Old Car towing pictures
 

Here are some pictures I found in our office from the late 60's. Thought you guys and gals would get a kick out of seeing these. My dad started our lot with my Grandfather and uncle in the early 60's selling truck campers and travel trailers.

We get so many people on our lot that ask if we think their truck will pull the trailer they are looking at and i always think of when i was a kid, this is how towing trailers started.

Enjoy!

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I had one friend that towed his Q Stock station wagon with his really nice 70 SS454 Chevelle. It always seemed backwards to me for some reason.

And Bob Swartz might have a picture of his 67 Mustang modified production car being flat towed on a tow bar, by his PINTO... yep, a pinto. Hey it got there! :)

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I was at Atlanta when Jerry Stein's '64A/SA max wedge car came in be being towed by a matching '64 plymouth wagon.

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Back in the early 70`s, a racer I knew, Kerry Rawlick , used to regularily tow his heavy SS/OA 396 65 Impala station wagon from BC Canada to California with a 67 Impala wagon with a 275hp 327. And he always made it home afterwards!!

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Back in the early 70's I flat towed my 67 Chevy Nova SS with my COPO Chevell, That I wish i still had. The Chevell had a 427/435 engine with a 4 speed and 411 gears.

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Flat towing was an adventure to say the least. I have many stories that had to do with incidents related to flat towing and most of them sound funny now but they were'nt back in the day.....One of my favorite combos belonged to John Thropp I think....he had matching 57 Pontiacs... a 2 dr racecar and a Safari wagon that was the Pontiac version of a Nomad.....My partner and I had a 57 sedan delivery and we also had a 57 wagon for a tow car for a while. We were kind of low buck so we used to have to take a couple parts off the tow car for the race car when we got to the track. The tow car had a hotter engine in it than the racecar.....Duntov solid lifter cam......was a real chatterbox under the hood on the way to the track.......

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Being the high buck racer that I am I flat towed my original Gremlin (1973,bought brand new) from 1977 to 1990 when I finally bought a new open trailer.Flat towing had some advantages,if my tow vehicle had side clearance so did the car.I towed with a 1975 AMC Matador S/W,1979 Jeep Cherokee Chief,1987 Pontiac
Safari.Disadvantage,stopping.Lucily only had one accident.In 1980 a woman stopped on the Long Island Exp. because there was a muffler in one of the two traffic lanes.There was no one else within 5 miles of us.I hit her and knifed and spun 540 degrees before hitting the inner guard rail.Almost went to jail for choking the dumb *itch.
Still have the NMW tow hubs in the basement in case times get really bad.
Ed F.

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In 1970 I had a T/S '57 Chevy 4dr wagon and flat-towed it with my '57 sedan delivery. On the way home from the track one Sunday afternoon while towing I blew out the left front tire on the sedan delivery. Got the whole set-up stopped without incident but realized I had no spare. So I jacked up the left front and removed the flat. Then I unhooked the racecar and drove it a few miles to a service station to get the flat fixed. Of course the wagon had open headers but who cared, it was fun back then.

Travis

(Disclaimer: Opinions and old stories expressed by me on this forum are exactly that, my opinions and my old stories.)

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Blew the rear in the sedan delivery (racecar).....had no way to get it home so parked it at the track and went home. Borrowed tow hubs from a friend......got it all set to get home......heard some funny banging noises as we were getting on the interstate so I said let me ride in the racecar to listen for the noise...... Just got up to speed and went a little further and the left front wheel came off the sedan delivery while I'm in it! This was not an uncommon happening back in those days as I recall......front fender got wrecked as the tire exited......could not find the tire......had no other one to put on other than a slick.....7" Casler probably.....got it all home and discovered the slick was ruined as the sidewall hit the upper a-arm and was all cut up......So that weekend we blew a rear, lost a tire, wrecked a fender and ruined a slick......Not good on our budget........and this same car suffered a freeze cracked block later in it's life.......and that was the end of the line for me and that car.......

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I can beat that Travis . Can't remember exact yr. Probably 1971 but was going to Lakeland international raceway outside Memphis Tn. About 5 miles from the track my truck quite . I unloaded my SS/J Cobra Fairlane . Hooked a chain to the truck with trailer pulled them to the track with the racecar . Ran the race fixed the truck .And towed back home . End of Story ..I guess you guys can picture it .. Red Le Blanc LOL

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Back in the 70's we had some "quality" tow trucks. I remember on one truck the pillow block bearing broke off and we tied it up with wire it would hold for about 50 miles then we had to tie it up again.
On top of that neither Ray or I had a drivers license. We were on the side of the road fixing something, and a state tropper decided to look us over he was nice, just asked who was driving. I pointed at Ray, he pointed at me. We then told him the driver went to get parts.Luckily he was called away told us to wait till he got back. "RIGHT" We hammered down the state line was about 6 miles away and we made it.
Those were the good old days.

