Anyone race Hardtops?

RobertN · Jul 30, 2014

This is the last car my Dad built in ~1962. They were on the end of the flathead era. car had been siting behind the barn for 25 years in this picture. My Grandfather has sold the engine. Car still had the tires my Dad had grooved by hand. Used to race West Capitol, Roseville, and Auburn(Sacramento, Ca area).

Shortly after this picture(1987), other family sold the car, and some of my Dad's old flathead parts and tools.

Bird · Jul 30, 2014

I never raced any flatheads, but I've driven lots of them and serviced a lot of them. In fact, the first car I ever learned to drive was an aunt's 1947 Ford coupe.

JPRambo · Jul 30, 2014

I never raced any. My oldest brother did. My D was part owner of the racetrack on Long Island New York.

SPIKER · Jul 30, 2014

Man that Pic the kid looks like PARKER from the Gold Rush Parker Swheble kid on Discovery.

Mark

RobertN · Jul 31, 2014

It is my baby brother

SPIKER said:
Man that Pic the kid looks like PARKER from the Gold Rush Parker Swheble kid on Discovery.

Mark

2LaneCruzer · Jul 31, 2014

Brings back some memories...we used to live in Albuquerque in the 50's and at time the Unsers were hitting the little dirt tracks there pretty hard. I remember they did quite well with their little flat-head powered racer; in fact, it sported the logo "Flatheads Forever"...that is until the small block Chevy V-8's came into their own.

RobertN · Jul 31, 2014

My Dad talks about the Unsers racing USAC(Golden State 100) on the mile track at the old Calif State fairgrounds in the early 60's, but not in Hardtops. From what I understand it would be like these cars. Unsers, Foyt, Andretti all raced.

CALIFORNIA STATE FAIRGROUNDS/CAL-EXPO MILE | Auto Racing Legends Of California

1966 USAC Champ Cars - DuQuoin - YouTube

2LaneCruzer said:
Brings back some memories...we used to live in Albuquerque in the 50's and at time the Unsers were hitting the little dirt tracks there pretty hard. I remember they did quite well with their little flat-head powered racer; in fact, it sported the logo "Flatheads Forever"...that is until the small block Chevy V-8's came into their own.

wroughtn_harv · Jul 31, 2014

I raced street stock and figure 8's at Corona Raceway Riverside California in the late seventies. When I moved to Texas I was in hog heaven racing hot stocks in the middle eighties. But what got that all in motion happened in the middle fifties in Cottonwood Az. My dad's cousin who was the most worthless son of a buck in the world according to family lore had a race car. I got to sit in the seat and it ruined me for life. It was a late forty something Henry J. The seat was in the middle of the car. The motor was a Chrysler hemi with a standard transmission. There was no fire wall as such. You straddled the transmission housing with the clutch pedal on the left of the housing and the brake and gas pedals on the right of it.
Those boys back then were some kind of crazy. Some people thought I was nuts loving racing the figure 8's most of all, something about the intersection at 60 to 70 mph I guess. But I was a parson compared to the men among men who wheeled those cars in the forties and fifties.