FE series. A well prepared 460 with one four barrel is good

[1951RKP]

@raginroadrunner .I never saw a 2 four setup work on a 360 degree factory style manifold.Our Tunnel Port Ford had the 180 degree manifold which was a very nice design and performed well.Ford had a 180 degree 2 four for tunnel port but we never could get our hands on one. When I went to the Chev Big Block we gained power with a Weiand Tunnel Ram with 2 Holley 660's. When Chevy came out with the bowtie block we went with it because it had siamese cylinder walls between the cylinders for stability.

[raginroadrunner]

@1951RKP ..if you run the volumetric equations , most engines cannot flow enough air to totally consume two four barrels. Coupled with the fact that the fuel charge going into the heads has to be unrestricted. Throttle up is sometimes difficult whereas full rpm is efficient. This is where fuel injection closes the gap. It can do a much better job in monitoring the required fuel levels due to lightning fast micro processors. Any engine now with fairly good heads is a monster due to modern science

[raginroadrunner]

@1951RKP Weiand seems to retain an edge in intake manifold design. Our engines do better with Weiand than they do with Edelbrock or Offenhauser. I still steadfastly refuse to run two carbs to this day. It makes no sense and the performance is no better with two fours, maybe  worse. But it's about a thing of the past..RR

[1951RKP]

@raginroadrunner -I haven't raced in a few years so am not up on what racers are using currently. You are correct about the fuel injection but unfortunately rule prohibit the use in some classes. Stock, Super Stock can only use if it came on the year model and engine of the production car they are using. Not sure if popular with bracket racers, SS/SG/SC cars. We ran the Weiand setup on our 1st SG cars when the class first came out in the 80's.We gained about 3 tenths with that setup.Obsolete now

[RORER714z]

Them 427 Fords were tough.

[Doosterify]

Wow, some of the push vehicles are just as cool as the race cars.

[bills7974]

Great uploading video MrPLW as taken by Mike Tyler. I was so hooked into drag racing by looking through Hot Rod magazines and so forth-had to go to my first drag race the '65 Winternationals (as a spectator) and I was 14 then and its still in my blood more than ever-racing once a month now at Speedworld AZ. I just about remember all those cars and rails and especially the gassers. Remember also: Hemi underglass and the Little Red Wagon. This vid was a special treat. Outstanding job!!!!

[WickedTornado]

@bills7974 FYI, I understand the Bob Riggle, the orig. Hemi Under Glass builder / driver....is building yet ANOTHER version of the same car. I guess he's been retired for some time. Perhaps somebody else will drive it, I can't remember what I read entirely. Those who saw it in it's day will vouch that it was one beautiful, beautiful car. And where is Speedworld Arizona? I'm in Tucson....it must be up in Phnx area? It's not part of Firebird, is it? Thanks and Merry Christmas to all!

[Rowlandph]

And I believe this is also what is the parking lot, when you go to the L.A. County Fair!...Neat!!!...Love it!..

[WickedTornado]

Beautiful video from an old old camera! Thanks...I thoroughly enjoyed this. It just kills me to see all those old Full sized Fords with the bubble-scoops. I love them so!

[MrPLW]

@WickedTornado

Thanks---the original footage was actually taken with an old "run of the mill" 8mm home movie camera. I spent a lot of time capturing and transferring it to my computer where I was able to clean, edit and enhance it a bit. Sure wish there had been sound back then. Thanks again.

MrPLW

[KL250A]

Wow, this is one of the coolest clips ever!

[MrPLW]

@KL250A Thanks-glad you liked it.

MrPLW

[MrPLW]

Thank you-and thanks for taking the time to respond.

PLW

[willys441]

Great Video

[Rowlandph]

Hey!..Thanks for posting this!... I love the behind the scenes stuff from that era...

[MrPLW]

@Rowlandph

You're welcome---glad you liked it. It's actually an old 8mm home movie that a friend took while there in 65. I've digitized and attempted to enhance it-------too bad the old 8mm movie camera's didn't have sound. Wish I had more.

Thanks again.

PLW

hanks again

[DirtClod88]

Wow! NIIIIIIICE Video!