Where Terrible Toy name came from.

[Terrible toy]

http://s291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/terribletoy/The%20Terrible%20Toy%20name/Crash/http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/terribletoy/topview.jpg

This roadster is the reason that I named my boats Terrible Toy. If you click on the url above it will take you to more pics and info.

Some of you have seen the pics of the Willys race car I had. I sold that (it was a fun but uncompetive car) to build this roadster for the NHRA A/SR class. Surprisingly the car actually ran really well, when it went staight. Being a short coupled car with the engine way forward, per NHRA rules, the thing had a tendency to spin the tires on the gear changes. The clutch turbo added to the problem because, without a converter, they hit pretty hard.

But that had nothing to do with the crash. I was safely in high gear when it made a hard right turn. Being young and stupid I never lifted and yanked it hard left. I got a slow motion view of sky/ground and parts and pieces flying by until I tagged the guard rail and checked out. I'll never know what caused the right turn, maybe oil on the track... ??.

I've always loved boats so with the few engine pieces I salvaged, Chevy block and Sonny Bryant crank, I decided to switch to drag boats (The young and stupid thing again). The frame pics on Photobucket came from a spectator who filmed the whole run and sent me a copy.

Here comes the name thing. One day I showed the film to my sweet Grandmother. Knowing I was building a race boat she says "why on earth would you want another terrible toy like that last one? Thus the name.

Hope you enjoy the pics, Bill

[dry]

Excellent story and excellent way to receive a name for a hobby! I had wondered how you came up with it myself..............

[shooter2]

Looks like a wild tumble that you took. Boat racing looks safer to me than that car. Glad you are here to tell the story.

Brian

[LeadSledMerc]

That's a beautiful car you had built there, Bill.
What a hell of a ride that must have been. I do some nostalgia drag racing here on the east coast, but it's early style streetable hot rods that I run just to have fun. Nothing near as fast as yours.
Thanks for sharing the pics and story.
Keith

[poncho]

I still think a soccer mom on a cell in a Suburban pointed right at you is scarier that is/was an incredibly beautiful car you must be proud i know i would be,friend of mine decided to play with a nostalgia altered for a while and got his ego checked real fast a short w/b high hp car is a balls out deal and few can do it

[RiverRacer]

Cool story Bill, is that Brogie chassis or did you build it yourself, that is a cool car!...

[Mr72Sanger1710]

WOW!!! Glad you can tell the story!!!
Rob

[Terrible toy]

Cool story Bill, is that Brogie chassis or did you build it yourself, that is a cool car!...

Art, the chassis was built by Richard Ruth. He had a company in Sun Valley California called Competition Engineering. He did the all the tin also.

He built several of them like mine and they all crashed at one time or another. NHRA took note and dropped the A class and made the B/SRs run single carbs and smaller engines. On top of the wheelbase and engine location issues was the weight you had to add. My car weighed about 1750 lbs wet, but had to weigh 2300 lbs for the class. The only way to add that much weight was to put a lot of it above the roll center over the rear axle. So, if you got one of those things sideways they unload and take flight.

I appreciate the comments from all of you. I figured fast boat nuts would like a car like that and the name story that went with it.:D

Brian, don't know about boats being safer, but they are sure more fun to drive.:cool:

[RiverRacer]

Art, the chassis was built by Richard Ruth. He had a company in Sun Valley California called Competition Engineering. He did the all the tin also.

He built several of them like mine and they all crashed at one time or another. NHRA took note and dropped the A class and made the B/SRs run single carbs and smaller engines. On top of the wheelbase and engine location issues was the weight you had to add. My car weighed about 1750 lbs wet, but had to weigh 2300 lbs for the class. The only way to add that much weight was to put a lot of it above the roll center over the rear axle. So, if you got one of those things sideways they unload and take flight.

