AAR

AAR, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Plymouth's Barracuda was the company's answer to Ford's wildly successful Mustang, a smallish coupe or convertible with a variety of engine and interior options to let the buyer customize their car. Pretty much any combination was available, from a basic six-pot economy model to a wild eight cylinder muscle machine.

Like the Mustang, the Barracuda spawned a number of high performance options, particularly later in it's life. One of the rarest is the AAR, a Trans-Am special devised to capitalize on the series. Developed in part by Dan Gurney's All-American Racing Team, the AAR was a fast car but the team didn't manage to win any races in it's inaugural season.

This one's a genuine ex-AAR car, run originally by Swede Savage, and still competes in historic racing today.

A/FX

A/FX, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Factory Experimental was an offshoot of the Showroom Stock class. These were usually cars with prototype engines and other equipment combinations that weren't available from the factory. A/FX cars were even wilder, featuring altered wheelbases that pushed the center of gravity around for better traction. Wild cars.

Little Mouse

Little Mouse, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Launched in 1937, Fiat's original 500, the "Topolino" (Italian for "Little Mouse") was just about the smallest car you could build and still call a car. Powered by a sub-600cc four pot motor, the Topo put Italy on wheels, and remained in production in one form or another until the 50's. This is the classic earlier "Type A" style, which despite it's diminutive size was still an elegantly styled car. Well, until you chopped the body off and put it on an altered wheelbase drag chassis with a big V-8 sticking out the top.

That's one thing they don't talk about in the Fiat history books-the Topolino's racing history here in the States. Along with old American Bantam roadsters and English Ford Anglias, the Topo was a popular Altered and Gas class drag racer, due entirely to it's tiny size, which combined a low weight with a small frontal area to make a nice racing platform. Though plenty of genuine cars were chopped up, many of the Toplino Altereds were made with fiberglass replica bodies, like this mid sixties example.

Fun fact-you can still buy 'glass Topolino bodies today.

Swindler II

Swindler II, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

We've talked about gassers once before, I think, so this week I'm just going to share a couple of shots of one of the most famous gassers of all time. The Stone-Woods-Cook team, along with "Ohio George" Montgomery and "Big John" Mazmanian, eventually came to both rule and define what made the perfect Willys gasser.

Owned by Fred Stone and Leonard Woods, Jr., and driven by Doug "Cookie" Cook, this car set numerous records in period, and won hundreds races during it's career. The team also was a rarity in the mid sixties, being one of the few racially integrated teams in racing. Owner Tim Woods (it was his son Leonard's name on the door, added to help keep young Lenny interested in the sport and out of trouble) was a succesful African-American businessman in the Los Angeles area, and formed a drag racing team with Fred Stone, a manager at his construction firm. Plenty of competitors had no idea that Woods was black, and in the end it really didn't matter as the team's results so often spoke for themselves.

Lola

Lola, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

One of the legendary names in motorsports, Lola built cars for many formulae, including F1, 2, 3, 5000, Atlantic, and various USAC and Indy Car series. But they were probably best known for their sports cars-Lola's original GT was the progenitor to Ford's GT40, and the company was successful in endurance racing through much of the sixties.

The T70 was probably Lola's most successful sports car, and the hot setup in the early days of the Can-Am. The car's first major win came in 1965, with Walt Hansgen's win at Laguna Seca, and John Surtees went on to win the '66 championship running his own Chevrolet-powered example. Within a couple of seasons the McLaren M6 became unbeatable, despite improvements to the Lola (including a coupe version). However the T70's low(ish) cost and reliability helped it remain a popular racing car until the early 70's. They remain so today in historic racing.

This is a '67 Mark III spider, and was photographed this past summer at Road America.

AAR

AAR Cuda, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

One of the good guys in motorsports, Dan Gurney had a long and varied career behind the wheel. Starting off with hot rods on the dry lakes and drag strips of southern California, Gurney soon moved on to sports cars with varying success. His big break came in 1957, when he finished second in the inaugural Riverside Grand Prix at the famed California track that would eventually become synonymous with Gurney's name. This led to a factory drive at LeMans with Maserati, and by 1959 he was in Grand Prix racing with Ferrari.

