Dick,
Only flaw in that theory is the first chopped tops pre-dated the idea of
roll bars, cages and driver protection ... not macho enough. It took the
death of the driver of a lakester in the 50's to require the roll hoop to
even be over the top of the driver's head on the salt. There was no cross
bracing required either. The latest change that moved the front hoop 3"
forward of the front of the helmet was in the 90's. Look at Goldenrod or
the Mickey Thompson car ... they'd never get to inspection today. Lots of
the special construction cars as late as the 70's had bad driver protection.
A look at Formula 1, Indy cars and other sport racing cars running at
historic races today will scare you to death. They were the model for
everyone on driver protection in their day. This is an area where NASCAR
has really been the leader and it took many deaths and the resulting bad PR
for them to require the change. I'd be willing to bet that Tom Bryant had
to do all kinds of modifications on the Pierson coupe's roll cage to bring
it up to Bonneville requirements as he campaigned it over the years.
Wes
on 7/22/01 6:55 AM, Dick J at lsr_man@yahoo.com wrote:
> Truth be told Jim, you're not alone. In fact, I
> think that might be how chopped tops really got
> invented. By the time the tubing was "CORRECTLY"
> cut and fit, the top bar was half way down the
> windshield and side windows, and it proved easier
> to just chop the top down to the level of the
> main hoops rather than re-do the cage.
>
> hee hee hee
>
> Dick J
> In East Texas
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