Damn...This video brought back so many memories for me I actually cried. Those were the days. No corporate hospitality suites, no semis. No rockstar wannabe drivers. Just drag racing. Thanks for posting this
I got hooked on drag racing and Hotrods when I was a teenager in the sixties here in the U.K. Nothing has changed, I’m almost seventy & still have a ‘32 Ford Roadster street rod and love drag racing. Thanks for taking me back to those amazing times 👍👍👍
Thanks for this video, just found it. Lol, at 73 I got excited seening all those '40 Willys Coups, and '33-'34 Fords.....You made my day. Wish I had picked up a Willys Coupe when I could...Thanks again!!!
WOW, just saw myself watch that first red truck go past at mid track! I'm the sandy haired kid sitting on the hood of my buddies 1960 Ford Galaxy! thanks!
like every thing from days gone by; this is when it was fun. who cares if they go 300mph today.this was the day of man and machine; NOT computers running the cars. THANK YOU ... great pictures and memories
Growing up in the mid 60's,Lions Drag strip in So.Cal was my neighborhood track.I took machine shop and auto shop classes in high school(Hamilton High),worked after school at a Chevron Station in Culver City Ca.Then,I could afford to go racing on the weekends.Tuesday night at Lions was run what ya brung night.If it passed inspection and you had a helmet,for 5 bucks you could take 3 passes.there was also E.T. bracket racing on weekends .I guess those are our good old days(Except for the draft !)And they where!!
This DOES bring back the GOOD times. Saw several of these in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri back when times were fun. Yes, I am in my 70's now, but still remember throwing a 4 speed.
WAYNE WILSON,YES IT BRINGS BACK MANY MEMORIES, staying up all night Friday,getting the rod ready to blast anyone who comes up next to ya,my favorite was side bets,i ran a 273 cuda formula S it was light and lightweight crank and steel rods,7200 rpm here we come,can't out horsepower em,out rev em,it worked,my youth was not mis-spent it was the best days of my life,all smiles
strattuner: I bought my best friend's Dad's Fourmala S factory 383 camando auto/tac/console/pistol grip factory shifter/4:10 posi black on black cool Mopar bucket's One owner "A" title. My best friend and I Rebuilt the engine in 1979 High school Mattawan Mi then his Dad Bob took it home never fired up the engine it sat for five years or so in Bob's garage then I bought it for $800 all extra crome and Mopar dealership papers flyer's posters an the Fourmala S factory paper work that Bob had collected over the year's way cool stuff. I kept the Cuda S for about three years in my sister's garage never touched it then sold it to a man in Bangor Michigan. I never took it out of Bob's name then we never seen or heard of the Cuda Fourmala S for over thirty plus year's (it was still in Bob Baugher's name when I sold the Cuda with the "A title" ) Then just about five or six years ago a man called Bob on the phone and asked him about his Cuda Fourmala S that Bob had ordered special with the 383 Camando and all the factory Go-fast part's years ago from the dealer ship. You see the man had bought it and wanted to make sure it was all factory correct an original and if Bob Baugher was the man on the "A title" and wanted to make sure it wasn't a fake title. Bob was so excited when the man called about that cool old Cuda Fourmala S that use to be his and wanted to buy it back but then man never returned Bob's call's. Bob had said to me Dustin you know what that Cuda is worth now?? We both just laughed and said only if we had kept it right... Bob and his wife both have passed away recently I miss them both and my best friend Mike there Son every day...
Love this vid! I'm a legit geezer (75) who prefers the racing I used to see at I-30 Drag Strip in Indiana-bracket aces like No Big Thing, the We-Haul Camaro, Karen's Camaro, et al-to today's more corporate scene.
It was fun wasn't it. I have done my part to ruin several 55 chevy's, several Oldsmobiles, even 62 Corvette. Hindsight, my word for the day. I had the opportunity to race there at the Super Chevy Show in 1995. It is a great track. Thanks for taking the time and sharing.
Another great job John. How about one with the Modified Production cars of the early 70"s? Maybe Dave Avery's D/A Chevy II? You keep crankin em out and I'll keep watching em! The "Renegade"
hi, I just saw myself in the video Gasers at 131 Drag way in the 60s! I'm the sandy haired kid sitting on the White Ford Galaxy hood at the fence at mid track! as the little red truck goes past at speed! thanks!
Hey John, I stumbled on your video and discovered my dad was featured on it. He is driving a black 56 ford Victoria named EL TORRO. 3:48. Thanks for the video.
Very Cool!!! I was born in '67 and have never been to the drags, but have always loved Gassers the best! Used to have a couple around here in the 80's on the street. A '56 Chevy with flipped El Camino (?) spindles and a '62(?) Chevy II with a straight front axle. They were the coolest cars in town! Thanks for doing the video with them in action!
