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)...

Barn Find Hot Rods and Muscle Cars from MCACN   Yup...They're Still Out There!! Bob Ashton, who directed the 2013 Muscle Car and Corvette Nationals event, not only looked high and low for rare or unique super cars, concept vehicles and one owners, but he must have looked under rocks and hay bales to track down the 22 “barn finds” that were displayed at the annual show held in Rosemont, Illinois in November. Barn finds are another relatively “new” car show entry with more and more cars and trucks turning up from storage units, sheds, long sealed garages and, of course, barns.   The “finds” are also running the gamut of rarity, some having a brief history as a family driver or as a quarter miler that someone decided to stash away, maybe when the money ran out. Whatever the reason, these relics are interesting to view and the MCACN show allowed spectators to not only see but touch the goods. You got to take a bit of the dirt and grime home with you!     We received a comment from the owner of this one of a...

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...

Galpin Auto Sports Ford Greats at SEMA 2012 (Click to see any picture full size) Click for everything @ 2012 SEMA Show from MyRideisMe Wondering what this is? I was too! Turns out this is one of two cars built for the United States Air Force as part of the 2009 "Super Car Tour", a new recruiting tool. The other car built was a Dodge called "VAPOR".  Think something like this would help a gearhead sign up for service? Flat but pearly paint covers the Lambo style doors, APR custom wide body kit and Galpin Auto Sports (better known as GAS) carbon deck lid. The overall look was speedy and ready for flight. Especially... Inside where the magic is! That's a real jet ejection seat sitting right in the middle of the car. I suspect the flight stick doubles as the gear shift and the steering wheel is just barely seen here with the X-1 logo on it. Better hang on too, there's a 500HP Ford Racing 4.6L under the hood. This is wild! Call me crazy, but I'd still rather have the original, "Barn Find" 1965 Shelby GT350...

Best and Worst of SEMA 2012 In many ways, the picture above symbolically tells the SEMA show story... Especially the last day. I shot this Ford Mustang giving one lucky passenger the ride of their lives! Maybe, like the passenger, there was a little bit of, "Damn! I'm glad it's over!" I've spun around, everywhere, my head's a smoky haze of friends, new and old connections and feet-tires worn out to the belts! Yet I know... like every year... come next November, I'll be ready to do it again! It's SEMA! What is the SEMA Show? If you're reading this blog, you probably already know... but for those of you stumbling onto this page from a Google image search, let me explain: SEMA's nearly everyone and everything automotive on the planet jammed wall to wall, believe it or not, into the 3.2 million square feet of the Las Vegas convention center. It's massive! All mixed together, you've got nearly every car and truck represented. You'll find OEM's like Ford and Chevy with their custom creations and new models mixed in with the best custom car builders like Chip Foose,...

Toyota's Irwindale Speedway Heats up on Thursday Nights! Speed Fever is a serious thing. Once I caught on, it was only a matter of time before I got interested in drag racing. First I hot rodded my Studebaker. Then I began attending Speed Week each year. Eventually I learned to do a burnout. Why not drag race!? Although it's not time for my own Studebaker to get on the dragstrip just yet, I'm sure it's day will come. First I've got to learn a thing or two about drag racing - and what better way to go to do that than ride along with a pal who's been racing his 1955 Chevy Gasser for years!? When my buddy Stan first invited me to go along with him to the Irwindale Raceway, I didn't realize we were going to actually drive his racing gasser TO the races. But yep, he built this car to drive and there'll be no trailer for him. (Read more about his Chevy here.) Thursday nights at Irwindale is a run-what-ya-brung amateur night with some professional class racers around also. It isn't a nostaglic-class night, anyone...

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...

It's been too long since I've posted a "Hot Rod Ramblings" feature.  For this post, I'm gonna go Nostalgia Drag and Funny Cars on you guys.  But, these "hot rod ramblings" come from my Uncle, "RickyRod" Hechtspeed.  These are my Uncle's memories of the "Pit" from the late 60's.  The "Pit" was the nickname for the first Irwindale Dragstrip. A quick background... the "Calera Kids" were my dad (Rodger "Calera Ave burnout king" and Ford/Merc' lover and his little bro, the "Chevy Puke" (as my dad would call him) and their buddies Rick Patterson, Scott Henry, John DeGraff (sporto), Lalo Gabriel, Rob Shultz, Pat Murphy and a few kids not directly in the "hood" Scott Taylor and Steve Presley were drag fans.  They lived on Calera Avenue in Azusa, California, the next city over from Irwindale. Anyway, these ramblings are taken from some emails from my Uncle.  They mean a lot to me, because it is a piece of the Hechtspeed history.  I thought you guys would really dig 'em too, so here goes, let the Ramblings begin! "It is possible that the four kids shrouded by the supercharger are the “Calera Kids”.  That was one of...

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!...