(Words and photos by Darr Hawthorne) The Automobile Museum of Driving hosted the second of their Tribute to Gassers, the straight axle, blown and injected monsters that once filled the staging lanes at dragstrips all over the country. We just don’t see enough of these awesome coupes and sometimes sedans, except at annual Hot Rod Reunions, but these racecars are still on the minds of car builders and enthusiasts all over.
Some of the gas coupes on display for the weekend show never existed on a drag strip and there are only a few gasser-type hot rods still driven daily on the street, but the gathering of vintage restored and garage finds was amazing. There were tons of straight axle rods in the Museum parking lots as well as the Mooneyes contingent from nearby Moon Equipment Co. and if you couldn’t find some gasser or hot rod to covet, you’d better check your own pulse.
A handful of vintage fuel altereds displayed those short wheelbase beasts currently enjoying a renaissance in vintage nostalgia racing. There was an awesome bonus hearing the stories of legends like the Camfather “Isky” Ed Iskenderian, gasser pilot “Bones” Balogh famed drag racer Jim Kirby and innovator Scott Dapron who were special guest speakers on a panel with audience participation.
Isky spent time checking out the display of hot rods and found a Ford coupe sporting a vintage Paxton centrifugal supercharger, after questioning the owner he took notes on the unique, original intake system.
You can put a straight axle on just about any coupe, sedan or wagon and call it a gasser, that’s why we love them!
Enjoy these photos, and when you are near Los Angeles Airport (LAX) cruise by the Automobile Museum of Driving, where, in addition to an epic collection of over 130 vehicles from horseless carriages, Kaisers, Packards, Studebakers, Chryslers, Caddys, Lincolns and Buicks they’ll take you for a ride.
Every Sunday the museum curators withdraw three cars from the collection and chauffer car nuts around the neighborhood in a Delorean, a VW Squareback or a vintage Packard. Who knows what they’ll bring out next weekend.
The ADM is located at 610 Lairport St. in El Segundo, CA and there’s information at the website: http://www.automobiledrivingmuseum.org
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