Ya Just Gotta Ask...What's The Deal With Gassers? (And Why We Love 'Em!) In the very early years of the NHRA, gassers were nothing more than slightly modified gas powered sedans that could compete in five gas classes, determined by engine size and weight. In 1958, a gas class racer was basically a street coupe with no engine setback allowed. All “gassers” had working lights, wipers, starter, generator and all other street equipment.  Fans and belts were optional, but radiators were required. Full exhaust systems, including mufflers, were required but could be unhooked for competition, but they had to remain on the car.  Cars even had to be currently licensed for the street.   Cars in the gas classes were required to have full “factory-type” upholstery but two buckets could replace the standard bench seat as long as both were fully upholstered.  Customs were allowed as long as the car wasn’t chopped, channeled or sectioned a total of more than four inches.  Cars had to have four stock fenders and the stock bumpers had to be in place.   More Gassers and Altered Wheelbase hot rods (opens in new window)...

Gasser Rambler - Four Door Baddess! Feast your eyes on this beauty spotted at the LA Roadster Show.   Yea, I thought I was the only one crazy enough to dream about a 4-door wagon built as a gasser. While I dreamed about it, this person (be happy to publish your name if I knew it) actually built it, then had it for sale in the swap area. Pure madness! I love it!! (Dig the super long ladder bars showing here!)     From the other side. You see the only (small) flaw in the as-found patina of this Rambler Ambassador "Super". I'll say! (Can someone verify the year for me?) I dig the way the flaked helmet is reflecting on the front wheel. Dream yourself behind the wheel... on the track or rolling through your neighborhood with neighbors shaking their heads and kids running for cover!   So I said I dreamed it and my buddy Joel drew it for me! This bad boy's still sitting on the side of my house waiting for it's turn. My friends will tell you, don't hold your breath! One day, some incarnation...

Nothing says nostalgia like a 1955 Chevy Gasser! When my friend Stan asked me to join him at the dragstrip to race his '55, I couldn't say no. As I arrived at his place, I expected to see a trailer. Not this time - because this Chevy dragster is street legal! Heads turn as we drive by and in no time we've arrived at Irwindale Speedway for Thursday Amateur Night. Arriving early meant no waiting in the tech inspection and almost no line to race!  Everything went so quickly, it was only a few moments before I was jumping out of the passenger seat so Stan could pull up to the waterbox. Waterbox? That's the area that they wet down so each car can burnout and warm up their tires just before they pull up to the line. Powering that beautiful metal down the line is this 454 Rat engine. Adding a little something extra is a Mercruiser blower. Behind it all, there's a Turbo 400 transmission with a Maxwell valve body. He calls it the "Lynwood Flash". Stan happens to be a SoCal guy through and through (those...

Nostalgia drag racing all weekend in Beaver Springs, PA Located about an hour's drive north of Harrisburg, PA, Beaver Springs Dragway is a dragstrip with lots of heart. The crew running the show goes out of their way to make you feel like part of the family. Their advertising slogan is "Nobody does it better!" and I would have to say that's definitely not false advertising! The "Beav" is the perfect location for Gasser Magazine's Gasser Reunion that was held June 10-12. We hit the road early to make the 3 hour drive from our home base in WV and it rained the entire trip! When we arrived, the spectators' parking field had an inch of standing water. Do you ever get the feeling that maybe you are wasting your time making a long trip for nothing? Well, luckily that feeling for us was wrong and the sun was shining by 8:30am. Everyone was able to enjoy a full day of racing. Randy Campbell's 1950 "Full Metal Jacket" Studebaker sits in the pits drying after the early morning rain. The track crew did an excellent job getting the dragstrip prepared...

Rob's 1955 Chevy Gasser Hits the Goodguys Autocross As you know from the 1968 Shelby GT500-KR post I did, I love the autocross Goodguys puts on with their Arizona Spring Nationals Show in March. You can't beat AZ in March (see the folks wearing shorts in the pic below!) and you can't beat hot rods sliding sideways when they were built to be driven in a straight line. Case in point is Rob "thehazmatguy" and his 1955 Chevy Bel Air he just calls, "1955" in his personal garage here at MyRideisMe.com.  Looking at the car, it doesn't take long to notice the nod to Gassers of old. (Every Hot Rod Gasser Story at MyRideisMe.com) The slightly nose-up stance, fenderwell headers and plenty of punch from the ZZ4 Chevy under the hood linked to the compulsory manual box changing gears, this time in the form of a TKO600. Nuff to say, this car's sweet. When I saw Rob in line to run the autocross, I had to watch and his girlfriend, Ryan Marie took this video to show how Rob drove it hard!! [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R3RfMBL-fE[/youtube] . . But wait, there's more...

Blown 41 Willys Hot Rod Marty Hacker loved to get out to the track and drag race whenever he got a chance back in the 60’s and 70’s. One thing always caught his eye, the ‘41 Willys. Rat Rodders and drag racers alike have a love for the Willys. It’s one of the most popular street rod designs and probably the most recognized and famous drag/gasser bodies of all time. The ‘41 Willys was stuck in Marty’s head and he knew some day he’d purchase one. The interesting thing was he just could not seem to find the one he was looking for. So what do you do? You find one you can purchase and get to work on it to build the look you want. Marty’s son Mike Hacker started looking for his dad’s dream. One day while scanning racingjunk.com, he located a Willys in Long Island, NY. They contacted the owner of the ‘41 Willys to let him know they were interested… but wouldn’t be able to see it until the following weekend. Wednesday, they called the owner and found out the Willys had been sold. Disappointed,...

