A Gasser is an old-school drag racing car that has its front end lifted up to help it go faster when starting. They use regular gasoline and have a special look with big tires in the back.
The Dodge Nitro is a type of small SUV made by Dodge between 2007 and 2012. It looks tough and can handle some rough roads, but it uses regular gasoline like most cars. When people talk about not using 'nitro' or special fuels, they mean it runs on normal gas, not special racing fuels.
A solid front axle means the two front wheels are connected by one strong bar, so they move together. This makes the car tough and good for certain types of racing.
An electric cutout is a switch that lets you make your car louder by opening a special valve in the exhaust.
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Rose BB13: , are you ready to rock?
Rose BB13: time. Really? I just said, I said, Emily busted my brain. I was trying to give a good brain buster intro. Now that's all.
Rose BB13: Emily corrected me because she's way up on her eighties rock. If you don't know Emily, big eighties fan. Elliot Smith loved the scorpions,
Emily BB13: medal. Um, and I'm sorry that I interrupted you. So anyway, sorry. Sorry to the fans. Sorry to you. Just all around.
But that's the number one that comes to mind.
Rose BB13: people didn't like mine. So again, veggie DATs. If I'm, getting that wrong. And it's not supposed to be veggie, it's VG three three E. How am I supposed to read That?
Rose BB13: And if, you know, we keep the iPad for like, you know, we reading this, like if you guys see our videos and you think that's like annoying, sorry. But it's so that we can look stuff up and read when people write us
Really good clam chowder. Gotta go back and get the prime rib. But yeah, front engine dragster and Cole said they're not outlawed. He's like, there's just, there's just rules. He's like, there's a little bit of like NHRA call out, I think on the chassis, he said, or, on the roll cage. Like some, some moderate specs on it, but it's not outlawed.
Rose BB13: I don't know. I don't know. I don't even know the rule. I think it's like below 12 seconds, you know, you need to have a. A different type of helmet and cage. I know. 10 seconds for sure. Yeah, but I thought it was maybe close to that, but it might be. 10 seconds is where you need your, your gear gets more serious and the cage needs to be present, first of all, and of certain specifications.
Rose BB13: But. I think he said that even that wasn't the end for Big Daddy because he kind of figured out the deal with him, with the front engine dragster and made it better. We didn't really go, I think, into too much detail about that in our conversation. But anyway, that was the deal. Yeah, we were talking about dragsters and he's building one to race in a nostalgia class with a friend
Emily BB13: I asked what's a Gasser, and I tell you what people, I got so many replies I didn't even have to Nice. Uh, what's a Gasser? From my understanding, gassers came about in the sixties and originated as cars In the gas drag racing class. People would jack up the front of their cars for better weight transfer during launch, white slicks in the back with radius cut fenders to clear the big slicks. A lot of people use straight axles and leaf springs up front to achieve this.
Rose BB13: I hear you. Because I also, for the first time in 15 years am not in a shop. I'm not working at a desk, but some of my job has desk like paperwork that I have to do. I'm still out. Yeah. I'm still out in the field doing mechanical things, but it's, there is desk work, like I have to reconcile receipts.
Now she works in a body shop as maybe people know. She's a great painter. Anyway, she worked at a brewery and the guy who owned the brewery wanted their brewery truck to look like a Gasser. So he like raised it up in the front and lowered it in the back. And, um, then she did a really cool, she sent me a picture of it.
Emily BB13: Uh, so Ryan says, Hey ladies, still loving the podcast. You're very informative and funny. I hope you keep it up,
Emily BB13: I forget to figure out a question. Anyway, that's for later. He says, A Gasser is a drag racing car from late fifties, early sixties. That's a full-sized car that had to run on gasoline and not allowed to run alcohol or nitro, but they famously grew into light and straight front axle, nose high supercharged in injection monsters. So I think that's also a good answer.
Like how do you see over the big engine? You know, like you got a chop model A or something. Like it's, a similar idea. Yeah. Uh, you know, yeah. That's why it is part of why you see rear engine just like seems to work better.
Gassers with like 10,000 exclamation points. I-H-A-T-E. All caps hate them. I totally understand making a gasser if you are drag racing, but when people make gassers out of classics just for car shows lots of
Uh, I think, I think that's part of, and I know you have a few more answers to read, but I wanted to say that like. Gasser rhythm, you know, is like, it's its own thing now, where, like, outside of what we may see the racing class details be the exactly what Gina said. Like, I mean, the whole point is I, the, I, think the idea, and if I'm getting this wrong, somebody please write in and tell me, but I think the idea was.
Rose BB13: as it turns out. It's an interesting look and it is a timepiece, you know, it's total time capsule style. But I'm with Gina where like somebody just does it and you're just like, you just get tired of seeing him. Yeah. Like the, like I said, the one to the econ line, like, no disrespect to that guy.
Is like a tilt front, fiberglass, willie's front end, you know, like that's, that's the car.
Emily BB13: I think they look nasty. Like, they look like kind of mean. I definitely like a raked back better. I like something that's high up in the back. I like a street freak style. But the gassers have kind of grown on me and I have a friend
Emily BB13: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Then you get older and you get younger again. Like, you, you, you know, you're born a baby, you die baby. You know? So like, as you're, as you're like 65, you're making your way back into elementary school. So like, I feel like 65 and 70 year olds on Facebook. It can have some really childish fights. They just have a bigger vocabulary.
Uh, you know, 'cause like I'd love to get rid of my page and then you could just reach us on that one. Have I mentioned on this show before, they hate being on social media and if we weren't doing the show, I'd be off. Have I mentioned that Everybody? Anyway, condense us down to the Car Crush page. Then it'll be, it'll be even easier.
Rose BB13: Somebody wrote, I think Derek automotive Afic Auto was like, I just think whatever you do, it's just good. And that's a really nice thing to say and appreciate that. 'cause it gives us a little fuel to keep going. Yeah.
I see. And then they usually don't have bumpers and grills to take off some weight from that front. And the rear axle is lowered for weight distribution and then it has a solid front axle, which everybody talks about. Really common is a 32 Ford front axle and yeah, large leaf springs to get the nose high as possible so that you can put all that rip and power.
Emily BB13: yeah. Electric cutout sounds cool.
Rose BB13: So you could gimme the number.
Rose BB13: What year did Dun to move the ashtray? Two inches left of center? I don't know. Wouldn't have been what, you know,
Rose BB13: I would say that's about where we're at. If you've never, you know, received the CNA Concordia Neighborhood Association newspaper and done the crossword puzzle, I don't know, maybe it's like a midweek New York Times lower than maybe it's like highlights for children. Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
About this episode
The hosts dive into the world of drag racing, focusing on front engine dragsters and the nostalgia class. They explore the history and characteristics of gassers, classic drag racing cars from the late 50s and early 60s, known for their distinctive raised front ends and straight axles. The conversation touches on the cultural significance of gassers, their evolving style, and the mixed feelings enthusiasts have about them, especially when used for car shows rather than racing. Along the way, they share listener feedback and personal anecdotes about working in automotive fields and social media frustrations.
