Back Out On Safari,
After Half A Century

12/8/04

To their surprise, the four 1954-55 Safarians received a standing ovation on IRP's return road last Labor Day. (Good Communications photos by Dave Wallace)

If trailers could talk, this 1950-model Viking might confirm the wild tales whispered about the Drag Safari teammates, division directors and other officials who used and abused it between 1951, when NHRA was formed, and the mid-60s, when it was mercifully put out to pasture.

A personal favorite is the story about the ladies' man that allegedly lured a new friend inside one night, half a century ago. Imagine them trying to find a comfortable spot amidst all of the timing equipment and other hardware needed to set up a makeshift drag strip on some empty stretch of concrete or asphalt. Legend has it that things were going well enough for the young couple until the entire load suddenly shifted rearward, slamming the back end of the unhitched trailer to the ground -- and preventing the partially-clothed occupants from exiting until outside assistance arrived.

Apart from all the self-serving hype and hoopla generated by NHRA to celebrate its 50th birthday (2002), then the 50th running of its original national event (2004), one element stands out as particularly genuine, and long overdue. It¹s been great fun watching as the pioneers who launched the Drag Safari have repeatedly been reunited with one another -- and with the small, single-axle trailer that they dragged across the country in 1954, 1955 and 1956. (Alas, the Dodge station wagon is a street-rodded replica of their tow vehicle, which was in no condition for such a long-distance journey.)

To their astonishment, the original 1954 lineup of crew chief Bud Coons, photojournalist Eric Rickman and tech-man Chic Cannon, plus announcer Bud Evans (who joined them a year later), has earned standing ovations at national events and industry functions. SEMA News gave them a cover. Hot Rod magazine devoted eight pages (Sept. 2004) to the historic Safari tours that planted the seeds for a nationwide organization of hot rodders. These guys been asked to sign more autographs in the past year than in their entire lifetimes (which span 75 to 85 years).