“INGENUITY IN ACTION” HOT RODS & DRAG RACING 1959 NHRA NATIONALS DETROIT, MICHIGAN XD43294

[@stanburdick9708]

Such beautiful days crew cuts and no stinkin tatoos😝thanx sid

[@andrewnewman1248]

You have to admire these people they didn’t have an iPhone they had cine film. Very well done to capture the roots of the sport. Regards from Australia 🇦🇺

[@jimmycline4778]

22:25 That was my dad racing back then, John Cline!

[@bg147]

Love these old films and the classic motel with pool.

[@kennethjohnson6319]

I watched the NHRA drag racing on Wide World of Sports in the sixties i used to buy a lot of magazines about drag racing i liked the cars they used in drag racing in the 1959

[@stxrynn]

I had a subscription to Car Craft when I was a teenager. I remember those days as good ones. Always a buddy's car to work on.

[@franksmodels29]

Back in the day when the little guy could enjoy drag racing ..

[@BrokeDownBob]

You are so right!

[@texasredneck9226]

I agree had a buddy name Lee, ran a '56 Chevy 210. Held records with for several years in NHRA, AHRA & IHRA. Same engine and drive train, constantly updated! Was an ABSOLUTE TERROR around DFW area with a HEMI CUDA Friday & Saturday night meet ups!

[@baconsarny-geddon8298]

It's true that can't really race Top Fuel without big money, these days. But there's still buttloads of 'nostalgia' classes, where you can still race any car in this video (maybe with minor changes for safety, esp with bigger engines). Or 'bracket racing', or smaller engine classes, where it's not that expensive to get to a competitive level. There's way more classes of racing/cars today, so sure, if you only want the big, glamourous comps, you need millions. But if you just want to build stuff, and race it, it's still pretty within reach.

[@texasredneck9226]

Mine were '64 Impala SS, '63 Impala SS. Then last was a '55 Belair 210 series. It had been (now Ex) wife's Grandmother's. Had 54k on the dial but it had been parked under a weeping willow for several years. Old 235-6 hadn't been well maintained. She had had two accidents left front then right rear. East Texas body shop must have been self taught. Developed a bubble on that quarter panel. Took my grinder with 30grit disk to it. Quarter had been sectioned, blob welded inplace. Then filled with a gallon of plastic without straightening. What a mess! Same knothead repaired front fender then blob welded back on! I'm FISHER Body trained. It made me sick! Anyway got it cleaned up and under greys primer. Hung a .040 over 283 with 11to 1 pistons, Crower cam, Edelbrock, Holly, Blackjack headers & Lakewood shield appropriate drive train withr Lakewood ProStock adjustable traction bars... Didn't like it, so I got with Earl Holt

[@texasredneck9226]

He help me build a fully Blueprinted .060 over 327. That was an awesome set up.

[@mikehurricane5767]

Wow ! Very cool ! My Uncle Anthony , may he rest in peace . Was a mechanical genius ! He would by junk cars and turn them into street rods , that couldn't be beat . He had a shop at his house that was absolutely amazing . If a part was not available . He would make it ! And yes , a true Master Mechanic ! Great video !

[@ripemm5737]

I hope for your sake that you learned a lot from your Uncle Anthony, I blew the opportunity when I was a young teenager to learn from my neighbor R.T. Reed.he owned a fuel altered in the mid 60s to early 70s and I was to busy being young & dumb

[@mikehurricane5767]

@@ripemm5737 Well yes I did my Friend ! I started help build and drive race cars by 15 years old . Just loved the rush of a maxed out car . Tell ya what though , when you hit 165 mph many would cut loose on ya . Most factory suspensions just couldn't handle the horsepower . Lol !! Thanks,,,,

[@BeingRomans829ed]

The music sounds like "snack time" intermission at the drive-in👍🍔🍟🥤

[@ShortBusScotty]

The hay-day of backyard mechanics. My dad had a room full of trophies.