Great video. You have to love the old gassers. I built and raced a 34 Ford C/Gas coupe in the late 1960s. Very fun time when most raced just for the fun of racing. Not many guys had sponors and no one had a lot of money. Thanks again for this walk down memory lane....!!!
Great video,takes ya back to when drag cars were a work of personal art,no advertising painted all over them , BlueMax,JungleJim ,ChiTownHustler,I miss them days,thanks a million
I remember when I was in the Marine's home on leave back in I believe 1970 at Miami Hollywood International Raceway I got to work with the Chi Town Hustler Pit crew.It was a match race best 2 out of 3 That night the lost there streak of consecutive wins ,when in the 2 round they lost a blower belt and and only won 2 0f the 3 races.
john...i live in jackson...well spring arbor anyways...thank you for this video..its one of the best ive seen..i am too young to have been there in these glory days..my folks always say i was born too late.. this can let me see what it was really like. not just the cars but the era. ive been longing for onandaga to reopen as it has history like 131 does..again..thank you for the look back in time....
I just realized that of all the thousands of decades of human history, I happened to be 17 years old in 1960. The following ten years of Girls and Gassers can never happen again. Take me now, Lord.
I drooled when the Red willys pickup came on the screen. That's my dream.. To bad it's a rare find. Makes me proud my dad kept his all STEEL willys coupe. Great Video!
WOW thanks John! i went to US131 throughout the 70's seen some of these cars still racing then. loved to watch Wild Willie Borsch? with his altered all crossed up and him never letting up.
I watch this one everyday .. Gasser's Rule .. soundtrack is Krazy Kool esp. CCR those times were the Best except for Nam .. God Bless The Unfortunate Sons .. I feel bad for those kids who gave it all .. that's the way it was and ya take it all as Precious Time . Thanks man .. Mike
I spent most weekend at US 131 Dragway. I remember a lot of these cars... Those were good times, I sure miss them. It was so much more fun than todays NHRA!!!
My mother and father both raced our family car which was a 1965 Dodge Coronet 500 and then a 68 Road Runner. In the 60's my brothers and I grew up at Martin 131, Milan and Onondaga raceways and what a wonderful way to grow up and be exposed to drag racing. My little brother carries on the family past time and still races in Michigan and the car is a 1965 Dodge Coronet 500...
Great footage of a great era. My first race was in 1963, I was 15 and borrowed a car from my Uncles used car lot, a 1957 Desoto with a 413 and duel quads. I didn't win anything but it was a thrill to drive a stolen car down the strip at Colchester Connecticut while my friends were going to the beach with their parents and playing in the sand. Green Onions was a perfect song for these clips, it was a huge hit in that era. Thanks for uploading these vintage clips.
Man, I am loving this video. I was a teenager in the 1990s and discovered a treasure trove of my Dad's old Rod & Custom magazines from the late 1960s/early 1970s. I was an impressionable kid and I still am drawn to the whole resto-rod vintage look. Gooooood stuff!
My home track. I lived in Martin and could here them every Saturday night. March through October. A lot of big names in there. The track is new now. Probably one of the best in the country, but the big names and legends are but faded memories. What a time in drag racing history. OUTSTANDING VIDEO. GREAT JOB
love the the old willys and anglias great footage and thank you for the time you put in to this you are a true hottrodder im showing it to all my friends god speed to you brother old guys rule jimbo hail
I didn't want to leave that 'Chisler' without the 'R'. Also wanted to mention another famous dude, 'Ohio george Montgomery'. Thank you again for the tim,e capsule. I would swap today with that era anyday. The world today is seriously FUBAR
Your welcome John , great bid , I hope some younger guys check it out , in sure they will like it , ya know John I vividly remember going to docking late 60s , 70s and up to mid 80s , simpler times good clean fun , have a good one.
John, Awesome footage - excellent editing and soundtrack choices. Love the old footage mixed in... Takes me back to being a kid and the smells involved with the drag strip. I finally have a '63 Nova gasser of my own - took me long enough.
Thank you for the video, brings back alot of memories in the 70s wasn't born till 71 but that's what drag racing was then you hit all the local hangouts during the week
These were proper fast cars, built by the best master mechanics and devoted drivers with balls! Today's generation of young drivers have no idea what real cars were! Hot rods Live forever!
This a great video. Thanks for putting this out here.The green and gold gassser at the begining of the video has been for sale the last 2 years at National Street Rods in Kalamazoo. I believe it is called the Dandy Lion. I took some pictures of it both times .
Thanks, John for putting up this video. It reminds of me and my Dad at Island Drag-way and English town in the late 60s when he used to take me to watch these guys.
