Re: Connecting Highway
 

It WAS ONLY RUMORED that Dick Landy himself was gonna drive--I think his brother actually drove. I was there that night but never got close enough to actually see who was driving. I do remember seeing 2 transporters pull in--Landys & another professionally painted rig, but for the life of me I can't recall the second car. I'm thinking it must've been someone local that I was used to seeing, so I simply glossed over it. I'm sure someone could call Landy's shop & ask his brother --- he might remember it & own up to the incident since it WAS so long ago.

Re: Connecting Highway
 

One of Landy's cars racing on a street in Brooklyn - what an awesome story! :D And you were there? :eek: Do you recall which of Landy's cars raced that night?

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Dick Landy used to follow the AHRA circuit at New York National.
1969 AHRA Springnationals, May 18, 1969.
Think he did one of those Super Car Clinics at the same time.
Not sure if it was at Manhattan Dodge or Rockville Centre.
PC

Re: Connecting Highway
 

That was us. When we got back from California with the car We took it to Benson Burgers in St Albans. Just for shock value, it didn't have a drive train.
Another time at the SummerNationals Irv Beringhaus (High Country Duster) broke a crank in his prostocker. And didn't have a spare. We had a short block ready to go. So he followed us up to Coney Island We pulled the motor changed it. Got it running Then made a burnout on Neptune ave.

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That sounds right. He may not have bought it from S&M, but had it at one point in the car's life. The story I was told said the kid was still in his teens when he hacked the 1/4's on the car.

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I wanna say it WAS his Challenger,but about that time they were also running the A-bodies,but if I had to commit, I'd say the Chally. Again, it's been years but as expected he won....;)

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Somebody brought up the World's Fair Marina...does anyone know who had the all black, 4-spd '70 Hemi 'cuda some kid would tow in but never run? It was a beautiful piece & sounded stout but I don't know of anyone that ever saw it run.
I remember one night some kid in a Mustang came in, lit up the tires then jumped out saying he'd run ANYONE for ANYTHING!:rolleyes: Dumb move. I got in my Pinto, Popped the clutch & unbeknownst to me it actually pulled the wheels a little (it WAS SBC powered). I pulled the car around & was all set to square-off but he was nowhere in sight. Abuddy of mine told me what happened (it just felt like I hit a bump:confused:) and that when this nerd saw that he wanted no part of hangin' there.
Truth be told, it probably would've been a fair race as my motor wasn't that strong.........

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Nothing like a "big W" and a couple of runs on a Friday or Saturday night. It's been years since I even thought about that.

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Someone mentioned to me that some of the roads around JFK, including 150th/S. Conduit, were changed around in the '90s (?). Is 150th/S. Conduit itself any different than it was back in the '70s, or has it been re-routed/moved around since (I'm not talking re-paved, I'm talking it's location actually "moved" to some degree)?

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Don't know how it is now. We used to unload and set the care up at the garbage truck garage. By the Airport Diner.

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Is this the section you guys raced on (in the red)? I was told it was from one over-pass to another (with 150th being the finish line).

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/u...uthConduit.jpg

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That looks like it! From what I'm told I wouldn't want to try it now!

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I started hanging out there even before I had my license, around 63-64. The Max-wedge cars were starting to make the scene, along with at least 1 or 2 Z-11 Impala's, one of which was owned by Don Figalosi, who later opened a speed shop in Glen Head. I remember one 426 cross-ram wagon which I think was owned by the son of the local VW dealer (Dorr Motors) which was just down Northern Blvd from Wetson's. We used to run the Roslyn By-pass, but that was always a bit scarier, because it was usually crowded with slow moving locals!

Lew

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cammer427,
Nice map,, Of course anyone outside of New York would need a compass and a 'Bloodhound' to find that 'legal track'.
I think Sutphin Blvd. was where we attacked.
PC

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The conduit was repaved in like 1995 area. up to 93-4 it was very active. Then a big bust, cops came from both directions and over the grass. bad night. took alot of cars and printed pics and list in daily news, I have the article somewhere.
The Conduit hooked hard. Always sticky. Starting line about 100 feet past bridge thru second bridge. Great memories overall from 1983 to 1993 or 4.

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Thats where it was.

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I used to deliver liquor and finish up late around 9pm sometimes at Times Square Liquor in East New York back in the early 80s and saw quite a few races going off there, Paul.

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Thanks for the confirmation.. it looks like a hell of a return trip after a run though.
http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/u...uthConduit.jpg

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Next question: Is this the stretch of highway known as the "Connecting Highway"?

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/u...HighwayFar.jpg

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/u...ghwayClose.jpg

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Also, just to make sure everyone's aware of it, Eugene Coard of the Mutt Brothers had his son create a website in honor of Ronald Lyles and the Mutt Brothers at www.ronaldlyles.com. It has a wealth of NYC street racing history as well as history of the Mutt Bros professional racing endeavors.

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The "return road" was relatively long. The advantage of it was you could take your time, avoid the cops & set-up another run. Aside from the cops wetting down the road and possibly running up onto slower traffic (if you misjudged speed & distance) it really was kind of a cool place for racing inside a city. Of course the REAL fast cars went elsewhere--JFK, CrossIsland & a few other places but for the cars we now try to reproduce, Connecting was their showplace. If you knew what speed shops to go to & who to ask you could be privy to the real money runs, learn the latest set-ups & who really was "connected"..