[@brentjames9388]

My dad was an auto mechanic by trade, I was two years old in 1959 he would’ve been 26 and they had a really nice group of guys, I think they called themselves the Centurions Coats the whole deal, I think they ran a model “A” Rod.

[@markc4768]

I had so many trophies for class and sportsman eliminator in DIV2 between 1968 and 71 that after lining an entire garage wall, I started leaving them at the exit gate for somebody to collect up...

[@Senna-xi1gr]

This is golden footage which must never be forgotten or deleted. Thanks for uploading. Fantastic 👍🇬🇧🏆

[@wapartist]

What an absolutely awesome era of racing. Thanks for providing the footage

[@phillipthethird42]

Old drag race film is rare. It's always interesting to watch. Thanks for posting on youtube.

[@stevemellin5806]

I was born in 1959 . watching all the great stuff I missed

[@conspiracyscholor7866]

I was born in 91. Missed a lot.

[@markwilliams5606]

When Everything was American made. Great Memories. Detroit Dragway. Ram Chargers Detroit Muscle 🇺🇸💪

[@DonaldWesterdale]

Dad drove Ramchargers dragster BITD. Sister and I spent our early youth at Detroit Dragway. Fond memory of riding in the push car.

[@markfrench8892]

Ah, the 1950s, when drag racing was the exciting and much more colorful.

[@theoldbigmoose]

Ah, the 50's when life made sense! What a great time of life it was!

[@larryj1143]

I was there! Three of us drove from Lincoln, NE to Detroit, MI to attend and take photos. We had Press Passes from one of the TV stations in Lincoln. We spent the vast majority of our time in the pit area talking with crews and drivers.

[@hodaka1000]

How old are you ?

[@flannigan7956]

@@hodaka1000 lol "are you probably male, American? Do you presumably use hamburgers, soda? Bet your hair was pretty short, huh?"

[@hodaka1000]

@@flannigan7956 Yeah, nah we call you septics, not really, sometimes Why are you bald ?

[@flannigan7956]

@@hodaka1000 used quotation marks since they were more questions to ask the guy in addition to how old he is

[@hodaka1000]

@@flannigan7956 I asked Larry one simple question So besides baldness WTF is your problem ?

[@michaelmartinez1345]

Such a great time for those who had dreams & ambitions to build something really unique... Great sportsmanship too, between the competitors...

[@76629online]

I would gladly give up everything that I have to be plopped down in the middle of this scene in 1959.

[@SomeGuyInSandy]

You aren't alone brother.

[@phoenix21studios]

instantly arrested for being naked in public :P

[@ixlr8677]

yea with 1 of forces funny cars and plenty of parts.

[@incrediblesimilarity5858]

Marty McFly went back to nineteen fifty-five, I'm sure Doc Brown could get you back to 1959. Then after one day of racing, and you're stuck in 1959 , you'd be aware of the big mistake you made. Be careful what you wish for. 😉

[@breakingames7772]

you'd go to prison because they would think your a Russian spy the second you whip your phone out forgetting cell phones are not invented yet and everyone starts staring at you, or you could bring a tesla model r that accelerates faster than a McClaren and tell everyone you built it in your garage. You'd have your pick of ladies, but remember this is way before chicks trimmed their private area, so its bush city for you!

[@mudduck754]

I was at that race. Okay mom was 6 months pregnant with me but I was there.

[@drysori]

In the late 50's early 60's my mother took me and my brothers to Lions Drag Strip in Long Beach CA, to watch races much like this one.

[@blkft]

Brutha, that is one COOL Mom! 👍

[@CarsandCats]

Pretty awesome video. My Dad was a drag racer back in 1959.

[@MisterGravelrama]

20:50 Art Arfons pre-tractor pulling days. Already experimenting so it would appear. Super cool.

[@tpetry1303]

Thank you for sharing this. More videos like this please.

[@theaffiliate4208]

Ahhh... I was just a small bundle when this was filmed. My uncle was drag racing in Washington in 61 - 65 until a motorcycle accident. I remember riding in the car as the pushed it around the pitts.