+The Dude It makes no sense considering how drag racing has a worldwide following... And the fact that dragsters were so much better looking in the 60's and 70's!
As a little kid in the '60s I lived not too far from there, but never went. Now, thanks to you John, I feel like I have ! What a great video, extremely well crafted, Thanks !!
I remember going there one time with my dad and uncle, i think '66 or '67. The one thing i remember best was someone running a new G.T.O. with open headers, it was very loud.
the good ole days of drag racing. I ran a 87 camaro 556 ci big block till the cost started taking away from my family an had to give it up. I've not been back to the drag strip in fear the smell of raging fuel an rubber would have me addicted once again.
Simply put, this video is golden. Reasonably good photos interwoven with good movie cam work resulting in a damn good historical piece. I love that it wasn't centered on the big names of the time. Sundays in middle America, that was a time to remember. Great all around job, and thanks.
I just love the 60s. Guys were cutting up everything. And I do mean everything. Vette's, tri-5's,. It didnt matter as long as you could fit a V8 in it. And back then??? When something was "trick"??? It really "trick". Just a cool time to be alive and racing.
I'm a Mopar Man through & through & it was neat seeing most of those cars powered by the almighty HEMI engine! Mopar ruled the drag strip in the 60's & 70's & still do.There will never be a better engine than the Hemi! Mopar makes serious horse power.
Sudsy Sutherland: But the little 66-67-68 Chevy II's with there L79 327 350 hp small blocks ripped up some of those Big Block Hemi's many time's back then. I use to own a Cuda Fourmala S factory 383 Camando was my best friend's Dad's car new. We Rebuilt the 383 in highschool in 1979 Mattawan Mi never finished the engine work and Bob put it in his garage for awhile then I bought it for $800 I never put it on the road and sold it three years later. Then thirty + years later my best friend's Dad got a phone call from a man that bought it and it was still in Bob Baugher's name still an "A title" after all those years I never put the Cuda in my name sold it that way still was in Bob Baugher's name the first owner. Now God Willing the Cuda Fourmala S will be back on the road after all these years. But sadly my best friend's Dad and Mom both past away recently and won't see it on the road again. Great fast car that Bob special ordered from the dealer ship with all the hi-po go-fast part's tac pistol grip console bucket's seats black on black paint posi 4:11 gears the Fourmala S package with the 383 Camando that had to be special ordered by Bob that year. The big 383 did not come factory in the Cuda that year 67 or 68 I can't remember anymore been to long ago but it was a fast factory 60's mucle car in it's day. Who ever owns it now has one sweet hot rod great memories...
The name above all names, “Stone, Woods and Cook”. I’ve got old pics of them and the Hurst Hemi Under Glass at the Southern Nationals at Bristol in 1964. Those Willises were getting rare.
I grew up at the drags, as a result I race my Blown 57 Chevy Gasser. But seeing the Stone Woods and Cook Willys really hits home. I am friends with Mike Cook the son of Doug " Cookie" Cook and spend a lot of time looking at pictures from one of the first travelling drag race teams. What a honor it is to be exposed to so much of that. If you get a chance visit my channel and see my visits with the Cooks.
From another old guy who lived those wonderful years as a teen in the early 60's. The Gassers were our dream. Slingshot diggers were cool, but these Gassers were where the action was. Great video and Thank you for the reworked 8mm footage and for the perfect for the time music.
I saw Some Gasser Greats from the 60’s in this video - Ohio George, Shores & Hess, Prock & Howell, Jack Coonrod, SWC, KS Pittman, Hill Bros & of course my dad’s Austin (Jr THOMPSON) with Big John Mazmanian’s name on it. Plus a bunch more. Thanks for sharing this !!
Man, am I glad I came by this vid! It's hard to believe how different things were. Reminds me of Detroit Dragway in the 80's. Thankful that these times were captured on film. Cameras were reel to reel, film had to be treated carefully until it was developed in a quasi lab by a professional before you could even see if you were in focus or over exposed. Then you had to take care of it for as many years as it took to get it onto video tape. And even that was barely a safety measure until it got transferred to digital. Just the fact that we can watch a snap shot of a lot of our younger selves Saturday nights makes me appreciate modern conveniences but miss the times when there wasn't a big brother authority protecting us from ourselves. With freedom comes responsibility, seemed we all knew that back in the day. Ah, well, awesome video, thanks for posting it.
wow 131 Dragway looks alot diffrent now, i live bout a half hour away from it and go to the big IHRA and Mopar meet up there every year, to bad NHRA doesnt have there meet up there anymore, great vid!!!!
I love the Music, i can't say thank you enough, it puts chills all through me, NHRA only took things and People against another, no more fun, i can still remember my Uncles 68 440 Six Pack, unbelievable fast from the factory, leaving all the Hemi's behind!!! Again Thanks!!
