STORM KING MEMORIES / BLACK ARROW Mysteries

[34gasser-65awb]

What’s the deal with the Black Arrow in the background of that pic? It’s altered, but with closed-up or stock size wheelwells. Doesn’t fit into the timeline of the original car, it had stretched wheelwells while Doc had it and still into the storm king days. Is it the clone that the storm guys built?

Is the BA clone car that hemi65blackarrow posted about the “mystery” car (suposedly in/around CT) that the debate has been over?

[storm-king]

I knew most of you guys were still confused about which car is which.
First, to answer your question 34gasser-65AWB, the Black Arrow in the background of that gasser picture is the original Black Arrow, the one owned by Doc Brugess, and driven on occasion by “Grumpy”. You should know that early funny cars were almost continually being modified. That wheelwell is just in transition as Doc had the wheelbase altered, but the fenderwell just cut enogh to get it to the next event. Shortly after, it was cut open to its final, more squared off configuration. In that picture it is still factory white. The Black Arrow also wore many, many different colors of paint in the years doc owned it. We sanded through them all getting it ready for our colors. Anyway, there is nothing confusing about the car in that picture, it is just going through its transition, and nothing is funny about how it fits a “timeline”. Incidently, that must be a pretty early picture as it still has “Jenkins Competition” in the Arrow flight. Later the car ran with Bill Stiles power. It also still has the original acid dipped doors on it and factory glass. I’d bet that pic was taken in early ’66.
The ‘mystery’ car from my view is supposed to be the butchered up hulk of the Original car, not our clone. One or two pictures of this abondoned car folks think is the Arrow would solve the mystery, Bill and I can tell which cars are which. We’ll likely be in New York in January for the Dover event. If we find out where these cars are supposed to be located, we’ll put all this to rest for once and for all.

[tomblakeParticipant]

Date of the picture.
The ’39 Ford (actually a ’37, as I have been corrected) with the Black Arrow in the back ground was raced at the end of 1965 (changed this date from 1964). That is the only time that car was racer at Dover. Hope this helps to timeline the development of the Black Arrow.

---

Attachments:

[dinoKeymaster]

My favorite shots of the ARROW WITH DOVER on the sides !

---

Attachments:

[storm-king]

Well, Tom, the ‘Arrow was a 1965 Plymouth; it’s first race was the Winternationals in February of ’65. the wheelbase wasn’t altered until 1966. So the picture has to be from ’66 or ’67, but by ’67, the Arrow had different paint and lettering. By 1968, Bill owned it and it was the Storm King 2.
I was thinkin’ I may need to do the Dover signage on my Dart, Dino.

[dinoKeymaster]

Now your talkin” HAND lettered ! Old Skool -period correct ….HEY keep taking “under Contruction” Shots….Magazine Material !

[storm-king]

Yeah, magazine material. I am borrowing the stock ’66 fenders from Doug “Doctor dodge” Dutra of slantsix.org. He’s a buddy of Steve Magnante from what I understand, so hopefully he’ll see our work too and maybe we’ll get some good ink. Certainly when the cars’ done we’ll get it out there.

[tomblakeParticipant]

quote storm king:

Well, Tom, the ‘Arrow was a 1965 Plymouth; it’s first race was the Winternationals in February of ’65. the wheelbase wasn’t altered until 1966. So the picture has to be from ’66 or ’67, but by ’67, the Arrow had different paint and lettering. By 1968, Bill owned it and it was the Storm King 2.
I was thinkin’ I may need to do the Dover signage on my Dart, Dino.

storm king…. Called Bill to check date of the picture. The picture of the ’37 Ford had to be taken in the fall of 1965. I went to my shop to check the bottom base of the trophies during that time. Use to write the date, ET and MPH of all the trophies. I was wrong about the 1964 but 1965 must be the time the picture was taken. The ’37 was disassembled at the end of the 1965 racing season. Started the 1966 season with the A/MSP and that car had the same engine and trans from the ’37. The first trophy in A/MSP was dated 3/27/66.
Does that fit with the information you have?

[storm-king]

No it doesn’t; but I must be wrong if all those other pieces of the puzzle line up. I don’t recall the ‘Arrow being altered that season; but I must be mistaken.

[charlie-irving]

I took that picture during the racing seasons of ’65 or ’66 – When Dover opened up for the ’67 season, I was then racing my own car and had to put the camera down. Never took any more photos after opening day ’67.

Charlie Irving

[anonymous]

Hi,

I remember seeing Doc at some of the funny car meets we raced at in 1966 and 1967. We ran 2400lbs Fuel and Doc Ran with the altered wheelbase 2700lbs Gas.

Andy

[tomblakeParticipant]

After finding some old pictures I didn’t know I had, I ran across this one from National on Long Island. This was the Super Stock Nationals event that was discussed on previous posts.
Picture taken in July 1966

---

Attachments:

[vbobParticipant]

Hey

Keep diggin Tom!!!
Till the gold runs out!!!
‘V’

[jackmanParticipant]

Cool thread here really enjoy reading it its jogging some memories for me (I think 😮 ) any way I grew up in Cornwall -Hudson and vagley remember seeing a drag car at a shop called Storm King Garage in the lower village, could that car be the one this thread is about? Is or was Bill Smrtic a Cornwall resident? Sure would like to know who the kid in Cornwall was that had the car last before his mother had it sent to Consolidated Scrap or at least the location. I am a big Mopar freak and growing up in Cornwall I might know the “kid” or remember the car as it sat or its possible I was just too young at the time (was 15 in 1976) to know. One thing I am absolutly positive about is that at Consolidated Scrap nothing was resold no matter what , I tried and they flat out said no , if the car was on their scrap heap its long gone….

[storm-king]

Bobby Moser is who got the ‘Arrow hull, he lived off Angola Road on this little cut off road that ran down to rt. 32. I forget the name of it, although I drove down it last year when I was up there. If I recall correctly, we sold it to him for fifty dollars, including all of the fiberglass body components, doors hood deck, dash, the works.
I don’t recall our car ever being at Storm King Garage, at least not the ‘Arrow. My brother Bill bought the max wdege car, the original Storm King, from Johnson’s Garage Dodge, which may have been called Storm King Garage down in the Village. Bill and I will be up for the Dover Reunion this coming weekend, but I will miss the evening festivites at the reunion because my graduating class is having a “Last Man Standing” event at Painters.

We lived in the town, right across the street from the Cornwall Hospital. If you drive up Laurel Avenue, we lived in the third house on the left. That in itself is amazing. We’d fire up those hemis, or even the max wedge, any time we were working on them, day or night, and never; in all the years we raced, ever had a complaint. In one of the last years we were at it a friend of my Dad’s stopped in. He had been visiting someone in the hospital when we fired one of them up (I think it was our hemi GTX SS/D car). Anyway the guys says every wall in the hospital shook, pictures and glass were rattleing, etc. He wondered aloud to Dad why were hadn’t been arrested long ago. For your time reference, 1976 was close to the end of it for us. My brother moved to Tennesse with his Pro Stock Duster, Chrysler had already boycott Pro Stock due to unfair weight breaks, so Bill was running altered anyway. I was in the Air Force and in Florida at the time, building a 440 Mopar powered “T” bucket, and driving a ’61 Studebaker Hawk. I believe Dad sold the hemi GTX in ’77 or ’78, it was gone when I got back from my tour in Germany in ’79.

[Author]

Posts