In 2014 the Automobile Driving Museum (ADM) hosted their first ever “Tribute to Gassers” event. With much success and popular demand, the museum is proud to bring back “Tribute to Gassers II – LEGENDS” exhibit and show on Saturday, August 29, 2015. The ADM will be hosting the event to Gasser enthusiasts from all over Los Angeles County from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Robert Rey’s Royal Pro-Motion will be organizing the show while Gasser Wars Magazine and Hot Rod Deluxe Magazine will be sponsoring the event with a fantastic display of nostalgic Gasser cars. Edelbrock, Mooneyes, Blair’s Speed Shop, and Service Center, well know speed shops from the era will also be in attendance.
To the uninitiated, Gassers were hot rods developed to compete in NHRA Gas Class events that began in the early 1950s and lasted through 1970. Created to accommodate modified stock cars not eligible to compete in stock or “fuel” classes of the day, the NHRA Gas Class was populist racing at its finest. Gassers were based on production models, usually from the 1930s to the 1960s, that were stripped of superfluous weight and jacked up front to handle a truck beam axle for better weight distribution on acceleration. (As Gassers evolved, racers began to adjust the wheelbase to improve rear weight distribution even more, thereby creating the prototype for the modern funny car.) Racers often replaced the body panels with fiberglass, when available, and the windows with Plexiglas.
As weight was the enemy to the racer, they tended to gravitate to lighter cars. Willy’s was perhaps the quintessential Gasser choice, but racers also learned the charms of the British Ford Anglia and even the Fiat “Topolino.” Anything cheap and plentiful, like Fords and Tri-Five Chevys, did not escape the Gasser treatment.
Under the hood, you’d typically find small-block and big-block Chevys – this was hot rodding and drag racing, after all – but just about any top American brand has powered Gassers, often with a supercharger and mechanical fuel injection. They were usually painted in flamboyant metal flakes, pearls, and candy finishes that reflected the zeitgeist of the time; the paint scheme was usually complemented by wild lettering, pin-striping, and even lace.
But like many old racecars, the latest going thing – the faster thing – caught the attention of racers, and Gassers fell by the wayside. Some were reconfigured for other classes, while many others were simply junked because of the hard lives they led.
The ADM is proud to present this impressive and radical segment of automotive history to our visitors. For those who can’t wait, the ADM’s exhibit will be available for view from August 22nd to September 30th, 2015. Join us August 29, 2015 for a special day of Gassers at the Automobile Driving Museum. Come see these fabulous vehicles and hear from the “Real Gasser Legends” such as Jim Kirby, Ed “Isky” Iskenderian, Robert “Bones” Balogh and Scott Dapron from Mickey Thompson Racing.
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Cars start rolling in at 8 am
310.909.0950
