Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Jungle Jim Libermans 1975 Summernationals winner is being restored in Sweden. The chassis and the body went different ways in 1976 after having been bought from Jim in his shop in West Chester late in 1975 by Björn Andersson and Tage Hammerman.

They were reunited last year by Janne Johansson in Varberg, who bought the body in Denmark in December 2006 and the chassis in Germany last year.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/burnout.gif

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Here is the body on another chassis at Mantorp Park Raceway in 1977, with 30.000 people watching. They modified it with "humps" over the front wheels to get it closer to the ground.

Those were the days !

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

The reason why there is a Chevy-based engine in the chassis and why the body was sold, was that Opel (GM) sponsored the car when it came to Sweden. So they put an Opel Manta body on it and a Rodeck engine in it.

I have sent Bruce the whole article published in Power Magazine, so there will be more photos later on.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/3gears.gif

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Chttps://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/eek.gifhttps://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/eek.gifL Stuff Anders!!!

Here's a link to a Draglist page w/ some great shots of a buncha' Swedish cars including the Jungle Jim Vega bodied car also other Bjorn Andersson cars..

Is that maybe the same chassis w/ the Opel bodywork about 8 cars down and FEVER on the side?.

http://www.draglist.com/artman/publi...e_001349.shtml

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/burnout.gif
~ Pete
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/3gears.gif

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Pete, I believe "Fever" is the original Manta they sold before buying JJ´s Vega. Then they built the second Manta using the Vega chassis.

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Reading the text again it looks like you're absolutely correct Anders!.

It's all very cool stuff and neat to see some of the action happening in places other than the States and Canada back in the day!.

On a side note, if you've any wisdom on the N. American Sno-Pro Snowmobile Races that were held in Sweden in the late 70's or know of any factory race sleds or parts, I'm all ears...and eyes!!!

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif
~ Pete
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ouguysrock.gif

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

[ QUOTE ]
The reason why there is a Chevy-based engine in the chassis and why the body was sold, was that Opel (GM) sponsored the car when it came to Sweden. So they put an Opel Manta body on it and a Rodeck engine in it.

I have sent Bruce the whole article published in Power Magazine, so there will be more photos later on.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/3gears.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Here you go Anders!

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...rVegaFC001.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...rVegaFC002.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...rVegaFC003.jpg

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b1...rVegaFC004.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Back then a lot of American race cars ended up over here. One of Ray Beadle's Blue Max cars stayed in Sweden after he made a couple of apperances in Sweden. I think that was 1981 or 82.
http://race68.com/harlan2.jpg

Gassers, Pro Stockers, Dragsters and Stock cars was imported. One of them was Bill Jenkins Monza Pro Stocker.

It was quite a bargain to buy a couple of years old race car and you instantly was very competitive or a winner!

One good site to see some of these cars is:
http://race68.com/

If you have it hard reading Swedish you can always translate it with Google: http://translate.google.com/translate_t


Jan

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

In February 1976 Colorod Magazine is letting us all know that the Jungle Jim Vega has arrived in Sweden.

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

I remember that one of Jungle Jim's trademarks was him doing burnouts on the returnroad, just feets in front of the stands. Made the spectators wild for sure.


Jan

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Here is a photo of the Opel Manta FC version 1. It was called the Second Invention. When they moved up to the new Manta it was sold to a fellow named Jan Carlsson and they called it Fever.

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showpo...postcount=2489


Jan

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Interesting stuff! I can almost read that article. They paid $4000 for it, right?

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Tom, they say in the article that 4000 dollar was what you had to pay if you wanted a magnesium Ramcharger 9 1/4" Dana 60 rearend, like the one on the car.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/burnout.gif

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Here is a pic from the Motorama show in Gothenburgh 1978, showing the Jungle Jim FC body with "Canon" on it.

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

And here are two from 1983 I believe, when Micke Thörn owned the same car with the J.J. FC body.

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Does anyone remember this "STARDUST" funnycar attending a dragrace at Mantorp Park in the seventies ?
It doesn´t look like it has a swedish-applied paintjob.



http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...pParkinthe.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Here is the Jungle Jim chassis in the eighties I guess. The new Manta body now has the Bilsport sponsorname on it.
Pic is from the collection I purchased recently.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...antorpPark.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

[ QUOTE ]
Does anyone remember this "STARDUST" funnycar attending a dragrace at Mantorp Park in the seventies ?
It doesn´t look like it has a swedish-applied paintjob.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that car was the old Schumacher car that stayed in England after the tour he made there. It says "the Stones" on the side and I think that was the english owners that had it then. I don't think it was bought by any Swedish guys, but I am not sure about that.


