NERVOUS SURGEONS

I have always had a hankering for a "Gasser" and what the magazines called "Street Racers" in the 80's. Over the years (and there have been quite a few) I have either photographed or gathered many images representing this fine breed of race car. It seems only logical that I place some of these on the site, I apologise if I get any of the details wrong but my memory may not be what it once was.

     

       The Godfather of UK Gassin ?   

     

                Al's Gasser August 1978 at Santa Pod

        

         Al's Gasser & Al's Pilot, I wonder what that child  

                 is thinking, as its pre Tot Rod days?

 

                  Dave Grady’s "High Spirits"

 

Dave Grady purchased his 1957 Ford Custom from a Bradford car dealer for the enormous sum of £225 and the deal also included a new front screen, seems to me he got himself a bargain.

Of course the Ford did not look like it does in the image, as at the time of purchase the car was resplendent in a two tone paint scheme, Blue roof and cream lower sheet steel. The car eventually was sprayed black and sign written by which time Dave had also installed a 302 Ford Small block and not wishing to upset the neighbours, this powered a |Ford 9” rear end.  Holding this off the ground were a set of Wolfies, with a set of M&H slicks wrapped around the rears. These helped the 57 Ford cover the quarter mile in the high 13’s.

I recall seeing it rum several times at the Pod during the late 70’s ( that’s where the image was taken) and my overriding memory is of the extremely prominent Jack Up Kit, which now reflect the times so well. 

 

 

       

Malcolm Jay’s “Street Addict” (above)

 

Started during 1981 Malcolm Jay set out to build a Street Racer, but chose an unusual model for his project, a Humber Super Snipe. You may wonder why he would have used such a vehicle, well his inspiration came from a drawing done by the artist Steve Kirk, and Malcolm was so inspired by it that he decided to turn the line drawing into tangible reality.

The 1962 Humber required copious amounts of work before it was resplendent in the retina burning yellow; you see in the images, the interior did not match the external eye catching appearance as it was stripped out, Ali panelling replacing the walnut and veneer.

Not surprisingly the engine bay was also stripped of its boat anchor and a V8 slipped in to fill the void, a Rover V8 got the nod as it was deemed appropriate to keep things in the family. The suspension department also received its fare share of change with a chrome drop tube axle up front and a Barracuda, that’s Ba Ra Cu Da axle bringing up the rear. The axles are not much use without wheels so a pair of centrelines and American Daisy mags were soon bolted to them and Malcolm could hit the streets running. The car should have run well as it also had a nitrous kit fitted which was quite an adaptation for 1984, which incidentally was also the year I first saw the car at Billing, sadly I have never seen it since, I wonder if Malcolm knows where she is?

 

 

                  

The McCormack Brothers Panel

 

       

       Jimmy Hibberd's 33 Valley Gas - Gasser

 

 

 

 

 This Austin Somerset was photographed at Knebworth in the early 80's

I believe it had also been turned into a Coupe and it looks like Jag coil springs were used on the chromed drop tube axle on the front. I do not know who owned it but if you know who did let me know.

 

 

 

 

     

   Wild Thing - Brian Gibson's Gasser Pop from the early 60's. Well to be absolutely accurate it was running in Competition Altered but that to me is pretty close to a Gasser. In fact it was raced at the second Santa Pod meet in 1966.

Originally running Jag Power in the late 60's, by the early 70's Brian had progressed to a full race prepped Corvette Engine. The 283 block had been enlarged to 301 cubes displacing 4.9 litres. All this power was connected to an 11" Weber clutch housed in a Jag box. The back end was Land Rover, yes that is correct, Land Rover with adapted Hubs incorporating Jag brakes.

The steel shell rolled off the Dagenham production line in 1955, with the fibreglass front end being laid up by Jerry Jackson. The Original chassis was still employed but it had been boxed to add strength. The original Pop axle had also been reused but this to had been reworked by Brian with it being lightened by drilling numerous holes. The car had Blue Perspex windows and ran a 12.94 quarter on its first run reaching 111.98mph.

