Ingenuity in Action (1959)

[Music] detroit the automotive capital of the world [Music] half a mile of asphalt a quarter mile to race on and a quarter mile to slow down in [Music] thousands of people but with one idea one dream to build a hot rod that is swifter than any other hot rod in its class the test of one car against another to determine the lowest elapsed time that's drag racing and this is the king of all drag races the nationals so here we are 500 horsepower ready to push me down that quarter of a mile in less than 10 seconds you don't drive you aim you aim and try to keep it straight it's like threading a needle at a quarter of a mile but it's really living so let's see how it all began i guess everybody has a shangri-la for us it's drag racing i say us because it takes a team to build and race a top contender the happy hours of a man's life are spent creating something some people paint others write some design a rocket to the moon but for us it's trying to build a machine that'll cover a quarter of a mile quicker than anything else on four wheels [Music] lefty and tom are high priests in our temple lefty works in electronics and tom's a mechanic [Music] [Music] and there's the high lama jim nelson he's the engineer in real life he's manager of a speed shop on oceanside tom and jim are brothers there i am with a jacket supervising the job you got to keep an eye on these boys or something you'll mash down on the throttle and head right into outer space takes a lot of doing to make a record run these cars are more highly bred than a racehorse in fact this is probably the most specialized type of machinery in the automotive world [Music] when we head out for a big race like the nationals we take along enough spare parts to rebuild the engine as many times as we have to reliability is almost as important as speed takes a combination of both to win in fact i've known it to happen where the fastest car isn't necessarily the winner there's at least one childhound in every group nick was ours nick and mike had farther to come than we did so we set up a rendezvous safer to travel by caravan more fun too [Music] we hadn't been able to get together because of the hectic weeks of work that always perceived a big meet so there was lots to talk about new ideas things that worked and things that didn't work a dragliner was our last year's winner nick purchased it when we built the drag master mike and nick were running it this year the long haul from california to detroit so lefty broke up to powwow and we got underway [Applause] you hear a lot about the beauty of the southwest but unless you drive east you never really get a good look at it [Applause] found a great barbecue place in amarillo and of course nick was the first one in and the last one out you wondered where he put it all until you looked down and saw those size 14 shoes [Music] oh [Music] it's always good to see old friends again we joined the parkers in oklahoma to catch a meet before pushing on give us a chance to work out the bugs and get the cars in top tune before arriving at the nationals [Music] oklahoma had a regional meet that's a texas job burning up the track my competition got off to a swirly start which put me in the next round there's jamie parker and his sea gasser there goes his brother phil and his a gasser affectionately called grandma [Music] here comes nick and the drag liner a little on the late side lady luck was riding on my shoulder all day [Music] there's the allison against the twin chevy you can't see it for the smoke with the chevy one and so did we jamie got first in his class and we won a savings bond for top elimination and could we use it [Music] all work and no play could make drag racing a very dull sport so after a hot day at the track it's always pool time by the time we left oklahoma we had quite a caravan two cars a pickup a rig and five hot rods [Music] [Applause] so when we got to st louis and crossed the mississippi the weather began to look a little on the threatening side [Music] so [Music] and in illinois the storm broke from there to detroit it was solid [Music] following day the sun came out and everybody took a deep breath even so we almost lost the whole day unpacking everything and getting it dried out and we had the car to clean up and get ready for technical inspection the next morning all cars must pass a thorough technical inspection by representatives of the national hot rod association the association's rules have been responsible for setting and keeping the high standards of safety so typical of modern hot rodding classes are divided according to body types engine size and weight of car this affords a wide variety of creations for hot rod enthusiasts to develop the check chart system is used and each contestant's car must pass all requirements before he is allowed on the drag strip [Music] this often creates some lively discussions weighing in is always a critical moment rules call for 30 front 70 rear weight ratio a few pounds light on the front end can disqualify a car and a few pounds too few can throw it into a higher class after technical inspection the crew transports the car to the pit area where a thorough tune-up is done before their first run barbara livingston a charming secretary of nhra is on hand to greet old friends and give newcomers a helping hand once satisfied the crew wheels the car through the staging area and an amateur photographer gets her chance before the car gets to the starting line [Music] now it's time for the crew and the driver to test the car and the track the first days of the meet are strenuous and exhausting the track is in continuous use by contestants making test runs in time trials all classes participate and crews make run after run trying to get their cars in perfect tunes [Music] for the spectator it's an exciting time too because they have the opportunity to observe the many different classes in action and compare their elapsed times it is not at all unusual for the meat's best elapsed time to be set during the time trials [Music] now [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] me the parking lots and stands were filled to capacity as enthusiasts turned out in droves hot rodding has really come of age in the last decade since 1950 the sport has grown from only two active strips to the present colossal number of more than 250. this group from washington