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As I remember it, the finish line was the man hole cover just before the bridge. I remember the Thomkin's Ave Camaro always being a fast car also. Did anyone ever go to Bensin Burgers? There was a Mopar there with no front brakes, just the rear brakes that were drums: Dangerous! Spent an awful lot of time at the 150th st. races. Always exciting whether you were there with a car or not.

Casey Miles
248H

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There was a gas station on the right before Rockaway Blvd. We would pull in there and load up.

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To artie leong, i just recently joined this site and could not believe people talking about the street racing scene in new york in the 60's and 70's. The reason i know you as i was the mechanic/ transporter of the crossbay dart. Remember island porting in broad channel ? Learned a lot there ! Tip my hat to ya as you did spank us one night at 150 street. I believe at the time it was in a 65 b body with a wedge in it. If you go to new york street racing in the 70's and scroll thru to all the pictures you will see us lined up on the conduit and some other pictures that will bring a flood of memories.----to everyone who lived the racing scene back then ,enjoy the memories, because unless you were there- people would not believe it !:)

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Hi . Welcome to Class Racer. Those days were experiences. I remember hearing good things about Island Porting. Remember it being across the street from Weiss's I grew up in Ozone Park, so I know the area well.
Now I race a 4 cylinder SS/GS

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.thanks art, spent my early teenage years in ozone park until i got drafted in 1971. Lived on 104 street btw 101 and 103 ave. Came back to street racing gone wild. Bought an ex john sandoval car (71 citrus green z/28 with a built big block and a vitar trans and 9 in conv.) a friday/saturday night car but spent most of my time at my main job and working my second at island and babysitting the dart. Lived in howard beach many years and if the wind was right could hear the burnouts and the runs going off. Up until 2006 at least , i would commute from howard beach to mineola by way of the belt pkwy at about 330 am and would catch a crowd lined up on the conduit. Cars and bikes-----so the beat goes on ! I now live in bayside and was contemplating building a stocker but it seems the nhra has some issues with their rating system that they really need to address. Congrats on the record---that little turbo is flying.

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It seems there is a lot of interest over the locations in nyc that were used for street racing. I still live in the area and know about 95 % of all the locations. If you are ever in the area and would like a tour, drop me a line, i would be glad to take a ride, have a burger at white castle and shoot the breeze about the past. Today, due to the lack of track facilities on long island, it has become a land of car cruises and shows and there is no shortages of cars. Many cars that were put away as we raised our children are coming out again. 5 to 6 days a week when the weather is good there are places to go to relive the moments with others. ---you can reach me here or at -------------------------josin1014@yahoo.com

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I have not seen a race since mid 90's on conduit. It's all black top since then and nfg anymore, I don't know anyone using it since the make over. There is the parallel service road thats used now. works well too. just south of conduit and still all concrete, rte.878.
Now that one has no turn around so you meet on down the road in warehouse district. conduit turn around was easy, use rockaway or springfield blvds.

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Hey cammer, how are you doing? Went to that site on facebook and could not believe that a photo exists of the race between art leong and our crossbay dart. We took a thumping that night-------art was fast and we were poorer for it. Lol i cannot remember whether it was heads up or what !

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Hey artie, check out facebook-----we raced the conduit and 150 street. Go to the pictures and there you are with the black dart on the starting line. This is great stuff !

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Anyone remember the 72' or 73' Brown Cadillac Coupe DeVille, with the off-white vinyl top.
472 cubed, with the nitrous boost.
Damn boat, embarrassed many 'musclecars'.
Was from Jackson Heights.
PC

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My father worked for "Pete" at Island Porting in Broad Channel, he ported heads.

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Hi carl, small world we live in. What was your fathers name and when did he work there. I worked part time btw 73-75 helping out in the shop and doing maintenance to the dart ( we kept it there as we had an ongoing bill with pete ).

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Not too bad, thanks and you? Norman Blake did take some pretty amazing photos. The machines in those articles are just plain raw and brutal. My kind of machines :D That was actually me who uploaded those photos to that Facebook group, so feel free to add me if you like.

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If I'm ever in New York I'll definitely have to give you a shout and take you up on your offer. I'd really like to get the chance to take a tour of all the famous street racing locations in and around NYC.

You know FINESPLINE, such a tour sounds like it could be an interesting business opportunity... ;)

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When did nitrous start showing up on the NYC/NJ street racing scene? Late '70s? I've read there were lots of "boats" (Cadillacs, Lincolns, Hearses, the whole bit) with monstrous cubic inches and nitrous around the late '70s and well into the 1980s that were able to clean up fairly well.

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Is concrete more desirable than pavement? If so, what are the advantages?

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I think we may have talked a little about that over on another thread as well:
http://classracer.com/classforum/showthread.php?t=22878

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Would you mind providing us with the specs of the Dart? Who was driving that race against "Froggy"? Did the Cross Bar Dart only race at 150th/S. Conduit? Art, FINESPLINE, was this a one run only race? Was the race a long time in the planning, or was it a spur of the moment deal?
http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/u...roRacers-2.jpg

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cammer427,
I don't think anybody knew the 72/73 Caddy was 'nitrous oxide enhanced'.
His claim was that the engine was rebuilt with a Lunati cam, and it had 3.90 gears.
Heard the kid blew it up, going for a land-speed record on the L.I.E.
Then the kid came back with a 75' 500 cubed 75' Caddy
(rectangle head-lights). It was faster.
Just where did this kid come up with these cars, with nitrous injection,, his father was a dentist in Jackson Heights.
PC