"Live" from NHRA Hot Rod Reunion!

[Jim Blankenship]

patsy.larry if you see a 40-41 willys with " P T WILLYS " on the door tell the owner/driver Mr Bill i won't make it up jim

[Larry Hill]

ok, Jim, I will tell him if I see him.

Well it has been a nice relaxing day here at Beech Bend. Just a day to get parked and teched and meet lots of nice people. The weather is a lot cooler than we have had at home recently, but it did rain an hour or so ago. There were thunderstorm warnings out, but we just got quite a bit of rain. Most people are already parked, so it shouldn't make it too muddy.

Tomorrow it is supposed to be sunny and about 88. We start time trials in the morning at 10. I will try to get a lot more pictures tomorrow. The street rods will all be in. Someone was saying today that there will be 2000 show cars in here tomorrow.

Good night for now.

[Ed Fernandez]

Originally Posted by Larry Hill

That two car trailer is scary as hell.The paddy wagon's rear tires are just a bit wide for the
ramps and I would hope the trailer tires aren't 15's.Some nice cars.I like the matched set race car/tow vehicle.

[Mark Yacavone]

Originally Posted by Mike Carr

The '65 Malibu and '64 Plymouth on page 2 of this thread. There are many others, too ,I've seen over the years. Cowl hoods on big Chevies, bigger-than-factory scoops on mid 60's Mopars, and other stuff. Years ago, I went to an NMCA race at Norwalk. The "Nostalgia" S/S cars, some had split Dominators, Dart and B-1 heads, SVO 460-type blocks, Powerglides in non-GM cars, and on and on.

Most cars I've seen, they are Nostalgia in name only.

Mike, I agree on most of this stuff, but for instance B1 heads were always allowed in NMCA and NSCA, as they are an outgrowth of the Max Wedge engine series.
No 385 series Fords were allowed ,at least there.

I hated when the cowl hoods were allowed .Even the modern type wheels, (which I was guilty of on my 64 Tempest, ten years ago) But, it wasn't a GTO ,so I refused to put a GTO scoop hood on it.

I don't know who's running that part of the show at BG, or what they'll allow.

The 65 Chevelle isn't all that egregious. With the 9 second A/FX classes ,a match race style is kinda cool. That one reminds me of Tom Sturm or Malcolm Durham's car, scoop and all.

What you have to remember is it's just an index bracket race.
It's a far cry from real Super/ Stock as we know it. Those days are long gone except for right here on Class Racer

[Stocker 2]

Older looking cars with modern day horsepower is what passes for todays "nostalgia racing". Looks like this too is getting out of hand. What a shame!

[rick lester]

Originally Posted by Jim Blankenship

I am amazied at the ones that bash other's cars when there @%^( is in the garage,
of the 3-4 NSS cars i saw in the posted pic's didn't look bad ( hint) not all pic's posted are nss jim

I'm with you on this Jim. My pos is nowhere near done, but I don't bash other peoples rides just to make myself feel better. Come on guys, give it a break. Thats my 2 cents.

[Larry Hill]

Most of the NSS cars havs big stock appearing blocks with Indy type aftermarket heads and intake with correct type carbs. 500 to 600 cubes is common.

Tech was done by several of the NHRA regulars, as always safety was the emphasis. We saw belts being changed, plastic oil pressure lines replaced to SS braided, and rubber valve stems corrected.

The track has been scraped and is ready for final prep. Most if not all want to see how fast their car will go.

We start at 10:00 AM.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Mike Carr

The '65 Malibu and '64 Plymouth on page 2 of this thread. There are many others, too ,I've seen over the years. Cowl hoods on big Chevies, bigger-than-factory scoops on mid 60's Mopars, and other stuff. Years ago, I went to an NMCA race at Norwalk. The "Nostalgia" S/S cars, some had split Dominators, Dart and B-1 heads, SVO 460-type blocks, Powerglides in non-GM cars, and on and on.

Most cars I've seen, they are Nostalgia in name only.

I had to deal with all of it when I worked for the NMCA back when it was run out of RHS in Memphis. The problem is that most do not even know what they were supposed to look like. Guys tried to run big block chevys in 62 Belairs, and 460 Fords in 63 Galaxies cowl induction hoods on 65 and 66 Byscaynes and on and on. Mike the cowl induction hoods and mile high Max Wedge hoods also look like crap to someoone who lived thru the era along with the late model wheels on the nostalgia cars. . Oh well.....its their ball game and their rules/. The one thing I always argued about was one of the most famous S/S cars of the era isnt even allowed to run unless it in Nostalgia Muscle car class. Anyone remember "Grumpys Toy number 1 ? Yep...the 66 327/350 HP Nova. The nostalgia stockers or nostalgia Muscle cars look just as bad. If your going to race the nostalgia programs at least make them LOOK like they are supposed to. If you dont know what they looked like then get an old Super Stock magazine and look or ask one of the old guys who was there. The engine size dosent matter but the look has gotten away from what it is supposed to be. A lot of stuff in use today wasnt even being made back in the day. Make it safe but make it look correct.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

Mike, I agree on most of this stuff, but for instance B1 heads were always allowed in NMCA and NSCA, as they are an outgrowth of the Max Wedge engine series.
No 385 series Fords were allowed ,at least there.

I hated when the cowl hoods were allowed .Even the modern type wheels, (which I was guilty of on my 64 Tempest, ten years ago) But, it wasn't a GTO ,so I refused to put a GTO scoop hood on it.

I don't know who's running that part of the show at BG, or what they'll allow.

The 65 Chevelle isn't all that egregious. With the 9 second A/FX classes ,a match race style is kinda cool. That one reminds me of Tom Sturm or Malcolm Durham's car, scoop and all.

What you have to remember is it's just an index bracket race.
It's a far cry from real Super/ Stock as we know it. Those days are long gone except for right here on Class Racer

Malcolm Durhams 64/65 (It was the same car with a different front end on it) Chevelle never had a cowl induction hood scoop on it. When I started with the NMCA the Nostalgia S/S class had to be legal engines and legal hoods with a REAL 10.5 tire as in the old A/FX days (yeah I know they were 10 inch racemasters but they were as close as we could get for the look). Not the extra wide 10.5 W's of today. I caught one of the "HERO"s" of the NMCA who just happened to be the chaplain (boy could his wife and him ever cuss !) with a 2% altered wheelbase Plymouth at Maple Grove and that was the end of it. Next year we went to the current index style of racing.

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by Jim Blankenship

I am amazied at the ones that bash other's cars when there @%^( is in the garage,
of the 3-4 NSS cars i saw in the posted pic's didn't look bad ( hint) not all pic's posted are nss jim

Nobody is "BASHING" thes guys. The cars just dont have the old nostalgia look anymore. It has gotten away from the original intent of the classes over the years kind of like todays stock elim. . The younger people (Except Mike Carr....LOL) dont know the difference but us older guys like myself and Mark Y. who lived thru the era do. They are still neat to watch but some restraint on the hoods, scoops, wheels and other small items would go a long way in making a better show to let the younger (those that really care) group see what drag racing was like back in the 60's.