4 speeds for 55-56 chevrolet superstockers

[X-TECH MAN]

Its been awhile since I have responded to a post but I would like to congradulate Bill Dedman on his info relating to the 4-speed hydro's in the "OLD DAZE" and the TurboGlide info. He is right on the money. His memory is better than mine on certain nostalgia stories. The name of the racer who he could not remember who ran that El Camino was RONNIE BROADHEAD from Calif. Ronnie later ran a '60 Pontiac 389 SD 4-speed Cat. in what was then C/S and held the NHRA record.for a time. He was good friends with Butch Leal in the day and shared driving the Cat. from time to time and must have had contacts at NHRA and somehow had the 4-speed Hydo OK'ed for the "TRUCK". Maybe GM wrote him a letter in those days....LOL. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

[bill dedman]

Thanks a lot for the validating response, X-Techman. I'm an X-Techman, myself, or I probably couldn't remember half the arcane stuff I do remember.

I remember Ronnie Broadhead's Pontiac very well (Porterville, CA?), but I had no memory of him being associated with "THE" El Camino that started it all insofar as 4-speed hydro's behind Chevys in Stock.
The first time I became aware of a Chevy sedan delivery with a hydro was while reading the national records in National DRAGSTER in late '64 or early '65, and the e.t. record was held by a team from Washington state; "Anglin/Clark, and VanDill." I think it was 14.75. The MPH record was held by Marv "POWERGLIDE" Ripes at something like 94 and change (could be wrong about that.) Those were both 220hp "Power Pack" engine cars.

The whole point of my post, however, was lost in the fact that I hi-jacked a thread about manual transmission Chevys, and I guess I got what I deserved, for that.

My point was that NHRA has never apparently, accepted the fact that all '57-thru-'61 Chevy V8s (well, maybe not the 409's) had a 3-speed automatic available as an option (Turboglide), and as a result, have only allowed Powerglide (2-speed) automatics in those cars. since nobody ever figured out how to make a Turboglide work and live in a drag racing environment.

A few years back, the rules were relaxed in order to allow Mopars that came with 727's to run 904's, and Fords that came with C-6's to run C4's IF THEY WOULD BOLT UP.

Well, the rulebook says the same number of forward speeds must be maintained, and Turboglides ARE 3-speed transmissions, so what's to keep a guy with a '61 Chevy V8 from trading his Turboglide for a Metric 200, if a guy with a 427/425hp Camaro running a TH400 can trade IT for a Metric 200?

I think NHRA needs to take a Turboglide apart and take a good long look at the two (2.5:1 low- and 1.5:1 second-speed planetaries) inside and revise their thinking, if they ever thought this WASN'T a 3-speed automatic.

BTW, I have no dog in this hunt... Never owned a Powerglide car. I don't even KNOW anybody who owns one... but I recognize a raw deal when I see one.

[76 RACER]

Wasnt Ronnie Broadhead a Winternationals Eliminator Champion with that Pontiac?

[bill dedman]

My memory is not THAT good, but I do remember reading about him (Ronnie Broadhead) winning lots of races. Maybe the X-TechMan, Tony Janes, or Chuck Norton will have an answer for us.

Pontiacs were very much in the limelight back then (mid-'60s.) I remember an E/SA '58 (Lowe and Easley), and a '60 (wagon?) driven by Graham Douglas, both of California, that were usually around in the final rounds back then... Another guy who was from Northen California, named Robert Chiesa had a very fast '58 and may have won Pomona a time or two. I think he called it "the Super Chief."
Most of those '57-'64 Pontiacs had Strato-Flight (dual-coupling) hydros; They were the outgrowth of the Dual-Range Hydramatics that were in a lot of the Chevy sedan deliveries during their "reign-of-terror" (1964-'72.)

But Ronnie Broadhead was a standout with a 4-speed.

Sorry I can't help on the Pomona deal; I've slept since then.... LOL!

[Chuck Norton]

I don't recall Ronnie Broadhead winning an eliminator bracket at Pomona but he was the record holder in C/S with the Pontiac for quite a while in the early-to-mid-60s. I also remember him in a newer mid-sized Olds wagon a few years later. Ronnie was from Porterville, CA and that would have made him practically a neighbor of Butch Leal and the Shahans. Famoso (Bakersfield) would have been one of the local tracks for him.

Graham Douglas won stock at the Winternationals once in about 1966 after the controversial events of 1965. Jay Hamilton and Ramon Lowe were around when I started going to the races with Ron Mandella and Dave Kempton in 1963 and they continued to race up to near the end of Junior Stock. The Hudsons prepped by Ike Smith, Keith Berg's Olds, Wiley Cossey, Elwin Westbrook, Jack Davis, and a few others were the most commonly seen stockers around Pomona.

