1955 and 56 Ford Nascar Suspension (dual shock) Set Up???


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By Daniel Jessup - 11 Years Ago
A number of years ago I remember that at the Charlotte CVA meet there was the Curtis Turner replica. I can remember looking at a couple of the 55/56 Ford race cars (can't remember they might have both been 56's) and noticing what looked to be a dual-shock setup? Does anyone out there have any specs on this or how this was accomplished? I assume that everything was completely fabricated at the race shop like the photo below? I tried to find a photo of what I am trying to explain but just came up with this. I don't think this convertible 56 has the setup I am speaking of...looks like this photo was taken when the heads and intake were off the block?

http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Uploads/Images/91b2cd72-cb45-4000-bcde-2db5.jpg

any of these gents in the photo still alive and kickin'? Is the above photo of Depaolo's shop?

http://forums.y-blocksforever.com/Uploads/Images/618ba1fc-4792-4e4a-a017-9405.jpg

Flat out awesome race car right there!
By glrbird - 11 Years Ago
My Dad raced a lot of circle track and all the twin shocks were usually one in the stock location and one attached to the outside of the lower A Frame and a bracket welded to the frame for the top mount.
By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
Daniel, The top picture is a shot from the garage that Factory Ford under the name DePalo Racing ,used in Daytona Beach getting ready for the 56 speedweek.

The second picture is of the #26 car that I built in the early 1980's. A tribute car to Curtis Turner and the winnest car in NASCAR history, 22 wins in 1956. That picture was taken in the Museum of Speedway motors. I do have pictures of the dual shock mounts and will try to look them up.
By PF Arcand - 11 Years Ago
The car in the forefront of the first photo, appears to be that of Glenn "Fireball" Roberts. Is that him standing by it? Turner's #26 is of course in the background.
By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
Paul,That is not Fireball standing buy the car. I think this was a mechanice and his first name may have been "Red" . At one time I asked Ralph Moody , but I can't remember who he said the different people were? I wish I had written down evert thing Ralph told me ,but i was only interested in the stories about Curtis Turner!
By snowcone - 11 Years Ago
What was the theory back then in racing convertibles? Surely the wind swirling around must have caused excessive drag issues?
By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
Gary, The thought behind the convert. series in NASCAR was that the fans could see the drivers working the steering wheel like at the indy car races and the hotrod races. It was also a way to sell more tickets having a seperart race than the hard tops on a different night.

Aeodynamics was not a problem because the ragtops and the hardtops did not race against each other, altough in the last few years of the circuit there were a few races called sweepstake races when the hardtops and ragtops ran in the same race, but each division had a winner.

When the factories backed out in mid 1957 and money was drying up,for 1958 some teams built cars called zipper tops, Cars could be raced as converts. on Saterday and a top was bolted onto them and raced as a hardtop on sunday.

The convertible division in NASCAR only ran from 1956 untill 1959 and Darlington ran the Rebel 300 for a few more years as a once a year ragtop race. But in the four years of the convert. division, it was some of the best racing NASCAR has ever offered.
By Daniel Jessup - 11 Years Ago
Tom,

From the vintage video footage I have seen, I could not agree more with your statement about convertible racing being some of the best.

Were you at that CVA Charlotte meet way back in let's see... '92 or '93? I know there were race cars there just can't remember exactly which ones.

EDIT: Where can I find more photos of Depalo's shop?
By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
Daniel, Yes i was at Charlotte, and I built both of the race cars that were there. The orange and white #26 and the purple wild hog #99.

I have talked to you at carlisle, I was always with Cy, the old guy with all the superchargers and y-block stuff.

I will look through some of my old stuff,and see what I can turn up.

Go on facebook to NASCAR before 72 and you will see a lot of old time shots.
By Daniel Jessup - 11 Years Ago
alright... next question and we will find out how famous you are lol... a few years back, Ford did a commercial that showed its racing history. The footage shown was present day on a current blacktop road as the cars went from Henry's first race car down through the years... the car kept rolling and "morphed" into cars from different era's. I could have sworn that your purple and white #99 was in that commercial!!!!

