Slingshot Dragsters of the
1960’s Photo Archive
Reviewed by Darr Hawthorne
11/8/05
Lou
Hart has put out another fine book chronicling the early
years of drag racing, this time the simpler and beautiful
times of the 1960’s and the daring dragster pilots
of the day.
In this 126-page soft-bound book you’ll find page
after page of memory-joggers for the older crowd and shots
of the men and machines who set the foundation of today’s
drag racing.
A lot of the book has action shots, but it’s the candid
pit snapshots like those of Marvin Schwartz unloading his
Anaconda Top Fuel dragster from the trailer that I find
fascinating. Seeing the old firesuits, push cars, fans and
trailers is such a stark contrast to today.
You’ll see the old dragstrips, the wide-open spectator
areas, long gone strips like OCIR and Irwindale, Carlsbad,
Lions and tracks across the country and there’s plenty
of top end photography with the “laundry out”.
You find the cars of Mickey Thompson, the Snake, the Mongoose,
Ted Gotelli, TV Tommy Ivo, Keeling and Clayton, Jerry Ruth,
Billy Tidwell, James Warren, Mike Snively, Walt Stevens,
and Don Garlits and so many more, all driving the state
of the art machines of the day. This from an era when teams
consisted of partners getting together rather than an owner
with massive corporate support, as we have today.
Many
of today’s fans may not have seen push starts other
than at a recent Hot Rod Reunion, but at one time in an
attempt to safely speed up the events some tracks utilized
rollers for starting the dragsters. Yes, there was variety
in that era from dual-engined creations to Fling Taylor’s
US Turbine-1 dragster powered by a Turbonique engine capable
of over 1000 ft-lbs of torque in an engine weighing only
120 pounds.
Cars like the C-T Stroker “Black Beauty” of
Wenderski and Winkle featured an early hemi and a Tommy
Ivo-built chassis are featured here. An unfortunate accident
took Wenderski’s life at Ramona dragstrip.
There’s a lot to like about Lou Hart’s book
including an informative forward by Tom McEwen, but like
Hart’s other books on funny cars, his attention to
detail is what makes these pay off. You’ll find color
and black & white photos, candids and action with the
variety I like. I’ll keep this book handy as a memory
jogger and recommend it to new fans and drag racing geezers
alike.
|