I was racing a '40 Ford in "C" and later "D" gas in 1963 and 1964. I had a Schneider roller cam, Jahns pistons, 6-2's ,Vertex mag, 512 rear end. I had less then $1,000 invested and was competitive and was fun. Those days are long gone.
I remember seeing "Shake Rattle and Run" at US 30 Dragstrip (Outside Gary, IN). I miss those good old days. I turned 16 in 1977, got into drag racing late 70's early 80's. Just as corporate sponsorship was getting into it. My best friend and I would go down to the hobby store, and buy all the drag racing models of our racing idles, build them, pretend they were racing on the pool table. Then a 9 second car would draw a crowd in the pits. Going to the track you'd see, "Car in tow" written in shoe polish on rhe rear window, if you couldn't afford a trailer.
Great video! Being a local (Kalamazoo) this is our home track. The place has come a long way since the old days when John Grivens owned it. I didn't start going there until around 1970. At that time the best of the best racers ran there. The shut-down area was junk at that time as I found it hard to stop at 100 MPH and wondered how faster cars did it.
Seeing KS Pittman and Ohio George in their 33 Willys gassers at the1964 Dragfest in England got me into drag racing (in a Jaguar powered Ford Anglia).This brought it all back.Thanks.
Damn...This video brought back so many memories for me I actually cried. Those were the days. No corporate hospitality suites, no semis. No rockstar wannabe drivers. Just drag racing. Thanks for posting this
My dad was El Torro racing at around 3:50. His trophies lined the walls of our garage!!!
This was when drag racing was fun and affordable . I have many great memories from racing gas class in the 60 s
Better days,sadly passed . Great bit of film,thanks for posting,made me smile the whole way through 😆😆😆😆😆👍👍👍👍👍
Thanks for stopping by, Garry. I'm glad you enjoyed it.
John
I got hooked on drag racing and Hotrods when I was a teenager in the sixties here in the U.K. Nothing has changed, I’m almost seventy & still have a ‘32 Ford Roadster street rod and love drag racing. Thanks for taking me back to those amazing times 👍👍👍
Thanks for this video, just found it. Lol, at 73 I got excited seening all those '40 Willys Coups, and '33-'34 Fords.....You made my day. Wish I had picked up a Willys Coupe when I could...Thanks again!!!
Thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed the video!
John
WOW, just saw myself watch that first red truck go past at mid track! I'm the sandy haired kid sitting on the hood of my buddies 1960 Ford Galaxy! thanks!
Gary Stevens ...those were the BEST DAYS for Drag Racing.
what a trip to see yourself in one of these old drag video's...
like every thing from days gone by; this is when it was fun. who cares if they go 300mph today.this was the day of man and machine; NOT computers running the cars. THANK YOU ... great pictures and memories
mechohaulic Well said! Thank you for watching and commenting.
John
Growing up in the mid 60's,Lions Drag strip in So.Cal was my neighborhood track.I took machine shop and auto shop classes in high school(Hamilton High),worked after school at a Chevron Station in Culver City Ca.Then,I could afford to go racing on the weekends.Tuesday night at Lions was run what ya brung night.If it passed inspection and you had a helmet,for 5 bucks you could take 3 passes.there was also E.T. bracket racing on weekends .I guess those are our good old days(Except for the draft !)And they where!!
You took the words right out of my mouth. Today, it's all about sponsers and Cubic Money!
Back when you worked all day, came home worked on the car until.... They did it for the love of the sport & don't forget the trophy.
Well said my Friend
when cars looked nice and the drivers were poor....great stuff...thank you
Storeisclosed seriously
This video is so American that it brought apple pie to tears!
and Lucky Strikes and Coca-cola
Stone Woods Cook one of the most iconic drag cars from my youth.
This DOES bring back the GOOD times. Saw several of these in Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri back when times were fun. Yes, I am in my 70's now, but still remember throwing a 4 speed.