Straight Axle Ford Falcon Gasser Meet the Chuckles Garage "Strange Bird" 1962 Ford Falcon Futura A/GS drag car.  This car started out as a $200 Craigslist beater and through some odd chain of events, became the "Strange Bird". MyRideisMe.com stumbled on Scotty Birdsall, owner and chief ornithologist at Chuckles Garage, a full service fab shop in Santa Rosa, CA. In Scotty's words, here's more info on this wicked Ford Falcon and what hits you first, the blown 401 Buick Nailhead:   "The 'bird's powered by a Littlefield supercharged Buick 401 Nailhead originally in a 1960's drag boat. The Nailhead sports a shop-fabbed blower manifold, custom pistons & rods, a wild Comp Cams bumpstick and lifters, custom valve springs and hi-flow valves, mild port work, custom pushrods, custom headers made in-house, vintage Weiand valve covers, dual Buick Wildcat Rochester 4 Jets that were modified for use with the blower with custom linkage, Nicson front cover/engine mount, custom motor plate, custom oil pan, and is backed by a built Buick ST400 transmission from a 1965 Riviera."   Can you say CUSTOM FALCON!!!??? Can't wait to hear what a blown Buick 401 Nailhead...

Cruise Night: Utah Cruisin Car Show Taking the wife and kids to a local car show is one of my highlights of the summer.  We like to check out the Burger Stop Cruise In that happens the last Wednesday of each month in the summer time.  It's a small show by most standards, probably about 50-75 cars from the local area.  It's cool because its not all Mustangs and Camaros, there is a little bit of everything.  Variety is the spice of life is it not? I've seen this orange/red Model A coupe at this show before.  It also sports tons of Bonneville Salt Flats decals, so I know it gets run hard at the Flats.  Last year he came to the show with the Salt still stuck to the car. Here's the Model A coupe next to a pickup brother, both in a more traditional flavor.  Love the white walls and steelies with the white firewall.  Good lookin'! While the kids were waiting in line for some Clown-made circus balloons, I found a light blue convertible GTO looking showroom stock with some Cragars.  Dig the chrome everywhere. I...

You just read that title and said, " a Gasser what?" I admit, I ain't right. I have strange tastes compared to some and I guess you could say I have a vivid imagination, too. How else can I imagine how nasty a 1961 Rambler American station wagon would look as a Gasser. I've got the idea in my head, but like alot of you, I can't draw, much less make a rendering like this showing my crazy dream to perfection! That's where artists like Joel Nelson from 1320designs.com comes in. (Click on the image above to see it full size. It's a higher resoultion pic perfect for a desktop wallpaper) Before continuing that story, let me back up. I dig wagons. I don't know for-sure why, maybe it was because my dad drove us around in 1967 Ford Wagon when I was a kid. My brother and I'd drop the back seat down and slide around in back on the metal floor. This was the mid 70's so seat belts weren't the rage they are now. Looking back, we survived alot of things that have today's parent's gasping!...

So, February in Utah isn't a great time to bust out the street driven Gasser, you'd think, but the owner of this '55 Gasser called "Hemi Hunter" gets a big high 5 for doing just that.  Of course, it is the warmest day since November 22, it was a balmy 46.  Ha ha  I've got no info except for the pics I took.  But its a gorgeous example of an early 60's Gasser built to run on the street. This car was immaculate!  Cherry black paint, all the correct Gasser mods, like radiused rear fender, bumperless, big long tube headers, no front fender wells to block the headers and straight front axle.  Those keystone mags set the car off nicely as well.  Rad!!! "Hemi Hunter" is right, that's what a 502ci big block will get ya. Love the gold lettering.  Period correct and Rad! Super clean, that's the word that comes to mind.  I dig the scoop sittin' under the vette hood bulge. That paint is reflecting everything.  Wow!  Dig that vette hood bulge/scoop and big street meats in the rear! I dig the white steering wheel and white...

You can almost smell the tires burning cruising through the "History of the Race Car" hall at the 2010 Grand National Roadster Show.  The exhibit, of course featured drag racer from the way-back-machine, especially my favorite: Nose in the air gassers! Getting up-close and personal with the "Outer Limits" Mopar, I'm reminded of a buddy who saw his first altered wheelbase A/FX'r and asked, "Who'd do that?!"  That's exactly why I love them! Make noise, look near ridiculous and have more fun than anyone! I want one, and some day I'll get it.  I might have to build my 61 Rambler American wagon as a gasser. Low-buck, fast and loud = funner-mostess. Continuing my stroll, I found the, "Fastest un-blown Ford V-8 powered dragster running in National Nostalgia Drag Racing." ...and it's driven by a woman named Kathy Lloyd out of Castro Valley, CA. According to their show card, the car was built in 1969, then restored in '85, then back-halfed in 1996, no doubt to return to racing. Safety rules have changed, juuuuussst a little since 1969. Running on a cocktail of 85% Nitro and 15% methanol, this...

"The Gasser Tribute Car was built as a tribute to all the drivers, owners and fans that loved these kinds of cars. It is probably one of the last A Gas Supercharged Olds powered Willys coupes left in the country." Del Wiesner The Dean Seevers, Del Wiesner and Harold Owens '33 Willy's Olds-powered A-Gas Supercharged Gasser original reigned from Loveland, Colorado and ran at dragstrips across the country from 1962-1966. These 3 Loveland High School grads and car nuts started the first car club in town, the "Loveland Zephyrs" and soon after began racing the Willys. One highlight for the 3 friends was holding the American Hot Rod Association National Record in 1964 with a 10.00 seconds at 146.86 mph run. The crew raced some of the top names of the day and were very competitive. Del says after working 40 years with his businesses, he never forgot the impact that car had on him. "Once you get that in your blood, it's hard to let it go. It was the most exciting time of my life, so I decided to rebuild a part of history." Do yourself a...