SUPER/STOCKERS OF THE 1960's
The Early Years
1960 - 1965
DVD #024
This two hour and twenty-two minute original video production takes a look at the early years of Super Stock and Factory Experimental drag racing. The video includes S/S & FX racing at thirty different drag strips around the country.
The video begins with a visit to Atco Dragway where we see some early 1960's Super Stockers in Action. We also see some classic early 1960's racing at an unknown track that is too cool. The cars are so close together that you can put your hands on both of them while they are on the starting line. From there we head south to Roanoke Drag Strip in Virginia for more of the same.
US 19 Dragway in Albany, Ga is where we found a very cool 348 '58 Chevy making some runs. We also talk with its owner Bill Connell. Bill says he made the 348 into a 409 and added a four speed manual transmission. Great car and great story.
Our next stop is at the 1961 NHRA National Drag races at Indy. This was the first year that NHRA held the race at Indy and there was a great group of Super Stockers at the race. Dyno Don Nicholson won the Stock Eliminator category but was disqualified because of a rules infraction.
Drag Racing took place on Runway #4 at the Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach, Florida in the mid 1960's and the Super Stockers were there. The strip was very wide and long but the S/Sers only used a quarter mile of the runway. We also caught up to some Super Stockers at Charlestown Naval Auxiliary Air Station in Rhode Island. You guessed it, Tasca Ford was there.
Roosevelt Raceway was a horse racing track on Long Island NY and they held drag racing in one of their parking lots back in the 1960's. It sure looks dangerous as there were overhead light stanchions that posed a safety concern. Undaunted the Super Stockers raced on.
We return to Indy in 1962 for the NHRA National Drag Races. You get a look at a large number of Super Stockers and FXers running at the event. Just about all the big names of the era were there and you hear from "Big Daddy" Don Garlits, Hubert Platt and the Top Stock winner Hayden Proffitt.
The Vineland Speedway Drag Strip is our next stop and it is interesting how this track was constructed. Unlike other Speedway Drag Strips that use their straight away for drag racing Vineland extended both ends of the straight away to create a full quarter mile drag strip without the need to use any of the speedway turns. Very cool track. Bob Harrop was a regular at the Strip.
We visit another unknown track somewhere in the mid-west. Not sure of the tracks name but they had some Rompin' Ramchargers. We also follow Bill Gusler, one of our film contributors, to Piedmont Dragway in North Carolina to see him make a pass in his 1963 S/S Ford.
The 1963 Drag News Stock Car invitational was held at Dragway 42 in West Salem, Ohio. We get a chance to see a group of 1963 Z-11 Chevy's competing in the race. The cars were run by Dyno Don Nicholson, Dave Stricker, Hubert Platt and Frank Sanders. In spite of the large Z-11 group Arnie Beswick won the race in a Pontiac.
The next segment features a story about Bill Connell's 1963 Z-11 Chevy called "Blue Streak." Bill got the car through his friend Don Nicholson and raced it in the southeast. You will see the car at Thunderbolt Dragway in Jacksonville, Fl., Phenix Dragway in Phenix City, AL and an old air field dragway in Malone, Fl. This was one of the eleven Z-11 cars produced in 1963.
More S/S action comes to you from Sunshine Dragway near Tampa, Fl and Cecil County Dragway in Maryland. In the Cecil County segment we do a profile on the Northwind 1962 409 Chevy. Joe Gardner tells us how Bill Jenkins and Jerry Stahl helped him build the Northwind into one of the most popular cars in the Northeast.
Mason Dixon Dragway in Maryland also hosted Super Stock racing back in the 1960's and you see the "Honker" Bud Faubel, Tom Sneeden in the Bounty Hunters Dodge, The D.C. Lip Malcolm Durham and his Z-11 Chevy, The Strickler and Jenkins Z-11 Chevy and Dyno Don's Z-11 Chevy.
We make a trip north to Connecticut Dragway for a best of three match race between the Strickler, Jenkins, Stahl 1963 Z-11 and the brand new Tasca Ford 1964 Ford Thunderbolt. In the crowd was an eleven year old Carl Tasca and we talk with him about his remembrances of the race. We also include an interview with Bill Jenkins as he recalls the success of the Z-11 car. There is some killer footage in this segment. You have to see it.
We also visit Muncie Drag Strip in Indiana and Detroit Dragway in Michigan for some terrific Super Stock action. Fords, Chevy's, Pontiac's, Plymouth's and Dodge's are represented. We even show Jack Whitby's B/FX Ford Pick Up truck.
A quick stop at the 1963 NHRA Nationals in Indy closes out our 1963 coverage. After that we open up 1964 with some S/S action at Capitol Dragway and Aquasco Dragway. From there we go to a match race at Island Dragway in New Jersey between Malcolm Durham's 1964 Chevelle and the Lawman Plymouth. We also include a short interview we did with Malcolm before he passed away.
