Our friend Tim Lopata has a large collection of vintage racing moving from back in the day and agreed to share some of them with us. Here is one that all of you drag racers will find interesting. It is vintage 1970 lots of action from the Bristol Drag Strip.

This is a little long but if you like racing you will love this. If you are too young to know what it was like in the beginning this will help explain it all. If you were there you most likely don’t remember it! Sit back and enjoy the way it was! The closing says it all…..

“Drag Racing? Well, its anything but a drag!”

Back in the 60’s and 70’s drag racing was becoming a popular form of motor sports and Marty Hacker, like most of us, loved to drag race whenever he got a chance. At the track one car would always catch his eye, the ‘41 Willys. Today, rat rodders and drag racers alike still love the Willys. It remains a popular street rod design and arguably the most recognized and famous drag/gasser body of all time.

The image of a ‘41 Willys was stuck in Marty’s head and he knew some day he would have to have one but never could find the perfect one he was looking for.

So what would you do? You would search for one that comes close and build the look you want; so the search was on.

Marty’s son, Mike Hacker, started looking for his dad’s dream machine. While scanning www.racingjunk.com , he located a Willys in Long Island, NY.  They contacted the owner to let him know they were interested but wouldn’t be able to see it until the following weekend.  As luck would have it, the following Wednesday they called the owner to schedule the inspection and found out the Willys had been sold. Disappointed, they renewed their search. Not long after, to their surprise was the very same ‘41 Willys for sale on Ebay in Cape Cod, MA.

The eBayer even used the very same pictures the original owner used! It seems the new owner’s wife was not very happy with his purchase and he was given the option: “Live in it or sell it.”  This is when some guys would say, “I am going to miss my warm bed but I love that car!”

Marty and Mike were beginning to think that just maybe this was the one!

One thing led to another and the car was acquired and delivered. Mike knew his dad had wanted a Willys for years so he decided to build him one, the way he’d always wanted it…starting with the Willys they’d just picked up from eBay.

Unfortunately, the mold used to make the body was not of the best quality. Mike was very frustrated and decided the best way to build his dad’s dream was to redo all of the fiberglass. He cut almost every seam apart and after several months had everything fitting to his satisfaction.

Today, the Willys sits on an Art Morrison tube chassis. Mike adjusted the mid section of the frame to accommodate a new straight axle.  A 454 Chevy engine bored out to 468 cubic inches with a BDS 8-71 blower was added.  A TH400 transmission with a 3600 stall converter and a Ford 9 inch rear with Moser axles and Strange center section with 4.30 gears, Detroit Locker and disc brakes finish off the power train. “It is about 550 horsepower, my friends helped me every night till 1am for four weeks to get it together” states Mike.

He feels the best part of all the hard work, and of course the most fun, is when you start seeing all the painted and buffed pieces being assembled.  It’s amazing to step back at the end of the day to see the car coming together. Mike said, “The best part was when the nose was pinned on, laid down and you were able to see how it looks… like it’s going to jump on you and eat you!”

This wasn’t Mike’s first build, did all the modifications to the body and frame but this was his first paint job… all completed in a 2 car garage.   It took 4 years of nights and weekends, 96 cases of beer and 3 ulcers, to build his father’s dream. (You wonder if it would have taken less time or more if there had been less beer involved!)

When asked if he had it to do all over again what would he do, Mike said, “I should have started from scratch on everything… but live and learn.”

Marty’s really proud of all the hard work son Mike put into this project.  The Willy’s was recently picked as 1 of 12 top cars at The Wheels of Time Street Rod Jamboree.  Coolest thing about that; it didn’t even have the interior completed yet! Mike said he was even interviewed by Sam Memmolo (the guy from Shade Tree Mechanic and Two Guys Garage) at the show.

According to Mike, the car is a nostalgic gasser, with what he calls “modern detail.”

Mike and Marty are very happy that they have completed most of the dream; and getting the interior completed will likely lead to other projects to work on in the future.  As we know, there are always some additional improvements we all would like to make on our cars.

Randy stated that when he switched from the standard Cyclone “W” nose to the more aerodynamic Spoiler II nose it made an improvement of several miles per hour in the quarter mile. We know from history that the nose did wonders on the NASCAR Super Speedway but in the quarter mile…wow.

Randy has been drag racing up in the Wisconsin area since he was 15 and it has always been in a Mercury Cyclone. Now 50, Randy is better than ever and so is the Cyclone!

Here are some more photos of this seldom seen race car.

What’s better than a COPO?

Now, if you were really cool in 1969 a regular COPO wasn’t enough, you wanted a Yenko Camaro with the big 427. Bright yellow with black stripes would be a good choice of color. Then what did you do? You tweeked it, you wrenched on it some more and then went to the drag strip.

Here is the ultimate in street legal Camaro. It is a 427 Yenko Dragster with Cliff Ernst name on the side. Sit back turn up the speakers on your computer and listen to this special Chevy sing to you.

Click here to view the embedded video.

We did get a few shots and some videos for you. We will be posting them on this site over the next couple of weeks as time permits. Just Click Here to see some photos and videos.

In the meantime I will post one for you right here! Check this wreck by Jerry Hunt in his Corvette.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I just returned from a trip to Southern CA and a visit to the Wally Parks NHRA Museum. It reminds me that the best museum I ever saw is always the last one I visited! There are so many great ones out there and this is one of the must sees. It is small but very rewarding.

I will share a few of my photos on this page but you can see many more on the ON TOUR page.

There were two highlights of the visit for me and neither one were dragsters. The first, as you enter the main entrance was there in all its glory; the Ala Kart by George Barris. This has always been one of my very favorite hot rods and I think an icon of the early years of the hobby. It is absolutely beautiful and way ahead of its time.

It was actually only the first time I have ever seen it in person. When I was a little kid I studied pictures of it in all the car mags back in the day and memorized every curve but this was the first time to ever see it in person and it was better than the pictures.

It was like meeting a movie star or a race hero. I wanted to ask the car for an autograph or maybe a tire track print. George and his brother Sam were prolific in their creations but the Ala Kart is arguably the pinnacle.

The second highlight is rather sexist but were the photos of Linda Vaughn, Miss Hurst Golden Shifter from the good old days. She remains a striking woman even today but back in the 60′s she was a knock out and the dream of every teenage boy that ever saw her. She was beautiful, sexy and loved cars! What more could any red blooded American boy ever ask for?

The few photos of her from back then brought back of surge of fond if not suggestive memories.

Put this museum on your list. I have been there a number of times and have never been disappointed. It is located at the Los Angeles County Fairplex in Pomona, California in the same complex as the drag strip.