There are lots of old dragsters out there for sale, but few have the cool factor this one has. Based around an original Chassis Research K-88 chassis, the car was built in 1958 and has a worked over flathead Ford V8 for power. Legend Dode Martin took care of freshening and sharpening the flattie recently, while the seller believes that Jocko Johnson originally ported and relieved the block back in the day. 

Chassis Research was the first company to sell drag race chassis in volume around the country. They were the defacto chassis of choice for all the hard core racers in the late 1950s. Soon other companies like Dragmaster and others came up to challenge Chassis Research, and an industry was born. Run by the quirky and rather eccentric Scotty Fenn, Chassis Research cars were famously based around Fenn’s idea that a dragster’s wheelbase should equal the circumference of the rear tire. There was no apparent scientific reason for this thought, but Fenn was pretty hung up on it.

Lastly, the car is a bit of a transformer, like lots of rails were in this era. It can be run as both a dragster and a modified roadster, depending on the way you’re feeling that day. Lots of car clubs that had race cars ran them both as dragsters and either modified roadsters or competition coupes. Why? simple, the car could be run in two classes, giving two guys the shot to drive that day.

We really dig this car and hope it goes to someone who’ll appreciate the history and maybe even make a few short squirts off the starting line with it!

Source –eBayMotors.com — 1958 Chassis Research K-88 Chassis dragster