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No Tod, I don't have any pictures of THAT! Stopping that whole contraption was a treat. I remember towing up to Indianapolis Raceway Park a few times. Dragging that Mustang down I-465 sure made that old Pinto whine.

I think an even funnier sidenote to this. After I bought the trailer, you and Perry Smith borrowed it to haul your car. Of course I won't mention the fact that I didn't own a truck myself, at that time.

All you guys that had towing hubs. Man, you were hi-buck! I just pulled the driveshaft and stuck another spare input into the transmission to keep it from leaking.

Hey, if it weren't for old stories, what would some of us FOG's talk about,

Robert Swartz

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"Little" George Cureton flat-towed his '56 sedan delivery Stocker to the Tulsa World Finals in '67, from Wilmington, Delaware, and won the race!!!

Jack Clifford towed his Hudson Hornet race car (Stocker) from southern California to Indy with another Hudson, and won class with BOTH CARS...

Hard to top that... It was sometime around 1967, I think.... not sure.

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I loved the red 68 ragtop tow car. 30 years ago,I had a red 65 Impala SS convertible,340 horse 409 with a 4 speed. I towed cars to Irwindale and Orange County with a tow bar, then a trailer which I still use.That 409 would tow anything. We used to hit the big hill on the EB 210 in Pacoima and never took it out of 4th gear, and often passed people on our way up that hill to Glendale,convertible, crew, race car, everything. Later, I towed with a 71 El Camino. Now, it's a Silverado X-cab, or a 454 Suburban. Remember how bad those big cars of the '60's handled?

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I was about three blocks from my house when my flat towed I/G VW came off the ball while on the way tho Atco raceway. That stopped the trolley from moving into the car barn. The lady operator kept hitting the switch that rang the bell. That went on for 20 minutes straight. When I finally got the car hitched again, I remembered that I had a trolley token. I went to the trolley. I knocked on the door. When she opened the door I stepped in and placed my token into the box, turned around and went on my way. That was the first and only time that the VW went three rounds. That must have beeen a lucky token.

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I remember my dad taking us to the races in '67 flat towing his 66 ss396 chevelle with my mom's 67 Olds 98 with the free wheeling hubs he made. Then in 68 or 69, the dealer he worked at supplied a 4 car transport to take all the cars to the track, I will have to get the pics on here, it was cool for the day. I would love to find his car today.

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Here's one for you Red. In late 1969 a friend had a '55 Chevy we sat up for B/MP. Since we were racing it locally we did not see a need for tow hubs. Started off flat towing the '55 with his brother's '53 6cyl Chevy. Across the river from Louisville was Harrison County dragstrip. To get to the track we had to pull a steep hill on Hwy 211 in Indiana. We would get a run at the hill but the 6cyl would run out of steam part way up the hill. Thats when we would fire up the 427 and push the '53 the rest of the way up the hill.

Travis

(Disclaimer: Opinions and old stories expressed by me on this forum are exactly that, my opinions and my old stories.)

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LOL, thats an awesome story. Well at least the choking a bitch part.

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HAHA! That sounds like something you'd see in a movie!

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In mid 1966 a friend had a 1965 Formula S Barracuda that we flat towed to Motor City Dragway with another friends 1964 Slant Six Valiant. They found that the Barracuda would not track right around corners without some help. So they put me behind the wheel of the Barracuda and told me to steer around the corners, just don't touch the brakes. It was a real hoot for a 15 year old .

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To expand on the story,the local vol. FD came and shot foam into my wagon's gas tank.Needed two tow trucks to local yard.Gremlin had hood,bumper and right front fender damage.Wagon hit in three corners.
The nitwit woman was an insurance agent and her Monte Carlo was hardly damaged on the left rear corner.My insurance paid for her damage.That's what really boiled my hide.

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I do remember those people fleeing their picnic when they spotted you flying around that sharp curve, I was following you in the Camaro and wondering if you was going to make that turn lol

Do you have any pictures of the Meeks brothers bus? That one was scary

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Now there was a tow vehicle (smirking) ....!

You never had the pleasure of riding in that thing. It wasn't bad, going to say, Edgewater, Ohio Valley or maybe Bunker Hill. I remember coming back from a Div 3 points meet up in Saginaw, Michigan, it started acting up around Ft. Wayne, took us forever to get home. I don't think it'd run over 30-35 mph, LOL.

About two weeks later, Toby went up to Gary, Indiana to some speed shop to buy a trailer.

Robert Swartz

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When I started bracket racing (in 1983), there were still a few cars around here getting flat towed to the track. I always wondered why nobody used one of those tow dollies like they use behind RVs. You could back the race car onto it and have it running backwards with its front tires on the ground (just lock the steering wheel if it was new enough, or use a bungee cord if it didn't have a column lock).

