› Forums › Forums › RACE TECH QUESTION FORUM › THE Shelby Mustang- Dover Guy Connection
fredrice.
dinoDrake…Didn’t know “big” was in on the falcon build.And YES…he and many others were in tthat crowd,that left when homebuilts were done in by pro built chassis and the rise off Speed equip. in the 64-65 era …Moon tank out front ,jacked up straight front axles and cut out wheelwells. . Got a topic here someplace all about it.Going to do the search thing and try to find what happened to him .Your Falcon and Laganas Falcon,The “Toad” and some very well bult gassers and altereds ( ‘Northern Comet”-Stamford crowd of coupes)… kinda the last off the real build ’em yourself stuff.Then we moved right into the glass body flip up funnies…A/FX TOO short lived .NHRA screwed around with GM-Mopar …weird ‘factoring in Pro and Super Stock and into the new ‘era’ of drag racing. Mid sixties was cool -real “mix” of interesting cars would make the day at Dover .Remember from the tower, watching pair upon pair of Hertz rent-a racers running.
vindicator😀 😀 😀 …Hey remember we, “close associates” called him “Big” (BEAR IN MIND…first name…Dick)…U…get the idea…”Big”…wasn’t only just in on the build of Roy Hanshee’s “MR. TOAD” falcon wagon…he done it all…wuz’ a proverbial…”work of art” for the times…but Roy’s cash “flow”…dried up…right after they broke the 10,000 rpm smallblock Chevrolet…and alas…the “Toad” never saw it’s true potential…”Big” had 3-4 small children at the time…fresh home/mortgage…so he readily wanted to race…just at that moment not able to “field” his own car…. 😥 😥 😥 …you are right that period was the end of a true era….the home-bulit race car/motor,etc….from end to end…the Krawjewski brothers had one very “slick” car in the “Northern Comet”…they built a Maverick too…later…beautiful car…but by then…as you said…the “homebuilt” deal wuz done…and to be competitive…you hadda’ have the “wallet” 😆 😆 😆 …believe they were from Bridgeport area..and 2nd generation (boys)…really fly today…with a 8 second Maverick…I’ll leave it to you guys…to “research” the rest!!! 😆 😆 😆 …like I said to “Paulie Walnuts”…this am…those pair after pair of hertz 350’s going at it…a good number we sold…we didn’t have…no stinkin’ “budget”…hence…guys that were trying to have a lil’ fun…win a trophy…we weren’t about to get in their way 😆 😆 😆 …dem’s were the daze…’eh…chief???!!!*** Drake…p.s. don’t ever forget…the true works of art…all done…bumper to bumper…engine to rear end…that “Tink” Schafer…AND HIS DAD DID…the ’55…then the Corvette (and at least a 1,000 times…savin’ our bacon over many years!!!)…wuzn’t anything…anything…they couldn’t do and “do” incredibly…well… 😀 😀 😀
dinoHey Drake …Check this on Krajewski
paul-ceasrine
LT. COL. DRAKE,
Having a hard time finding out about “Big Dick” Crawford.
NHRA U. S. Nationals didn’t start at Indy until 1961,, “THE BIG GO”.
55′ Great Bend, Kansas
56′ Kansas City, Missouri
57′ Oklahoma City
58′ Oklahoma City
59′ Detroit
60′ Detroit
61′ Indianapolis (Track opened 9/11/60, First inaugural at Indy, 61′)
62′ and on, at Indy.
Did find out, at the 1963 Nationals, Gene Moody ran his 63′ Vette in D/G. Won with a
12.49 @ 111.38.
Also, you’ll like this. 1958 Nationals,,,Carroll Howard won in A/Gas (SuperCharged) with a
31′ Ford,,,,,powered by a 58′ Olds-engine 😆 😆
Talk about ET’s,,,,,,,1960 Nats,,George Montgomery with a SuperCharged 60′ Cadillac-powered Willy’s in A/Gas,,,11.54 😮
Are you sure you didn’t at least test drive one of those 350GT units? 😉
Bonzai, Siyonora, Hang-Ten, AH! SO!.
