Early Dragsters (REAL Early)

Following is a photograph that should interest both geezers and curmudgeons (Uncle Bob, are you there?) as well as a lot of younger people who are interested in the beginnings of the drag racing sport.

The picture was taken in Houston, probably in 1955 (the newest cars visible in the background are '55 Chevys). It gives a good idea of what was state of the art at that time, in other words, what God intended that a dragster look like!

I hope the picture is sharp enough for people to see that there are several engines being used. Of course the hemi Chryslers and the flathead are recognizable, and Eddie Hill was running Pontiacs back then (That's Eddie at the lower right) and maybe an early Cadillac, and probably an Olds or two.. Also, take a look at the suspensions (or lack thereof) of the cars.

That was a time when nobody would ever consider showing up at the races with a car that looked like somebody else's!

There was a time when I could probably name most of those movie-star handsome guys sitting in their cars, but not now. Sorry. (Gimme a break, damn it! That was 50+ years ago!). That's Ed Mabry in the white t-shirt just above the scorpion on Bobby Langley's beautiful "Scorpion I" dragster in the rear. Bobby is on Ed's left and Mrs. Langley is next to him. Eddie Hill is in his car.

Is anybody there who can identify others?

I hope you enjoy it, and whoever took this exceptional shot, thanks. CHR guys appreciate that sort of thing.

Jim

Neat Pic, Jim. Thanks for putting it up!! Houston Tx., or Houston where???

Looks like it turned out pretty good Jim.

Square roll bars, mostly carbureted, looks like one front mounted blower. Who in the heck drives an XK140 Jag to the drags?:D

Great pic.

Here's a very early flathead twin unit.

Thanks, Dave and Uncle Bob, glad you like it.

It's Houston, Texas, Dave, probably at that old strip on the road to Galveston. If it still exists, I'll meet you there some Sunday afternoon and we'll have a glass of tea after you move.

And yeah, Bob, that's definitely a front mounted blower. Kinda hard to say what the engine is, but judging from the header pipe placement I'd guess Oldsmobile.

I like the tandem flatheads turning those skinny (doubtless retread) slicks! And could that thing sticking up in the air over the steering wheel be a gearshift? My hat's off to whoever built it for being innovative.

Jim

Those are some pretty wild dragsters. About the same vintage as mine but definately a little more on the edge than mine. Great photo, thanks for sharing.

i see the scorpion!!?

good pic of Bobby Langleys Scorpion in the back. I was in wichita fall in dec of 59 and got some good shots of him and Eddie Hill.

I'm diggin some of those crazy headers!! Cool pic!!

Jim, Those are some nice old pitures. Gotta love some of those wild headers.

I'm glad you appreciate the picture, guys.

I had heard of its existence several years ago. Then one of my brothers found some dude peddling them at a FLEA MARKET and bought me one.

The picture is large, 17"X21", and, as you can see, of good quality.

I love the thing. Sometimes I get it out and just look at those cars. I'm going to have to admit that they were "state of the art" when I was in my twenties.

Look at the variety of engines: flatheads, small block Chevys, a Pontiac (Eddie Hill's), what I believe to be an early Caddy, and one that looks to me like an Olds with a front mounted blower, and a couple of hemis.

There are other niceties: Drilled Anglia front axles,whitewall slicks (retreads, because that's all there was), and some very innovative suspension setups.

In the case of Mr. Hill, no suspension at all.

Oh yeah ..... and those hairy lookin' headers.

48fordnut: I could very well have been a that Wichita Falls race you mention. I'm not sure. While my first partner, the late Alvis Brown, and I were running a 283 in my old roadster we went to Wichita Falls several times.

Tell me, 48, wasn't that the hottest, dryest, dustiest, and generally most miserable place you ever saw? They call the Red River "red" for a reason .... because it IS! Clouds of red dust combine with sweat on faces to make it appear that everybody is on the warpath or something. If that wasn't enough, I blew up a very good engine there.

Again, glad you liked it.


Jim

To The Top

Scroll down a little for a pic of the "Bug", thought to be the first "dragster".......
March to Oblivion

Some really good information in there, Richard! Love to read about the old match racing days!!!! At Thunder Valley, we got dragster's once a year and funny cars once a year and the place would be packed!!!

Not understanding what's happening is not unusual for me but ...... I was looking back at some old postings and came across this one and decided to recycle it.

Sooooo .... This morning I made a new posting with a link to this one from 2006. I mentioned that some of the people who have long shared their knowledge through Club Hot Rod might possibly remember it, and that some folks who have joined up since then might enjoy having a look at the way things were "way back then".

Somehow things kind of turned to caca. The original posting went out without any explanation of why it is showing up now.

I hope this feeble excuse prevents my being subjected to too much abuse

Jim

Somewhere in that photo has got to be Cylde Phillips, one of the original owners of Texas Speed. At the time of the photo it was a tiny shop in South Houston/Pasadena area and came to become the biggest WD distributor in the area!!! Clyde helped a whole lot of the speed shop's that opened up in the that era get going!!!! Don't have a clue who he would be in the photo, just curious if someone who sees the post and photo might be able to pick him out if he's in there!!!!

Tech--that was a good article altho there are a few inconsistancies with dates, and times----it pretty well does tell a story of getting from FED to RED-----------