I had big plans to set up such an arrangement. I had a '73 Trans-Am clone (built from a Firebird and wrecked T/A) that I raced in Street and Heavy bracket (it was on the bottom end and could go either class depending on shift points and tires). Then I got a true '73 TA which ran low 13's. My plan was to put a hitch on the clone and use a tow dolly to get them around to all the races. Never did it since the clone car got rear-ended and totalled.

I did have a fun time going to the Firebird Raceway Bracketeer/Nightfire race one year (roughly 1985). My friend Bob Kelly had a 67 Chevelle he ran in Heavy bracket, then built an identical-appearing car for Pro bracket. We were both short on cash as the race approached, and decided to split travel costs and tow with the Heavy bracket car (using a fairly lightweight open trailer he had). It was quite a sight as both cars were show quality. Wish I had taken pictures.

Regards,

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In 67 I flat towed our $600 P/S 59 Chevy Biscayne with my brand new 67 GTO 400/360 HO 4 speed car with 390 gears

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Back then we literally could not afford a camera, the fim, and the developing.
The rigs we used to get our race car to the track were all "SHOW QUALITY"
"FREAK SHOW" that is.
LOL.
I wish I had some pics of "super truck" and or "trick truck"
THOSE WERE THE DAYS

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No picture, but in the late 70's a lot used car haulers and I went to Prescott AR with a friend and their stocker. Four guys and a single cab truck. I don't remember how they decided who had to drive the rig but two guys took naps on the bench seats of the race car while I road shotgun in the truck.

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If Jackee Allen reads this forum (and I'll bet she does) she used to have an photo album titled "Slack Rigs" from the 60's and 70's in Division 1. If that's still available it would be interesting if it was posted.

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In about 1974, I was at a n NHRA Points Race at Sioux City (IA) watching my friend Denny Reed try out the concrete starting line with his '68 CJ Mustang C/SA car. He even let me drive it that day, so I couldn't refuse him when he suggested that perhaps I could tow his ramp truck with the Mustang loaded on the back of it, back to Des Moines with my Dad's '60 Mercury Park Lane (430 2-bbl), because both heads on the old Y-Block in that ramp truck had developed BIG cracks in them, and shipped water like a bilge pump on the Titanic.


So, when the race was over, we got his 15-foot-long tow chain and away we went; 195 miles of hilly, Interstate driving from Sioux City to Des Moines... lol!

Can't believe we got away with some of the stuff we did back then..

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Great stories guys, oh to roll the clock back to the simplier times when things where fun.

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Travis. Those where the Days My Friend Red .. LOL LOL

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I used to live in AL and raced at several strips but went to Huntsville AL a lot.

Like most racer's of the time I had all the money in the car and none in the old chevy tow truck. Once while going to Huntsville the old chevy burned a valved and wouldn't make it but about half way up the mountain going into Huntsville.

Pissed, I unloaded the Max Wedge, drove it up to the top of the hill then walked back down to the chevy and 7 cylindered it up the hill only to find a state trooper standing beside my race car! He was kind enough to let me load it and go on my way.

That was the last Chevy truck I had, still got the Max Wedge though.

Jim R

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I will not try to tell the story like the man himself, but if you ever have a chance to talk to Hubert Platt ask him to tell you the complete story about how he flat towed a Ford Thunderbolt to Person County, Roxboro for you younger folks. Hubert is out of Georgia. One Sunday morning, yes we match raced on "Sunday, Sunday" back in those days, he came through the back country roads and his tow truck broke down. He unhooked the tow bar from the Thunderbolt and drove that race car though the small communities up there to get to the race track.

At racer reunions these stories usually draw a crowd and if Hubert is telling them this story in particular. As some one else has already said those were the days and the stories are priceless. These types of sites can bring back a lot of memories and the young folks can get a good laugh.

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In 1967 i was flat towing a 65 chevelle with a 57 chevy wagon that had a 275 hp chevy crate engine in it .we were going from sioux falls s.dak. To sioux city to a race running along at 100 mph and these guys in this outfit passed us. THE GOOD OL DAYS, RIGHT ?

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Grew up with my drag racing boats. We had a 70 Caprice wagon with a 454 in it. In 75 he got a f150 station wagon with a 460. This thing had a 9" posi, even had p/s cooler. Had the big bolt pattern wheels, like the f150, that's why I call it that. In 78 my mom bought a t-bird with a 400, we used that until dad bought an actual truck,haha. Having the station wagons with 3 kids in tow was a god send for my parents.

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Buddy of mine used to tow his '67 Fairlane 427/4 speed bracket car with a '67 Fairlane 289 wagon.

I was at Assumption with my 340 Challenger street car one day and decided to run it with the exhaust on. Halfway through the first time run a header muffler decided to let go and got run over. I drove the 103 miles home with open headers.