Back at Cecil County we get a look at Dick Brannan's 1964 427 Falcon and Al Joniac's '64 TBolt. Also featured is some action between "The Dodge Boys" Hemi Plymouth of Strickler and Jenkins and a couple of A/FX Comets. The first Comet was run by the Sox & Martin Team but it is not their familiar red, white and blue car. This turned out to be the Walker Motors car that was owned by "Ohio" George Montgomery. Ohio George tells us the story of how Sox and Martin got to run the car. We also show the Billy McDuell "Ultimate" '64 A/FX Comet. After that we take a look at George Weiler and his 1964 A/FX Comet racing at Maple Grove Dragway and York US 30 Dragway. The next '64 Comet we see is the Tom Coward car running at Union Grove Dragway in Wisconsin.
Our next segment looks at a group of Super Stockers running at the 1964 NHRA Winternationals in Pamona, CA. During this segment we do an interview with Bob Beezer. Bob was the guy who wore Native American clothing and worked the starting line at the NHRA Nationals in both Pamona and Indy. Bob tells us how he got started doing the job and what became of him. Interesting story.
After the Indy segment we do two more profiles of 1964 Mercury Comets. The first is the "Marauders" car and the other was raced by the Moyer Mercury Team.
In order to tell the Moyer story we went to former Ford factory racer and current internet radio show host Sam Auxier, Jr. for the details. Sam tells the story in two different segments. The first segments tells how Sam got involved with the team and how he became involved in a highway accident while towing the Comet to the 1964 Nationals at Indy. We have some great photos to supplement Sam's story. After the accident Sam continued on to the Nationals but without the Comet.
In our coverage of the 1964 Nationals we show a large number of S/S and FX cars that were at the race. All the big names were there along with some who were hoping to make a name for themselves. Butch Leal ended up winning the Super Stock Stick class and we include an interview with Butch as he looks back at the big win. The Top Stock Elimination winner was Roger Lindamood with the "Color Me Gone" 1964 Dodge. After the race concluded we follow the Color Me Gone Dodge to its new owner Jimmy Arnold. Jimmy tells the story of how he bought the car before the Nationals race and took delivery immediately afterward. Jimmy ran the car throughout the southeast and we see it in Action at Phenix Dragway in Alabama. We show you some racing at Phenix Dragway and even take you on a ride inside Dyno Don's 1964 A/FX Comet Wagon. I am sure you will enjoy this wild in-car footage from 1964.
We also cover a best of three match race between Dyno Don Nicholson and his 1965 A/FX Comet and Billy "Big Deal" Jacobs and his 1965 Hemi powered "Kid Goat" Dodge Dart. Once again Phenix Dragway is the site of this race and the footage is terrific. We have also included an interview with "Big Deal" and he tells us about the big race with Dyno. Unfortunately Billy has since passed away but his story lives on here at Bee On Video.
After the Dyno/Jacobs match race we come back to Sam Auxier, Jr and he tells us how the wrecked 1964 Comet was put back together and we get to see it race at Aquasco Dragway and Suffolk Dragway in Virginia during early 1965. Sam describes what it was like to drive one of these hopin' and jumpin' Comets and it is too cool.
In the beginning of 1965 Ford Motor Company built a group of Ford Mustangs for the A/FX category. Bob Hamilton became the owner of one of the cars and he tells us the story of his car. Bob's car was initially powered by a 427 wedge Ford engine but soon thereafter it received one of the Single Overhead Cam (SOHC) engines. We included footage of Bob racing the Mustang at Island Dragway and Dover Dragway in Wingdale, NY. At Dover Bob takes on the Tasca Ford Mustang and you will love the burnouts through the "gold dust." We also include an interview with former Ford Project Engineer Vern Tinsler. Vern was responsible for the A/FX Mustang program and he tells us how the special front suspension components were developed. Great story. Once again Vern has passed away but his story lives on here at Bee On Video.
As we close out the video we give you a brief preview of some of the material that will be included in another Super Stock video planned for a late 2018 release. The video will take a look at what was happening with Super Stock racing from early 1965 through the end of 1969. It will be entitled: Super Stockers of the 1960's Years Of Change 1965 - 1969. In the preview you will see racing from Richmond Dragway in Virgina, National Trail Racway in Ohio, Bee Line Dragway in Arizona, Bristol Dragway in Tennessee and Fremont Dragway in California.
As always we have taken the time to dub real car sounds on to the movie footage in order to give you the most realistic sights and sounds available of the golden era of Super Stock and Factory Experimental drag racing. We have also included relative narration in the video so you can follow all the action that takes place. Get your copy today.
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