WAYNE WILSON,YES IT BRINGS BACK MANY MEMORIES, staying up all night Friday,getting the rod ready to blast anyone who comes up next to ya,my favorite was side bets,i ran a 273 cuda formula S it was light and lightweight crank and steel rods,7200 rpm here we come,can't out horsepower em,out rev em,it worked,my youth was not mis-spent it was the best days of my life,all smiles
strattuner: I bought my best friend's Dad's Fourmala S factory 383 camando auto/tac/console/pistol grip factory shifter/4:10 posi black on black cool Mopar bucket's One owner "A" title. My best friend and I Rebuilt the engine in 1979 High school Mattawan Mi then his Dad Bob took it home never fired up the engine it sat for five years or so in Bob's garage then I bought it for $800 all extra crome and Mopar dealership papers flyer's posters an the Fourmala S factory paper work that Bob had collected over the year's way cool stuff. I kept the Cuda S for about three years in my sister's garage never touched it then sold it to a man in Bangor Michigan. I never took it out of Bob's name then we never seen or heard of the Cuda Fourmala S for over thirty plus year's (it was still in Bob Baugher's name when I sold the Cuda with the "A title" ) Then just about five or six years ago a man called Bob on the phone and asked him about his Cuda Fourmala S that Bob had ordered special with the 383 Camando and all the factory Go-fast part's years ago from the dealer ship. You see the man had bought it and wanted to make sure it was all factory correct an original and if Bob Baugher was the man on the "A title" and wanted to make sure it wasn't a fake title. Bob was so excited when the man called about that cool old Cuda Fourmala S that use to be his and wanted to buy it back but then man never returned Bob's call's. Bob had said to me Dustin you know what that Cuda is worth now?? We both just laughed and said only if we had kept it right... Bob and his wife both have passed away recently I miss them both and my best friend Mike there Son every day...
@@strattuner I had the dodge dart version 273,4 barrel,4speed.posi rear. all factory equipt.Cant forget that square exhaust tip.
@@dinajet then you know how they squatted and ran pretty strong,we had good gas in them days
This is absolutely awesome, always loved gassers. Wish I could have been there in their heyday but I was born too late ..
I was there and It Was AWESOME! Just saying.
Love this vid!
I'm a legit geezer (75) who prefers the racing I used to see at I-30 Drag Strip in Indiana-bracket aces like No Big Thing, the We-Haul Camaro, Karen's Camaro, et al-to today's more corporate scene.
Sure do miss all this. Excellent job John. Sometimes i wish we could turn back the clock.
It was fun wasn't it. I have done my part to ruin several 55 chevy's, several Oldsmobiles, even 62 Corvette. Hindsight, my word for the day. I had the opportunity to race there at the Super Chevy Show in 1995. It is a great track. Thanks for taking the time and sharing.
Another great job John. How about one with the Modified Production cars of the early 70"s? Maybe Dave Avery's D/A Chevy II? You keep crankin em out and I'll keep watching em! The "Renegade"
hi, I just saw myself in the video Gasers at 131 Drag way in the 60s! I'm the sandy haired kid sitting on the White Ford Galaxy hood at the fence at mid track! as the little red truck goes past at speed! thanks!
Hey John, I stumbled on your video and discovered my dad was featured on it. He is driving a black 56 ford Victoria named EL TORRO. 3:48. Thanks for the video.
Loved those Vicky Ford's.espcially with straight axe.one of the most beautiful cars built. Thank your dad from me.
Very Cool!!! I was born in '67 and have never been to the drags, but have always loved Gassers the best! Used to have a couple around here in the 80's on the street. A '56 Chevy with flipped El Camino (?) spindles and a '62(?) Chevy II with a straight front axle. They were the coolest cars in town! Thanks for doing the video with them in action!
Thanks for sharing an important decade of drag racing. I really enjoyed the music and you mixed it perfectly with the cars.
Great video. You have to love the old gassers. I built and raced a 34 Ford C/Gas coupe in the late 1960s. Very fun time when most raced just for the fun of racing. Not many guys had sponors and no one had a lot of money. Thanks again for this walk down memory lane....!!!
Great video,takes ya back to when drag cars were a work of personal art,no advertising painted all over them , BlueMax,JungleJim
,ChiTownHustler,I miss them days,thanks a million
I remember when I was in the Marine's home on leave back in I believe 1970 at Miami Hollywood International Raceway I got to work with the Chi Town Hustler Pit crew.It was a match race best 2 out of 3 That night the lost there streak of consecutive wins ,when in the 2 round they lost a blower belt and and only won 2 0f the 3 races.
john...i live in jackson...well spring arbor anyways...thank you for this video..its one of the best ive seen..i am too young to have been there in these glory days..my folks always say i was born too late.. this can let me see what it was really like. not just the cars but the era. ive been longing for onandaga to reopen as it has history like 131 does..again..thank you for the look back in time....
Thanks for taking me back. I hung around there in the early 70's. Ran my new Nova there.
You're welcome, thanks for checking this out!
John
Honestly my favorite video .... I watch it over and over again and never get tired of watching it ... it sends me back to a time I miss dearly .... :)
Wow! What incredible footage and photos.Talk about style! I love these cars.Thank you🏁
Thank you so much for watching and commenting! Glad you enjoyed it!
