Click on any image to get the bigger picture

 

Peter's drag racing photography started back in the 1960s and that is where we are going to start his collection off.  And what better way to start than with Top Fuel Dragsters (although they probably weren't called that back then)?

 

 

On the left we see a low-level shot of the imposing 6392cc supercharged Ford engine in the Commuter dragster which was driven by the late Tony Densham.
On the right Commuter is pictured burning out in front of one of the two matching control towers at Santa Pod.  (For the benefit of our younger readers, Double Diamond was a beer)
 

 

 

Well not quite a fuel dragster - Tudor Rose was usually a methanol-burner although the the nitro can did get tipped on occasions.
The team of Rex Sluggett and Dennis Priddle built and campaigned the car for only one season before the cost of running the car eventually took its toll.  There is an in-depth article on Tudor Rose elsewhere on this site which you can read by clicking here.

 

 

 

Commando Drag Racing Team member Bud Barnes driving his blown 392 cubic inch Chrysler-powered Ultrasonic fueller probably in 1967.

 

 

This is Dave and Rich McCaig's twin-engined injected Buick dragster which was driven by Ron Jelinek.  The car was built by 'TV' Tommy Ivo.

 

The name of Allard is chiefly remembered in connection with the Allard Chrysler dragster which resides in the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.
However, the Allard Motor Company also produced dragsters in kit form called the Allard Dragon, and this is an example driven by Alan Ing and powered by a supercharged 1500cc Ford lump.

 

G/D4 in the background was called Scorpion and was powered by a Rootes engine of 998cc displacement (the Rootes Group comprised Hillman, Singer, Sunbeam and Humber).  The programmes of the period list either Michael Wheeler or John Rotheram as the driver.
The dragster in the foreground is Gerald Cookson's Trouble Shooter which had a 995cc BMC engine (the British Motor Corporation consisted of Austin, Morris, MG, Riley, Wolseley, Vanden Plas and possibly some other marques I cannot remember).

 

 

B Parkins drove this 500cc Triumph-powered go-kart and I think his first appearance was at Santa Pod on 22 October 1967.

 

 

Howard Bull's legendary Stripduster ran in Class G of the Dragster Division at the time this picture was taken and was powered by a 950cc blown BMC engine.
The class record stood at 12.4 seconds and 104 mph at the beginning of 1967.  Harold would go on to develop Stripduster over the coming years and improve on these marks by a significant degree.

 

 

Nick Pettitt (of Time Travel DVDs fame)  came to the rescue with an ID for this car.  I can do no better than quote what he said :
"That's a rare shot you've got there and had me scratching my head for a few seconds till I realized it's actually 1967 and it's Allan Herridge.  The slingshot is the one he ran in '65 and '66 first called the DD Cadillac, then Pulsation, and in your pic it's called Motorvation and the Caddy lump has been replaced by a nitro injected 301 Chevy running direct drive.  He only ran it like that from the '67 August Championship meet till the end of the year as in '68 he debuted a new longer chassis with the same engine and still called Motorvation just to confuse the issue."

 

B/CA5 was Ed Gurney's Hush-Too 5300cc Buick-powered Ford Pop.

 

 

 

 

R Johnson's Wild Cat 5350cc Chrysler-powered Model T shaping up against Hush-Too.

 

 

This is Ian Garbutt's High Fever B Class competition altered which featured a 6100cc Buick engine.
You can also see it in the picture centre below racing against Megalomania.

 

Megalomania was a pretty odd-looking car but I suppose you could say it had been altered for competition.  Apparently the body was based on an MGB sports car.  It was powered by a big old 6489cc Chevy, Keith Sales was the driver.

 

Clive Lingard's Zodiac racing Gold Rush ran in the CC class of the Competition Altered Division and was driven by Patrick Church.  The powerplant was a Ford V8 displacing 4727cc.

 

Most people would associate the name of Barry Sheavills with the the Austin Ruby-bodied Stagecoach altered.  However, it started life in the hands of Tony Ellison at which time it was fitted with a 3500cc Jaguar lump.

 

 

This competition altered was powered by a 3781cc Jaguar and featured Triumph bodywork.  Bill McGrath was the driver and he called the car Gloink - as you do.

 

 

In the foreground is John Wright's Austin-bodied car which was called Kool Kams.
Power came from a Jaguar engine of 3781cc.  That is Bill McGrath in Gloink in the far lane.

 

 

Cliff Jones is in the near lane driving Opus One powered by a V8 Daimler hemi.
The roundy-round car in the other lane is the 997cc Ford-powered racing car of Maurie Thomas which was classed as a Comp Altered in 1967.

 

E/CA4 was Peter Price's Jagular Ford Pop which is quoted in the competitor listings as being powered by a 1775cc Jaguar which seems very small for a Jag.
C/CA13 was B Gibson's 3442cc Jaguar-powered Wild Thing.

 

Hustler was a much-modified BSA Scout with a serious 7002cc Chevrolet engine transplant.
Various people drove Hustler over the years including its builder  Mark Stratton.

 

More of the US Commando Drag Racing Team - two matching Ford Mustangs driven by Jim Ludiker and Mark Yurek.

 

 

The Commando team also brought over a pair of Plymouth Barracudas and here we see them and the two Mustangs four abreast.

 

Clive Skilton went on to drive fuel dragsters and funny cars with great success but for the 1967 Whitsun meeting at Santa Pod he entered two rather more modest rides.
This picture shows him driving his 997cc Ford-powered HRG Opus which he called Henry's T.  His other entry was his E-Type Jaguar in which he won Top Street Eliminator.

 

 

B/SA6 The Van from Uncle was driven by Ken Stevens who sat under a roll bar in the back loading area.  Power was provided by a big Pontiac V8.
The car's name was derived from a TV series of the period called the Man from Uncle.

 

Moonraker was an exhibition bike powered by a unique flat four engine designed by Archie Butterworth intended for use in Formula 1 comprising four single cylinder Manx Norton engines.
It was ridden by Ian Richardson and Pete Allen, Dave Hirons was the mechanic.

 

 

B/CS2 was a 1250cc Harley Davidson ridden by P Gray.
If you want to know what that device is the marshal is using click here for the low-down from a man who really ought to know - none other than multiple champion and record holder John Hobbs.

Did you think that wearing a mask to guard against nitro fumes was a modern thing?
Well here is the proof that the practice was started way back in the 1960s.

The Indian Chief on the left is Brian Holms who was the Chief Starter for the BHRA.
Stu Bradbury (on the right of shot) took over from Brian when he emigrated to California.

 

 

I have spent quite some time trawling through the excellent Event Entry Lists section of Jon Spoard's UK Drag Racing Nostalgia site in order to get information on the cars and bikes included in this page.
I have also been heavily thumbing Brian Taylor's book 'Crazy Horses - The history of British drag racing' which is an invaluable source of information.
Thanks also to drag racing guru Nick Pettitt for providing further information on some of the cars.

 

All material on this site is copyright
and should not be reproduced without permission

   

Click here to          

 

Return to the Site Map    

visit Peter's website        

Navigate through the Peter Quinn
Collection