[76 RACER]

Hi Chuck
I am wondering if the 60 Wagon Graham raced was a N/SA car with a 389 tri-power engine. If so the guy I drove the O/S 61 Pontiac for in 70 and 71 bought the wagon. It was orange with a white top. Car ran great but that damned slim jim trans had a long drawn out high gear shift. I drove his 61 389-235 HP car. Had a ball those two years as a kid. I sold RV-455 BlackStreak Remover to a guy in Ind. and would like to still promote it on the west coast as he made me the dist. out here. You coming to Phoenix for the national Event? Would like to shake your hand and say hello. You racing or still working for someone?

Merry Xmas

Mike Randall

[Chuck Norton]

Tony Janes will have a better recollection of what Douglas's car looked like than I. Seems as if it had a fairly non-descript paint job, at least the first year they ran it.

c

[X-TECH MAN]

Hi....Its me again. No.....Ronnie Broadhead never won a major eliminator ***le. He was the one that started the ball rolling about the hydro's in the "TRUCKS" a.ka. El Camino's in around the eary '60's. Not sure of the exact year. Grahm Douglas Pontiac wagon was a bronze? orange-ish?(Gold?) and white two tone color and he won the winternats using a 318 HP Tri-Power version of the standard 389 (Non-SD). Grahm also beat BIG DADDY Russ Mathews for class that year in what was G/SA. Bill is much better versed along with Chuck than Iam on the west coast cars but those deals are still in my old memory cells. Sorry about hi-jacking the thread also but the old fart came out of me there for a moment. Just to throw some "GAS" on the fire about the subject of 4-speeds in 55-57 Chebbie's we all know that the 55-56 never had it. The '57 Corvette got the 4-speed around Jan or Feb. of 1957. Later when BW-T10 production caught up how many know that when some one ordered a 283/283 HP FI passenger car it was assembly line produced with a 3-speed trans (on the colum) but came with a 4-speed trans and shifter installed in the trunk! Yep....just like the later Z-28s that were ordered with the X-ram intake's and headers. Parts came in the TRUNK. I was 12 or 13 when my uncle got delivery of his .57 FI 150 sedan and the BW-T10 was in a crate right there in the trunk but not for long. It was installed the same day he brought it home and I helped or at least I handed him some wrenches.....lol.. Not assembly line produced like the Corvette but along the same way the early SD Pontiacs came in 60-61. Over the counter so to speak. Have a wonderful holiday everyone. Terry Bell

[Tony Janes]

Terry's memory of the Graham Douglas 60 Pontiac Wagon is correct

[bill dedman]

Mike,
Thanks to you and everybody else for all the good info about the "Pontiaction" (with apologies to Jerry Stealy) that was going on on the West Coast back in the mid-'60s.

I appreciate the nice comments from the X-TechMan about my so-called "expertise" RE the West Coast cars, but I really know VERY LITTLE compared to Chuck Norton and Tony Janes, who were actually there and "lived it".... I never even set foot in California until 1980, and as you know, Jr. Stock action was L-O-N-G G-O-N-E, way before then. Everything I know about that era I read in a magazine, Nat'l Dragster, or Drag News, at the time.

One thing I did manage to remember (can't remember much, at 69...) is that the "Slim Jim" was introduced in the '61 model year cars, and was a 3-speed automatic... probably the worst one ever put in a car... had horrible ratios, and a strictly mechanical 2nd-gear (no fluid coupling in the powertrain circuit in that gear) so that when you shifted into 2nd, you lost ALL the rpm possible... and the 1st-to-2nd ratio change was just traumatic.

I had a drag racing buddy who bought a new '61 Pontiac with one of those transmissions and asked him how it ran, and he said, "Like it's missing a gear!"

The "Strato-Flight" 4-speed, dual-coupling transmission it replaced, was an outgrowth of the Dual Range Hydros, but in an effort to make them shift smoooooooth, they replaced the front clutch-pack / band arrangement with a sprag and a small-diameter fluid coupling (no kidding!!!). Shifting into 2nd and 4th gear was accomplished by filling the front coupling with fluid, which took about a full second, and the engine sounded like a sick cow.while this was going on, but they didn't run that bad... (their ratios were an improvement over the prior "Dual Range" units.) Oldsmobile called 'em "Jetaway" but, it was the same transmission as the one in the Pontiac

Oh yes... the "Slim-Jim" ALSO got into top gear by virtue of filling a small, secondary fluid coupling, but by that time, you were so far behind, you didn't care....

More useless trivia from the '60s....

Thanks again for all the GOOD information!!!