All of the pictures on these pages were taken by readers of
The Acceleration Archive who have kindly agreed to share them with us.
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Click on any image to get the bigger picture |
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The first three pictures on this page were kindly submitted by Keith Parnell who in 1975 became the first man in Europe to run under 9 seconds on two wheels. These are pictures of that record breaking machine which Keith called Rouge et Noir because the bike was painted red and black. This shot looks to have been taken at Blackbushe. |
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Keith thinks that this picture was taken at RNAY Wroughton on the day that John Nutting (well named if you ask me) from Motorcycle Weekly 'road tested' Rouge et Noir. |
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The location of this picture is unknown but Keith recalls it was late in 1975 after he had destroyed the 8 second engine at Aintree running an eighth mile with no grip. The new engine was built at 680cc with a Gordon Allen one piece crank and steel rods and was the foundation of Rouge et Noir II. The best time for the 680cc lump was 9.2 seconds at 156 mph which was Keith's best terminal speed still only using two gears. |
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Most of the next set of pictures pre-date
drag racing in this country because they were taken in the early 1960s. They
also come from an unexpected source - none other than ex-top fuel pilot Peter
Crane. Most people associate Peter with being the first man outside the USA to
run under 6 seconds in a top fuel dragster (and of defeating reigning NHRA World
Champion and drag racing legend 'Big Daddy' Don Garlits on the way). |
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Yellow Peril seen in profile displaying its magnificent proboscis. The bike was recently discovered in a garden in Surrey having lain there for 35 years. Restoration was carried out and Norman Hyde rode the machine at a sprint meeting at North Weald in July 2005. |
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This is Peter aboard another of Bill Bragg's creations, this time called Silver Peril, at Ramsgate in the early 1960s. |
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And here is Bill Bragg himself on yet another of his Triumph powered bikes. I am surprised Peter let him have a go . . . |
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A superb picture of George Brown's famous 1000cc supercharged Vincent Super Nero. |
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A close-up shot of Super Nero. |
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Left and right - George Brown riding the mighty machine in the early 1960s. |
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Left : Another close-up of an early blown 1000cc Vincent - this time the owner was Reggie Gilbert. Right : Flame burn outs just do not happen on today's highly prepped surfaces. Back in the 1970s they were quite the thing although not often performed by bike riders. This picture shows Danny Johnson on his single Harley-engined fuel bike. |
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Peter Crane launching hard in his Pro Stock Camaro Eazy Ridin'. |
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Peter peformed three observed runs in the notoriously evil-handling Firefly Top Fuel Dragster before going on to drive his rear engined Stormbringer car into the fives. |
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Another flame burn out, this time performed by Don Schumacher in his Stardust AA/FC. This picture will have been taken in 1973. |
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The next set of pictures have been contributed by Glenn Ramsden of UK Event Safety. We will start Glenn's pictures with this fine study of the Gloworm Capri funny car built by Fibreglass Repairs Limited. |
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This is Mickey Naylor's stunning Medicine Man Pro Comp dragster. This car had originally been imported from the USA by the John Woolfe Racing team and driven by Dennis Priddle. The car was called Mr Revell and recorded the lowest ET ever of 6.04 seconds for a front engined dragster. This record stood for decades before nostalgia racing became popular in the USA. |
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The legendary Al's Gasser (ex-Motor Psycho competition altered) pictured at Santa Pod. Glenn seems to have the same penchant as me for taking pictures of this car outside the evil smelling toilets. |
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Al's Gasser crashed at the Pod in 1978 and was totally destroyed as these pictures testify. Fortunately it was soon re-built and going faster than ever. |
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This fine painting of Colin Mullan driving his London Heavy Pro Stocker was painted by Rici Di-Tommaso and was submitted by his son Angelo. Rici was also responsible for the lettering on the actual race car. |
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All material on this site is copyright and should not be reproduced without permission |
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