Classic Auto Mall SHOW Sep 14, 2025

Classic Auto Mall Show #210 Don The Snake Prudhome + Keith Martin of Sports Car Market join host Stewart Howden

Annotations will appear as you listen

0:00

57:42

Car

Broadcast from the studios inside the Classic Automall in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, just one hour west of Philadelphia at Pennsylvania Turnpike Exit 298, featuring nearly 1,000 classic vintage and barred-fine vehicles for sale under one climate control roof.

Now, here's your host, Classic Automall president and the man with all the toys, Stuart Howden.

Show number 210, here we are, golly, that's hard to believe.

So, before we get started with our guest, Steve, since you're wearing two hats today.

Hello.

And a nice flannel shirt, because it's getting cold outside.

Thank you very much.

How many cars in inventory right now?

Uh, 950.

933.

Oh, man.

You're so close.

You were spot on last week.

Oh, it's higher, yeah.

Yeah, you're always higher, so.

Anyway, without further ado, let's bring our fantastic guest on Don Prudhomme, drag racer, team owner, Bon Vivant.

He's the man.

Good, good more.

I'm sorry it's so early.

I hate that it's eight o'clock out on the West Coast for you.

Yeah, I hate that too.

Yeah.

You know, a retired guy like me, man, they don't, they don't like to get up that early.

I don't blame you.

I, you know, if I didn't have anything, you know, if I didn't have to be anywhere, I think I'd probably sleep to about 10 or 11 every day.

Just because I could.

Yeah, I hear you, man.

Yeah, so welcome.

It's great to be on the show, though, and it's nice to meet you, really.

Yeah, nice to meet you as well, too.

We've wanted to have you on the show, and our friend Judy Stropis makes it happen.

And as we talked earlier, she's just a wonderful person who knows everybody in the business and the hobby of racing and cars and just all of that.

It's fantastic.

Yeah.

And we're glad to have her as a friend of the show.

So, and, you know, and new friends like we meet with you.

We've met lots of people like this.

So, you know, I always, I never really knew why your nickname was the snake until I read about it here recently.

And it was derived from how devastatingly fast you were off the line and able to shift gears.

Is that true?

Or is that where that came from?

Or is that old lore?

Well, it's, yeah, it's pretty close.

Yeah, it's exactly where it came from.

Right.

The quickness off the starting line.

And as you know, in drag racing, that's very, very important.

You reach reflexes and leaving first.

And for some reason, I was at an early age, I was pretty good at it.

Right.

And one of the guys in the crew started calling me snake as I was quick and skinny and fairly tall.

Right.

So it just fit.

Yeah.

I guess.

Very enlightened, of course.

Right.

It caught on.

Yeah.

It's funny how some things that you don't care for actually, you know, work out to be pretty

good when you first hear about them, you don't like them.

And then it worked.

Yeah.

And of course didn't having the rivalry, if you will, with Tom McEwen as the Mongoose.

So that was certainly, did more for drag racing, probably than anything in the history

of drag racing, I would venture to guess.

Well, yeah, it's nice of you to say, when I look back on my career, I think

that was the point where not only did it change our lives, it changed drag race.

Period.

You know, from a brain and not automotive sponsors like Mattel Hot Wheels.

Mongoose McEwen was the guy that came up with that idea by going to Hot Wheels and

talking to him about a sponsorship.

And this is like 1969, you know, 70.

So it was a pretty unique sponsor like that back in the day.

Sure.

Yeah.

It's commonplace to see non-automotive sponsors nowadays.

You see Tide and you see, you know, restaurants and things like that.

But back then that was unique.

And of course Hot Wheels, I mean, as a kid growing up, I was born in the early 60s.

And so Hot Wheels to me was everything.

It was my connection to cars and drag racing with you guys.

And of course, the most iconic thing to me was the car haulers that you and Tom

had, which were absolutely amazing.

The Dodge D700s were, I guess they were, they were real like utility trucks that were

used for like calling a crew up into the woods, I guess, for a, you know, a logging

adventure or whatever.

Yeah.

Well, actually I got mine.

We're talking 1970.

Right.

It's way back.

And so at the time in drag racing, the guys who had the cool rigs were socks with

Martin, Dick Landy, guys like that, you know, not in funny cars, but in pro

stocks or whatever they call them in the day.

So they had, they had really nice ones.

So we got with Plymouth and with our Hot Wheels cars, Dick's Maxwell felt running,

running the Plymouth at the time of racing.

He hooked us up with those trucks.

Mine actually came from Richard Petty.

Right.

He was turning it back in.

It was a four door D700 crew cab.

Right.

And so we got the cabin chassis and built the back on it.

And McEwen's came the same way.

They're both used trucks.

Right.

Yeah.

They were state of the art at the time.

And they were probably as much of a draw as the funny cars were back in the

day.

I mean, people were really drawn to those trucks.

Oh, yeah.