Talk Later,,,Meet you at ‘Smalleys Inn” 🙄
Paulie
vindicator😀 😀 😀 Hey Paulie…I shudda’ “knowed” that…but then again..never really too “hot” on NHRA…NATIONAL EVENTS…or really WCS events…been to Indy (race) just twice…did run the Summers’/Englishtown pretty reguarly…and the Grove/Keystones…Gainesville,Columbus (Springnats’)once or twice…but we wuz’ gettin’ paid…to be racin’ somewhere else most weekends (Dino can readily “vouch”…here in the Carolinas’ and points south…NHRA (?)…DON’T MEAN MUCH…THEY RACE 2-3 TIMES A WEEK (TRACKS)…DON’T NEED NO STINKIN” NHRA!!!… NEVER…NEEDED NO “NHRA”…THEY HAD/HAVE FUNNYCAR SHOWS, JETS,OUTLAW PRO/STOCK-MOD….LITERALLY…EVERY RACE DAY…ALWAYS HAVE…GOING BACK 45-50 YEARS…case your dad hasn’t told ya’…it’s (racin’) a lil’ “different” down heah…boy!!)…’till 1980 or so…so we were weren’t “patron$”…of NHRA much…U…get the idea 😆 😆 😆 on “Big”…if you can check Detroit…or possibly Oklahoma…Richard Crawford (pretty sure ’58-’59..maybe ’60)…this is your area of expertise…U…go boy!!! 😆 😆 😆 …I drove more of those Shelbys’ around town…than most guys I know have hair on their head 😆 😆 :lol:…just never really had the “feel” that were very good drag race only…material…and having a full…blown…drag race “addiction”…that’s …all.. that mattered ‘eh 😆 😆 😆 Drake…p.s…the Smalley Inn…for years now owned by the Porto family…Tony sr….a longtime very good “buddy”/customer…referred a awful lot of people to me (miss that “comradery”)…he formally of Portly Dragon fame…and Dreamwald too…we’ve got way more (he & I) “TALES TO TELL”…over many years…a lotta’ nights-times for sure….Ralph Hartwick & family were the original Smalley Inn proprietors…seved me up…me first beer…at 15…figured I wuz one cool dude 😆 😆 😆
dinoJust Gotta Look …Here’s the Toad:. http://www.doverdragstrip.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1530&p=8898&hilit=toad#p8898 ..Now Back to Shelby Action
paul-ceasrine
DRAKE,
Got some info on Dick Crawford,,,not sure if this is ‘The One’.
Dick Crawford, C/G in 1965, at the Indy Nationals. Ran an ‘Anglia’.
Was part of a feature article in the September 65′ issue of ‘Rodder and Super Stock.
Of course, he did not make the cover like someone,,,, “I know”.
The ‘Falcon Funny Car’ made it to the cover of the January 68′ ‘Rodder and Super Stock’.
From a ‘Cool Little Town/Hamlet of Carmel, New York’.
Not sure if ‘Dick’ wanted to make the drive to Oklahoma in 57’/58′.
Despite the plea’s of ‘Go West Young Man’.
Possibly Detroit in 59’/60′???
Did find a possible connection in 62′. The ‘Moody-Jones’ team ran a Chevy in C/G. Turned a 12.43. Defeated a R. Crawford in the semi’s.??? Possible connection..
* Funny Cars “don’t need no stinkin’ NHRA”…Match races were where ‘its at’..!!!
‘Don Rickles’ said it best, “Give me a 1/4 mile pavement, a flag-man, (2) super-charged cars,
parachutes, and ONE HOT CHICK,,,,,and “F” the Rules”.
DINO,
Right on about the A/FX cars. NHRA really messed that one up. Could have been the best class ever.
Paul,,,,,Meet you at ‘Big Drags’
vindicator😀 😀 😀 Hey…that cudda’ been Dick in ’62…but I think he had a early Chevrolet coupe…like John Sach’s…’37-’39….’65 was too late…by then he wuz’ hooked up with Roy & the “Toad”…the early coupe…long forgotten…”Big” did have a Anglia project (A/G)…wuz to build it (“top secret”) with Ray Dwyer (Bobby & Rita Hermans’ partner in B&R)…Ray a good guy…great personality…good “story teller”…complimented Bobby & Rita well… 😀 😀 😀 …but the “top secret” part wuz’…Ray’s wife didn’t know anything ’bout the “project” or the co$t of such…somehow…she got wind of the “plan”….abrupt end!!!…U…know…some guys…just gotta’ have/ask…permission 😆 😆 😆 …we bought the car…believe we sold…it…and a Thames panel wagon to John Sachs…John’s just another super talent…building cars…ground up…front to back…”show-piece” stuff…beautiful…and go-fast too…the more I think of this (Dick Crawford’s Nationals class win)…kinda’ think Detroit…but could be Oklahoma…U…being the “super sleuth” 😆 😆 😆 …U…must bear the burden…of “closure” 😆 😆 😆 “geez”…1968…seems like yesterday…so many years…so little time… 😆 😆 😆 Drake
paul-ceasrine
DRAKE,
I’ll dig a little ‘deeper’ into the 57’/58′ Oklahoma Nationals,,then into Detroit Rock City
59’/60′.