A true all-rounder, Gurney went on to race in sports cars, endurance racing, stock car racing (he owned the Grand National event at Riverside, his home track), the Trans-Am, and of course on the Grand Prix circuit. He drove for BRM, Brabham, Porsche, and finally with his own Eagle, manufactured by All-American Racers (or Anglo-American Racers for the GP project).

The AAR Grand Prix project ended soon after that historic win in 1967, but AAR continued to manufacture cars for domestic series, such as USAC and Formula 5000. The company also lent it's name and expertise to Plymouth, for it's Trans-Am challenger, the 'Cuda AAR.

This is a genuine Trans-Am car from the early 70's.

Payin' The Cost To Be The Boss

The Boss, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

In 1969, at the height of the Trans-Am's popularity, Ford needed to develop a version of the Mustang to take the fight to Chevrolet's Camaro Z/28. The vehicle that resulted was the Boss 302, which ran a composite engine made up of the Windsor smallblock and cylinder heads from Ford's "Cleveland" big block. The resulting 302 cubic inch motor was unique to the Boss, and had it's own distinct sound and feel, a chattering, high-strung race engine for the street.

Other improvements to the Boss were the deletion of the standard Mustang's rear fender scoops, a new functional hood scoop, tightened up suspension, and frequently a lower rear axle ratio. All of this added up to a pretty serious piece of kit, able to entertain on the road and win on the track.

And the name? Ford President Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen was a big proponent of this project, and when designer Larry Shinoda was asked what he was working on, simply answered "The Boss' car". The name stuck.

Spirit of '65

Spirit of '65, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Spent the weekend channeling my inner Bob McClurg*. This '55 Chevy gasser was shot at Byron Dragway in rural Byron, Illinois, during a nostalgia drag race weekend. All old cars, nothing newer than 1965, no modern engines or billet wheels, no modern graphics, just classics and raw horsepower.

*famous drag racing photographer of the sixties and seventies.

The Boss

The Boss, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

A genuine former Trans-Am Ford Mustang Boss 302. And yes, that does seem a bit long winded, so we'll just call it "The Boss".

The Trans-Am was derived from the SCCA's sedan championships, and generally followed the FIA's Group 2 Touring regulations. Divided into over- and under-2 liter categories, the Trans-Am featured a broad array of European and American sports cars, and resulted in some of the automotive world's iconic cars.

Looming large among these is the Boss, Ford's factory racer for the '69 season. Over-2's were limited to 5.0 liters displacement, which rounded out neatly to 302 cubic inches. This resulted in a lightweight, high revving, powerful engine, and one of the more sought after Mustang variants (along with the Camaro Z-28 and the Challenger T/A).

This is an original Trans-Am car from the late 60's, run by the Bud Moore team. It's parked on the grid at Road America about a year ago. I like how the driver has his arm hanging out the window as he's sitting waiting for the start. Just chillin', no big deal!

Grumpy's Toy

Grumpy's Toy, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

With a no-nonsense attitude, Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins was well known as a Mopar engine builder before starting his own Chevrolet team in the sixties. Running in the popular Super Stock classes, his "Grumpy's Toy" racers were always well presented and quick.

This is a well-done replica of "Grumpy's Toy IV", a Chevrolet Camaro.

Sunoco Camaro

Sunoco, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Possibly better known by the general public for a truck rental firm, Roger "The Captain" Penske has run one of the most successful racing teams since the early sixties. The Penske team has run in all manner of classes, including the Trans-Am, Can-Am, Indycar racing, NASCAR, and Formula One. Usually running top line talent, the Penske team was always a threat to win.

This Camaro is one of the team's iconic Sunoco team cars, from the Trans-Am Championship. This is a former Mark Donohue car, a genuine T/A car, and as such is nearly priceless. It was a privilege to be able to watch this piece of history hammer around the track again, and to be able to shoot it up close.

