A follow-up to Don and Gloria’s ’40 Ford story in the April 2021 issue.
By Larry J.
As it turns out, I was at Fremont drag strip when they filmed the movie. The “Hot Rod Willys” raced against an Olds Cutlass that was painted like a “laced Easter egg” (cool in the 70’s).
The movie plot was kind of like a Western. The hero rides into a town that has a rich bad guy with a bad son. The bad guy has the Sheriff under his thumb. The bad son has a pretty girlfriend.
You can guess the rest.
Oh! An interesting part is the hero’s car gets wrecked; someone gives him the Willys, minus an engine. So what could he do? He steals a “Hemi” from the Sheriff’s car! Simple solution!
It’s a fun movie. You should check it out.
If you have super, super, slow motion, I’m in the top row, spectator side. (Good Luck.)
Somewhere, I have pictures of that race, in a box, in a closet, somewhere.
The pictures I have here are at Fremont. One is me and my ’51 Plymouth Belvedere in the staging lanes, during a nostalgia race. I am member number 271 of the NDRA (Nostalgia Drag Racing Association).
The other picture is me in my ’57 Ford Ranch Wagon racing and eating a ’40 Ford coupe. Could it be?
I really miss Fremont. It always had a good tailwind.
