MovieChat Forums > More American Graffiti (1979) Discussion > Drag racing tech question.

Drag racing tech question.

posted 18 years ago by tdf5g
8 replies | jump to latest

In MAG, I notice in the scene where Milner goes up against "the factory" in the last race for the championship, that Milner's dragster is a small block Chevy, and the factory car is a Chrysler Hemi big block.

Was this common practice of this style of racing? I'm no expert on drag racing, but it would seem to me that there would be different classes/categories of race cars to compete with each other on a more level basis. I would think that any Hemi would stomp a small block Chevy.

Is this just a film goof, possibly? Or if is this was the norm for the era, it sure is cool to think that John Milner had the skill to build a small block that would beat a Hemi.

[–] profbrane 18 years ago

In those days it was likely to see such a match up on a drag strip. Early Hemis were not that much bigger in displacement than small block Chevys. It's also possible that the rules would allow the small block powered car to run at a lighter weight.

[–] tdf5g 18 years ago

Thanks for your reply. I did forget that this takes place in 1964, before the 426 Hemi was produced, and the biggest SBC then would have been the 327 so that makes sense. That would be a close match. When I saw the dragster with the Hemi I was just thinking 426 I guess.

[–] steve-voelker 18 years ago

I haven't actually seen this movie but I would like to. I do know a bit about drag racing history, though.

I hate to tell you this, but the 426 hemi was indeed in production and being raced in '64. Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 and numerous other races with that engine in that year. It was not available to the public, per se (except for a few cars that were ordered with max wedges- when the max wedge wasn't available the lucky owner got the 426 hemi, instead). This race would have been more plausible in 1963- no 426 hemis yet and it's also during the last year of the NHRA "fuel ban" (no nitromethane could be run in sanctioned competition). This would have made a matchup between a blown small-block and an early injected (but not blown) hemi not only quite plausible, but quite conceiveable that the small block could win.

Small block Chevies on nitro against late hemis on nitro with factory support would have been a non-contest. Unless the Chevy dragster has two of them on board- this was common practice in '64 and there was at least one that was very successful. Check out John and Beverly Peters' Feight Train dragster at the following link:
http://www.nhra.com/museum/features/feature12.html

Of course, Milner being who he is, could have have figured out a custom offset-ground crank and rod combination to give himself a 400-plus cubic inch small block stroker motor (AND figured out how to make the combo live on nitro) to even up the odds. It IS a movie after all...

- Steve Voelker

[–] tdf5g 18 years ago

RE to steve-voelker

When I said the 426 Hemi wasn't in production in 1964, I was refering to production vehicles. I knew Dodge and Plymouth had provided some for racing before that, especially Richard Petty. I hadn't thought this out before I posted my previous comments I guess. That's a very good point you make about Milner possibly making a 400 cid out of a 327 in those days, that makes sense, if was possible in 1964. But you are right it's just a movie, and that's the whole point of my original question. I was just wondering how accurate this racing scene really is. I'm most certainly not up on drag racing though, and thanks for the info.

P.S. I'm sure you'd like this movie if you like drag racing. You should try and see it soon.

[–] daryl-b-t 14 years ago

Different technical question.

The drag cars smoke their tires a lot more than I'd have thought desirable. Apart from the moments when they obviously spun on the line and lost, there were shots half way down the track and the tires light up. Not something that'd help you do a fast run perhaps.

Deliberately done to make the movie more sensational?

[–] Avenger69 14 years ago

The Hunt Brother's dragster is definitely NOT running a 426 Hemi regardless. That Hemi is likely a late-50s vintage 392.

426 Hemis have the distributor in the front. 392s are in the back.

"It's people..."

[–] ck1-5 13 years ago

To daryl-b-t: In 1964, excessive tire smoke wasn't unrealistic--at least not as unrealistic as a lot of things you see in movies--because the technology to produce mass quantities of horsepower and torque was way ahead of tire technology. Don Garlits has been quoted as saying that the E.T.s would have been much lower in the '60s if only they could have found a tire that was capable of transmitting all of the power they were making to the ground. Look at some real dragster footage from the early and mid '60s; some of them spun the tires most of the way through the 1/4 mile.

[–] !!!deleted!!! (5308671) 13 years ago

ck hit the nail on the head. Drag slicks available at that time were FAR inferior to what is out there today. Not to mention....I don't recall seeing anyone using a burnout box in the movie.