Race on Sunday, sell on Monday

Super Stock, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Super Stock drag racing got it's start in the early sixties, and was a very popular class for about a decade, mainly because the cars were the same as the ones you could buy at your local dealer. Sort of.

Factory SS cars were in fact available from the dealership, but they were usually special order only and frequently were stripped out base models. The Plymouth Belvedere pictured here had thin van seats (they were lighter than a bench), no back seat (it's heavy), no heater or air conditioning (it's heavy), no radio (it's not heavy but you can't hear it over the engine anyway), no sound deadening (it's heavy), and no hubcaps (because you're likely to get rid of the wheels anyway). In short, they weren't nice places to be for more than a quarter mile at a time. Modifications were few, and limited mostly to safety equipment.

I have no idea if this Plymouth was a genuine Super Stock car back in the day, but it was very convincing if it's a clone. Everything was correct, and it looked and sounded great.

Nickey, Nickey, Nickey....

Nickey Chicago, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

....with the backwards K!

Established in the 1920's, Nickey Chevrolet was a legendary Chicago area dealership, and one of the first to specialize in high performance cars. Nickey ran a series of ever-faster Corvettes, all dubbed the "Purple People Eater", as well as acquiring one of the beautiful, fast RAI Scarabs. Eventually, they got into the super-muscle-car scene, using GM's infamous COPO ordering scheme to get big block Camaros and Chevelles. Though Nickey Chevrolet closed it's doors in the seventies, the name lives on, building high performance versions of Chevrolet's newest Camaro.

Fun fact-the Vinegaroon (I don't know what it means either) is a Genie Can-Am car, and was originally owned by Dan Blocker. Yep, that Dan Blocker.

Red, White, and Vroom

Fast Pointy Thing, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Made up of a number of smaller independent manufacturers, American Motors Corporation could always be counted on to offer up interesting cars (some might say "weird"), but nobody was surprised when they entered the performance market in the sixties with cars like the S/C Rambler and AMX. However, the company surprised the road racing fraternity with it's entry into the Trans-Am series in 1970, using the Javelin. Originally run by Roger Penske's famous team, by 1972 the mantle of AMC factory team had passed to Roy Woods Racing, with Woods and George Follmer driving.

The Javelin was AMC's entry into the pony car market, which was dominated by the Chevrolet Camaro and Ford's Mustang (Mopar's Barracuda and Challenger were far less popular, despite their legendary reputations today). It proved to be relatively popular, certainly by AMC's standards, and the car was rated highly by the magazines.

This one is a second generation car, from 1972. The Javelin had grown a bit, but was available with big-block engines to make up for it. The car proved to be just as popular, even making it as one of the few two-door sports coupes to be used by police forces (those big blocks again!) in the States.

Red, white, and blue liveries were an AMC trademark-special editions of the Javelin were available in this exact scheme (less numbers and sponsor stickers), and the patriotic theme returned on the S/C Rambler and Rebel Machine muscle cars.

Pininfarina

Alfa Romeo, a photo by William 74 on Flickr.

Founded in 1930, Pininfarina is one of the world's most famous automotive design firms, as well as a legendary coachbuilding firm. Some of the most famous manufacturers have been the firm's clients, including Ferrari, Rolls-Royce, Cadillac, and Maserati.

This happens to be an Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider, an unrestored example from the fifties that still sports the Pininfarina crests.

Slingshot

Drag racing has it's beginnings with the earliest speed contests-once someone went fast, someone else decided they could go faster, and pretty soon things evolved into head to head duels to see who could get to the finish line first. In America, the earliest races happened-like so many American car culture touchstones-in California, on the dry lakes that would soon become famous for speed trials and airbases. Four or five guys, in whatever they brought, would set off across the desert floor, and first across the line got bragging rights.

