One of drag racings very popular classes formed was the Gassers. During the `50s, Model A and 1932-`34 Fords were considered the hot set-up for these gas classes. Using Ford V-8 "flatheads" and later overhead valve engines, Gas Coupe and Sedan classes had to maintain stock wheelbases and the engine relocation was limited. By the mid-60s, it was rare to find an upper classed gasser with any other body make than Willys, Studebaker, Austin or Anglia. They were the stoutest full-bodied cars on strips nationwide. Touring teams ran four to six times every week, often traveling several hundred miles day and night to make their next dates. This was old school racing! However, interest waned as fliptop funny cars took over in popularity. The battles in A/GS (later AA/GS) ranks created many heroes and villains who etched their marks into drag racing history. Gassers shared with fans of the quarter mile one the most thrilling overall racecar types, and for an era that was all too short, they were literally the Kings of the Sport. Enjoy this photo book that takes you back to that time.

The Fuel Altered, one of the most brutal and exciting cars that ever covered the quarter mile, consisted of a wheelbase average less than 100 inches that was fitted with a blown-supercharged 1500-horsepower engine running on Nitro! With a low center of gravity, the Altered was often compared to a 4,000-pound raging bull, as the driver had all he could handle keeping these beasts on the track! From flatheads to Nitro-burning monsters, see daredevils Mooneyham & Sharp, Gabby Bleeker, John Forska, Willie Borsch, Dale Emery, Leon Fitzgerald, "Big" Glenn Way, Don Green, Sush Matsubara, Leroy Chadderton, and many more blaze the quarter mile to standing-room-only crowds!

Howard V. Koby. Popular drivers like "Dandy Dick" Landy, Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, Ronnie Sox, Bob Glidden, Wally Booth, Wayne Gapp, Warren Johnson, "Dyno" Don Nicholson, Lee Hunter, Scott Shafiroff, Brad Yuill, Richie Zul, and many more are all showcased in drag race action in this door-slammer pictorial. A must for hardcore Pro Stock fans!

In the early 60s, front-engine dragsters, or slingshots, featured tubular built chassis powered by a variety of power plants, consisting of small-block Chevrolets, Chrysler Hemi's, Ford, Pontiac, Cadillac, Oldsmobile, and Lincoln motors either fueled on Nitro Methane or pump gas. Wheelbases varied from 110 inches in 1962 to over 200 inches in 1969. During the early sixties, racing legend "Big Daddy" Don Garlits ran a series of "Swamp Rat" dragsters which not only dominated the quarter-mile, but many of his creations were made by using experimental aerodynamic parts to give better traction and faster speeds. During a fuel ban from the late 50s to the early 60s, many chassis builders utilized a two-engine power plant to gain more power that was lost due to running pump gas instead of fuel. One of the most popular twin-engine dragsters was the "Fright Train", powered by twin small-block Chevrolets. The dragster was driven by 16-year-old Bob Muraviez who used the alias name of Floyd Lippencott, Jr. to fool his parents who did not approve of his racing. Near the end of the 60s, the Chrysler Hemi came to dominate Top-fuel racing, as it produced tremendous torque and horsepower. These dragsters were the quickest accelerating vehicles in motorsports. Elapsed times in the quarter-mile were ranging from the 8-second bracket in the early 60s to the low 7's late in the decade with speeds over 200 mph.In 1970 at the AHRA Nationals at Lion's Dragstrip (Long Beach, CA), Don Garlits experienced a violent clutch explosion that cut his dragster in two and severed a portion of Don's right foot. After being sidelined for several months, Don returned to racing with an innovative rear-engine, top-fuel dragster, which would eventually spell demise for the front-engine dragsters. Relive the 60s era of the front-engine dragster, nicknamed the slingshot for it's aerodynamic design in crisp high quality color and black and white photos. Enjoy memorable moments from some of the famed drivers that are highlighted throughout this book.

This book covers the cars, the drivers, and the evolution of the street classes. In the late 1950s, thousands of street legal hot rods participated in organized drag races across the country -- As the racers got more serious, these cars were street legal in appearance only. in reality they were full-on race cars, with blown Hemi engines, racing slicks, and raised front suspensions. Racers soon discovered that small, lightweight cars were the fastest, and the classic Gasser was born .

See the cars raced by many of the legendary names in drag racing, including Don Prudhomme, Tom McEuen and Jim Dunn. The authors include action shots, as well as clear, detailed "in the pits under-the-shell" shots. Photographs show various makes and models of cars that have been reconstructed as funny cars, plus everything from stock to modified Camaros, Mustangs, Javelins, Dodge Chargers, and Firebirds, to oddball exhibition cars like the "backwards pickup."

“What wins on Sunday, sells on Monday” pushed Detroit's Big Four (GM, Ford, Chrysler and AMC) to produce selected factory-built production cars with gutted trim, lightweight frames stuffed with high cubic-inch powerful engines with modified fuel systems. Rivalries quickly flourished as Detroit's finest teams battled out across the country for supremacy. Factory-backed legends Dick Landy, “Dyno” Don Nicholson, Sox & Martin, Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins, Bob Glidden, Wally Booth, Paul Blevins, Richie Zul, Warren Johnson, “Akron” Arlen Vanke, Billy Stepp, Gapp and Roush, Bill Carlton, Butch Leal, and many others from Jr. Stock to the giants of Pro Stock, come alive in this photo gallery of Pro Stock Drag Racing.