Thread: Indoor Drag Racing from 63-64 at the International Amphitheater in Chicago...

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Buddy sent me an email with these pics. Thought they where worthy of sharing.

Heres the rest of em.

Bet that would make your butt grab the seat when ya got to the doors as evidenced by the pic of the coupe !!!!

Yeah, looks like they used the armco rails to "guide" a car through the doorway if it were fish tailing like that '63 Plymouth appears to be starting to (though he's looking over his left shoulder, so maybe something else is going on). I'll bet the sound reverberations were wicked too.

I remember hearing about that. Thanks for sharing the pictures.

This is a tad bit off topic, but has the name "FUJIMO" ever crossed your path?

Reminds me of my childhood obsession with drag racing! I lived not too far away... but was too young to find a way up there during those years. I remember seeing some sort of magazine coverage on the event.

I did get to the huge auto show in Chicago about '66... and U.S.30 a couple years later.

ChiTown seemed like a "Mecca" to me then. They also had Knickey Chevrolet, Grand Spaulding Dodge, the 4-lane track west of town, the ChiTown Hustler, Shake Rattle & Run, and soooo much more!

I wanna go back and do it again. :-(

Hotrodpaint

It was Nickey (with a backwards 'K') and the 4 lane strip was Byron Dragway(out near Rockford)

Nickey is still around--guy bought the name/trademark a few years ago and deals in those era muscle cars--He is doing the new Camaros now and my son Corey is doing all the tuning/dyno work on them( in between engines here)

I never raced down there as I didn't believe that I could get thru the" hole in the wall"

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Hotrodpaint

It was Nickey (with a backwards 'K') and the 4 lane strip was Byron Dragway(out near Rockford)

Nickey is still around--guy bought the name/trademark a few years ago and deals in those era muscle cars--He is doing the new Camaros now and my son Corey is doing all the tuning/dyno work on them( in between engines here)

I never raced down there as I didn't believe that I could get thru the" hole in the wall"

I knew it was a backward K. :-) My radio station of choice was WLS... which still brings back memories like...

"Nickey Nickey Nicky Nickey Nickey Chevrolet....sign of the backward K"

or "Sunday Sunday Sunday... at beautiful US30 dragstrip... drag racing capital of Chicagolaaaand!!!"

Good times! {:-)

BTW... that is sooo kool that your boy is in the performance car biz!!! I had lots of sons... I tried to get them involved, but none ever really got the passion. {:-(

Originally Posted by HOTRODPAINT

I knew it was a backward K. :-) My radio station of choice was WLS... which still brings back memories like...

"Nickey Nickey Nicky Nickey Nickey Chevrolet....sign of the backward K"

or "Sunday Sunday Sunday... at beautiful US30 dragstrip... drag racing capital of Chicagolaaaand!!!"

Good times! {:-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBiNH...eature=related

oldest i could find, but still reminissant??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDYzidMqq4o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydvcA...eature=related

Gassersrule_196
Ive seen that film before THANKS for the memories. I lived at US 30 back in the 60's and 70's. Say Bob the going through the doors wasn't as bad as the turn out into the parking lot LOL... I realy think NO I know I would do it again. Corvairs would turn the best times but there wetre a couple black guys that ran a dark blue (I think) plymouth man they were good.

Yep---he is building and shipping hi performance short and long block engines all over the globe--lots of ford and gm small block plus the bbc up to 632 inches--the deal these days with all the stroker cranks being available plus the Dart blocks make it easier than 60s etc where you had to wait for the factories to come out with something or build it from scratch.

Plus he has quite a following for his dyno tuning and altho there is mainly 2 shops near by where we go he has done work at several other dyno facilities in Chi town area.
But he does the electronic computer stuff its me that gets saddled with the carb/dist work---

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Yep---he is building and shipping hi performance short and long block engines all over the globe--lots of ford and gm small block plus the bbc up to 632 inches--the deal these days with all the stroker cranks being available plus the Dart blocks make it easier than 60s etc where you had to wait for the factories to come out with something or build it from scratch.

Plus he has quite a following for his dyno tuning and altho there is mainly 2 shops near by where we go he has done work at several other dyno facilities in Chi town area.
But he does the electronic computer stuff its me that gets saddled with the carb/dist work---

It's great you can do that together. :-)

Just joined the forum - I was originally looking for any photos of the indoor drag racing at the International Amphitheater in Chicago. I was there...in 1963 abd 1964. Raced 1963 Ford Fastback 427ci under name of Hoeffel-Goy Ford. (Dealer was located at 92nd & Western Avenue Chicago. Great times - anyone out there with more photos? Driver was Jim Gartuga. Our club was The Sun Downers.