[@texasredneck9226]

My Dad and his brothers were all "Lead foot Louie's"! I came by it by association.

[@20alphabet]

Back when America was great !

[@onazram1]

When the average guy could compete, before big dollar sponsorship...

[@20alphabet]

@@onazram1 Got that right !

[@Omahamaho]

anyone remember that old episode of Gumby where he races around an oval in hot rods like these

[@McCatshot]

It’s hilarious the caravan is driving like 40 MPH through the desert LOL

[@tomlee432]

Growing up in detroit in the sixties , detroit dragway was a weekend staple in our family. My uncle owned a gas station and was a great mechanic. He would enlist my dad and other family members to be his pit crew and would run there 4 or 5 times every season. You could take your own cooler that had mom's hotdogs and sandwiches in them and my dad would bring his strohs beer. You were right in the action. Everyone was cool and helped each other. No stupid sponsers and big business, it was flat out run whatcha brung. Sure some teams had more money and time but it did not mean an automatic win. Those boys fabricated some wild cars back then and it was a hell of lot more fun. It was a sad day when the old dragway went down. We need more of this today. Give these damn millennials something to do besides push buttons and play video games.

[@bumfit5491]

Everybody drove classic cars ! It was boss man way boss !

[@AirborneAnt]

Those “kisses” would be lawsuits today lol

[@mirrorblue100]

It wasn't a kiss - it was a mauling.

[@rossbryan6102]

AT THE TIME OF THIS MOVIE BEING MADE, I WAS BUILDING MY FIRST STREET ROD, A 33 DODGE PICKUP!!😃😃🛠🛠😃😃

[@tricitiesair]

Now an average Top Fuel dragster runs 330 mph and has a 0-60 time of less than a second. Drag racing has come a long way.

[@RichyN25]

such simpler times, oh how it would've been nice to be able to work a single job and provide for yourself, a family, and hobbies

[@michaelsteven1090]

Forget the hot-rods..I like all those stock daily drivers..

[@rickbrandt9559]

And the girls!!!!!!!!!!

[@GrumpyGenXGramps]

I lived in Gainesville, FL from ages 12 to 40 and used to Bracket Race at the Gainesville Raceway, Gatornationals, every weekend! Now you have to be a friggin MILLIONAIRE or get a ton of corporate sponsors to even be competitive! Lots of Working Class Guys back then. I ran a 10.20 69’ GTO and a 11second 82 Grand Prix. I only raced what I drove to the track!

[@markc4768]

I began following the Nationals as a kid in 1958 and got to participate in one. . I thought i had seen all the old Nats films on KZbin, but this is one of the best. Lots of familiar names - especially Bernie Partridge A/R who gave Garlits "Big Daddy" at around 20:20. He and Dave McCleland were the voice of NHRA for may years. also class winner "George Montgomery" before he was christened "Ohio" by McClelland.... at 19:44 the blue 348 '59 Chevy was one of the very earliest Super Stock which eventually evolved into FX to Pro stock on one side of the family tree and Funny Car on the other. For all its hype, the NATS played second fiddle to the 59 March Meet at Bakersfield...

[@bobhoffman5581]

One of Ohio George Montgomery's gassers is in The Henry Ford, (Museum) in Dearborn, Michigan. At least it was, in 2009... lol

[@orionwarren4244]

so cool seeing all these vintage vehicles running Route 66 across country instead or I-10 or 40. Except they're NOT vintage and I-10 or 40 doesn't exist yet. Which makes this even COOLER! LoL

[@angelo_giachetti]

Beginning of supercharging must have been exciting.

[@jameshutchins3396]

Before mega bucks. What a great time

[@hotrodswoodshed7405]

at 18:35 that appears to my eyes as a roller cam lobes! also according to his comment... "twisted a lifter" would seem to indicate a roller tappet. common place today...2021... but id say VERY RARE when this was shot

[@stephenp8086]

Aircraft engines had roller lifter years be for that, Late 30s.

