AMERICAN AUTOPARTS Insight News and chewing gum for the eyes Spring 2015 Compiled by Mike Lintern, with graphics and tech work by Wojtek Samoszuk Race reports and Still Ramblin’ words and pix from Mike Collins, including personal views that are not necessarily those of the company… but are a must read! ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________ Rent a classic for that Route 66 fly-drive dream North American tour specialists Bon Voyage Holidays triphave come up with a tempting fly-drive-motel package that offers a choice of six different American classics (plus one late model) for that once in a lifetime Route 66 road trip you‟ve so often dreamed of. Choose from a ‟55 Bel Air, a ‟57 Chevy 150 four-door, a ‟65 Mustang GT fastback, „a ‟67 SS Camaro, a ‟70 Chevelle SS 396, a ‟71 Mach One or a 2015 Camaro to trace Route 66 all the way from Chicago to LA. The 14-night odyssey costs from a hefty £4,395 per person for the14-nights, but remember it‟s a once in a lifetime experience. Go to www.bon-voyage.co.uk or call them free on __________________________________________________________________________________________________________0800 980 7093 … and live the dream! Obituary Peter Bartlett – BHRA pioneer We regret to report the death of Peter Bartlett, a UK hot rodding pioneer and founder member in 1960 of the British Hot Rod Association. He became BHRA treasurer in 1962 and two years later was owner/driver of the ‟57 “Shovin‟ Chevvy” that push-started some of the great American drivers such as “Big Daddy” Don Garlits, “TV Tommy” Ivo and Tony “The Loner” Nancy, when they came to the UK for the 1st British International Drag Festival. Peter, together with his late wife Erica, was inducted into the British Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2010. They retired from active club work in 1980, moving home to live in France. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Bitza News GM is to scale back its Chevrolet presence in Russia – in a similar move to that already announced for Western Europe – and will in future market only Corvettes, Camaros and Tahoes, along with Cadillacs. Korean -made models will be dropped. At the same time the company is closing the Opel operation in the country, with the shutting down the St Petersburg plant at the end of the year. Coming Events More events on page 45 (With thanks to Classic American and Custom Car Magazines, from where most dates have been taken) May 22-25 FIA European Drag Racing Championships Main Event (First round FIA), Santa Pod Raceway, near Wellingborough, Northants NN29 7XA (01234 782828 or www.santapod.com) NASC 37th Gary‟s Picnic, Shakespeare County Raceway, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks CV37 8LL (01789 720180 or www.rodandcustom.co.uk) May 23-24 National Hot Rod & Custom Car Show, East of England Showground, Peterborough, Cambs PE2 6YE (08444 151413 or www.hotrodandcustomshow.co.uk) June 6 Rock ‟n‟ Rumble American Car, Truck and Bike Show, Cork Constitution Rugby Club, Temple Hill, Ballintemple, Cork City, Ireland (08310 74685 or www.gascc.ie) DDrraaggssttaalllggiiiaa iiiss jjjuusstt rroouunndd tthhee ccoorrnneerr,,, ssoo llleett’’’ss ggoo -- bbaacckk ttoo tthhee ffuuttuurree…… A couple of weeks before Dragstalgia, “Big Daddy” Don Garlits should be at Goodwood‟s Festival of Speed along with one of his legendary Swamp Rat AA/FD‟s – fired up daily for fans to experience the unique, totally awesome Cackle produced by nitro! But you don‟t have to wait that long, this is Big Daddy, at home early last year, chillin‟ an‟ reminiscing about running a 426 hemi on nitro in 1965. That‟s a pleasure in itself, but to then see him swinging a wrench an‟ firing up Swamp Rat VIII for some mind warping cackle – wow! Click it and enjoy the real deal, the unmistakable sound of eight trunks trumpeting, blown an‟ injected, cacklin‟ on nitro - not alcohol cars at Dragstalgia just making a noise! Play this a few times and use this link to the Santa Pod Facebook page to ask if they‟re going to have nitro cars in what the Pod now call their “famous Cacklefest where cars are fired-up in unison to create a wall of exquisite noise…” A succinct response to that statement Big Daddy courtesy quartermilestones SSaannttaa PPoodd ppeeooppllee hhaavvee came from a long standing, respected bbeeeenn ttoolldd ffoorr yyeeaarrss,, colleague - “Total bullsh*t!” I heartily concur Mike Collins wwiitthhoouutt NNIITTRROO -- yyoouu ccaann’’tt ccaallll iitt aa Click the link at right and enjoy some nitro cackle from a single AA/FD – followed by 10minutes of nitro nirvana from the CHRR‟s legendary multi-car CackleFest! C C a a c c k k lleeFFeesstt!! Then you