Neil, I talked at length with Red Greth at the Bakersfield Hot Rod reunion a
few years back ...... he had a great clone of the Speed Sport Roadster
there, steel body and all, but it was re-done as a copy of the earlier Speed
Sport
I, which had the smaller, unblown 354" hemi w/carbs in it. When Speed Sport
II ran back there in Maine it was driven by Lyle Fisher, not Red. Red told
me that Lyle had dropped out of racing and gone on to other things. I
believe Speed Sport Automotive was originally run by Joe Bush out in Blue
Island,
Illinois, before moving to the Tucson area. One of the items Joe used to
sell was Stromberg carbs that had been reworked to flow nitro. I think that
earlier Speed Sport crew used to pal around and race with Chris Karamesines,
and
the late 'Big Don' Maynard, and their ChiZler dragster, which had some
sponsorship or help from Al's Speed Shop in Aurora, Illinois.
When Red made an exhibition run at the Famosa strip it sounded
healthy, but nothing at all like the bigger blown Chrysler that was in the
roadster
in the sixties.
All in all, this unique drag racer made its' mark in drag racing
history, and has always been one of my top three drag cars. Last that I knew
the original was in Big Daddy's museum, where I photographed it some years
ago.
Bruce
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