Vintage Drag Car Haulers or Tow Rigs.

[PeteLeathersac]

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~ Pete

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[tom406]

NASCAR bring a buddy hauler

[PeteLeathersac]

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~ Pete

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[1967 4K]

This is a great thread. The era when I got into NHRA Drag Racing. Keep it coming!

[PeteLeathersac]

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~ Pete

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[tom406]

VW piggy back riders.

[olredalert]

----Can't help wondering what "Don Garlits, Troy Michigan" was all about. Anybody know?....Bill S

[Too Many Projects]

Originally Posted by olredalert

----Can't help wondering what "Don Garlits, Troy Michigan" was all about. Anybody know?....Bill S

I was going to ask the same thing....when was Garlits based out of Troy ???

[Xplantdad]

Don Garlits lived in Troy, Michigan for a period of time in the 1960s. He moved his family there in 1965 and lived just down the street from Branstner's place.


During his time in Troy, he was involved in drag racing and even built a car with Emery Cook for Dodge, which was the first plastic-bodied, steel-tubing funny car to exceed 200 MPH in a quarter mile, according to the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing.


From the internet....

[SS427]

Cal Fryer (Zapper68) asked me to post these photos and the story of his 66 L72 Biscayne. Very interesting story at that. The "John's Performance Shop in New Ulm was I believe owned by John Bezdichek. The same gentleman that owned the 1970 Dick Harrell LS6 Camaro that we located in New Ulm many years ago. Very small world we live in today.

(From Cal)
I've been looking for this Minnesota Dragways document for a few days now and finally...here it is dated April 10, 1966.

As indicated on the fourth line from the top is Dick Ribaudo who purchased his new '66 L72 Biscayne from Arrow Chevrolet in Duluth. He had the intention of racing where he ran a 13.03 @ 114.94 in B/S. It appears that was the low ET of the meet, edging out the A/S Dodge which I'm guessing was likely a Hemi.

When I purchased the car 21 years ago, some of the lettering from days gone by was still barely visible on the car such as, 'Good Times Gasser' on the trunk lid and 'John's Performance Shop, New Ulm MN' on the front fenders.

Also visible on the doors is 'Rat Trap' and on the B pillar SS/F...which is a bit of a mystery for me. On the rear quarters is a stylized Road Runner cartoon character...two years before the Road Runner was introduced in '68.

I also have the original headers and ball joint lift kit that came with the car when I bought it. The car sat for years and had only 16,400 original miles, when I was lucky enough to buy it...the odometer now reads 20,145. Sadly, the original owner passed years ago.

The car was featured in the June 1987 edition of Super Chevy Magazine along with another L72 Biscayne. It was from this article that I managed to track down the car and buy it. From what I understand, GM assembled only 184 L72 Bisacynes in 1966 and the gentleman I bought it from had 4 of them at the same time!

Interestingly, the second owner of the car, a gentleman whose brother owned the performance shop in New Ulm, contacted me recently and inquired about buying the car back, a transaction that never materialized.

The other photo of the car being flat towed to the race track by a '55 Chevy is also a mystery to me. It is, by far, the coolest photo I have of the car from back in the day.

I still keep in touch with the gentleman I purchased the car from. He lives in the Duluth area and continues to be active in the car hobby.

One more interesting snippet. Before I brought the car home to Canada, I was at Leroy’s (previous owner in Duluth) for one of his regular Thursday night get-togethers with his car buddies. He had invited Dick Ribaudo’s son Rich to the event to meet me and to see his Dad’s car for the first time. Rich lived close by over in Superior Wisconsin…he had heard about the Biscayne from his Mom but had never seen the car. I gave him the keys and told him to go for a rip and enjoy it, which he did. He was a nice young man the appreciated my gesture and the stories about his Dad’s drag racing days and cruising the streets of Duluth back in the day.
Cheers
Cal