Jan

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Keep us updated if you find out for sure that it is the Schumacher funnycar, Janne.

Most of the Shelby racecars we have seen on the strip here in Sweden were sent here as "street"-cars, like this 1967 KR 500. They were later often rebuilt for strip duty. This pic is from Start & Speed magazine #12 1972.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...peed121972.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Anders, as a drag race fan it's nice to see so much interest in the sport in another part of the world. Here is a web site you may or may not have visited but it provides some interesting info & pictures. Dicky
http://www.70sfunnycars.com/index.html https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Thanks Dicky !
I spent the better part of an hour looking at pics and reading about the cars, and I have added it to my favourites.

Compared to the small population in Sweden, mabye 8 million back then, we bought a lot of American cars and parts.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Here it is with Don Schumachers name on it:
http://www.70sfunnycars.com/Photos/2...e-stardust.jpg

Don Schumacher and Paula Murphy was in England with their respective cars in 1973 for a matchrace. The Phelps bought both cars and Allan Herridge drove the Stardust and Paulas car was sold to someone I don't remember.

Here is a movieclip from 1973 when Schumacher is doing a long burnout.

http://www.ukdrn.co.uk/mc/shoe1.mov

Allan Herridge drove it for a while as one of the Phelps stable cars.

Later the Stones bought it and put in a Chevy in it since that was what they had experience with.

You can read more here.
http://www.70sfunnycars.com/FunnyCars21.html



BTW I met Paula in 1980 at the Winternationals, she was with the same company of people I hang out with there. She was a really nice woman and told me that the event in England was a very fond memory she had.

Jan

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

[ QUOTE ]
Anders, as a drag race fan it's nice to see so much interest in the sport in another part of the world. Here is a web site you may or may not have visited but it provides some interesting info & pictures. Dicky
http://www.70sfunnycars.com/index.html https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

We have had a lot of good dragrace cars here since the early 70-ies.

In the mid 80s one guy put a ProStock 500 cu in. engine in a dragster and blasted the A/D record. Over the winter they sent the car to the USA and raced it at few events and brought it back to Sweden. They won a few of the NHRA Major races with it but most importantly destroyed the A/D index so no one was interested in racing in that class after that. None of the american A/D cars was competitive no longer. It took a few years to catch up.

Jan

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Found a picture of that event in Santa Pod 1973 when Don Schumacher and Paula Murphy was there.

Here she is, miss STP

http://www.protouring.se/files/paula_murphy.jpg

Picture from Start & Speed 8-1973


Jan

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Thanks for the pics and info janne_z-28 !

Another Janne (the current owner of the Jungle Jim FC) called me today to talk about these old memorable cars. He mentioned that this pic of the FC with the Bilsport name on the body was taken in 1977, since that was the only year it was painted this way.

Thanks Janne ! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...antorpPark.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

What is cool about many of those cars was that they had Chevy Power. We had many blown Rats here in Sweden, the Nitro Hemis were outnumbered. A few years later you had to have a Hemi to be competitive.

The Manta was the first Rodeck powered car outside of the US if I remember right.

I helped one of the TopFuelers to get a new Chevy 454 block when I was travelling to California for the 1980 Winternationals. Back then I knew Larry O'Freia at Valley Head Service and he got the new block for me.


Jan

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Here is another one I´m sure you remember Janne. Steinar Stolens 1972 Maverick. Since Steinar is a Norwegian I really should have called this thread "Racecars shipped to Europe..." I believe.
"The Baby imp", what does that mean ?
Built in the USA and powered by a Boss 429. It´s got NHRA... on the roof and Chesapeake Petroleum on the doors. Drake Wiscom helped Steinar getting the car and engine together, if I understand the article in POWER Pictorial Magazine #1 1977 right.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...inarStolen.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Anders,
An imp is defined as a "small demon" or a "mischievous child".

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Thanks for the explanation Sam. I´m eager to learn. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Here is the car that was built for Bill Shorts, before it was repainted in Sweden. POWER #3 1977.
The Hemi was built by Sam Gianino, it says.

