69 Camaro Drag Car

[Charles]

Thanks Stefano for the details. It is unclear if the Al Olster Camaro began as a 396 or a 427. The Camaro had SS emblems and "427" was also put on the cowl hood. Al Olster was the runner-up with Dave Strickler in the WCS Super Stock points in 1970. When two of the Jenkins cars went to Dallas for the finals they had installed the drive train from Al Olster's car in the Strickler SS/J car. The NHRA officials would not allow Dave Strickler to race the car because he had not run an automatic in the car at any of the WCS meets. Bill Jenkins ran into the same problem with his SS/C Camaro that arrived with a trick automatic transmission. For the same reason he could not run with the automatic setup. He converted the car back to a 4 speed but could not come close to the record that had been set by Arlen Vanke. While Dave Strickler had gone 10.97 there was the potential to go even faster because the chassis setup for the 4 speed SS/J car was not the same as Al's automatic Camaro chassis setup.
Later 1970 would turned out to be a pretty good year for Dave Strickler when he became the first Pro Stock Champion in Division One. He accomplished this with the spare Jenkins Competition 1970 1/2 Camaro. Jenkins ended up tied for fourth place with John Petrie.

[Musclecarkid]

Hey Jeff, That pic of Al Olster vs. Ray Allen looks like it was taken at Maple Grove Dragway in PA. I have a simular photo taken when Ray Allen won the S/S Circuit Meet on August 8, 1970. This is shown in the August 21, 1970 issue of "Drag News". That cross-over bridge in the back ground is the key to identifing the track. Can anybody on this board make a quality photo copy on glossy paper and send one to me? Many of you know I'm researching the Ray Allen SS/EA LS6 Chevelle convertible. I've started a cool web page if you want to see it, click on musclecarkids profile, then on home page. Thanks a lot for your help guys.......Kevin

[Clint_69]

Does anybody have a name or contact info on any photographers that may have taken pictures at the New York National Dragway in the late 60s or early 70s? Anybody collect or sell pictures in the area?

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

An old-school photography outfit named "PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAN ELLIOTT" surely took pics of your car being raced at NYIR.

Didn't VITAR sponsor a pair of NJ Mopars in '69, one being a station wagon? I think the pics are in one of the SSDI's with the Yenko Camaro or Chevelle tests.

BTW, I have the phone # for the guy we spoke about yesterday, I'll try to call him tonight to see what he knows about the orange COPO from Wallace Chev!

[Clint_69]

That is excellent Marlin. I certainly appreciate the help. Keep me posted on your findings. Thanks again.

[Clint_69]

Marlin,
Do you know where this photography outfit is located or if they are still in business?

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Actually, I do not. There was a stamp on the back of one of the pictures that I purchased at the funny car reunion last month at Englishtown, NJ. Maybe JoeC or Brian Potter has some additional info on these old photographers, since they got lots of good pics as well [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Salvatore]

Charles, You got the Grump group down pat! You must be an old Division 1 racer. I think when they took Olsters drive train out of his car to go into Stricklers, was the first time they removed the 302 for the big block. Daves car started out as an early 1969 Z/28 with a flat hood. Saw him run at Cecil and Maplegrove with that car often. I don't think the 302 made it back into the car. Sam [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/[/img]

[Verne_Frantz]

Clint,
I'd suggest you contact Joel Naprstek for early photos.
[email protected]

Verne.

[Mike]

What did they do with Al's car? Did they sell it off or run it the next year with a different motor? Anybody know?

Mike