The pictures on this page belong to veteran Top Fuel
Motorcycle rider Steve Woollatt,
I
am most grateful to him for allowing me to reproduce them here.
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Click on any image to get the bigger picture |
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Owen Hayward boils the hides on the ex-Paula Murphy Houndog 7 funny car. |
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And now he gets to work on the Tony Nancy-inspired Houndog 8 top fuel dragster . . . |
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. . . before leaving the line hard with the butterflies wide open. |
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Sue (driver) and Dave (crew chief) Coles seen working on their Helzapoppin competition altered. This car started in Middle Competition Altered and finished up as a methanol-burning supercharged Pro Comp runner. |
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Here is the car during part of that long transition running with fuel injection at an NDRC meeting at Blackbushe. |
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Helzapoppin leaves the line in hot pursuit of Jim Read in his rear engined Pro Comp dragster entry. Jim is clearly struggling with the notoriously slick Blackbushe surface. It was very good for photo opportunities and terminal speeds but it really hurt the times of the more powerful cars. |
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As befits the head of a large family, Jim
Read's car was called Le Patron and here it is in the pits receiving some
attention between rounds. Jim Read is on the left of picture with his son Glen
on the right. |
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I was hoping that someone would write in and tell me which of the Read clan is bending over the car in this picture. The mystery is solved - it is definitely Glen Read. How do I know this? From no less an authority than Glen's son Toby, a positive ID if ever there was one! |
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Jim Read prepares to blast his immaculate Dennis Priddle-built rail up the 1320. Steve Read is at the front of the car and Glen is by the cockpit. |
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A fine leaving shot of the car taken at Blackbushe Aerodrome. |
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The location changes to Long Marston (or Shakespeare County Raceway as it is now known) but the burn outs continue. Steve Read is in the bodywarmer on the left of shot. |
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Long Marston again and Jim sits in stage waiting for the merest flicker of a green light. What a lovely car it was. |
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I am guessing that this is the Krypton Pro Comp dragster in the pits at Long Marston. |
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This is the incredible Glacier Grenade 'junior fueller' of Russ Carpenter - 2.5 litres of blown V8 Daimler on a healthy nitro load and amazing 7 second runs resulted. Remember this was the 1980s. |
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Russ launches the Glacier Grenade off the line. |
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A great close-up shot of Mike Kason hazing 'em at Blackbushe. |
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The Stripteaser Jaguar-powered Minivan is a legend in UK drag racing. The Swedes nicknamed it 'the jumping doghouse' because of its wild handling and wheels-up launches. A really great little car. |
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Steve Johnson is still going strong although his current Motor Mouse dragster doesn't look much like this far earlier slingshot entry. |
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The late Alan Ritmeisters laying rubber over some of the Blackbushe runway markings. |
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The full bodied competition altereds of this period began to feature one-piece flip up bodies just like the funny cars. This is Colin Fisher's Themis which featured a Chevy Monza body shell. |
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Pat Cuss getting a push back to the line in his retro-styled Ratcatcher dragster. I am pleased to report that this car was brought up to current specification in 2004 and is expected to return to the track in 2005. |
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Ken Cooper in his Blast from the Past flathead powered dragster at Santa Pod. |
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All material on this site is copyright and should not be reproduced without permission |
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Professional photographer |
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Steve Woollatt was inducted into the |
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