can phone Santa Pod Raceway at 01234 782828 or use their Facebook page to tell ‟em what a Cacklefest is https://www.facebook.com/santapodraceway Click the link for a true Cackle and an NoiseFest photo courtesy or email them at [email protected] Santa Pod Raceway awesome wall of NitroFire at Bakersfield Back to the beach, perhaps… Okay folks, it‟s time to stop Ramblin‟ - a couple of pages down with “The last round-up” in fact! But, in truth it all starts here, with an introduction to a final epic covering 43 and a half pages with nitro fueled thunder from across the USA and Podington. And Showtime, a personal journey with outrageous cars, scantily clad babes and tales from the glory years of UK indoor shows, and big rigs in the most amazing door-handle-to-door-handle racing you‟ve never seen! But first, let‟s talk about the Main Event. It‟s the start of the FIA Championship season, with eight Top Fuel cars, a trio of Fuel Coupes, five Pro Stocks, five dragsters and three funny cars of the alcohol variety (sorry Top Methanol) – and 20 Pro Mods, all fighting for their 2015 FIA titles, along with a cast of thousands! Maybe that‟s a slight exaggeration, which is cool - that‟s drag racing! It‟s closer to 130, but teams will be giving their all to entertain us, and maybe even run some big numbers as well! So let‟s be thankful - what you see is what you get – enjoy! That‟s it folks, no more for awhile, I‟m hanging up my guns, Toyota pix until next time! Take it easy on the bends, an‟ stay lucky MC The 1970-and-a -half SS Dave the Cab‟s „99 Camaro has a built 383 Camaro SS small-block is small block, blown with hogged-out to a 427, built a Pro Charger induction and dyno‟d to 650hp on system that puts out pump gas, plus another 800 horsepower for Alan 300hp when the nitrous Wise at the blink of an button is pushed. It‟s run eye. He‟s run a 9.5 at 9-zeros at 147mph 143mph. A planned increase in boost could see it dip into the eights HHeeaadd ttoo hheeaadd Photos Mik e Collins Built almost 30 years apart, this pair of 20th century SS Camaros were desirable machines at birth, and now they‟ve become 21st century street and strip supercars that still turn heads whenever they burble past Dave‟s Camaro runs an Andy-Frost-built Powerglide trans, with a Neil Chance 4,000-plus stall-speed converter. Alan‟s trans setup is a TH400 with a manual valve body and reverse-pattern shifter, together with a 3,500rpm stall-speed converter The ‟99 Camaro was treated to a Glass-Tec cowl-induction hood, which covers a big 1050cfm Dominator, while the rest of the bodywork is stock. Alan‟s early SS packs a similar cowl -induction hood, covering its Pro Charged 383 small-block Both these “back halved” Camaros were built by Webster Race Engineering and have modified nine-inch Ford rear ends with a four-link setup. “Back halving” – where the rear half of the chassis is modified to accept a narrowed axle and bigger wheels and tyres – enables David to run 12x15 wheels with 315/60/15 M/T drag radials, with 3.5-to-1 gears. Alan „s 4.11-to-1 axle accommodates even-bigger 14x15 rims with 31/18.5/15 Hoosier street rubber Technical data ML No, of course they didn‟t race, although both Camaros moved out in style, with the green machine having just a touch of chirp to its shift as the pair set off for a cruise out to Box Hill where, so I‟ve heard, young ladies enjoy seeing muscle cars on display! No animals were harmed in the making of this feature A couple of weeks later, Wojtek and I stepped outside for an after-lunch smoke. When Alan suggested he too fancied a smoke, he was naturally proffered the pack, but declined, smiling as said, “I meant in the car…” Although I prefer dancing girls for après lunch entertainment, Alan‟s low an‟ slow, rolling burnouts were quite impressive. And, as you can see, there was no cowboy style, getting‟-out-of shape, sideways sh*t, just a pair of very-straight demonstrations of churnin‟ an burnin‟ that was enjoyed by all Dave sold his black beast More than that, Alan while Alan cut a hole in the also renewed all of hood over winter! the piping - with the addition of an upright induction bowl, coupled with the ram-air being sucked in through the mesh, adding another 30 ponies! Sadly, when he took the car to the Pod earlier this year, the track was cold, he lost traction at the hit, wisely clicking off and coasting through to a 12 second ET Alan‟s quest for a street legal, eight-second elapsed time continues, stay tuned! MC CCaaddiillllaacc’’ss bbiigg gguunn ffoorr 22001166 -- ttwwiinn ttuurrbbooss aann’’ aa llll--wwhheeeell ddrriivvee!! Check out the all new 2016 Cadillac CT6th on this video tour of the big beast from General Motors.