Big Gassers back then, with the Comp. Classes, Modified Roadsters and Gassers.
Looks like those guys had a ‘Ton-O-Fun’ back then. Man those guys had to have a set of
cast iron ‘Balls’ to get behind those ‘metal-missles’, with minimal safety equipment 😮
* 1968,,best year for ‘Musclecars’, Super/Stockers and Funny Cars. And you could recognize and describe every car..Not like today 😕 😕
* Best magazine cover…’Rodder and Super Stock’,,,,January 1968. 😀 😀
HEY,, On the Terry Ashby (Missing Persons List)..Terry,, great kid (he’s older than me)
Hung out at the ‘Amoco Station’. Had the maroon (Vintage Burgandy; Ford color code)
65′ Falcon Sprint/Sport ?, with a 289/200HP Holley 2-barrel. Pretty car, with Cragars. Ran in
K/S in 68′ (13.00 -13.99 wt/hp). Ran 16.60’s or so. My father helped him swap out the
3-speed manual tranny for a 4-speed, threw in a Hurst-shifter, Hooker headers, 3.50 gears, and that little machine got into the 15.60 range. Won a couple of ‘Class Trophy’s’.
Of course, you, or someone at ‘Carmel Ford’ got him to trade/sell the Falcon for the white 67′ Mustang GT.
Yes,,’chick magnet’..I always rode with him ;). He became the Assistant Manager at the
‘Finast Supermarket’ (new store in Baldwin Place, 1969)..His girlfriends name was ‘Corrine’,
a beautiful girl ‘model talent’,,looked like a dark-haired ‘Claudia Cardinale’ 😀
YES,,THE MUSTANGS WERE MAGNETS..
Paul,,,One K-Code to go Please!!
vindicator😀 😀 😀 …Hey Paulie…legal name Richard Crawford…most everybody…called him Dick…”pals”…”Big”….wouldn’t doubt at all…him “travelin’ a long ways…Big wuz “serious”…back..back..way back ‘eh 😆 😆 😆 …I thought cars were pretty “identifiable”…’till mid to late 70’s…then all the aero stuff came into “play”…Ken Veney’s Vega…(Antonne Addesso has the same body) our “last” Mustang ll FC body…AND A BUNCH OF OTHERS…were pretty much identified by grille or emblems…but way far more conservative than the mid-eighties forward…’ol Terry Ashby…a real good guy..a young gentleman…in a sea of “bad joses” 😆 😆 😆 “babes” loved him…with or without any “sled”…he wuz “smooth” ‘eh 😆 😆 :lol:…would tell ya’…those Super/Stock Nationals,Funny Car Nationals,Cars Magazine meets…@ NY National…Cecil County… Atco..and York ,Pa…most incredible “specticle”…we ever “saw-participated” in…some wild-crazy stuff…and anybody…who wuz’…anybody…(west coast guys too) wuz’ there 😀 😀 😀 …as the one & only “Berzerko Bob”…would say… it wuz “be there…or be square” 😆 😆 😆 Drake
paul-ceasrine
DRAKE,
Still searching for Richard Crawford. Class wins in Oklahoma, and/or Detroit.
I’ll find him 😀 . Even searching the New York State Spring Nationals, and Niagara State Championships. Maybe, at Empire Dragstrip first, before heading into Michigan, by way of Canada 😆 “HE CANNOT HIDE”
YEP!!, Terry Ashby had to ‘trade-in’ the quick-n-ready Falcon for a 67′ Mustang GT, with the
‘fold-down rear-seat’ option 😉 😉
My father informed me, (he says HI!!, and hope all is well) that Terry’s Mustang car was a
289/225HP “A” Code. Ran K/S also in 68′, and L/S in 69′. Was a little quicker than the
Falcon, and more of a ‘magnet’.
Funny Cars,,I remember you versus Paula Murphy ‘Miss STP”. The “Vindicator” series of cars, always had the most ‘beautiful’ paint/lettering jobs…’Second-to-none’
The last good Funny Car race,, Don “The Snake” versus Tom “The Mongoose” at Dover, in what 71′ ??