In 1972 the Pop was parked in Brians garage by which time he had developed the car further with a 302 small block, sporting Hilborn Fuel Injectors mag wheels and slicks. Brian had managed to squeeze an 11.99 at 120mph out of her by then, but the Pop was mothballed for another 13 years until 1985 when he decided to sell it. He wanted to clear his garage so he not only put the Pop up For Sale but also a trailer, 4 spare engines and loads of other parts, the asking price for  this piece of Drag Racing heritage £2500. Pass me the cheque book Martha!

                       

 

  

 

 

 

 

      

 

 

Chris Meeks Oh so High riding PA Cresta which was motivated by a V12 Jaguar, ally panelled inside and with a nose bleed stance this was real head turner, these shots were taken at Knebworth circa I985 ish I wonder where it is now?

        

 

 

 

 

   

Zoomie Headers, slicks & wheelie bars, now where's the strip

 

                Ben Lucas built and owned Septic Willy seen here in its first guise and its first outing to Billing. The body was from the now defunct Pro- car engineering and like most of their bodies, they presnted a challenge when it came to bolting them to a Chassis. Especially if you followed the company recommendation by utilising a Mazda pick up chassis and running gear, now you know where the phrase comes from  "you'll be amazed by a Mazda"? Weed burning headers and polished Halibrands all round certainly evoked the Gasser War memories.

                                          

                                        The front end on Septic Willy drop tube on leaf springs.

 

                            

                

                 Martin Bonner's 55 Gasser up where it looks best  in the air.

                            Check out the mullet on Big Bad Jon!     

Bob Holland 1 (thats because there were 2) with subtle reminders of the 55 from Two Lane Blacktop, radiused arches and Daisy Mags, this 55 was photographed at Knebworth and a short time later had a new paint job in the form of two  tone silver and red. This was in memory of Bob's earlier 55 Belair which had met with a firey end when it apparently became the victim of a jealous rage from a third party and was torched during the night! 

 

 

This shot is from around 1989 and the man in the photo is Ron France, he is standing next to his latest import a steel Willys, at that time he had the car up For Sale and the asking price was £8000. For that not so insignificant sum, you would ahve brought yourself, a steel main body section, steel front end with a Fibreglass bonnet and rear arches and boot lid crafted from the same material, a suspect big block Chevy and a tube front end with no brakes. Does'nt seem a lot, but boy do I wish I had the money then.

I have no idea if it ever sold and if it did i wonder where it is now as a steel Willys is still a relatively rare sight in the UK.

 

The Willys apparently was an Ex - Gasser and it certainly looked like it had seen some serious strip action during its life, the old slicks did not appear to have to much life left in them a bit like me now!

The car was photgraphed in a yard near Bournemouth and when we went to see it it really brought to mind the lines form the low budget film "Hot Rod" , "pre war Willys rises up like a cutter through ice".

 

 

 

 

Another Willys, but this time a 33 seen here prowling the pit area at Santa Pod, this image is from around 1990 and this car looked awesome.

I beleive it was owned at the time by Tony Sewell who had located and imported the car from the US. What he got himself was a fine rendering of a ground hugging Gasser, (not all gassers run nose high stance). I don't believe it arrived here looking quite like this as i recall a considerable amount of the build work was done right here in England.

The Willys ran a supercharged Chevrolet, from the small block family backed up by a TH 350 with a Hole-Shot convertor. It ran Centerline Champ 500 rims and turned from Purple to black in colour schemse and like so many short wheelbase cars was squirrely on the quarter mile.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

 

I remember seeing the 33 Willys run on several occassions at the Pod and it was also seen on the Show Circuit.

I have endeavoured to find out where it is now and who owns it but came across some alarming stories as to what befell this awesome car. I will not repaet them here as I currently have no way of varifying there accuracy, I do hope that in the future I will be able to relay a happy ending which will dispell the mystery that appears to surround this Willys.

However, what is beyond speculation is that at the time when this Willys was crafted and run, it was really well put together,it certainly Iooked like it could pack a punch with the wheelie bars and Simpson chute and racer stance, and deffinately know that I  wish it was sat in my garage. If it is sat in yours let me know?