EDIT: I remember Cy... he and I talked VS57 stuff for a while. IIRC, he worked at the Paxton plant for a while right?
By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
Daniel, Cy worked at a Ford dealership in Minnesota and was a McCulloch -Paxton dealer since 1955. He was the head wrench and worked on all the supercharged 57 Fords for the Min. state police. Most of them he converted to single four cars under Ford Waranty.The superchargers he pulled off all that to be returned to Ford.

Yes the purple cars was used in that Ford spot, and Ford also hauled the car around to big shows to show it with there racing displays. The orange and white 26 car was used in a union76 commercial, that was shot at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. We had a great time doing this also my friend and fellow Y-blocker Richard Martin was there with his Tim Flock 57 Mercury. We also had the pleasure of spending time with Tim Flock,Ralph Moody and Neil Castles ,Neil drove for Ford during the Y-block days.
By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
Daniel, I just reread your post and had to laugh, about how famous I am! When we filmed the commercial at Charlotte, the director looked at some of the footage and every one that was in a Hardtop and crash helmet could not be seen.But I was in the open#26 car and could be so the director had to pay to put me in the actors union and they had to pay me as an extra, so not only did I get paid every day the car was used, I also got paid as a movie extra.
By pegleg - 11 Years Ago
Good grief! Yer a genuine Movie Star!! Remind me to get an Autograph next summer. Then I can take to Antiques roadshow and get rich. If I don't forget where I put it, or who I am!! Seriously, how about a YBM article on those cars, you never told me any of this. Maybe I didn't shut up long enough to listen!
By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
Frank, There was a reprint of an old article about the#26 car in the last issue, Quess I could do an article on the #99 car.

If Carroll Shelby charged $150.00 for an autograph mine should be worth a nickel !
By PF Arcand - 11 Years Ago
Re the Convertible division. I read somewhere that NASCAR took the convertibles over originally from another short lived organization. As for the aereodynamics, it needs to be remembered that in the early 50's there was only one or two so called super speedways. The others were what are now called short tracks, with the odd road race mixed in..
By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
P.F.There was an organization in Indy called the Society of Autosports,Fellowship and Education or (S.A,F.E.) for short. Don Oldenberg was the S.A,F.E. Convert. champ in 1955 . Bill France merged SAFE and NASCAR in 1956 creating the NASCAR ragtop Division
By John Mummert - 11 Years Ago
Sometime in 1957 Hotrod Mag did a whole article on Jerry Unser's 57 stockcar. It has pictures of the dual shock set-up. I have the issue somewhere, but like Frank, I don't know where I left it.I would guess it was later in the year, after Jerry won Pikes Peak.
How in the world did a Ford beat those fabulous 57 scrubs?????
From the articles you see today you'd think scrub was the only car company in the late 50's.

Maybe someone with more time than I have could look up production numbers for 55-56-57. The point is, in 1957 about 85 out of every 100 people who bought a new car DIDN'T buy a scrub. That's a bit of a guess. The accurate numbers would be interesting.
By ecode ragtop - 11 Years Ago
O.K. Guys I can use a little help, there was an article in a car mag. in 57 that shows the building of the 57 Ford that Smokey Yunik built for Curtis Turner to run at Darlington. I have part of it but have lost the rest and there is no name of the mag. on any of the pages. Has any seen this article? Thanks Tom
By DryLakesRacer - 11 Years Ago
John from the facts as I know them there were indeed more FOMOCOs but IMO because the "C" brand never changed there basic engine more had an opportunity to live on. I've had a few of them and when they recieved the same non-care as a Ford they were just as gummed up.

Today it's just different. As you know you can buy almost everything for a tri5C including frames and bodies. The difference I see is when I take my 56 Victoria to a cruise there are more folks with rememberance stories than for the others. Rarely has anyone said anything bad most wishing they had them back. Whether they be modified or stock when you are the only one and there are 10 of the others you get the attention even if you don't want it....Also many offers $$$$................JD
By pegleg - 11 Years Ago
I get the same response with the '57. I really enjoy the Pure stock Drag Races, most of the audience has never seen a '57, let alone an F code. I get a lot of questions, and many are from guys wearing some kind of a GM shirt. They are astounded that any '57 is a match for GTO's and SS's that are ten years newer and 100 ci's smaller than their favorite brand whatever. The same thing applies to the R2 and R4 Studebakers that Ted Harbit or George Krem own. They've never heard of those cars, which is what makes it fun.
By jrw429 - 11 Years Ago
John Mummert (11/1/2013)
Maybe someone with more time than I have could look up production numbers for 55-56-57.