I just realized that of all the thousands of decades of human history, I happened to be 17 years old in 1960. The following ten years of Girls and Gassers can never happen again. Take me now, Lord.
such a great video, to see the vintage cars the way it use to be aw back in the day..love it
My father drove the "Shade Tree" Chevy.
I had the " stone , woods , cook " model car for years. One of my favorites.
Nothing like seeing the local dragstrip in the old days. Thanks!
I drooled when the Red willys pickup came on the screen. That's my dream.. To bad it's a rare find.
Makes me proud my dad kept his all STEEL willys coupe.
Great Video!
Yeah, the old day's when you could lift the hood of a car and see the ground on both sides of the engine.
WOW thanks John!
i went to US131 throughout the 70's seen some of these cars still racing then.
loved to watch Wild Willie Borsch?
with his altered all crossed up and
him never letting up.
Perfect Tunes !
Thanks for preserving history man
I watch this one everyday .. Gasser's Rule .. soundtrack is Krazy Kool esp. CCR those times were the Best except for Nam .. God Bless The Unfortunate Sons .. I feel bad for those kids who gave it all .. that's the way it was and ya take it all as Precious Time . Thanks man .. Mike
The best time's around growing up in the 60ts real car's and a lot of fun thanks for the video & all the memories!!!!
sure wish I was old enough to be around back then, my gasser will be done in the spring, can't wait until I get it on the track
I spent most weekend at US 131 Dragway. I remember a lot of these cars... Those were good times, I sure miss them. It was so much more fun than todays NHRA!!!
My mother and father both raced our family car which was a 1965 Dodge Coronet 500 and then a 68 Road Runner. In the 60's my brothers and I grew up at Martin 131, Milan and Onondaga raceways and what a wonderful way to grow up and be exposed to drag racing. My little brother carries on the family past time and still races in Michigan and the car is a 1965 Dodge Coronet 500...
Great footage of a great era. My first race was in 1963, I was 15 and borrowed a car from my Uncles used car lot, a 1957 Desoto with a 413 and duel quads. I didn't win anything but it was a thrill to drive a stolen car down the strip at Colchester Connecticut while my friends were going to the beach with their parents and playing in the sand. Green Onions was a perfect song for these clips, it was a huge hit in that era. Thanks for uploading these vintage clips.
Thank you for watching and commenting, Art!
John
Man, I am loving this video.
I was a teenager in the 1990s and discovered a treasure trove of my Dad's old Rod & Custom magazines from the late 1960s/early 1970s. I was an impressionable kid and I still am drawn to the whole resto-rod vintage look. Gooooood stuff!
This was some amazing footage. Very well put together. I enjoyed watching it over and over. Great job! Thanks for posting it.
My home track. I lived in Martin and could here them every Saturday night. March through October. A lot of big names in there. The track is new now. Probably one of the best in the country, but the big names and legends are but faded memories. What a time in drag racing history. OUTSTANDING VIDEO. GREAT JOB
thanks what great memories and music
love the the old willys and anglias great footage and thank you for the time you put in to this you are a true hottrodder im showing it to all my friends god speed to you brother old guys rule jimbo hail
I live like 40 mins from there. Been going there since I was a kid. Cool to see how it was in the 60’s compared to now. 👍🏼
Thanks for sharing, I lived in Kalamazoo for 40yrs and that was my home track.
I didn't want to leave that 'Chisler' without the 'R'. Also wanted to mention another famous dude, 'Ohio george Montgomery'. Thank you again for the tim,e capsule. I would swap today with that era anyday. The world today is seriously FUBAR
Mmmm, smells good, hun. What's for dinner? Green onions, gassers, and a tall glass of Clearwater. Baby, you're the greatest!
Your welcome John , great bid , I hope some younger guys check it out , in sure they will like it , ya know John I vividly remember going to docking late 60s , 70s and up to mid 80s , simpler times good clean fun , have a good one.
Oh man this brought back so many memories - I saw many of these cars at Great Lakes Dragway in Union Grove, WI. You gotta love the gassers!
Excellent video, love those gassers!!!
John,
Awesome footage - excellent editing and soundtrack choices. Love the old footage mixed in... Takes me back to being a kid and the smells involved with the drag strip. I finally have a '63 Nova gasser of my own - took me long enough.
Thanks for the kind words and good luck with your gasser! Thanks for watching!
John
Thank you for the video, brings back alot of memories in the 70s wasn't born till 71 but that's what drag racing was then you hit all the local hangouts during the week
Thank you for this video. I grew up in the 60's and spent time at Detroit Dragway and cruising Telegraph.
These were proper fast cars, built by the best master mechanics and devoted drivers with balls! Today's generation of young drivers have no idea what real cars were! Hot rods Live forever!
Best 9 minutes 29 seconds of my day! Thanks!
