Old Car towing pictures

[art leong]

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.

[Robert Swartz]

Originally Posted by Tod Lane

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!

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

[bill dedman]

"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.

[Greg Reimer 7376]

Originally Posted by Mike Gardner

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!

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?

[House of Darts]

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.

[Bob Miller]

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.

[Travis Miller]

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.)

[Sean Haning]

Originally Posted by Ed Fernandez

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.

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

[Sean Haning]

Originally Posted by art leong

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.

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

[Detroit Bob]

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 .