Here is 54-59, because it is easy to cut and paste from wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Automobile_Production_Figures

For 1957, 26.7% of American car production was Ford and 24.0% was Chevrolet.

Production Figures for 1954 Production Figures for 1955 Production Figures for 1956
Ford1,165,942 Chevrolet1,704,667 Chevrolet1,567,117
Chevrolet1,143,561 Ford1,451,157 Ford1,408,478
Plymouth463,148 Buick738,814 Buick572,024
Buick444,609 Plymouth705,455 Plymouth571,634
Oldsmobile354,001 Oldsmobile583,179 Oldsmobile485,458
Pontiac287,744 Pontiac554,090 Pontiac405,730
Mercury259,305 Mercury329,808 Mercury327,943
Dodge154,648 Dodge276,936 Dodge240,686
Chrysler105,030 Chrysler152,777 Cadillac154,577
Cadillac96,680 Cadillac140,777 Chrysler128,322
Nash91,121 Studebaker116,333 DeSoto109,442
DeSoto76,580 DeSoto115,485 Nash83,420
Studebaker68,708 Nash96,156 Studebaker69,593
Hudson50,660 Packard55,247 Lincoln50,322
Lincoln36,993 Hudson45,535 Hudson22,588
Packard31,291 Lincoln27,222 Clipper18,482
Metropolitan13,162 Imperial11,432 Imperial10,684
Willys11,856 Willys6,565 Packard10,353
Kaiser8,539 Metropolitan6,096 Metropolitan9,068
Henry J1,123 Kaiser1,291 Continental2,550
Production Figures for 1957 Production Figures for 1958 Production Figures for 1959
Ford1,676,449 Chevrolet1,142,460 Chevrolet1,462,140
Chevrolet1,505,910 Ford987,945 Ford1,450,953
Plymouth726,009 Plymouth443,799 Plymouth458,261
Buick405,086 Oldsmobile294,374 Pontiac383,320
Oldsmobile384,390 Buick241,892 Oldsmobile382,865
Pontiac334,041 Pontiac217,303 Rambler374,240
Dodge287,608 Rambler162,182 Buick285,089
Mercury286,163 Dodge137,861 Dodge156,385
Cadillac146,841 Mercury133,271 Mercury150,000
DeSoto126,514 Cadillac121,778 Cadillac142,272
Chrysler122,273 Chrysler63,681 Studebaker126,156
Rambler91,469 Edsel63,110 Chrysler69,970
Studebaker63,101 DeSoto49,445 DeSoto45,734
Lincoln41,123 Studebaker44,759 Edsel44,891
Imperial37,593 Lincoln17,134 Lincoln/Continental26,906
Metropolitan15,317 Imperial16,133 Metropolitan22,209
Nash10,330 Metropolitan13,128 Imperial17,269
Packard4,809 Continental12,550 Checker1,050
Hudson4,180 Packard2,622
Continental462
By John Mummert - 11 Years Ago
Thanks, JIm. So, 76 out of every 100 people who bought new cars in 1957 didn't buy a scrub. These numbers also don't include Volkswagen, Fiat, MG, Triumph, Porsche, a handful of Toyotas and our neighbor even had a pair of Issetta's back then. So the number of misguided individuals who didn't have the foresight to buy an icon is even higher. I do remember going to visit a great uncle who just bought a new 57 bel air he was quite proud of. Even at 6 years old I thought it was the ugliest car I had ever seen. Until I saw the 58's.
By glrbird - 11 Years Ago
What was going on in 1958, most sales were down except Rambler and continental!
By Hoosier Hurricane - 11 Years Ago
In '58 we were in the midst of a recession. Probably why Rambler (small, inexpensive cars) increased in sales, can't explain the Continental.
By YBLOCKMERC - 11 Years Ago
The Continental MK II was discontinued at the end of '57 and the Continental became the top of the line Lincoln. All Lincoln's in '58 were built on the same new unibody, so the increased Continental sales would reflect a lower price and the desire for Lincoln buyers to buy the top shelf model.