Gasser idea, and need a little info.

[Tankerdog]

I got an idea to build a 60's era gasser for a friend who runs a hot rod garage. He's spent most of his life in the same town, and has raced throughout his life. The idea is to build a tribute car, as if the real car were built today, with 60' - 70's graphics and configuration, sort of a Geezer Gasser. To connect the car with a time and place local sponsers, as you would see on any period gasser, will be from the towns history; only 60's and 70's businesses will be on the car.

The car is Revell's 41 Willys with a blown 427 Cammer, a real Ford nut engine. The car is true blue pearl at this point. Surprisingly the graphics are the hard part. Not so much the racing markings, but the businesses are a research challenge. Very quickly I had enough 'sponsors', but what the graphic should look like is far more involving. It's very tempting to just use simple stencil fonts on decal paper, but I know some of the business owners, and want to give them the respect they deserve.

Question: Not wanting to be incorrect, most old gassers have a simple code on each side of the car, which appears to be required to race. A/G, B/G, A/GS, E/G etc. Not all cars have them, in many cases it's a permanent graphic. Can anyone steer me towards what these mean? Or steer me to a website.

Huge thanks in advance,

Kent Hopper

A note of warning: If you decide to do some vintage subject like this, which requires older guys, like me, to remember what was in the town a few decades ago. People you ask what they remember will turn this into quite an exercise, and a long one. I would suggest not asking this at the workplace, it will definately distract anyone who starts to reminice. My list hit 100+ in a few days as people remembered more.

[Nitro Neil]

Those are the class designations, which for that car with that engine would be A/GS which stands for A/Gas Supercharged. The Gas classes were broken into small pieces based on the body type; total car weight and engine size, blown or unblown.

Here are some pages from an old 1963 NHRA rulebook for Gas Coupes and Sedan:

Edited October 28, 2013 by Nitro Neil

[Tankerdog]

Outstanding! That's exactly what I need.

[Nitro Neil]

You're welcome. And have fun!

[ScaleDale]

You want to look up the Nostalgia Gasser Racing Association. They race under '60s rules and have a good website.

http://www.nostalgiagassers.com

Dale

[Tankerdog]

Just added that one to the favorites. Been looking for something new to learn and build, wow, this is it!

Thanks Gents!

[Ace-Garageguy]

You may also want to have a look at Byron's Gasser Madness. This was one of the go-to sites for research and photos for a good while, but it went away after Byron's death. Some friends of his have recently succeeded in resurrecting it...

http://www.gassermadness.us/

Click on "A Brief History of the Gasser Classes" in the table of contents (to the left side of the homepage) for just that...

Edited October 28, 2013 by Ace-Garageguy

[Tankerdog]

Added that site too, excellent site. I have to tell you, a couple hours of help beat several internet searches using silly words like 'gassers'. Shooting blind on search engines these days is like hunting land mines, blindfolded, with a hammer.

Now I wanna build more gassers.

Many thanks again!

[ScaleDale]

It's all in the keywords.

Vintage Gassers

Gassers of the '60s

Gasser Wars

Dale

Edited October 29, 2013 by ScaleDale

[berr13]

For businesses in your town, try a trip to the local public library. Most central libraries keep back copies of city directories, or sometimes even old local phone books. If you're lucky, you'll find old logos along with phone numbers for your graphics.