This a great video. Thanks for putting this out here.The green and gold gassser at the begining of the video has been for sale the last 2 years at National Street Rods in Kalamazoo. I believe it is called the Dandy Lion. I took some pictures of it both times .
Think Cook was sleeping on that last pass,but he caught him.Man does this bring back memories.I had hair then.Thanks for sharing.
Paisano
Thanks, John for putting up this video. It reminds of me and my Dad at Island Drag-way and English town in the late 60s when he used to take me to watch these guys.
I remember these sundays at our local track. thank you
The best ! thanks for posting !
How could 17 ppl not like this what are they nuts I could almost smell the nitro an the alky
+The Dude It makes no sense considering how drag racing has a worldwide following... And the fact that dragsters were so much better looking in the 60's and 70's!
As a little kid in the '60s I lived not too far from there, but never went. Now, thanks to you John, I feel like I have ! What a great video, extremely well crafted, Thanks !!
Thank you for watching and commenting, Greg. I'm glad you enjoyed it!
John
I remember going there one time with my dad and uncle, i think '66 or '67. The one thing i remember best was someone running a new G.T.O. with open headers, it was very loud.
I'm mid 70s now but I remember these days well. These were the days.
the good ole days of drag racing. I ran a 87 camaro 556 ci big block till the cost started taking away from my family an had to give it up. I've not been back to the drag strip in fear the smell of raging fuel an rubber would have me addicted once again.
I feel so sorry for your loss man and you should go anyways. its good for the heart and soul 😉
Sorry about your loss!
😢
Go to the strip. And find a kid boy or girl and teach them. That will your legacy.
Simply put, this video is golden. Reasonably good photos interwoven with good movie cam work
resulting in a damn good historical piece. I love that it wasn't centered on the big names of the time.
Sundays in middle America, that was a time to remember. Great all around job, and thanks.
Thank you so much, Mitch, for taking time to watch my video and leave a nice comment. I appreciate it very much!
John
Awesome to see the kind of racing my dad always talked about when he would take me out there as a kiddo.
No laptops running cars in these days. Just some old guy with a stethoscope and a real knack for finding HP where you could.
Modest Budget on the rods, towing with station wagons and older trailers. Wow Days of my youth and memories of a different time
GASSERS FOREVER!!!! I grew up on these beasts and will forever have a soft spot in my heart for them...
GREAT VID, THANKS!
Thank you John for the great job compiling and sharing the video of some awesome funny car dragsters!!
I just love the 60s. Guys were cutting up everything. And I do mean everything. Vette's, tri-5's,. It didnt matter as long as you could fit a V8 in it. And back then??? When something was "trick"??? It really "trick". Just a cool time to be alive and racing.
Thanks for this blast from the past.I've also got a couple of pics being there." Ruff and Reddy" from South Haven comes to mind.
Thanks for the memories.........no 4 door imports or RapCrap "music" here!!!! ;-)
haha! nope, certainly not, just a bunch of old white guys with fuel hungry/low HP ...yet good looking... cars.
@@ihycoi396 Also old English 1950's cars
I'm a Mopar Man through & through & it was neat seeing most of those cars powered by the almighty HEMI engine! Mopar ruled the drag strip in the 60's & 70's & still do.There will never be a better engine than the Hemi! Mopar makes serious horse power.
Sudsy Sutherland: But the little 66-67-68 Chevy II's with there L79 327 350 hp small blocks ripped up some of those Big Block Hemi's many time's back then. I use to own a Cuda Fourmala S factory 383 Camando was my best friend's Dad's car new. We Rebuilt the 383 in highschool in 1979 Mattawan Mi never finished the engine work and Bob put it in his garage for awhile then I bought it for $800 I never put it on the road and sold it three years later. Then thirty + years later my best friend's Dad got a phone call from a man that bought it and it was still in Bob Baugher's name still an "A title" after all those years I never put the Cuda in my name sold it that way still was in Bob Baugher's name the first owner. Now God Willing the Cuda Fourmala S will be back on the road after all these years. But sadly my best friend's Dad and Mom both past away recently and won't see it on the road again. Great fast car that Bob special ordered from the dealer ship with all the hi-po go-fast part's tac pistol grip console bucket's seats black on black paint posi 4:11 gears the Fourmala S package with the 383 Camando that had to be special ordered by Bob that year. The big 383 did not come factory in the Cuda that year 67 or 68 I can't remember anymore been to long ago but it was a fast factory 60's mucle car in it's day. Who ever owns it now has one sweet hot rod great memories...
The name above all names, “Stone, Woods and Cook”. I’ve got old pics of them and the Hurst Hemi Under Glass at the Southern Nationals at Bristol in 1964. Those Willises were getting rare.