represents the best in cooperation father drives and the whole family acts as crew [Music] whether it's an airplane engine or a v8 there's always work to be done and a cool drink hits the spot on a hot day [Music] for us the big day was here we were ready for the flat out run to see if we really had it or not we checked with champion and make sure we had the right heat range [Music] the parkers were all at it too making their last minute adjustments [Music] a word with one of the toughest competitors chuck jones the sidewinder crew from long beach california and then we were ready to take her down to the line [Music] [Music] [Music] from oceanside california it's the martin nelson machine the master's drag master they'll be running down for a record run [Music] [Music] countertops with top elapsed time on our contact clocks a 9.12 9.12 seconds the nelson martin machine the masters drag master with the lowest e.t of the meat so far and a possible record they had to check the gas to make sure we weren't on rocket fuel [Music] i felt mighty good on the trip back to the pits [Music] you never want to count your chickens or however the saying goes the day of eliminations we heard those expensive noises when we fired her up [Music] nick was a big help he ate as usual there was nothing to do but tear her all down and see what the trouble was it turned out to be a twisted cam lifter so we dropped the pan pulled out the cam and got at it from the lower end [Music] fortunately the cam was okay the eliminations were starting and time was working against us the 1959 national championship drag races the scene the detroit dragway detroit michigan we have competition coming from as far south as the panama canal zone and as far north as the canadian area from the east coast to the west coast two cars in the sea gas class jamie parker on the tower side [Music] it looked like everybody in detroit was in the stands bill parker in his a gas coop against bill waddell [Music] two four bangers with ray huckabee of houston texas on the spectator side taking an early lead [Music] a thunderbird and a corvette in the sports car class [Applause] two chevy sedans vying for class honors the original hot rods two street roadsters and austin against the fiat in the altered coupe class the cotton thickens special from arizona taking the lead in the modified roadster class in the competition coupe class nike and viselka's last year's class winner blows up and loses to robert andrews of ohio bernie partridge in miss fortune from california gets a good start in the modified roadster class with only minutes left we got her buttoned up and down to the staging area [Music] jack moss's twin chevy taking a good lead over arfan's green monster [Music] that's ishimaru taking an early lead in his a dragster and the very beautiful misfire the third a blown chrysler dragster from california on the spectator side two blown a dragsters getting off to a good start two texans jack moss and his twin chevy being taken by rod singer on the tower side [Music] thought martin in the drag master losing to tets ishimaru [Music] the drag master with a lower ep but pets getting off the line better well that's drag racing herman moser in his ramrod getting off to a slow start two beautiful altars the red coupe from texas dusting off the bronze entry from ohio charles johnson from michigan failing john klein from massachusetts in the modified roadster class the very fast hollish brothers competition coupe with jigs chamblin from ohio taking a terrific lead rod singer from texas eliminates bill tibbles of ohio and takes another step up the ladder the crowd waits anxiously for the runoff of the little eliminator to get underway and there goes george montgomery of dayton ohio [Music] the winner with hood flying otis smith of ohio a roadster class winner takes on gabby bleaker of illinois a altered winner to win middle eliminator wally parks president of nhra talking to mr ed cole general manager of chevrolet and robert peterson publisher of hot rod magazine with mr tex colbert president of chrysler corporation the grand prize the d.a lubricants chevrolet el camino rod singer on the way up to the line to run against jig shandlin for mr top eliminator rick gets a shot for hop rod as the crowd watches and they're off up to the halfway mark they're neck and neck and coming into the traps is bronzinger way out in front bad luck for jake shandlin who dropped the clutch in the hollish brothers beautiful competition coupe on the starting line the green monster 1945 allison power dragster with much much go and there's the flag it's phil smith giving him the big green sign he approaches the quarter mark's grip going wild up to halfway he's honored another three-quarter he's really coming on and in the traps with a top time a top conduct time of 170.45 miles per hour 170.45 miles per hour with the top time of the meet and then the awards the trophy for traveling the greatest distance to the nationals accepted by mike bamber the award for the best appearing car and crew goes to daryl zimmerman of colorado [Music] and the trophy for the best engineered car to mr and mrs lindley's miss fire the third from california wally parks presents the eliminators trophy in the sports car class to jack horsley jr of miami florida who won in his lincoln power devon george montgomery of dayton ohio receiving his trophy for winning as the little eliminator to the beautiful otis automotive special of akron ohio goes the trophy for middle eliminator the martin nelson drag master was considered in the judge's opinion the safest constructed car of the meat they also won the trophy for the lowest e.t wally parks beckons to the crew of the green monster to share honors with art arfans for establishing a new top speed record on gas of 170.45 miles per hour and here comes the singer miller car being pushed back to the winner's circle [Music] the car that won the meet and mr top eliminator himself rod singer of houston texas and to the winner the beautiful champion spark plug trophy the d.a lubricant el camino and the kiss [Music] and so another nationals draws to a close records have been set and broken ideas have been exchanged enthusiasts will return to garages and workshops to create new machines that will go a little faster and get from here to there in a little less time for this is the story of ingenuity in action [Music] you