 

 

 One of Luton's finest, built around the same time as Chris Meeks PA Cresta, this wicked looking F Type Estate was up in the air with the best of them. Straight axle stance always looks good and menacing.  Originally the estate appeared in the 70's with mirror filmed windows, black paint and driven by the then owner Roger Warren.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Victor moved into the ownership of Les Howlett who set about sending her sky high with the sills coming to rest some 18" above the road surface.To get this high a new chassis was built with the straight tube at the front and a good old Jag IRS bringing up the rear, the front consisting of Mark 4 Zephyr hubs and discs with a transit box taking care of the steering, the rear was treated to a Powrlok diff and a healthy dose of the shiney stuff, chrome plating.

A Zephyr was once again called upon for the engine, but as they didn't come with V8's a trusty old V6 was slipped between the chassis rails. Rocket Stage 1s meant the whole lot rolled along and for those who have never come across them they are very similar to appliance chromed 5 spokes. The Victor reappeared in 1980 and was christened "Sweet F A" but disapeared from the show circuit a few years later, where is it now as it would make a great ddition to the ranks of Gasser's once again on the prowl.

 

The shot above was taken at the long departed Gade Valley Custom Car Show which was held in a car park in Hemel Hempstead, the highlight of which for me, was the end of the show when you could always count on the exhibitors to show their cars prowess as they left the site, "ah smell that rubber"!   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The gassers just keep on coming, this time in the ground breaking format of an open front wheel Ford Pop. "Happiness is Hirise" this radical piece of automotive art work created by Ian Dawes (  a name later to become synonimous with gassers in the UK). 

This car was certainly different running a V6 of the 3 litre variety through a Zodiac manual box and prop. This generated the forward momentum via a Jag back axle. Home made radius rods assist in holding the tube front end in place ably supported on Jag springs. The steering duties were handled by the British Leyland  spares department via, Austin 1100 rack and Triumph Herald steering colum. Some of the machining work was

 carried out at Jagos and Ian ended up with a front end that utilised Corsair and rover parts in the braking deopartment to stop the Hi ridin Pop. This car demanded your respect and you just could not miss this as it toured the Knebworth site, way back in 1980.

 

  

     Happiness Is Hirise" now sporting a severe roof chop! 

 

Big Bad Jon decided to move on from his 57 Chevy and set his sights on a Willys Coupe, the introdcution of Dick Lambert and more specifically, his fibreglass Willys bodies certainly hastened this decision. With an order placed and wishing to achieve a swift completion of the project, Jon took the advice of Dick and began the search for a Mazda pick up, why I hear you cry? Well, Dick had based the Willys body around fitting on to the aforementioned Mazda chassis, Nice!

With a Mazda sourced and releaved of its body the project was up and running, well rolling. The body was supplied and trial fitted to the chassis, this is where Jon realised that perhaps Dick should have spent just a little more time on the design of this unusaul "cut and shut".

Nervous Nick spotted For Sale in the NSRA Gasser mag (remember when that used to have cars and parts for sale in it) an original Willys chassis. Keith Atkinson had it up for grabs and not only was it original but it also came complete with the steel firewall. a deal was struck and the chassis that had at one time supported the steel sedan body that was being massaged into shape by Keith for Perry van der Eertwegh, slipped into Jon's garage and soon after continued its rolling under Jon's Willys body.

       

  A thing of beauty well the narrow Fenton mag wheel in the background is

 

                      

By the time this shot had been taken Johnny had managed to add a tube front end, mate the Fibreglass body to the steel floor and firewall and install a 350 Chevy small block with high rise manifold and Daisy mags on the rear. This is how it looked as it waved it goodbye as it headed off across the English Channel to its new home in Norway, something to do with original chassised cars being allowed on their roads.

 

 

Paul Kennedy's has returned this Willys to its former glory days when it was so successfully campaigned by the "Worlds Fastest Hippy" Mike Mtchell. To actually have the original car in this country makes this particular Willys even rarer and to have it built to such a high specification makes it supreme. I beleive the Willys was originally imported by well known habitual Overland collector Ian Dawes and may have come via Don Waldron at Rods West.

 

The Hamberis & Mitchell 33 Willys ran in B/Gas Supercharged ranks during 1965, then it ran a blown 360ci Chevy, this sat between a Chuck Finders chassis and took Mike Mitchell to the winners enclosure at the 65 Winternationals. This is a genuine piece from the "Gasser War" period which hopefully Paul will soon be behind the wheel. Wishing him continued good health and a full recovery.