[@rotaxtwin]

@@stephenp8086 Yeah I was studying the camshaft too, was surprised to see the size & shape of those lobes. Bet he was hoping for no damage, a replacement would be a big deal I figure.

[@bg147]

The Arfons Green Monster was a beast.

[@mirrorblue100]

Dawn of the golden age in drag racing before money killed it around 1970.

[@markdavis2475]

Interesting to see Art Arfons. I didn't realise all his cars were called Green Monster. Great to see these snippets of history are online now. Also, I wonder when the bosses of the big car makers last went to a drag meet!

[@ixlr8677]

when winning on sunday dident effect the masses.

[@windwhipped5]

My ole man had his car runnin but didnt participate in the nationals until 61' i wish he were alive today to see these..Im guessin he ran against a few of the folks that were seen in this doc 2 years later, with his D/Gas 57' Chevy..Joe Hrudka (later Mr Gasket) won the class that year with his 57' Chevy..🤙

[@Playsinvain]

Light poles line the strip!

[@bumfit5491]

I still have pictures of me driving the “Thunderbolt grease slapper “

[@conspiracyscholor7866]

What engine were you running?

[@samkendall8471]

Opening scene...the parking lot..every car there was just as Cool as the old dragster! This is real drag racing. Not this commercial shit we have today. cars built in garages By five or six buddies. Raced on the weekend. Run what you brung!! Wish I was 17 and in my Home state of Texas. In 1959. Even tho I wasn't born until 1968 lol! Great video 👍👍

[@loumontcalm3500]

Where all the Willys Americars ended up! Ed Iskenderian still around at 100 yo

[@garymckee448]

Had an Isky cam in a 74 Charger SE 400 glad to hear Ed's still around.

[@Elodea]

Wow! Art Arfons and the original Green Monster. Gaby Bleecker. Flag starts, no Christmas tree, no pre-staged/staged lights. 9 second gas runs.

[@theoldbigmoose]

Looks like no burn outs either... I didn't realize how long Art Arfons has been campaigning the Green Monster till this film.

[@Elodea]

@@theoldbigmoose I agree. There were several iterations of the Green Monster. I had no idea Arfons had been in the sport for so long.

[@nhragold1922]

Man we came a long way

[@larrysune2659]

Cool old film, back in the day before 800hp 4 door Dodge Chargers

[@welcome741]

A lone hay bale in front of the telephone pole, clearly thinking about safety also evolved.

[@tinman5322]

I never realized snout mounted blowers were the norm.

[@BigBisalreadytaken]

They couldn't see otherwise.

[@carlthornton3076]

Very Good!..

[@tinman5322]

Was that Smokey leaning against the phone pole at 19:20??

[@andrewroberthook3310]

Good days

[@rd47blog]

thxs

[@bradscott3165]

Detroit Dragway... Sibley at Dix!

[@Supernumerary]

Brad- That radio commercial is permanently burned into my brain.

[@genepeppers3657]

Sibley at Dix on CKLW Radio

[@bobhoffman5581]

Detroit Dragway is just a warehouse/car storage type facility now, I believe. A good friend was driving his semi tractor locally, and when he delivered a trailer there after the new operation was first up and running, he took the time to climb the stairs to the timimg tower, still standing at the time, to check it out...

[@jimmycline4778]

19:56 That man has to 14 ft tall! Those other guys come up to his crotch! UNREAL!!!! He’s a monster!

[@ixlr8677]

uh think hes standin on something.

[@napalmholocaust9093]

Ford used get pretty hot about finding experimental parts that were never sold on drag cars. Ask my step-pappy about his early retirement in 1960.

[@timvandenbrink4461]

Sounds like an interesting story to be told!

[@overcastfriday81]

Wow...the willys with a gasser stance was already tried before 1960. Just another case where one decade takes credit from the previous decade.

[@TheManDownstairs13]

That music though . . .

[@bumfit5491]

Less then 10 second quarter mile ! Those were the days….

