'Just returned from the 2008 World of Wheels Car Show at The Indiana State Fairgrounds. Among the interesting items was a room done up in a "1962 Custom Car Show Motorama" theme by the Central Indiana Road Rockets car club. One member had the National Hot Rod Association's National Drags Official Programs displayed from the years 1962, 1963, and 1964, held here at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
I asked if I could look at the programs and take some notes. The owner was most conversant and flattered that I wanted to do so, and even offered a pen to go with the note pad I was carrying.
There were several states and dealerships represented among the Studebaker entries in the stock classes those three years, so I wondered if anyone on the forum might recognize someone.
Here are the car numbers and associated names from those three programs:
1962 Entrants:
Car #648: (this one you can probably guess...but if not, see Page 7 of the March 1996 Turning Wheels...or maybe someone will post it!
)
Car #918: A Studebaker, no year specified, entered under the name Cyclops by Robert H. Beard of Hanover, Pennsylvania (omigosh, another Bob!). [Gee, I wonder what year and model Studebaker participating in 1962 drag racing would be named Cyclops?]
Car #656: A 1953 Studebaker entered by Terry Troutman of Cleveland, Ohio, sponsored by Craddock Studebaker.
1963 Entrants:
Car #648 (same notation as Car #648, above!)
Car #852: A 1951(?) Studebaker, Torquer II, entered by Bill Ehrsam of Sylvania, Ohio.
1964 Entrants:
Car #648: (reference above)
Car #1152: A 1951 Studebaker, The Precision Auto Machine Special, entered by Kenneth Snell of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Car #1014: A 1963 Studebaker entered by Merrill Cottrill of Lancaster, Ohio; sponsored by Thimmes Motors.
Car #910: a 1962 Studebaker, Move-N-Mochene, entered by Doug Seeley of Marietta, Ohio.
Does anyone on the forum know any of these people or cars or sponsors, except Car #648? These were all stock-class Studebakers, not entries in the modified classes that would not necessarily have had Studebaker power.
Observation: Take a moment to put into historical context #1014, a 1963 Studebaker entered in the 1964 NHRA National Drags long after Studebaker's in-house high-performance operations had gone belly-up. Consider the challenge of a Studebaker dealer and person willing to carry Studebaker's 1963/1964 model year high-performance torch to Indianapolis for the National Drags at a time when the dealership had to be struggling with Studebaker's move to Hamilton, greatly reduced interest in the marque, and a DOA high-performance program from the home team in South Bend.
A daunting undertaking for Merrill Cottrill and Thimmes Motors, whoever they might be, if you put their activities in the proper historical context...and isn't that what history is all about?
(And in case anyone likes to gripe about inflation, I noted the original cover price of the 1963 NHRA "Nationals" Program was 50 cents...but the cover price of the 1964 publication was $1.00! Yipes; 100% inflation in one year! [:0] I'll let Ted Harbit chime in on his opinion of NHRA's "money acquisition" policies if he so desires!) 
BP
I asked if I could look at the programs and take some notes. The owner was most conversant and flattered that I wanted to do so, and even offered a pen to go with the note pad I was carrying.
There were several states and dealerships represented among the Studebaker entries in the stock classes those three years, so I wondered if anyone on the forum might recognize someone.
Here are the car numbers and associated names from those three programs:
1962 Entrants:
Car #648: (this one you can probably guess...but if not, see Page 7 of the March 1996 Turning Wheels...or maybe someone will post it!
)Car #918: A Studebaker, no year specified, entered under the name Cyclops by Robert H. Beard of Hanover, Pennsylvania (omigosh, another Bob!). [Gee, I wonder what year and model Studebaker participating in 1962 drag racing would be named Cyclops?
]Car #656: A 1953 Studebaker entered by Terry Troutman of Cleveland, Ohio, sponsored by Craddock Studebaker.
1963 Entrants:
Car #648 (same notation as Car #648, above!)
Car #852: A 1951(?) Studebaker, Torquer II, entered by Bill Ehrsam of Sylvania, Ohio.
1964 Entrants:
Car #648: (reference above)
Car #1152: A 1951 Studebaker, The Precision Auto Machine Special, entered by Kenneth Snell of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.
Car #1014: A 1963 Studebaker entered by Merrill Cottrill of Lancaster, Ohio; sponsored by Thimmes Motors.
Car #910: a 1962 Studebaker, Move-N-Mochene, entered by Doug Seeley of Marietta, Ohio.
Does anyone on the forum know any of these people or cars or sponsors, except Car #648? These were all stock-class Studebakers, not entries in the modified classes that would not necessarily have had Studebaker power.
Observation: Take a moment to put into historical context #1014, a 1963 Studebaker entered in the 1964 NHRA National Drags long after Studebaker's in-house high-performance operations had gone belly-up. Consider the challenge of a Studebaker dealer and person willing to carry Studebaker's 1963/1964 model year high-performance torch to Indianapolis for the National Drags at a time when the dealership had to be struggling with Studebaker's move to Hamilton, greatly reduced interest in the marque, and a DOA high-performance program from the home team in South Bend.
A daunting undertaking for Merrill Cottrill and Thimmes Motors, whoever they might be, if you put their activities in the proper historical context...and isn't that what history is all about?
(And in case anyone likes to gripe about inflation, I noted the original cover price of the 1963 NHRA "Nationals" Program was 50 cents...but the cover price of the 1964 publication was $1.00! Yipes; 100% inflation in one year! [:0] I'll let Ted Harbit chime in on his opinion of NHRA's "money acquisition" policies if he so desires!
) BP
We've got to quit saying, 
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