Remembering DICK MOROSO

[dinoKeymaster]

He started out small with Performance Automotive and DOVER was his home track. Dick soon became a National Record Holder, winning Division and National meets and we all know what MOROSO Performance has become. These shots were borrowed from http://www.morosoracing.com with permission from his son. Bottom photo from 1964…notice Plate… its still street driven at that time .

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[anonymous]

i worked for dick in the greenwich ct. store. it was an honor to work for him he was so smart and race savy. i left there to open my own speed shop in stamford “speed specialties” with billy bragdon from norwalk. the day i left dicks he gave me almost $2000 worth of parts to put in my shop. can,t beat a guy like that.
“

[dinoKeymaster]

Dan Emerson (on the Forum Now) still works for Moroso,andhas got us in touch with Son Rick. They no longer own the Track in Florida. See Maso’s report on the recent Dick Moroso Memorial event there .

[jimbo]

The first time I ever met Dick Moroso was at his parents home in Old Greenwich.
I was about 14 or 15 and he lived over the garage and had a 4 speed transmission sitting on top of his TV set in parts.

He always seemed like he was thinking about some new idea about how to go faster and I must admit his car was fast.

I was in the Greenwich Ave store one day talking to him when he remembered that he had forgot to call in his monthly add to Hot Rod Magazine and he was about a day or two passed the dead line for the next months magazine and they told him he was to late for that next issue.

He tried everything he could to get the person on the phone to help him and give him a break and when they would not he told them he would never advertise in Hot Rod Magazine again and for years he did not.

Years later he did start to advertist with them again.

Dick was a great guy and one of the smartest guys with a small block chevy I have ever known. I used to go up to his home in Ridgefield, in the early 70’s when he lived way out on Limestone Road in the sticks and the kids were all little at that time.

Even the deal with the Moroso front tires was kind of crazy because he said to me how many people do you think would buy a skinny front drag tire with a Italian guy’s name on it?
The rest is history but I told him your wife will kill you for spending the money which they did not have at the time.

He had some interesting commends and stories about Jere Stahl after working for him which I better not talk about.

There are many great stories in drag racing and Dick Moroso was one of them.

Jim Hill

[anthony-terenzio]

I raced aganist that same car when his son raced it at the 5 day race at Moroso’s in the late 80’s early 90’s when i was bracket racing

[cullyflower]

Sharing a photo that I have.

[the-prussian]

What a time it was,, the early 60’s. I too met Dick “Stretch” Moroso in his garage ” loft ‘ in Old Greenwich. I came to buy used Hedman Headers he had advertised for sale in the ‘Stamford Advocate’. That done,we talked about Chev. small blocks for an hour. He was so SMART – I just took notes. He worked for the post office at the time and later opened Performance Automotive in downtown Stamford. I became a regular at his shop. Listening up & watching. Fridays were frantic $$ days as Dick worked non-stop ,tuning up many local hot cars for the Fri- Sat. night street races in Port Chester and along I-95 in Stamford. It was a constant weekly scene with lots of $$ exchanged. Dick kept his racing on the track – mostly at Dover – as did I. The home made gas Kool Can,large skinny front tires at 60 PSI,using light undersized batteries from golf carts, alternator disconnects and variable timing – they were all Dick’s original ideas, and I used them to my advantage racing my ’64 Vette. We matched up a few times for the finals in Street Eliminator. I usually brought more than I needed to the track.
But Dick, he just rolled his Vette of the trailer , with no tools or spare parts and would make a pass – right on the record for C/msp or D/msp of F/mp. He had it figured out and the car could run muliple classes by using special removeable iron weights. Miss him! Chip Zellner

[vbobParticipant]

HEY
Did not hear anything on the Moroso Corvette lately!
http://www.moroso.com/about.asp

‘V’

[mikey]

Those are some nice pictures, brings back some good memories. In the first photo, is that Tom Blakes Ford in the far lane, just curious? …………..Mikey 😆

[dinoKeymaster]

no …’40 ford A/Gas

[babycakesParticipant]

Dick Moroso’s brilliant brain,always thinking ahead.Maybe not everybody,however there were alot of us who purchased his ‘proven’ products,and fortunately his son follows in this legend’s footsteps.

[vbobParticipant]

HEY
In the May 2012 Hemmings Muscle Machines magazine !
‘V’

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[dinoKeymaster]

How ’bout the authors name…. spooky

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