Arlen Vanke

[68hemiss]

Guys,
I have had the oppertunity to meet Arlen many times and he has been a great help to the 68 Hemi S/S Registry. The first photo where the car is blue with the fogged wheel lips was the 68 paint scheme. This was done when Arlen was away from the shop - he never liked it, the second was the 69 paint scheme. When this car was restored the 69 paint was used as a request from Arlen. Technicly the restored car is not the same one Arlen had in the previous photos. It IS one of Arlen's Barracudas (he had a number of them) the title is still in Arlen's name. The original car was sold and the second owner crashed it and it was destroyed in the ensuing fire (we do have the serial numbers for the car).Arlen won the U.S. Nationals in 68 as well as a number of other races. When Pro Stock hit in 1970 Arlen R/U at Indy to Herb McCandless in a S&M Duster and R/U to Ronnie somewhere else. But in those days the car was weighed seperatly - now they are weighed with the driver. If you have ever met Arlen - he is a big guy (football player big) and Herb and Ronnie are pretty little guys. No offense to Herb or Ronnie but Arlen probabbly spotted them 100lbs and if you think that dosen't make a difference... In 67 every one of the S/S Dodge & Plymouths had one of Arlen's modified intake manifolds on them. Every Tuesday, he would drive to Detroit Dragway from Akron and test parts for Chrysler as part of his deal. Arlen is somethimes called the "Forgoten Hero" but trust me his mechanical ability and driving skill was second to none and he was a threat to win every where he raced. As you may have surmised - I am an Arlen Vanke fan.
Thanks,
Mark Janaky

[mockingbird812]

Terrific stuff Mark. Love to hear the behind the scenes stuff. Being from the Akron area (Canfield), I am a fan of Mr. Vanke and his exploits too. Thanks for sharing and welcome to the site.

[NCGuy68]

[ QUOTE ]
In 67 every one of the S/S Dodge & Plymouths had one of Arlen's modified intake manifolds on them. Mark Janaky

[/ QUOTE ]

I've heard of the elusive "Akron Arlen" single 4-BBl Hemi intake. Seems it was cast to his own specs in answer to certain AHRA class rules and reportedly performed to within a tenth of the tunnelram dual quad manifold. Quite a achievement at the time.

Does anyone else have more info on Arlen and his exploits? Feel free to chime in please Gents...........

[olredalert]

-------Craig,,,In the summer of 1965 Arlen worked the counter of a speed shop in Medina Ohio owned by a guy named Russ Ciefert(sp). Russ had some money burning a hole in his pocket and had developed a blow-proof bellhousing. The company name was R.C.Industries and the bellhousings sold fairly well. Arlen was still racing Pontiacs, I believe, and used to come into my Dads hardware store in Medina for nuts and bolts all the time. In return I would stop at the speed shop every chance I got and drool over all the stuff that was laying around. Russ was always kind of full of himself but Arlen was just a regular good guy. He would always take the time to talk to the snot-nosed kids (me) and I never saw him utter a harsh word. We all know what Arlen did later but Im not sure what Russ ended up doing. Someone at SEMA a couple of years ago told me Russ got into the wheel business, maybe American Racing, but Im not sure of that. Just a little backround for you........Bill S

[NCGuy68]

Thanks Bill. Your experience confirms the general notion that Arlen always seemed to be friendly.

I know he raced Pontiacs (Tin Indians) for a dealer in Akron.

Does anyone have insight into Arlen's years with Pontiac?

[retengw31]

The dealership in Akron was Knafel Pontiac. The Glasgo family race with us at Pure Stock and their Dad (who also races) was some sort of sales manager or something at Knafel way back when. They have a fabulous stable of very low mileage, very fast Pontiacs in Pure Stock.

We'll see them in two weeks at the Pure Stock race in Stanton, I'll ask them if they can chime in over here. Nice people.

[olredalert]

-------I bought two vehicles from Bill Knafel. One in early 1973, a 1972 full boat, white/blue deluxe gut T/A. Bill himself told me it was his wifes demo. I ended up not liking the car much but cant remember why as it was a pretty cool ride. Maybe because it was an automatic??? The second was a 1973 GMC El Camino with the equivalent to the Chevy SS package (SC?). I bought it later in 1973 after I sold the T/A. Didnt keep the El C long either as a friend just had to have it. Knafel Pontiac was a great dealer for a young guy to do business with as just about all the salesmen were savvy musclecar guys. The thing I dont have much info on is Arlens involvement with Bill K. I wish I knew more about that myself. Maybe Mike G has some input???........Bill S

[sixtiesmuscle]

Sorry it took so long to see this thread. Been busy. Anyway, Arlen's relationship with Knafel Pontiac was off & on for many years, but, always "stormy". Both Arlen & Bill Knafel were strong willed back then, so, they would have periodic "disagreements" that got in the way of a long term relationship. Arlen first sold cars for Knafel in the 1963 to 1966 timeframe. In '66 he became the service manager, built and drove the Knafel Tin Indian GTO to many national
event wins. That came to an end when he switched to Plymouth for his personal drag car. From '67 on he raced pretty much full time, as well as, was the official tire tester for Firestone drag tires. Then he reunited with Knafel, even though he was very successful with his Plymouths, to build the two Pontiacs Knafel campaigned in 1970, the Tin Indian RA IV Judge, and, the Tin Indian Firebird. Both of these cars were extremely successful in AHRA competition. Hope this helps.