4 speeds for 55-56 chevrolet superstockers

[76 RACER]

Wasnt Ronnie Broadhead a Winternationals Eliminator Champion with that Pontiac?

[bill dedman]

My memory is not THAT good, but I do remember reading about him (Ronnie Broadhead) winning lots of races. Maybe the X-TechMan, Tony Janes, or Chuck Norton will have an answer for us.

Pontiacs were very much in the limelight back then (mid-'60s.) I remember an E/SA '58 (Lowe and Easley), and a '60 (wagon?) driven by Graham Douglas, both of California, that were usually around in the final rounds back then... Another guy who was from Northen California, named Robert Chiesa had a very fast '58 and may have won Pomona a time or two. I think he called it "the Super Chief."
Most of those '57-'64 Pontiacs had Strato-Flight (dual-coupling) hydros; They were the outgrowth of the Dual-Range Hydramatics that were in a lot of the Chevy sedan deliveries during their "reign-of-terror" (1964-'72.)

But Ronnie Broadhead was a standout with a 4-speed.

Sorry I can't help on the Pomona deal; I've slept since then.... LOL!

[Chuck Norton]

I don't recall Ronnie Broadhead winning an eliminator bracket at Pomona but he was the record holder in C/S with the Pontiac for quite a while in the early-to-mid-60s. I also remember him in a newer mid-sized Olds wagon a few years later. Ronnie was from Porterville, CA and that would have made him practically a neighbor of Butch Leal and the Shahans. Famoso (Bakersfield) would have been one of the local tracks for him.

Graham Douglas won stock at the Winternationals once in about 1966 after the controversial events of 1965. Jay Hamilton and Ramon Lowe were around when I started going to the races with Ron Mandella and Dave Kempton in 1963 and they continued to race up to near the end of Junior Stock. The Hudsons prepped by Ike Smith, Keith Berg's Olds, Wiley Cossey, Elwin Westbrook, Jack Davis, and a few others were the most commonly seen stockers around Pomona.

[76 RACER]

Hi Chuck
I am wondering if the 60 Wagon Graham raced was a N/SA car with a 389 tri-power engine. If so the guy I drove the O/S 61 Pontiac for in 70 and 71 bought the wagon. It was orange with a white top. Car ran great but that damned slim jim trans had a long drawn out high gear shift. I drove his 61 389-235 HP car. Had a ball those two years as a kid. I sold RV-455 BlackStreak Remover to a guy in Ind. and would like to still promote it on the west coast as he made me the dist. out here. You coming to Phoenix for the national Event? Would like to shake your hand and say hello. You racing or still working for someone?

Merry Xmas

Mike Randall

[Chuck Norton]

Tony Janes will have a better recollection of what Douglas's car looked like than I. Seems as if it had a fairly non-descript paint job, at least the first year they ran it.

c

[X-TECH MAN]

Hi....Its me again. No.....Ronnie Broadhead never won a major eliminator ***le. He was the one that started the ball rolling about the hydro's in the "TRUCKS" a.ka. El Camino's in around the eary '60's. Not sure of the exact year. Grahm Douglas Pontiac wagon was a bronze? orange-ish?(Gold?) and white two tone color and he won the winternats using a 318 HP Tri-Power version of the standard 389 (Non-SD). Grahm also beat BIG DADDY Russ Mathews for class that year in what was G/SA. Bill is much better versed along with Chuck than Iam on the west coast cars but those deals are still in my old memory cells. Sorry about hi-jacking the thread also but the old fart came out of me there for a moment. Just to throw some "GAS" on the fire about the subject of 4-speeds in 55-57 Chebbie's we all know that the 55-56 never had it. The '57 Corvette got the 4-speed around Jan or Feb. of 1957. Later when BW-T10 production caught up how many know that when some one ordered a 283/283 HP FI passenger car it was assembly line produced with a 3-speed trans (on the colum) but came with a 4-speed trans and shifter installed in the trunk! Yep....just like the later Z-28s that were ordered with the X-ram intake's and headers. Parts came in the TRUNK. I was 12 or 13 when my uncle got delivery of his .57 FI 150 sedan and the BW-T10 was in a crate right there in the trunk but not for long. It was installed the same day he brought it home and I helped or at least I handed him some wrenches.....lol.. Not assembly line produced like the Corvette but along the same way the early SD Pontiacs came in 60-61. Over the counter so to speak. Have a wonderful holiday everyone. Terry Bell

[Tony Janes]

Terry's memory of the Graham Douglas 60 Pontiac Wagon is correct