Gasser (car)

A gasser is a type of hot rod originally used for drag racing. This type of car originated in United States in the late 1950s and continued until the early 1970s. In the days before Pro Stock, the A/Gas cars were the fastest stock-appearing racers around.

History

Gassers are based on closed-body production models from the 1930s to mid-1960s, which have been stripped of extraneous weight and jacked up using a beam axle or tubular axle to provide better weight distribution on acceleration, though a raised stock front suspension is common as well. Common weight reduction techniques include fiberglass body panels, stripped interiors, and Lexan windows.
The 1933–36 Willys coupés and pickups were very popular gassers, in particular the 1933 Willys 77. While neither cheap nor plentiful, it was a competitive and lightweight choice satisfying the rules of the era. At least one gasser incorporated a Willys frame under a Ford body to placate their sponsor while keeping it race legal. Keith Ferrell's Dogcatcher, for instance, was a 1936 delivery with a fuel injected small-block Chevrolet, built for the class; in 1967, Ferrell deliberately left something off to run it in B/Altered.
After the company revived, the 1937-42 coupés, sedans, and pickups were again popular with hot rodders and gasser teams, and again, comparatively low production leaves unexplained why they gained so much attention. Ollie Olsen's 1940 coupé Wil-A-Meaner won the 1961 Nationals' A/G title. Between 1962 and 1964, the Hassel & Vogelsong 1940 coupé "was the scourge of B/Gas", winning the 1963 and 1964 Nationals and setting a 1964 national record at 11.34. In 1967, the Hrudka Brothers' 1933 panel delivery was a popular wheelstander.
Postwar Willys were also used, but, despite being a better chassis than the 1955-7 Chevrolet, were never as popular as the prewar cars.
Combinations could be unusual. Fujimo, Too! was a B/G 1950 Plymouth business coupé with an injected Oldsmobile and Hydro-Motive transmission.
NHRA first licensed women drivers in gas classes in 1963, when Roberta Leighton, member of the Dust Devils Car Club and driver of an injected El Camino, was first admitted.
Throughout the 1960s, the Stickle and Riffle Anglia, based out of the Rod Shop and driven by Bob Riffle, were frequent winners. Their only national titles, however, were B/G at the 1967 Nationals and C/G at the 1968 Nationals. Riffle's best pass in B/Gas was 10.54 seconds at.
At the 1965 Nationals, held at Indianapolis Raceway Park in Indianapolis, Indiana, 1941 Willyses driven by Dick Bourgeous and Doug "Cookie" Cook faced off in A/GS.
Stone-Woods-Cook abandoned A/GS for Top Fuel Funny Car by the start of the 1967 season.
Late model cars were first allowed in the Gas classes in 1967.
Mazmanian would quit the gas classes for fuel funny car in 1968.
Gas classes were eliminated by NHRA in 1972. However, the NHRA still categorises gassers in sportsman categories, and vehicles can run gasoline or alcohol fuel. The term "Super Gas" in NHRA refers to the rules that prohibit dragsters and mandate full-bodied cars in that category today.

Engine

Because they were primarily built for racing, these cars typically had the engine swapped to a larger or more powerful one, or the existing stock engine modified. It was very common to fit a Roots supercharger modified from original use on General Motors two-cycle diesel truck engines and mechanical fuel injection, manufactured by Algon, Hilborn, or Crower.

Suspension

With form being dictated by function, their appearance is often very top heavy and ungainly, mainly due to front ends being raised higher than stock, to assist in the weight transfer during rapid acceleration. Having their exhaust pipes exit through the front fender well is a common characteristic of gassers, as is having bodies painted in flamboyant metalflakes, pearls, and candy finishes complemented by lettering in wild fonts. Most gassers also had ladder bars.

Name

The name arose because they competed in a gasoline-fueled drag racing class, rather than one using methanol or nitromethane.

Named cars

There were a number of cars run under names.