This VIDEO is AMAZING! Perfect time to be a teenager. Thanks for sharing!!!!!!!
Great video!!! Well done, video and music! Saw a few of those cars there in the early 70's. Brought back nice memories. Thanks
I grew up at the drags, as a result I race my Blown 57 Chevy Gasser. But seeing the Stone Woods and Cook Willys really hits home. I am friends with Mike Cook the son of Doug " Cookie" Cook and spend a lot of time looking at pictures from one of the first travelling drag race teams. What a honor it is to be exposed to so much of that. If you get a chance visit my channel and see my visits with the Cooks.
I love the drags at Martin. I go every year! love this video...
what can one say but AWESOME !
From another old guy who lived those wonderful years as a teen in the early 60's. The Gassers were our dream. Slingshot diggers were cool, but these Gassers were where the action was. Great video and Thank you for the reworked 8mm footage and for the perfect for the time music.
I saw Some Gasser Greats from the 60’s in this video - Ohio George, Shores & Hess, Prock & Howell, Jack Coonrod, SWC, KS Pittman, Hill Bros & of course my dad’s Austin (Jr THOMPSON) with Big John Mazmanian’s name on it. Plus a bunch more. Thanks for sharing this !!
Man, am I glad I came by this vid! It's hard to believe how different things were. Reminds me of Detroit Dragway in the 80's. Thankful that these times were captured on film. Cameras were reel to reel, film had to be treated carefully until it was developed in a quasi lab by a professional before you could even see if you were in focus or over exposed. Then you had to take care of it for as many years as it took to get it onto video tape. And even that was barely a safety measure until it got transferred to digital. Just the fact that we can watch a snap shot of a lot of our younger selves Saturday nights makes me appreciate modern conveniences but miss the times when there wasn't a big brother authority protecting us from ourselves. With freedom comes responsibility, seemed we all knew that back in the day. Ah, well, awesome video, thanks for posting it.
wow 131 Dragway looks alot diffrent now, i live bout a half hour away from it and go to the big IHRA and Mopar meet up there every year, to bad NHRA doesnt have there meet up there anymore, great vid!!!!
Very nice video, brought back many good memories.
BEAUTIFUL MAN!!! Never made it there, but did go to Tri-City near Freeland, MI late sixties-early seventies. The Good Old Days. 71 years old now.
Me too, buddy! Thanks for watching. glad you enjoyed it!
John
I love the Music, i can't say thank you enough, it puts chills all through me, NHRA only took things and People against another, no more fun, i can still remember my Uncles 68 440 Six Pack, unbelievable fast from the factory, leaving all the Hemi's behind!!! Again Thanks!!
I'm glad you enjoyed my video, Edwin! Thanks for taking time to watch and comment!
John
Wow wow wow again!!!! Thanks for sharing all these nice history with other arround the world. And, i cans say i envy your musical taste man!
I could watch the Gassers all day long...beautiful cars.
Thank you John for the post.
You're very welcome, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching and commenting!
John
I was racing a '40 Ford in "C" and later "D" gas in 1963 and 1964. I had a Schneider roller cam, Jahns pistons, 6-2's ,Vertex mag, 512 rear end. I had less then $1,000 invested and was competitive and was fun. Those days are long gone.
shake rattle run still going to this day.
same car.beautiful machine it is.
I remember seeing "Shake Rattle and Run" at US 30 Dragstrip (Outside Gary, IN). I miss those good old days. I turned 16 in 1977, got into drag racing late 70's early 80's. Just as corporate sponsorship was getting into it. My best friend and I would go down to the hobby store, and buy all the drag racing models of our racing idles, build them, pretend they were racing on the pool table. Then a 9 second car would draw a crowd in the pits. Going to the track you'd see, "Car in tow" written in shoe polish on rhe rear window, if you couldn't afford a trailer.
to all that dont know...this track is the famous 131 dragway in martin michigan..it is located on the west side of the state..all of the famous afx
"LOVE IT!" "LOVE IT!" "LOVE IT!" 60's Drag Racing it doesn't get any better than that! We need to return to grass root Drag Racing!
Great video! Being a local (Kalamazoo) this is our home track. The place has come a long way since the old days when John Grivens owned it. I didn't start going there until around 1970. At that time the best of the best racers ran there. The shut-down area was junk at that time as I found it hard to stop at 100 MPH and wondered how faster cars did it.
This is by far one of the very best videos I have ever watched, make more please !!!!!
Thank you ...jus took me rote back....all my favorite old gassers...thanx ☺☺
Seeing KS Pittman and Ohio George in their 33 Willys gassers at the1964 Dragfest in England got me into drag racing (in a Jaguar powered Ford Anglia).This brought it all back.Thanks.