Imagine seeing this ‘55 Chevy Gasser leaping off the line with the front tires hanging in midair. No wonder Gassers have remained favorites in drag racing, and why the Gasser revival has lasted longer than the ‘50s and ‘60s Gasser Wars era that inspired it. ...”
Bodies:
Gasser bodies are stripped to reduce weight. The heavy steel hood on our ‘55 could be replaced with fiberglass, or a whole ‘glass forward-tilt front. Frequently, grilles get replaced or eliminated. Rear wheelwells are radiused to fit slicks, and glass is often replaced with screw-in tinted plexiglass or Lexan. It’s rare to see a front bumper; rear bumpers are sometimes replaced with cylindrical pipe bumpers. Elaborate paintjobs are not as common as basic solid colors, but race decals (on the quarter windows) and lettering are pretty standard. Lettering on the doors would spell the team name or, as here, the car’s nickname.
Chassis:
Chassis are purpose-built for straight-line acceleration, and front leaf springs and rear ladder bars are favorite suspension parts. Our straight-axle raises the front of the car (to shift weight) and makes room for fenderwell headers. Faster Gassers might have some type of wheelie bars, but this ‘55, like many, doesn’t.
It’s a drag car, so it runs slicks in the back with front skinnies on 3- or 4-inch-wide wheels. Cragars, Americans, Ansens, and Halibrands are all popular wheels. Stick with five-spokes or kidney beans and you’ve got the look.
Interior:
The interior is drag car minimal, with rear seats removed. The factory bench seat might be replaced with upholstered ‘glass race buckets. Our blown car, and cars with many ‘glass panels, would require a rollbar to run. That rollbar provides a place to mount cushioned head pads. We’d add a column-mounted Sun tach and Stewart-Warner gauges below the dash, and replace our factory steering wheel and gas pedal with a metalflake wheel and a Moon “footprint” pedal. Either way would look correct, but our way could take a tenth off our elapsed time. That’s how we imagine it.”
—Hot Rod Magazine
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1211sr-anatomy-of-a-gasser/
GREAT POST!!! I attended and participated in my first Drag Race at the old Hammer Field in Fresno in 1952 or 53 with my 38 Chevy. The airport is now the Fresno Air Terminal. I belonged to the Fresno Pan Draggers club. I’ll be 87 in a couple of months. My last race was in a FRiends 1970 SS454 here at the Samoa dragstrip across the bay from Eureka Ca...
Thanks for posting!
I miss Hallsville Dragstrip in East Texas. I won some trophies out there racing in the trophy street class some 20 years ago.