Forgotten hot rods and race cars all have a story, and some of them are more interesting than others. But regardless of the story, it takes some home work and a lot of research to be able to find the history behind them. When it comes to old dragsters it is often harder than say a funny car or door car that have a name on them or visual clues. Often an old dragster has no bodywork and therefore no real great clues. Even if they have the builder’s name, if nobody is around to help with some of the history you can run into a dead end pretty quickly. But there is nobody better at drag racing history than Tommy Lee Byrd, the Hot Rod Hoarder.
Check out the video to see what this dragster really did in its life.
Video Description:
Front engine dragsters can be difficult to identify, especially those that are home built on a tight budget. Famous cars like Garlits, Kalitta, Prudhomme cars had trademark details and plenty of reference photography from national events. The dragster of Todd Luckner from Corning, New York didn’t run many big events, but raced in BB/Gas Dragster at many New York and Pennsylvania tracks in the 1960s. The car featured a blown and injected small block Chevy with a clutch and direct drive setup. When the car ran its course, Todd sold it and moved on to other project cars, and he had no idea where the old chassis ended up.
Somehow, it ended up in East Tennessee, and that’s where we found it. Currently under the ownership of Greg Daugherty from GPS Race Cars, the car is in great hands, as Greg is an excellent fabricator and can breathe new life into this old rail dragster. Follow along as we nail down the details on this old school slingshot and compare it to the old pictures we dug up of the car in its heyday. #dragracing #history #hotrodhoarder