It was only the beginning, and after the Second World War the sport evolved into the two lane, quarter mile contests we know today. The hot rod clubs that sanctioned events set up classes, but for many years things were still very much "run what ya brung", and it was very common for a slick roadster to take it's driver to work during the week, only to be driven to the strip for weekend duty. Gradually, cars got more and more highly strung, interiors more stripped out, in the search for an elusive few tenths of a second, and they slowly evolved into specialized racers.

Some classes still had a pretense of using stock vehicles. Super Stock, funny cars, gassers, all still carried recognizable bodywork, but the top dogs all ran slingshots. These were cars distilled down to the basics-tubes welded together into a chassis, axles and wheels at each end, a seat, and a whacking great motor. Initially, these bare bones bombs had the engines in front of the drivers, where they always were, but by the early 70's, they started migrating to a spot just behind the pilot-much like Grand Prix and Indy racers were doing. The reasons were many, but mostly for safety-these beasts were highly strung, and having one blow up was much safer if it was behind you.



This is a vintage front engined rail, from Chassis Research, one of the famous designers of dragster chassis. It's beautifully presented, and period perfect.

Bugatti

Bugatti Type 59, originally uploaded by William 74.

With a history that dates back to 1909, Bugatti has quite possibly the best pedigree in automobiledom. "Proper" Bugattis were among, if not the, most exotic cars of their time, and often times the fastest as well. Cars such as the Type 35, the Type 57 Atlantic, and the famous Royale were exclusive, fast, and beautifully designed and built. The cars were renowned for the high level of detail in their engineering, as well as the artistic way in which the designs were made metal. This exoticism came at a price, though-you couldn't just jump into a Bugatti, fire it up, and run down to the shops (or the club, as a Bugatti owner was far more likely to have someone to do the shopping for them). Finicky starting procedures and specialized maintenance was the rule for these highly strung sports cars. This one happens to be a Type 59 Grand Prix racer from the late 30's. It is ridiculously quick and sounds amazing.

So, apropos of nothing, do you like what you see here? Know someone who likes to look at fabtastic photos of awesomeriffic cars? Then hustle on over to Doug's Used Cars, where you'll find images like this one, for sale even, to fill the blank space on the wall of that gearhead in your life. Don't know a gearhead? No problem! We've got other stuff over there too!

Roadster

Roadster, originally uploaded by William 74.

The term "roadster" is usually used to describe a small, open, two seat car-something like an MG or Alfa Romeo, or maybe a hot rod Ford. But for a time in the 50's and 60's, it also referred to the big, front engined racers that dominated Champ Car racing in general, and Indianapolis in particular. The cars were big, built by hand to a very high standard, usually ran the classic Offenhauser twin cam, and often came from one of four shops in the Los Angeles area. This one happens to be a Watson, and won the '56 500, Pat Flaherty up.

The progenitors of these cars can be traced back to the Indy racers of the 30's, as the cars began to get lower and faster, and the end of the "junk formula" that brought about the rebirth of purpose built, purebred racing cars. Postwar, Frank Kurtis became the king of Champ Cars, building cars suited for all classes, from quarter midgets up to the big Indy cars. His cars were always beautifully built and rugged, and generally ran some version of the Offy mill.

A.J. Watson first came to prominence in American racing in the early 50's, finally winning the 500 as crew chief for the John Zink team. The team was running Kurtis chassis, and for '56 the team decided to let Watson design their own car. Based on a Kurtis style spaceframe, Watson did a Chapman and "added lightness" by eliminating what he felt were unnecessary brackets and structure, as well as redesigning the steering system and using lightweight materials in several areas. Topped off with a sleek, Larry Shinoda designed ally body, the Watson looked fantastic and was fast, right out of the box.

Watson continued to refine the same basic design until 1963, pioneering the use of fiberglass bodywork, and 23 examples of the roadster emerged from his shops in Los Angeles. Like earlier Kurtis designs, Watson roadsters continued to race for several years, the final appearance at Indy being in 1966. A.J. Watson eventually moved his shop to Speedway, Indiana, and has even built a few more roadsters, as they've proven to be so popular.