I appreciate the comments from all of you. I figured fast boat nuts would like a car like that and the name story that went with it.:D

Brian, don't know about boats being safer, but they are sure more fun to drive.:cool:

Yep, I knew Richard and yes most all crashed, been a long time so I may be wrong but seems like that's when Brogie stepped in and made changes to eliminate that problem??, I know at the time if you wanted to be competitive in a safe car Brogie was the one to have!..

[Terrible toy]

Yep, I knew Richard and yes most all crashed, been a long time so I may be wrong but seems like that's when Brogie stepped in and made changes to eliminate that problem??, I know at the time if you wanted to be competitive in a safe car Brogie was the one to have!..

I think you're right about Brogie starting about then. I know Ruth moved to Northern California and switched to building street rods. Two of the other guys who crashed in Ruth's cars were Ed Sigmon and Fred Badberg. Sigmon rebuilt his with a four bar setup instead of ladder bars and built a very heavy battery box low in the chassis. It worked better but NHRA didn't want any more crashes, so dropped the class.

[pwderman]

I think you're right about Brogie starting about then. I know Ruth moved to Northern California and switched to building street rods. Two of the other guys who crashed in Ruth's cars were Ed Sigmon and Fred Badberg. Sigmon rebuilt his with a four bar setup instead of ladder bars and built a very heavy battery box low in the chassis. It worked better but NHRA didn't want any more crashes, so dropped the class.

Ruth also built the 55's in American Graffiti. I used to go to the races with Fred when they ran the 54 chevy & the corvette (Badberg & Miller) I moved North about the time he was building the roadster and didn't know he'd crashed it. It's funny that both he and Ruth build street rods now. Sigmon used to be a neighbor and when he changed from Mopar to Chev in the Singer (MG look-a-like) I loaned him some BBC parts to get it running. It's a small world..:D:D

[Terrible toy]

Ruth also built the 55's in American Graffiti. I used to go to the races with Fred when they ran the 54 chevy & the corvette (Badberg & Miller) I moved North about the time he was building the roadster and didn't know he'd crashed it. It's funny that both he and Ruth build street rods now. Sigmon used to be a neighbor and when he changed from Mopar to Chev in the Singer (MG look-a-like) I loaned him some BBC parts to get it running. It's a small world

Jon, you are absolutely right, what a small world. I think Richard said he built three 55s for different scenes in the movie. He built the one car that actually drove with a big block chevy, not quite accurate for the movie period.LOL

Badberg and I had an incident at the 75 Winternationals that was scary. It had rained most of Friday night and NHRA in it's infinite wisdom decided that they would run A/SR, of all classes, first on Saturday morning. Fred and I were the first pair out and we both looked at each other with that, I hope they know what they're doing look. Just past the tree we hit wet pavement and that started a wild head for the guardrail, head for each other sequence. On one of the near misses I could have reached out and touched him. NHRA then switched to stock eliminator qualifying.

Years later I ran into Fred at a chrome shop in LA and he gave me a ride in a 27 street rod. It was built as a replica of his old race car. Must be a thing for old A/SR drivers as I just finished this 27 pickup. Not a replica but fun anyway. up.:Dhttp://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/terribletoy/27pickup.jpg

[pwderman]

:cool:Jon, you are absolutely right, what a small world. I think Richard said he built three 55s for different scenes in the movie. He built the one car that actually drove with a big block chevy, not quite accurate for the movie period.LOL

Badberg and I had an incident at the 75 Winternationals that was scary. It had rained most of Friday night and NHRA in it's infinite wisdom decided that they would run A/SR, of all classes, first on Saturday morning. Fred and I were the first pair out and we both looked at each other with that, I hope they know what they're doing look. Just past the tree we hit wet pavement and that started a wild head for the guardrail, head for each other sequence. On one of the near misses I could have reached out and touched him. NHRA then switched to stock eliminator qualifying.

Years later I ran into Fred at a chrome shop in LA and he gave me a ride in a 27 street rod. It was built as a replica of his old race car. Must be a thing for old A/SR drivers as I just finished this 27 pickup. Not a replica but fun anyway. up.:Dhttp://i291.photobucket.com/albums/ll317/terribletoy/27pickup.jpg

Bill, the 27 looks great...:cool: What you had was typical NHRA thinking lets dry out the track with some fast cars or he goes to fast and dominates his class so lets change the rules so everybody can catch up.

