Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

I have been talking with Ramon Lowe about his racing days in the 60's. He would love to visit with his old racing buddies. PM me with names and numbers and I will get them to him. Thanks, Scott

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Glad to hear he's still out there.
I'd like to hear about his use of Roto Hydramatics.
This seems like a good thread for our nostalgia section.

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

He is 82 but still has the passion for racing. He told me some stories about those hydromatics,,,,

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

my mother raced a 58 Pontiac, bet he heard of her? maybe not
http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...2_715847_n.jpg

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Joe, you evidently took after your Dad. You sure ain't as pretty as your Momma.

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Scott, tell Lowe to get on here and we can ask him how he did with so little.

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Not sure Ramon has ever been on the internet..... lol . He's a blast to talk to about the old racing days.......

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Ramon Lowe's '58 Pontiac...

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2.../RamonLowe.jpg

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

I had a friend who raced a '58 Pontiac and knew Jay Hamilton and Ramon Lowe......Craig Muller....He built and raced a '58 with F.I.

I bought a shortblock from him that supposedly came from one of those men.

It had Jahns pistons.....and I think it was too big to be legal and the pistons were cracked....I had it bored bigger and put new pistons in it.....but the engine never got used....

I also at one time had a complete F.I. unit for a '58....Sold it for what I thought was good $$$ back then......Not much compared to what one would sell for today.....

I had a '58 street car......and wanted a '57 Safari wagon....

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

I would call Ramon if I had a number. Btw where is Ramon living now. Bob Lambeck

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

I remmber him from when i first got the racing bug ,fearious pontiac compertiter , Got some old pictures of his car from the good ole days ,,,, This thread has has some great potential to get some great stories from the past !!

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Ramon would love to see any old pictures. He has great memories of his racing days......

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Cool...I have purchase that magazine, Waiting for it to come in so I can show it to him. He hasn't seen it in years,,,,, I never new a drag racing legend lived in my little town !!!!!!!

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Just a bit of trivia.... Ramon said when this picture was taken the motor was out... They put old parts for weight under the hood to make it have the right stance.......

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Does he still live in Huntington Beach...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/a...8&d=1248378780

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

No, He lives in the panhandle of Texas. This is the area where he grew up..

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Thats the first picture that I could see the hood stripes he's been telling me about .. Thanks

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

That body looks like a Star Chief sedan. Longer wheelbase than the cheaper base models. Similar to a top of the line Bonneville....

They made a bunch of different body styles. Hardtops, sedans, convertibles and wagons....

and with the over the counter stuff a lot of different engine combos..

338 hp would have been with an over the counter McKellar solid lifter cam.
Can't recall whether that was with a Tri-Power or a Rochester Fuel Injection unit.

Trans was a 4 speed hydro but they had a reputation for breaking and I broke mine....

I Loved those cars.
I had a 58 Chieftain.....was my first nice car and it had fresh laquer paint. White with a blue cove and roof......370 cubes 2 barrel hydramatic.

I did the heads...added a 4 barrel (AFB).....borrowed a 4.56 gear form Craig Muller and had a hokey exhaust with cutouts...Craig also did my trans and it shifted very hard....too hard.
Drove it to the track and ran high14's a few times around 1966.

I loved that car and unfortunately it ended up as scrap.....

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

The "Brown" of Lowe & Brown, is my dad Gene Brown. I knew Ramon ("Tex" to me & many others) my entire childhood until he moved from Huntington Beach. Haven't seen him in forever.

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

I was wondering about all of the name changes on the door as well, also notice that in the early pics the car has a white roof, then in later pics it's painted red...it would also be interesting to hear about some of the other peoples names lettered on the car.

http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j2...amonLowe-1.jpg

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Rich,
Would you happen to have any old pics of your Pontiac or perhaps a link that I could take a look at, maybe I could add some of them to this thread. ;)

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Correct me if I am wrong and I very well may be , but I always thought that Jay Hamilton had the baddest 58 poncho stocker back in the day?

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Here's another old shot of Ramon Lowe vs Jay Hamilton...

http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/o...ilton20Hot.jpg

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Jay Hamiltons car is a Bonneville.....and I think both cars were pretty well known and did well on the west coast.

I had a fondness for those old Poncho's and worked with Stu Rogers for a short time. He was partners with Bill Izykowki on the first Biscayne Bill raced and knew his Pontiacs very well. We worked on Pontiacs a lot. Street cars, race cars......Stu had a '62 Catalina convertible and then a '62 Grand Prix....We swapped the driveline from the convertible to the GP in one day....428 4 speed....Stu knew Jess Tyree a Pontiac powered funny car racer.....

No I have No pictures of my '58.....and I wish I did......

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Here's one of the 'Tokyo Rose' Pontiac...

http://www.cartechbooks.com/media/wy.../CT505_5-3.jpg

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

"Easley" was Truman Easley, "Brown" was and is Gene Brown (mine & Tom Brown's dad). Car was sold to Leo Kannon who raced it for a few years after.
My Dad is still involved with racing. Builds my motors for my 64 Chevelle Super Stocker. Recently built a Pontiac LeMans to run in Stock, that Tom drives. We also raced for years in Competition Eliminator (F/ED Pontiac dragster & E/EA Jeep powered Bantam).

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

My 1958 Pontiac Chieftain looks just like the Mary Ann Foss car.

Black Chieftain with 370, auto, tri-power and posi. All stock and all original with less than 30,000 original miles.

JimR

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

After looking at this picture a little closer....

Looks like a shorter wheebase Chieftain and I see a Fuel Injection emblem on the front fender....

I had a pair of those emblems sticking in some pegboard in my basement for 30-35 years......I sold them on Ebay a few years ago.....That was the last item I had from those old Pontiac days.....

I took a fuel injection unit off a car that was laying in a farmers field....A '58 Super Chief.....4 door hdtp....Got most everything including the emblems for $75.00!!! That was probably 40 years ago.......

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Jim,
Post some photos of your '58 Chieftain...or add them to a Class Racer photo album so that you can link off them to post in any new threads.

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Another old shot of Ramon Lowe's 58 Pontiac...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/a...5&d=1248378780

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

How about a couple photos from the production line...

http://www.musclecarfilms.com/images...ssembly_2_.jpg

http://www.musclecarfilms.com/images...-_assembly.jpg

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Trivia question.....

Where is the gas fill on a '58 Pontiac.......

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Isn't that another of GM 's tailight deals ? ? ?

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Is that an answer or a question Jack?

Yes it was behind the left tailight I think and it flipped up....

How about a '57 Chevy Wagon....or sedan delivery...

GM did like to hide the gas fill on many cars.....

In my gas station days it was often a challenge to find it....

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

It was behind the left back up light cap (below taillight)

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

'58 Chev filler stumped me at the time

1st job at gas station,painted Gas War sign with foam numbers .19/gal !!
DX Super Boron

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Rich - It was an answer .....what did you expect from "Pontiac Jack" ?

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Nothing less than the right answer Jack.....

I have to stir the cobwebs to get this stuff to pop out...and it is not necessarily correct...

Didn't a '57 Chevy wagon or delivery have a piece of chrome moulding that was hinged and swung out sideways on the tailfin? Thats what I am thinking was where it was...

Hinged license plates were pretty popular...

I owned a '58 Chevy and have no recollection of where that one was...One of my mini-fleet of beater cars.......I liked to buy cars real cheap....get them running...use them for a while and ditch 'em or sell 'em.....That '58 was pretty nasty but cleaned up fine with Comet....LOL

Re: Ramon Lowe 58 Pontiac
 

Rich - All '57 Chevies had the gas filler door located in the left fin above the tailight .....