Name	Entrant	Year and make	Class
Agitator	Paul Day	1933 Willys	BB/GS
Assassination	Guzman & Ward	1934 MG	AAM/SP
The Bare	Dick Shroyer	1939 Chevrolet	H/G
The Bird Hunter	Ted Walters	1940 Willys	C/G
Bonesmobile Special	Curt Carroll	1931 Ford	A/G
Born Runnin'	Willie Johnson	1927 Ford truck	A/SR
Boss Hydro	Joe Pirrone	1933 Willys	AA/G
Cat Skinner	Bogan & Renfroe	1941 Willys	A/G
Chicken Coupe	Ray Moore	1940 Willys	B/GS
City of Industry	Sam Parriott	1953 & 1963 Kurtis	A/SP, AM/SP, AAM/SP
Confusion	Courtney Lee Scott	1934 Ford	B/GS
Dark Horse	Stone-Woods-Finders	1933 Willys	B/GS
Dark Horse Too	Stone-Woods-Cook	1966 Mustang	AA/GS
Dirty Thirty	Charlie Hill	1933 Willys	A/GS
Dogcatcher	Keith Ferrell	1933 Willys delivery	B/A, BB/A
Filthy Forty	Hill & Zartman	1940 Willys	C/G
Fire Brewed	Chuck Finders	1949 Anglia	AA/GS
Flintstone Flyer	Dave Koffel	1949 Packard	E/G
Flintstone Flyer Too	Dave Koffel	1959 Studebaker	F/G
Frivilous I	Bob & Jim Joffer	1963 Ford	B/MP
Fujimo, Too!	Adler & Trout	1950 Plymouth	B/G
The Gasser Passer	"Ohio George" Montgomery	Ford Prefect	AA/G
Giddy Up Go	Joe Lowery	1956 Chevrolet	D/G
Here Comes Snoopy	Bucky Burk	1949 Anglia	B/G
The High and Mighty	Jim Parsons	1927 Ford	A/SR
Holeshot 6	Tom Langdon	1949 Anglia	G/G
The Hammer	Dick Becker	1950 Anglia	G/G
Hydro Phobia		1931 Ford	B/G
Inch Pincher	Dean Lowry	1956 Volkswagen Beetle	H/G
Irritation	Dan Stanton	1940 Willys	C/A
Jolly Dolly	Bob Bernarden	1939 Chevrolet	C/G
Kamikaze Koup	Coonrod & Harry	1933 Willys	A/GS
The Kentuckian	Glen Wothington	1966 Corvette	BM/SP
King Kong	Kohler Brothers	1951 Anglia	A/GS
The Klein Bird	Bill Ireland	1965 Mustang	A/MP
The Numismatist	Allyn Lynch	1941 Willy's	B/GS
The Numismatist II	Allyn Lynch	1965 Mustang	C/GS
Wahoppon	Ed Mezzio	1955 Chevrolet	B/GS
Wil-A-Meaner	Ollie Olsen	1940 Willys coupé	A/G

NHRA National Champions

Source

1955, Great Bend, Kansas

Class	Entrant	Engine	Car	Elapsed time	Trap speed
A/G	Dick Cadwalader	Oldsmobile	1933 Ford
B/G	Waterworth/Morris	Mercury	1932 Ford
C/G	Howard Johansen		1955 Chevrolet
D/G	M. S. Shephard		1955 Chevrolet
A/SR	Owen Bowling	Chrysler	1929 Ford
B/SR	Red Lund	Ford	1932 Ford
C/SR	Dale Ham	Dodge	1929 Ford
A/SP	Warren Turner	Chrysler	Allard
B/SP	Ralph Richter		1955 Porsche

1956, Kansas City, Missouri

Class	Entrant	Engine	Car	Elapsed time	Trap speed
A/G	Wilton Zaiser	Oldsmobile	1931 Ford	13.32
B/G	H. L. Davis	Chrysler	1940 Ford	14.36
C/G	Earl Dorris	Chevrolet	1934 Chevrolet	15.20
D/G	Leland Allega	Chevrolet	1956 Chevrolet	15.35
A/SR	Safford & Shores	Chevrolet	1929 Ford	13.94
B/SR	John Mulkey	Ford	1932 Ford	14.43
A/SP	Jack Jenkins		1956 Corvette	14.52
B/SP	Ralph Richter		1956 MGA	20.13

1957, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Class	Entrant	Engine	Car	Elapsed time	Trap speed
A/G	Harry Lawhon	Oldsmobile	1933 Ford	13.14
B/G	C. E. Foltin	Oldsmobile	1938 Chevrolet	14.07
C/G	Richard C. Jasper	Chevrolet	1934 Ford	14.28
D/G	Alan Templin	Chevrolet	1951 Ford	14.77
A/SR	Curtis Franke	Chevrolet	1924 Model T	13.22
B/SR	Carl Stone	Chevrolet	1932 Ford	13.97
A/SP	Don Simmons	Buick	1954 Austin-Healey
C/SP	Ernest Grimm		1957 Corvette