Paul
vindicator😆 😆 😆 Paulie…Paulie…PAULIE…I be tellin’ ya’…Dick (Richard) Crawford…just “Big”…to us…won the NHRA Nationals…way back when I think there were only two events annually…the Winter Nationals was the other…class almost certain…was D/Gas…it’s Detroit or Oklahoma…tell your dad…he cannot “fire” you from this “assignment” 😆 😆 😆 …and an item of “note”…U can look me up in the guiness book of records…I hold the un-disputed world’s record….for the number of times…”fired”…by one’s father…Tony Porto @ Smalley’s will readily attest/notarize that statement!!! 😆 😆 😆 …we did have a few pretty awesome guys (paint-wise)…over the years…Michigan’s…Paul Shedlik…Virginia’s Chip Whittington…Jersey’s Bob Gerdes…did some paint and repair work on a number of “plastic fantastics”.. Tom Caldara painted all our sportsman cars ’till he moved out to California..Jersey’s Dave Sano…painted all the sports-man cars since (that’s all we’ve ever had since ’83)…and Steve & Karen Bell have lettered every car in the last 30 years…since Dino’s “departure”… 😆 😆 😆 all ‘dem “cats” do awesome work…they all did/do charge all the money…the old “adage” applies…U get…what you pay for…they all being the consumate professionals…”races/match-races”… so many times/places…don’t wanna’ get started…think I might be in the guiness book too…for losing pretty fair sized events…many different ways…but maybe ‘eh…if we weren’t “there”…we couldn’t have lost!!! 😆 😆 😆 …I’ll still take…being there…U…get the idea 😀 😀 😀 Drake…p.s. Don Kirby,California (painter)…did one Mustang ll FC (won a number of “Best Appearing ” awards)…a Sherman Gunn (M & S chassis…California) “masterpiece”…George Industries “woodtone” multi-color anodizing (outta’ ‘dis woild!!!)…every possible piece chromed or trick anodized…had a ’23 roadster body/wing too…for the old Pro-Comp class…hate…somewhat to say it …but those West-Coast guys had…probably still have it going on…’bout doin’ a car… 😀 😀 :D…shame is..no Ford motor…in the “boiler” room…my dad wuz’ very unhappy (wouldn’t $upport…one cent of it 😥 😥 😥 )…to say the least…we fell behind performance wise (just a middle of the “pack” runner)…because the car was real “sharp”…it was booked often & everywhere…we put on good “show”…big-long smoke burnouts…and thanx to “Tink” Schaefer 😀 😀 😀 …he kept us reliable & steady…without great “stuff” 😉
paul-ceasrine
DRAKE,
I checked the ‘record books’, yes you are in the ‘Guinness Book of Records’
13,567 firings by ones dad. 😆
That qualifies you for the ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ 😮
But, I still hold the ‘Individual Record’ of 16 firings in ‘ONE DAY’ 😆
Did you ever get a ‘VW’ cylinder head thrown at you 🙄 Them things can FLY 😮
I think my father kept me around at the shop in Jefferson Valley, because I was the
only one who could lift a big-block Chevy bare block up, and put it on the assembly bench. “No crane”.
* 1960 D/Gas at the Nationals in Detroit. Edward Coughlan (Jeg’s Dad) with a 55′ Chevy.
Getting closer.
Paulie
vindicator😆 😆 😆 Paul…it is a “dubious” honor…’eh…often though in hindsight…I well deserved…the “can”…at least a few times 😆 😆 😆 …but ya’ “think” a thousand plus??? I think U are getting closer…’58-’59 (?)…do what only U…CAN DO 😆 😆 😆 …Drake
paul-ceasrine
DRAKE,
’20/20 Hindsight’,,,A good thing,,,
My favorite line to my father; ‘I would rather be wrong trying,,, that not try at all’
He never had a ‘come-back’ for that one! 😀 ,,Thats when the “VW” head would fly 😮
AHH,,Italian Families Working Together,,,nothing quite like it 😉
Here Goes;
1958 Nationals,,Oklahoma City
‘Little Eliminator’ (A thru E)
A/G,, Carrol Howard; 58′ Blown-Olds engine/ 31′ Ford
B/G,, Junior Thompson; 56′ Blown-Chevy engine/ 41′ Studebaker (13.06 ET for Class Win)
C/G,, R.C. Jasper; 56′ Blown-Chevy engine/ 34′ Ford
* The D/G and E/G Class Winners conceded. Did not enter the ‘Little Eliminator’.
The door has opened,,,,1958 D/G Class Winner 🙂
…’Watch those flying ‘VW’ cylinder heads. Now I know why they were ‘Air-cooled’
Paul Castellano`
