A blaze of old Detroit Iron glory on the drag strip

Hot rods – and a '26 Model T – bust down the track as drivers revel in Flat Out Weekend

Jul 18, 2009

Special to the Star

It's a scene from three decades ago: a 1971 Buick and 1966 Chevrolet pull up to the line, wait through the succession of lights – then tear off down the drag strip. The Chevy finishes in front, and then both return to the pits.

But instead of the 1970s, it happened last weekend, and when the two 58-year-old drivers returned to where their friends waited, the good-natured "bench racing" discussion lasted another half an hour. The cars, now considered antiques, were none the worse for wear; they were built to go this fast, after all. But the opportunities to run full-throttle don't come often any more.

It was part of Flat Out Weekend, a three-day inaugural old-car event put on by Far From Stock, a Trenton-based hot-rod parts business run by Gord Crozier and his son Colin. Held at Shannonville Speedway, east of Belleville, the weekend included a car show, pinstriping exhibition, swap meet, drive-in movie and dance.

Still, it was the on-site action at the drag strip that proved the most popular.

"We wanted to give the guys a chance to take their cars out to run," Gord Crozier says. "They can put them in the show, but if they want to take them onto the strip, they can."

Owners of vintage muscle cars seldom get the chance to stretch their vehicles' legs. It isn't acceptable on the street, of course, and almost all antique car shows involve just parking the car for display.

While organized "nostalgia racing" for older vehicles is alive and well at many tracks, it's generally for hard-core fans with race-specific vehicles. It was Flat Out's spontaneous nature that was appealing; many who came to the show did not realize they could take their cars down the strip but they ended up racing on it.

If brakes, steering and tires passed muster, the car could compete against the clock. A few race-specific cars arrived on trailers, although most drivers were just enjoying some casual fun with cars they use regularly on the street, and many were reliving their youth.

"I'm here 'cause I can't do it on the street any more," says John, the owner of the 1966 Chevrolet, who wouldn't give his last name for fear his insurance company might find out. "I'm just banging the gears and seeing how fast she'll go. But I baby that car on the streets."

The car, which carries a 427-cubic-inch (6.9 L) engine, reached 94.79 m.p.h. (152.5 km/h). "It should go faster," John says. "In 1969, my buddy had one that was stock, and he did 107 (m.p.h.). But this is the first time I've done this in 37 years. It makes you feel young again."

Mike Howell, also 58, made a pass in a 1970 Chevrolet Monte Carlo owned by a friend. "I've always had fast cars, and it's better to do this on the strip than on the street," Howell says. "Here, it's just you against the time clock, not who you cut off or who you hit. When I was young, I did street racing, but there wasn't the population. Now you've got movies and TV showing it, and guys go out and race. If you're going to do it, then do it here, where it's just you against the clock."

Almost all of the racers admitted they'd street raced in their youth, when roads were less crowded. "You could have a race from every stoplight in the 1960s," John says.

Still, while they all agree that "take it to the track" is a good idea, they don't believe it will curtail most of the younger drivers who race on public roads.

"They won't go to the drag strip, because it costs too much," says Wayne Copeland, a 62-year-old classic auto appraiser who took his 1966 Dodge Coronet onto the track. "It's an instantaneous thing; you pull up beside somebody at the lights.

"I was a drag racer; I've done more on this track than on the road. The hardest part is making sure it's safe, making sure the brakes and steering are safe. Then you just go out and hold on for dear life."

John agrees track days would help curb street racing somewhat, but he points to the strip, devoid of young drivers in newer cars, and says, "So where are they right now?

"They'd still do it (street race), especially since it's probably daddy's car."

Newer cars might have been scarce at the strip, but there was no shortage of older ones: a customized Mercury followed a mid-1960s Mustang, while a Chevrolet Nova waited its turn.

And in the true spirit of "run what ya brung," Grant Garratt of Port Perry chugged back from the finish in an all-original 1926 Ford Model T. His time? "The clock ran out," he laughs.

His ticket reveals that the car took 27.2 seconds to travel an eighth of a mile. "I took it for a hoot," he says. "It's my wife's car. My buddy told me to take it to see what it would do."

He says he hit 40 km/h, but even though he's never raced, Garratt knows how to save face.

"I didn't have it cranked right up," he says.

Toronto Star