The big block 55 was used in 2 Lane Blacktop also. Richard took it out for a cruise on Van Nuys Blvd one night before he gave it to the studio I'm sure it saw a little street action.

Yea a 454 powered 55 isn't period correct for 1962 but it sure would have been fun.

[67 Wickens]

Great story! As most have said, I'm glad you are here to tell the story.

[Yeager]

Neat story!

What was the index for A/SR back then? What year(s) was this? My Dad purchased thr Gozio and Ferrra (?) B/A vega back in 77. The cars still going in S/ST.

Mark

[Terrible toy]

Neat story!

What was the index for A/SR back then? What year(s) was this? My Dad purchased thr Gozio and Ferrra (?) B/A vega back in 77. The cars still going in S/ST.

Mark

Not absolutely sure on the index. It ran in the old Modified Eliminator bracket which is like Comp. The car ran around 152 usually and in the low nines like 9.02. So, the index was probably in the 9.50 area. Seems slow by todays standards. I crashed the car in 1975 at LACR in Palmdale.

[Terrible toy]

Great story! As most have said, I'm glad you are here to tell the story.

Thanks to you and all who have expressed that thought. Glad to be here also. I did get a little dinged up, but consider myself lucky.

[gfinishline]

This is the way back machine! Didn't Richard's family own auto parts stores in the valley, and they were also connected to "Chevy only" auto wrecking. I remember doing business with he and his father (and a brother?) over the years. "Frantic Fred" was just a few blocks north from Richard's shop on Sunland, right? Back in those days it was "Nobu's dyno tune VS ( I can't remember the name) dyno shop on Lankershim and Coldwater (Ed's "Snarpeezle" buddys) every weekend at the local tracks. Bob Lambeck was just starting to purchase machinery, for his "home business', and leaving Dick and Mike's place. How time has changed things for "DeFrank & Cohen". WOW! Then I think of guys like "Warren Alvey" HA HA! Thanks for the short trip down "bad memory lane". Nice to see that you survived those "crazy times"! Have you ever done business with Larry Ofriea? He's one of my favorite people still in the valley.

[RiverRacer]

I think you're right about Brogie starting about then. I know Ruth moved to Northern California and switched to building street rods. Two of the other guys who crashed in Ruth's cars were Ed Sigmon and Fred Badberg. Sigmon rebuilt his with a four bar setup instead of ladder bars and built a very heavy battery box low in the chassis. It worked better but NHRA didn't want any more crashes, so dropped the class.

Yep, I knew both then guys and I remember their crashes, didn't Sigmon eventually go to a Brogie??, don't remember what Badberg did though???. I think Sigmon is still running Super Gas ain't he??, ain't been in touch with the car scene for quite a while so I'm in the dark kinda, lOL..

[Terrible toy]

This is the way back machine! Didn't Richard's family own auto parts stores in the valley, and they were also connected to "Chevy only" auto wrecking. I remember doing business with he and his father (and a brother?) over the years. "Frantic Fred" was just a few blocks north from Richard's shop on Sunland, right? Back in those days it was "Nobu's dyno tune VS ( I can't remember the name) dyno shop on Lankershim and Coldwater (Ed's "Snarpeezle" buddys) every weekend at the local tracks. Bob Lambeck was just starting to purchase machinery, for his "home business', and leaving Dick and Mike's place. How time has changed things for "DeFrank & Cohen". WOW! Then I think of guys like "Warren Alvey" HA HA! Thanks for the short trip down "bad memory lane". Nice to see that you survived those "crazy times"! Have you ever done business with Larry Ofriea? He's one of my favorite people still in the valley.