1959, Detroit Dragway

Class	Entrant	Engine	Car	Elapsed time	Trap speed
A/G	"Ohio George" Montgomery	Cadillac	1933 Willys	11.94
B/G	Jim Whitaker	Chevrolet	1932 Ford	14.19
C/G	Doug Cook	Chevrolet	1937 Chevrolet	13.17
D/G	Ed Coughlin	Chevrolet	1955 Chevrolet	14.06
E/G	Johnny Loper		1959 Chevrolet	14.94
A/SR	G. A. Jones	Olds	1952 MG	11.61
B/SR	Peter Mattei	Chevrolet	1934 Ford	13.05
AA/SP	Bill Jones	Lincoln	1957 Thunderbird	16.19
A/SP	Jack Horsley	Lincoln	1959 Devin	15.16
B/SP	Andrew Zanca	Chevrolet	1954 Corvette	12.96
C/SP	Gil Dunn		1955 Porsche	16.99
Sports Eliminator	Jack Horsley	A/SP 1959 Devin	-	-	-
Little Eliminator	"Ohio George" Montgomery	A/G 1933 Willys	-	-	-

1961, Indianapolis Raceway Park

Class	Entrant	Engine	Car	Elapsed time	Trap speed
A/GS	"Ohio George" Montgomery	Cadillac	1933 Willys	10.91
B/GS	Ray Moore	Chevrolet	1940 Willys Chicken Coupe	11.76
C/GS	K. S. Pittman	Oldsmobile	1941 Willys	12.03
A/G	Ollie Olsen	Chevrolet	1940 Willys	11.68
B/G	Junior Garrison	Chevrolet	1940 Willys	12.42
C/G	Larry Teter	Chevrolet	1932 Ford	13.34
D/G	Joe Hrudka	Chevrolet	1957 Chevrolet	12.73
E/G	Jim Koonce	Chevrolet	1955 Chevrolet	14.07
F/G	Don Neal	Ford	1932 Ford	13.67
G/G	Pete McNicholl	Chrysler slant 6	1940 Willys	14.11
AM/SP	Sam Parriott	Cadillac	1953 Kurtis City of Industry	11.91
BM/SP	Jerry Osborn	Chevrolet	Austin-Healey	12.09
CM/SP	Busham/Casazza	Chevrolet	special	13.16
A/SR	Milton Potter	Oldsmobile	Model A	11.49
B/SR	Armstrong/Thomas	Chevrolet	1932 Ford	12.38
C/SR	Jim Lightcap	GMC	Ford Model A	13.63
Street Eliminator	Junior Garrison	B/G 1940 Willys	-	-	-

1962, NHRA Nationals, Indianapolis Raceway Park

Class	Entrant	Engine	Car	Elapsed time	Trap speed
A/GS	Doug Cook	Oldsmobile	1941 Willys	10.59
B/GS	Bill Reeves	Chevrolet	Willys	11.24
C/GS	Sam Jones	Chevrolet	1937 Chevrolet	12.43
A/G	Norm Hall	Chevrolet	Willys	12.06
B/G	Johnny Loper	Chevrolet	Willys	12.04
C/G	Larry Teter	Chevrolet	1932 Ford	13.37
D/G	Joe Hrudka	Chevrolet	1955 Chevrolet	13.37
E/G	Dave Koffel	Chevrolet	1949 Packard Flintstone Flyer	13.71
F/G	Jerry Haley	GMC	1933 Plymouth	14.76
A/SR	Hugh Tucker	Oldsmobile	1928 Chevrolet	11.14
B/SR	Scott Reider	Chevrolet	1932 Ford	12.65
AM/SP	Sam Parriott	Cadillac	1953 Kurtis City of Industry	12.53
BM/SP	Bones Balogh	Chevrolet	1958 Corvette	11.62
CM/SP	James Cornell	Chevrolet	Corvette	12.75
DM/SP	Jim Friar		Triumph	17.10
Street Eliminator	Sam Jones	C/GS 1937 Chevrolet	-	-	-