I bought my paperback copy of "Challenger" MANY years ago, when it
first came out, and it is one of the "TOP TEN" in my entire automotive
library.....a very inspirational book to me, and many other hot rodders, I'm
sure ! He was the builder and driver of so many fabulous and record holding
cars, including a chopped Bantam coupe with two flatheads ( think it also ran
with a hemi Chrysler / flathead ) that I recalled with the recent mention
here on the list of rear engine / twin engine coupes. "Assualt 1" and the
"Kilomonster" twin blown Pontiac were two other cars Mickey built that are
among my all time favorite drag and lakers / salt cars. I was fortunate to
see and photograph both " Assault " and its little brother, " Attempt 1", at
the 1997 Bakersfield Hot Rod Reunion. I also got to check out and shoot a
whole lot of film of my favorite competition hot rod : the fantastic "Speed
Sport Roadster" out of Blue Island, IL and later, Tucson, AZ ! Owner /
driver, Red Greth was a great help by removing the engine cover so I could
get photos of the carburated version ( Speed Spot 1 ) hemi Chrysler and by
answering my many questions on the history and construction of the original
roadster and the all steel replica. I knew of this incredible car, which at
one time held the all out world record for drag cars, since the late 50's. I
first got to see it run in October of 1960 at Sanford, Maine. It was ably
driven by Lyle Fisher that day and was by then the " Speed Sport II" version,
with a bigger hemi, now 6 / 71 blown with Hilborn 2 port injection. The
roadster was called
" Old Noisy" ,with the eight pipes exiting under the turtle deck, and the
nitro inspired sound from them was fantastic !!! Lyle Fisher and the
roadster were touring with Chris Kramesines and his equally fantastic "
Chizler ", the world record holding dragster at that time. Both these cars
put on a great show that day. Sanford dragstrip was a small airport ( with
very long runways ) in rural Maine. There was no lighting , but as dusk fell
the announcer asked all the spectators parked alongside the strip to angle
their cars toward the finish line with their headlighs on. This was quickly
accomplished by the eager crowd, and the last run of the day between these
two nitroholic Chryslers ..... shiny aluminum bodied rail vs. bright orange
rear engined model T roadster ..... In the near total darkness of the Maine
woods, was one of the most memorable and impressive drag races that I have
seen, from the early fifties up to today, including many National events and
big meets !
I never did see one of those rear engined Ts run at the lakes or in my
five
visits to Bonneville ..... they were outlawed by then ...... but I did have
the
good fortune to see the original " Old Noisy " thunder off into the darkness
on that long Maine runway over forty years ago, and meet Red Greth in 1997
and check out his replica of his roadster, as it was when it held the world
record
of 169.11mph, set at Davis Monthan AFB, which I think is near Tucson,
Arizona, and still operational . I do not even remember who won that
exhibition
race so many years ago ...... I do remember that the crowd went wild just
seeing those great cars run ! I sure rambled off of the original subject of
my hero
Mickey Thompson, but it dredged up some wonderful memories from
yesteryear ..... and that is a privilege of all of us greybeards !
Bruce, enjoying our heatwave of 37 *as I finished shoveling the drive
.
PS : An interesting thing about the Chrysler in Red' s replica is that it has
six Strombergs on the dual log manifolds as the original did ...... but they
are just to maintain the right look .....a close look in the valley cover area
reveals that this Chizler is port injected .....another one of Red' s neat
ideas !
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