Well George, I don't know much about what Richard did before I met him, but somewhere he learned how to weld, fabricate, and bend tin really, really well. Unfortunately, living in Ridgecrest, I was 3 hours away from all that cool stuff going on in the "Valley". Ofriea and Valley Head Service were and are still legendary. I never bought a complete set of heads from him, but he did work on several sets for me. Gene Oley, another legend, was a machining resource I used down there.

Just as I was getting into drag boats I met Larry Olson. He had just quit Air Flow Research to start EPD in Canoga Park. We became good friends and that was fortunate for me. He would gave me his prototype heads and manifolds to test on my boats. With very few exceptions they worked really well.

I also became friends with Lambeck through boat racing, in fact I just talked to him at Famosa a while back. He sort of took over the unblown drag boat hemi business from the Landys.

How's this for a name from the past... before I met Larry Olson Kay Sissel did a set of heads for me. Super nice guy, I later took an engine to him to dyno and had told him about the roadster crash film I had. He was an "altered guy" so he wanted to see it. Brad Anderson used to hang out at Sissel's shop and happened to be there so showed it to both of them.

I was just a dumb kid from the desert back then and had no idea of the place in racing history some of these people occupied.

The connections you and others have to the racing scene is amazing. Like Jon (pwderman) said "it's a small world".

[pwderman]

This is the way back machine! Didn't Richard's family own auto parts stores in the valley, and they were also connected to "Chevy only" auto wrecking. I remember doing business with he and his father (and a brother?) over the years. "Frantic Fred" was just a few blocks north from Richard's shop on Sunland, right? Back in those days it was "Nobu's dyno tune VS ( I can't remember the name) dyno shop on Lankershim and Coldwater (Ed's "Snarpeezle" buddys) every weekend at the local tracks. Bob Lambeck was just starting to purchase machinery, for his "home business', and leaving Dick and Mike's place. How time has changed things for "DeFrank & Cohen". WOW! Then I think of guys like "Warren Alvey" HA HA! Thanks for the short trip down "bad memory lane". Nice to see that you survived those "crazy times"! Have you ever done business with Larry Ofriea? He's one of my favorite people still in the valley.

George, you talk about bad memory lane and Warren Alvey I had to laugh at that one. He used to have the theft strip rebuild shop,buy the theft strips from the insurance co. then steal one to rebuild the car or truck he just bought. I remember when Ronnie Scrima was doing some work for him and Warren was trading him tooling from the company he worked at. He worked in the tool crib which was sort of like the fox guarding the chickens.

We used to street race the old DeFrank & Cohen 55 wagon (Rat Wagon) after awhile though nobody wanted to race it. A 10.80 street car was pretty quick in those days. Ok I keep forgetting this is a boat forum...:confused:

[Yeager]

Sigmon is back in comp in a C/SR.

Mark

[AquaCraft]

...and following American Grafitti in 1973 at the end of the muscle car era; how many of us went out and built '55's or 32's?

In 1973 I paid $700 for this '55 with a 365 HP 327 and T-10; painted it, installed a 4.56 gear set and terrorized the local Farrell's Ice Cream on Friday nights.

I sold it for $1,400 in 1975 and thought I made a killing.

Shoulda', coulda', woulda'... 'Like kept the cars, 'hung onto the houses, not ever get married or have at least kept one of the first ones; you know the stories.

While American Grafitti was showing and the real racers like Terrible Toy were ripping up the track; we "also rans" were frying our bias plys in front of the drive-ins.

I think all of this is what has helped lead us to the final "hot-rod frontier" of building and preserving v-drive boats that are good for nothing except eliciting words from passengers like: "THAT SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF ME"!

In my humble opinion,

AquaCraft

[hydroguy]

There was a "Chevy Only" and also a "Ford Only in close proximaty there In Sunland. I remember stoping in at the Chrysler/Plymouth dealer on Van Nuys Blvd and Looking at a '64 Plymouth Max Wedge that was for sale with the factory fiberglas front-end. I asked the sales guy if it wasn't one of Dick Landys cars and he said it was. That was definately a "Shudda picked it up" :(