Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

What car and driver combo would you consider the best 4-speed Super Stock car of all time?




SuperStocks@LionsDragStrip

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Ronnie Sox....Period!

JimR

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Ronnie Sox.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Retired, Ronnie Sox, Don Wolf, Jack Mullins
Current, Jimmy Bridges, Gary Tompa, Brad Zakowski (sp?)

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

gotta love those checkmate modified production cars/mercure/keener etc.tons of good drivers in old m/p...denny

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

I agree with you robert.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

FYI, Jack Mullins is coming out of retirement but it might be an auto.(4th gen firebird)

Greg

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Kevin Helms in Stock! Consecutive three time World Champ!

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

i would say john calvert,bill cassil in the chevy 2or another chevy 2 driver noel davis.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

x-2 on this one...Kevin Helms in Stock! Consecutive three time World Champ!

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

bennett & sirianni SS/I

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Buddy Ingersoll, his 72 Cutlass started in SS/O but NHRA gave him HP many times :)

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Ronnie Sox first then Dave Wren from Division six

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

What about all the the guys that went from SS to Pro Stock in the early days, Grumpy Jenkins, Dick Landy, Don Nicholson, Even Bob Glidden

All of them were pro's on the 4 speed.. Ronnie Sox is my favorite though.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Going with Jimmy Bridges on this one. Over 200 class wins and 50 something world records. Also Robin Brown, and from IHRA Donnie Grant.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

I forgot about Dave Wren. Ronny Tripenstet (sp?), Tyler Cassel, Gene Bichlemier, James Lee.

If we spoke only about stock,
Then.........Kevin Helms, any of the Waldo's, John Calvert, Al Keen, Jimmy Wabel, Bobby Warren...all great stick drivers

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Jim Van Cleve and his Fairlane.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

How about Gene Bichlmeier he has come from the MP days, 55 chevys with stock 3speeds to nowdays a 283 nova with 9000 rpm on the starting line. Get him and Robin Brown or Cassils car on the line together now thats a sound of a small block singing.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Bigshow,,,,,I agree, the Van Cleve Fords put on a great show back in the day. They were one half of my all time favorite rivalry,,the other half being the SS/O '66 Chevy Nova of Jim Parsons and Terry Harmon, another 4 speed car that took on those 427 Fairlanes on a regular basis. In fact, Jim still races that car to this day, untubbed as a stocker, usually as a 275/327. He did very well recently at Topeka, taking a runner up to a new generation Mustang.
Danny Durham

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Mike Boyles (Good Ol' Charlie Brown) --although I believe the car is an automatic now. Am also a George Taylor (Al-co-haulic?) groupie, though I think his car is an auto now as well. Ronnie Sox has to be considered the king ( with all respect), I wish I were old enough to really appreciate what he was able to do with a four-speed.

Wish more 4-speed stockers and SS cars were out there!

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Joe Delorenzo HANDS DOWN!!

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Willie Devore has run stickshifts and done really well in everything he has done from stockers to Prostock.

He still has the 305 5 speed Camaro. He doesn't get out much with it, but when he does, he is fast and is favored to won rounds if not the entire event.

He was also the Class Nat's winner in SS in the same car. He is one of the few racers that does his own stuff from end to end. Not too many can do it all and drive too.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Ronnie Sox.
But today it's hard to dispute Kevin Helms' success.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Did anyone mention Butch Leal and his SS/B '65 Plymouth or Herb "Mr. 4 Speed" McCandless? Also, my friend Garley Daniels did pretty good with his stick cars.
Bob R

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Was the original question best 4-speed SS of ALL Time? Mr. Ronnie Sox and very close Mr. Herb McCandless. I've been around the drag strip since 1961 and unless you knew the difference you would have thought they were using automatics. The last race Ronnie Sox ran at Farmington Dragway. He was very sick at that race; however, he wanted to continue with the show. The last pass down the track he left with the wheels up and everyone there was talking about him shifting second gear and the wheels still in the air. God Bless my friend.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

I've watched him at a few races this year, including Indy.

Ralph Porpora, probably the best a swinging a stick.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

My pick is Ronnie Sox, simply magic this guy workin' the gears.

Honorable mention to Wally Booth and Bill Bagshaw.




SuperStocks@LionsDragStrip:cool:

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Kevin is really good. Brad Zaskowski is also really good. For longevity there is no one to compare to Jimmy Bridges.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Don Wolff, Tucker Parrish, Ronnie Sox, Jimmy Bridges, Cotton Perry.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Hutchens, Kopp, Coonce, FJ, Fadely, Merc, Dave Lewis, Tim McDonald, Jerry Hiner, Scot Scharioff, Ray Allen and

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Dave Strickler

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

I sincerely believe Ronny Sox should occupy that position. Granted we have some great current day gear jammers, and I wouldn't take anything away from them. Something that should be considered in comparison is the equipment used. Sox, Landy, etc. had only factory cases with self modified internals (sliders/every other tooth ground off, modified shifting forks etc.) They had no Jerico or G-Force technoligy. Clutches back the were primitive by today's standards as well (3,200 + # pressure plates). How many of today's drivers could keep up without missing gears with that old stuff? Just askin and mean no disrespect.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

You have to give the nod to the old guys, no comparison in the transmissions of today verses the old. Sox, Nicholson, McCandless, Leal and Jenkins.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

X 2 along with Sox. Two of the best who ever lived. Shifting todays modern trans is no comparison to the OEM trans of the old days.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Very well said.

John Duzac and Ben Wenzel could tell you the difference. I wouldn't go to a race without 3 fresh transmissions. Those three speeds were junk.

As far as pulling them, I would like to name Jake Fojt or Randy Heer.

Greg

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Jerry you have "junior member" under your name, but you are exactly correct. I remember untold hours grinding slider gears, rings and welding shifter linkage ears to make those Muncies shift. Those days were before Dick Moroso started selling them at the tracks or the Borg Warners came out. Ever see the old in-car videos that are out that show Sox, Grumpy and Landy pushing and jerking those of 4-speeds.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

I'm not as old as most of you guys, so I'm going to go with the two 4-speeds I remember best growing up at the track:

1. John Calvert - '68 'Stang

2. Allyn Lee - '68 Cuda SS/A

I still believe that Allyn would have been first in the 8's if he'd been able to travel more.

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Ronnie Sox and very close second, Dave Strickler. A local Marylander that drove all kinds of cars til a stroke slowed him down is Tommy Howes. I got to send all these guys down the old 75-80 Dragway in the early / mid sixties and all three were terrific. Tommy Howes could also, build, tune and maintain and drive everything he ever raced. Of course all others mentioned are exceptional. These are the ones I got to see regularly.

Mike Bassin

Re: Best 4-Speed SS Of All Time?
 

Never got to see Ronnie Sox drive I think Mike Boyles would have to be high on the list as
one of the best 8 IHRA s/s championships and I think 3 classic gear jammers are hard to argue with his IHRA championships came when they earned by traveling and doing good all year long,he's still stick as far as I know.
Mike Taylor3601