"CHALLENGER-HEMI"
"The -74 Challenger looks almost stock, but only the roof and the rearquarters are original !"

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...llenger001.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Here are a couple of professional shots of the Bill Shorts car in Sweden, taken by Bertil Lindgren. Bertil used to take photos for Start & Speed in the 70´s and 80´s.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...illShorts1.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...illShorts2.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

And here are some more of Jim Libermans FC-chassis/body.

The chassis in 1977, with Opel body.
http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...hassie1977.jpg

A shot of the body probably taken at the same event, but I´m not sure.
http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...JimsFCbody.jpg

It looks to me like this is the chassis with the Chevy engine in it.
http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q.../JungleJim.jpg

Bertil told me to post a link to his pictures. Hopefully he will scan more if his old pics soon.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Bertillindgren/Dragracing#

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

[ QUOTE ]
Here are a couple of professional shots of the Bill Shorts car in Sweden, taken by Bertil Lindgren. Bertil used to take photos for Start & Speed in the 70´s and 80´s.


[/ QUOTE ]

I bought a Chevy CanAM (ZL1) block from those guys in 1982 that we were going to have in our Toyota Celica. They had plans to have it in this car and had started to polish the block. One side was all they managed. The block came from the McLaren team in England.

We decided not to use the block due to the weaknesses and sold it to a guy who was going to have it as a tablestand laying some glass over it. As far as I have heard he still has it like that.


Jan

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

In Start & Speed #3 1977 we are told that Dale Armstrong had sold the 1975 Vega FC earlier driven by Chris Christensen, to Kurt Andersson, Sweden.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...istensenFC.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Hi Anders ,
Somebody posted another picture of Russo's Rat on the NSRA forum , thought you might like to see it.

Taken at Santa Pod in 1973...

http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/a...o30/russo2.jpg

Ron

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Hi Ron ! That´s a god pic of Russo´s Rat. When I searched for it on the internet I got a lead to Romania. Do you know what happened to it ?
Tell me about some of the cars you had, also !

Since Sam doesn´t want to see more of the racecars we bought back then, I have decided to save his weekend by showing some Street-Mustangs that visited Mantorp Park Raceway. Most of these pics where taken at the same event in 1974-75 so they are all different cars I think.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...eseventies.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...venties001.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...venties002.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...venties003.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...venties004.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...venties005.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Here are some more from the same event, and a couple from the late seventies/early eighties.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...venties006.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...venties007.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...venties008.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...venties009.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...venties011.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...venties012.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

To continue the Ford theme, here is a pro stock Maverick that Dyno Don sold to Lasse Flodman in 1975. Lasse also bought the truck to transport the Maverick with.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...Flodman001.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

When Tage and Björn had sold the Manta with the JJ-chassis, Björn bought this Ken Cox Racecars-built Monza from California.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...ssonsMonza.jpg

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...nsMonza001.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

Hey Sam ! This is the guy responsible for a lot of the anger you are feeling. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif
Marty Furlipa worked under the name of "East Coast Export" and he exported lots of racecars, engines and other parts to Sweden. He lived in Linden Street, Lodi, New Jersey.
The Mustang is the second Dyno Don-racecar Lars Flodhman bought. Marty had it repainted at Cirkus Paint in N.Y.
In the article (May 1976) it says that he, by the same time, also found a S.R.D-built (Speed, Research & Development)-73 or -74 Vega for some other guys in Sweden. The seller of this Vega was Bob Ingles.

http://i436.photobucket.com/albums/q...oDonMustan.jpg

Re: Racecars shipped to Sweden back in the day.
 

That Mustang was all out state of the art and I would consider it the fastest car EVER to run on a Swedish dragstrip. That is if you compare it to the comparable times in the USA. On its premiere event at Mantorp Park in 1976 it ran 8,9 which was just a 0.1 slower than the NHRA record.

Unfortunately the chute didn't deploy on the run after and they rolled the car after the finishline.

The chassi wasn't hurt, it was only body damage. The flew in new bodyparts and had it back on track for the next race 2 weeks later, The beautiful Circus paintjob was of course gone.

Lars Flodhman took the car back to the states the year after and raced it on the east coast for a few years with some success, mostly matchracing. The car ended in another crash, it wasn't repairable after that.

The chassi was built by Don Hardy Race Cars, engines by Gapp & Roush, 4-speed Lenco.


Jan