[@bobhoffman5581]

P.S. Wally Booth's father in law ran an Impala, with the proverbial 409/dual quad/4 speed setup; they had trophies from DD in their front window, in their living room. lol

[@Omahamaho]

8:08 DAMN look at that giant bastard lol

[@ixlr8677]

green monster.

[@leighwhittaker7278]

Hello Mrs Linley

[@larrysune2659]

Would of loved to see some times

[@Carolinaishome]

A quarter mile at a time...through a place called, The Twilight Zone

[@jontiffinphoto]

Who’d of thought Rod Sterling was a speed junkie!

[@SomeGuyInSandy]

"The Canadian area" LOL

[@joejohnston2035]

No Studder boxes !!! back when it (drag racing )was dangerous and sex was safe .. other way around these days lol

[@russellzauner]

FIND A TRASHCAN NICK damn litter bug

[@ericgood9073]

Can you imagine what could have been then having the technology of today?? I mean, damn!! Engines turning over 8,000 rpm back then was almost unheard of. It’s a norm today. 10,000 hp on nitro back then?? They’d be shitting bricks!!

[@nobodynoone2500]

Legalize Racing Again!

[@Tomcaatt]

( before they figured out that spinning tires makes you have slower end times , and backing down power at times was what actually made you win , before “Big Daddy” came along and taught em ALL ( especially the California “in”crowd ) how to stop blowing up and wasting all those expensive parts , (that he would secretly re-use then beat them with).

[@jimeditorial]

Was that the Arfons Green Monster at the OK meet?

[@glitchnyrmatrix7296]

170.45 mph in under 10 seconds. In those days everybody was thinking there was no way anything could go faster than that. Today you about 335 mph somewhere around three and a half seconds and I'm thinking, there's no way anything could go much faster than that. Will they be doing 670 mph in a second and a half 60 years from now? I'm sure Jesus will come before that happens.

[@tightlines106]

60yrs before this film was made everyone was still using horse and cart to get around

[@ronmcmartin4513]

@6:20--Far Right side of screen, 27 cents per gallon for gas. How did they survive those High Prices??

[@cmintsurfer]

That's one of many Underwoods BBQ that were scattered around Central and North Texas.

[@stephenp8086]

Only made 2.50 to 3.00 bucks an hour back then.

[@ronmcmartin4513]

@@stephenp8086--Min. Wage was around $1

[@johnvrabec9747]

Yeah, I was born in 58, my Dad worked for the railroad making $1/50 an hour. Gas prices never really changed much until the 70's.

[@Petequinn741]

From infancy to late 70s drag racing was so much fun. Any guy with a garage and some creativity could do it. Sad drag racing is only for the well off or factory sponsor now

[@joshuagibson2520]

Never heard of no prep or street racing?

[@the_mowron]

That paint job on the El Camino was a bit garish for my taste.

[@ZoruaZorroark]

i wonder if that bbq place in amarillo is still there

[@RIVERINE]

We had an Underwoods bbq in Lawton,OK when I was growing up. Long gone now.

[@joedial9317]

That is where that Big Texan steakhouse started out.

[@dorfsteen]

Hey so how's your Twisted cam lifter?

[@wendalwarren6131]

So did the producers of this film have the music written for it? How does that work?

[@loumontcalm3500]

There were businesses that provided background music libraries. Still are.

[@timmensch3601]

Car at 14:03 is it turbocharged or a centrifugal supercharge

[@ionhunter]

Today its GONE! Gil Kohn and promoter Ben Christ came up with the radio commercial "Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!" . This ad is used to promote events to this day. The Summer Nationals of 1978 set the largest amount in prize money ever awarded at the track of $40,000. A typical weekend crowd was around 30,000 spectators. The track went downhill starting in the 1980s. In 1991 the weekend spectator turnout was around 500. The track was to be renovated with a multimillion-dollar deal in 1994. Local politics never gave the track a chance to do so. The last year for the track was 1998.-----Wikipedia

[@bobhoffman5581]

"Take Telegraph Road, to Sibley; drive one mile East, to Dix!" LOL

[@burtbenz9964]

Yea so cali s in d troit!

