I guess their will many different stories that will go unnoticed at this weekends Dragstalgia event, but one I do know about is the debut of the Mike Bamber’s Ford 40 in the Gasser Circus class.
In the early 1950’s Southern California Mike Bamber was a young local racer who would drive from high school to campaign his 1940 Ford on the quarter mile, it was the quickest car in Escondido CA where Mike grew up and lived. He continued to campaign the car throughout the 1950s ending its reign in 1959.
Brit Giles Hanauer had always fancied a gasser and went direct to the USA and brought himself a real piece of history. The car was purchased in October last year but it only arrived in the UK on the 16 May, so Dragstalgia will be its first outing.
It has the original speed equipment and hasn’t been modified or altered in any way since it’s last race in 1959. ( It did run at the 2014 antique national in CA ). It has mechanical Hilborn fuel injection. 1937 Cadillac Lasalle gearbox. Vertex magneto. Schiefer aluminium flywheel and clutch A Chevy posi drive rear axle, A V8 tube front axle with drilled front backing plates. All the paint and glass date back to the original build as does the rather worn tuck and roll street rod interior
The car is still has an old Orange County Drag Strip time slip in the drivers side visor showing a 13.24 quarter mile time in 1959.
Giles has never driven anything down a track before and he won’t be the quickest in the class but I’m sure he will have the biggest smile at the bottom of the track.
