(first posted 7/17/2011) Here’s a quarter-mile trip down memory lane. A professionally-made film documenting getting to and participating in the 1959 Nationals in Detroit, in the tail end of the era before before the big-bucks pros dominated the sports. Lots of unique hot vintage machinery, not to mention the plain old cars.
Saturday Cinema: Ingenuity In Action – The Long Road To The 1959 NHRA Nationals
– Posted on August 1, 2015
I really, really want that hemi-powered 51 or 52 Chrysler Town & Country.
Ironic too: a hemi-powered tow car pulling a Chevy-powered dragster.
This is actually a September 1959 event, not 1958 — the date appears on a sign at some point in the film. In that context, it’s interesting to see an appearance by Ed Cole — that was just weeks before his project, the Corvair, was released to the public.
And Tex Colbert not long before his time was up as President of Chrysler.
Also interesting, after watching the whole film, to be reminded of how dominant GM was in those years. To look at the background cars it was a sea of GM iron with a few Fords and even fewer Mopars sprinkled in.
You’d think with all those 59 GM cars, I’d have noticed that the youtube title was wrong.
As per most motor sport competition tyre technology was holding back performance, great film of early drag racing.
Whoa 500 horses, better hold on tight cowboy!!
My Dad and one of his friends very well might be in that video. They ran a Rail at the Nats in 59. I’m not going to wake him tonite but I’ll make him watch it when I visit tomorrow.
I’d watched this fillum a couple times before it showed up on CC.
The dragsters were interesting, but I liked the part of the fillum showing the Dragmasters’ trip across the country from Cali to Detroit in days before there were many interstate hiways. Every car you see on the road is a classic waiting to be born, even the pickups.
Interestingly, Jim Nelson, one of the founders of Dragmasters, lived to a ripe, old age, passing about three years ago at 84.
http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2012/05/11/jim-nelson-drag-racing-pioneer-dies/
Fun to see this–a real snapshot of its time.
At 26:00, is that push car a gold-tone ’59 Pontiac (one of yesterday’s featured CC cars)?