[@burtbenz9964]

traits! Whakked

[@burtbenz9964]

Music not dope

[@burtbenz9964]

500 hp wow

[@burtbenz9964]

8k hp now

[@burtbenz9964]

Cooooll movie

[@devaraju8424]

16:17 why they are rubbing tyres

[@myfavoritemartian1]

Today, there is a water box and you get to warm up and clean your tires. Back then the pits were dirt and rocks. He was wiping down the tires before a run. A little later we did gasoline burn outs. (With the gas on fire!)

[@grimheathen]

cleans the debris off for a little better traction.

[@stephenp8086]

@@myfavoritemartian1 Flaming burn outs!

[@rlikemoney]

Is that a supercharger on the front of the engine at 15:36? If it is I've never seen anything like it

[@myfavoritemartian1]

Yes, that was a roots blower driven direct off the crankshaft. Many have tried it, but few got it to work well.

[@stephenp8086]

@@myfavoritemartian1 Didn't it run off the cam shaft.

[@myfavoritemartian1]

@@stephenp8086 The cam runs at half crankshaft speed, and there would not be enough boost. Even running direct coupled off the crank, the boost is marginal. What you see is the gear drive to step up the blower speed.

[@antony716]

Jesus, those cars are really close to the runway! Oh, nevermind

[@tsumacity]

why did they leave those trees in front of the runway!

[@megatrends]

Detroit used to be the richest city in the world.

[@anthonyc417]

Ain't nothing but a bunch of squares

[@DL-ry3qg]

All those “squares “ were tougher than any of the basement dwellers of today

[@anthonyc417]

@@DL-ry3qg Hey pal its just a joke set in the timeframe. I for one though dig the ratrods of the era far more then the full on show dragsters. My grandfather drove an MG at the time and would literally run from the police on the daily. The squares had there place but the rebels were legend.

[@mercoid]

The Canadian area

[@neuro518]

I was a kid in that era and I remember everything about it except the cars seemed faster and the music couldn't have been that awful.

[@the_mowron]

They were doing et's in the low 9's. That's still really fast. They don't have traction control, the super fancy clutches, auto transmissions, nitro-methane fuel, or the traction compound on the track (I think, the film didn't really explain it very well).

[@thirdvisiongarage9148]

Sounds like Rod Sterling

[@robinandrew5776]

Great film as always, love to watch them. Shame about the horrific time stamp put across it, very distracting.

[@PeriscopeFilm]

Here's the issue: Tens of thousands of films similar to this one have been lost forever -- destroyed -- and many others are at risk. Our company preserves these precious bits of history one film at a time. How do we afford to do that? By selling them as stock footage to documentary filmmakers and broadcasters. If we did not have a counter, we could not afford to post films like these online, and no films would be preserved. It's that simple. So we ask you to bear with the watermark and timecodes. In the past we tried many different systems including placing our timer at the bottom corner of our videos. What happened? Unscrupulous KZbin users downloaded our vids, blew them up so the timer was not visible, and re-posted them as their own content! We had to use content control to have the videos removed and shut down these channels. It's hard enough work preserving these films and posting them, without having to spend precious time dealing with policing thievery -- and not what we devoted ourselves to do. Love our channel and want to support what we do? You can help us save and post more orphaned films! Support us on Patreon: www.patreon.com/PeriscopeFilm Even a really tiny contribution can make a difference.

[@justdoi8909]

and not a fat body in sight.

[@iowa_don]

Oh to take a Tesla Model S Plaid back to 1959 and show them what the future looks like and potentially beat every car there.

[@tricitiesair]

No chargers. You'll be out of luck.

[@iowa_don]

@@tricitiesair They had 220 even WAY back in 1959. That’s all you need.

[@BigBisalreadytaken]

The first cars were electric...

[@maplemanz]

When America was great minus the Jim crow laws and discrimination.

[@stxrynn]

Lots of old engines, but not many pre-40's cars. All the junkers were melted down during WW2... Those old Dem's sure didn't want to let go of old Crow, did they?