I stumbled into some hot rod history today

[Strychnine]

Anyone that knows me knows I geek out and get a nerd-boner for vintage racing and LSR stuff, so this was me visiting of of those Mecca-like hot rod places.

Once a month or so I take a big road trip through California. Sometimes I start in LA on a Monday and fly out of San Fran or Reno on Friday and sometimes I start in Sacramento on a Monday and fly out of Orange County or Burbank on a Friday.

This afternoon I had a meeting with a big well servicing company out here. The last time I met their president was at their shop in Signal Hill, CA but today he was at his office, where I'd never been before. As I turned the corner onto Norwalk Blvd I saw it...

Dean Moon's shop...

I contained myself long enough to go sit in this guys office, but the whole time I could hear something rumbling and revving next door, and it sounded fucking MEAN. 45 minutes later: "Jack, it's been great catching up and I'll get out of your hair... I'm gonna head next door and sniff some fumes for a bit."

Here's what I was welcomed to:








Of course being in such a spot I had to buy a shirt (I'll do damn near anything for a t-shirt), and I asked if I could go poke around the rail. "Hell yeah, don't stop there. Feel free to walk around anywhere." So I did.

First the digger. This is an exact replica of the 1961 Dode Martin rail (the original is in the Don Garlits museum), and the replica was also built by Dode Martin.









Need a spare mill, complete with Potvin / Hilborn setup? Gotcha covered.

[Strychnine]

Then it was time to check out the noisemaker. So Speedweek has not run since 2013. 2014 was rained out and 2015 didn't have sufficient salt. This was was ready to run two years ago, but the elements disagreed, so they've been tinkinering since then, and now it's headed to the flats in two weeks.












This engine is a 180ci SBC. Massively de-stroked and sleeved, running a Potvin blower, and alcohol with "a little nitro."




It was orginally built by Fred Larsen, here at Moon's shop, and powered the Larsen & Cummins Streamliner (D class). That's the exact same engine. They haven't torn it down since it was in the 'liner ran last...

The first time it went to Bonneville in 1966, the streamliner ran a two-way average of 255 mph. One of the international records Fred and Don were aiming for was the 248-mph Class D record set by Rudolph Caracciola in a supercharged Mercedes Grand Prix car in 1939. They set eight F.I.A. (Federation Internationale de I’Automobile) records in 1967 with a best of 275 mph, shattering Caracciola’s 28-year-old mark. The Larsen & Cummins Mooneyes Streamliner became the world’s fastest 3L car holding the one-mile F.I.A. record of 310.26 mph.

All the work is done in the original shop, where they still do everything except casting and chroming.




Oh, and then one of the guys told me, "Before you leave, walk down to that last garage on the left. That's where Dean and Fred Larsen helped build the very first Shelby Cobra." Holy shit, I learned something new so it was a VERY good day at that point.

Sure as shit, I looked it up. That's the exact fucking spot the very first Shelby Cobra was built.

[ninee3cobra]

Wow! What an experience, thanks for sharing!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[dee]

That's awesome

[blandnuts]

I'm jello.

[Kart21]

Thanks for the pictures, nice!!!

[01-GATOR]

That's bad ass!

[Strychnine]

BTW, in the video, the grey hair guy whose back is to me is Chico Kodama - pres of Mooneyes these days and also driver of the car.


Here's the car at Bonneville in 2011

[KBScobravert]

Super jealous of those kinds of experiences.

[no4njnk]

Not a bad day at the office, badass.

[Big Dad]

Thread of the year award

[46Tbird]

Amazing.

Dode Martin = Dragmaster

The display motor is not identical; it has a two-port Hilborn while the car has a four-port.

That "Ardun" SBC is kinda pissing me off.

Incredible. I've been to SoCal many times but never stopped there. Thanks for the photos! Maybe you can time the next trip to be able to catch them running on the salt.

[mstng86]

Only thing lacking was a Dr Pepper can in every picture.

Awesome stuff.

[cobrajet69]

Super jealous of those kinds of experiences.

Ditto!


David

[Chili]

Very cool man!

If you went south on Norwalk Blvd, exactly 1.3 miles, on the left is the neighborhood where I grew up (just a little before Imperial Hwy). I passed that place all of the time as a kid but had no idea what it was.