Growing up at the dragstrip was a little boys dream come true. I can’t put into words how exciting this time of my life was. Getting to walk around the pits and check out all of the cars was the coolest thing ever. This experience cast an indelible impression on my psyche, I’ll always be drawn to the aesthetics of this era.
Banned by the NHRA in 1976 the AA Altered dragsters continue to run as nostalgia or exhibition cars. In short they were/are the baddest cars on the planet and obtaining a licence to drive one was/is the hardest to acquire. They have no suspension, just an engine on rails. My dad says he felt every bump in the track running over 200mph in a 1/4 mile in 8 seconds. This ride had a blown alcohol 392 Hemi up front.
My dad bought this car off his buddy Kenny Beauchemin. Kenny became better know for his Boss Blue pulling tractor sponsored by Labatts. I used to go over to his garage with my dad and hang out there sometimes. He had a great selection of tools, we borrowed his fancy welder once to fix one of my bike parts I broke.
My mom, Greg and myself up at a car show. Check out my sweet bellbottoms lol! The leather jacket was cool though.
Jaws 2 was a 1949 Fiat Topolino. The Big Block Chevy 402 pushing 450hp ran low 11’s.
I always loved the colour combo and gold rims on this car.
Half the fun was waiting for my dad to come back down the access lane back to the pits. We would cheer him as he went by. Based on his Z28 towing him this would be 1981 or 1982.
Minutes after this photo was taken I got to drive Jaws onto the car trailer. All of that power vibrating through my entire body, I get a rush still just thinking about it. I was around 10 years old give or take.
Evolution of a race car. The 1972 Chevrolet Vega GT wagon started out with a 350 under the hood.
This cool little hot rod is taking shape.
The split bumper and grill from a 1970 Chevrolet Z28 bolted right in. Leave it to my dad to figure that out.
With all of the lights and signals operational it wasn’t totally illegal to drive on the street. The exhaust note was a different story. I think this very day my dad took the Vega for a quick burn downtown. The Police stopped him but only because they wanted to check out the car!
That’s some Canadiana right there. Sweet Mr. Speed logo too!
My dad’s rival at the track, Clarence Hunko in his 1970 Chevrolet Camaro. I can’t remember what I had for lunch yesterday but I can remember that.
Jaws finished with a blown alcohol 331 Chevy block under the hood. Well I guess it poked up through the hood when the hood was installed.
The final paint scheme for Jaws.
This is a 1949 Ford Anglia from England. It had a fibreglass flip front end and two fibreglass racing seats. That’s a blown alcohol Small Block Chevy poking out of the hood.
Treat me Mean! Pretty easy to accomplish with my dad behind the wheel. A 9″ Ford rear end helped put the power to the ground.