Absolutely.

When we come roll into a track in York, Pennsylvania, someplace, man, they

gathered around because they were really cool.

Yeah.

We were like the Charlie Daniels band, you know, coming in with their

bosses.

Exactly.

It was all show business.

Sure.

And I think that's the part that they drag racing was up.

It was all the show business and the colorful cars.

And once again, Ravel and Mattel, and they're the ones that got, I think,

funny car going back in the day.

Well, and the name Funny Car, I mean, because they were, they looked

funny compared to a regular car.

They were elongated.

They were exaggerated in some respects.

They were, the headlights were painted on usually.

I mean, it was, they were a funny looking car.

And it's great that the name became Funny Car.

Yeah.

Well, they actually, yeah, they, the factory, there were factory

cars, you know, with landing socks.

And they started moving the, the rear end forward and the front

wheels out, engine back pretty soon.

They looked funny and that's where the name came from.

So they, they, and that worked itself, of course, into our

flip top fiberglass body cars.

I was always surprised how they, those things latch so

completely going that fast.

I guess the downforce of the air kept them kind of from

flying on those hoods or the whole body just as fly.

Of course they did fly up from time to time and that wasn't

pretty.

Oh yeah.

I've been to that, I've been to that movie a few times.

Yeah.

That happened, yeah.

It's pretty bad.

Yeah.

But we didn't know a lot about it.

You know, back in those days, it isn't like you were in a

wind tunnel.

Right.

You know, you was all traveling there.

Right.

So if it looked cool.

Yeah.

We first built the cars.

We had the spoilers on the roof.

Right.

The spoilers.

We didn't know any better.

Right.

Straighten that out.

But it was just a process of elimination.

Sure.

No different than top fuel cars with the engine in

front of you versus behind you.

I mean, that changed everything.

So many people had gotten hurt and then Don Garlett's, I guess,

said, hey, we got to figure out something better to do here.

And of course it turned out to be a brilliant idea in the

long term and saved a lot of lives probably.

Oh yeah.

It changed the sport forever.

It was really good.

Yeah.

He sure did.

I was, you know, I was racing Garlett's not on that

particular run, but we were competition together.

We all had front engine dragsters.

Yeah.

And his crunch mission got a little two-speed

transmission behind his bellhouse.

It blew up.

And that's what cut his foot off.

Right.

Cut the car in half.

Yeah.

It was a, you know, it went to a rarer engine car.

Yeah.

It changed the sport.

Absolutely.

And, you know, it was nice to see because, you know, you

don't, motor sports is supposed to be dangerous.

I get all that.

That's true.

And we, and it should be dangerous.

It's going faster than you're really supposed to go.

Right.

But it shouldn't be dangerous just for the sake of being

dangerous.

No, but I think all, all motor sports went through that.

You know, hell, I can remember the days when they had

aluminum, what do you call monocoque cars?

Right.

Indies.

Right.

They hit the wall and the whole, it would, for sure,

you'd lose your feet, you know, break your feet up in

those cars.

Like she's so many other guys.

Sure.

So nowadays they're, of course, they're composite.

Race cars are a lot safer.

Sure.

Sometimes it's faster and safer.

I mean, 300 miles an hour was a crazy, you know,

milestone to hit.

I mean, is there any more speed in them?

Can they, could they ever hit 400 or does that even,

does that even, even in a conversation?

Well, you know, in NHA it's a thousand foot now.

Right.

It's not a quarter mile anymore.

They shortened it up because of the speeds.

Was that a mistake?

I kind of think so.

I think we should have tried to calm the cars down

and still run the 1,320 feet quarter mile.

That's what the sport was built around.

But let's just say it was a bandaid they put on it.

Right.

Now at a thousand feet, they're running 340, 341,

and 4243 at a thousand feet.

Yeah.

That's amazing.

Yeah, that really is.

It'd be interesting at Bonneville or something to see

what one of these top fuel cars with the right

gearing could do.

Could it do, I imagine it could hit 400.

And just launch into this atmosphere.

Yeah.

I don't think that's possible.

Well, you never know.

But it's interesting.

NASCAR solved that problem with restrictor plates

and different things that they kind of changed

on the timing and the engine and all that.

And like you said, I'll never forget.

When we moved here about eight years ago,

Maple Grove is just north of a seven miles from here,

which is a great old school track in the middle

of Pennsylvania here.

And I walked up to some guy in the pits and I said,

so how fast are you going in the quarter?

And he goes, son, we don't run the quarter anymore.

We run a thousand feet.

I said, oh, sorry.

But you're right.

It was always synonymous a quarter mile.

That was a benchmark for a street car or for a race car.

Yes, it was.

Yeah.

That's what we grew up with.

That's what it was all about was a quarter mile.

But I'll tell you, the cars are so fast

to tell when you're watching them.

You don't know if it's a quarter mile or a thousand feet.

Yeah.

All you know is it's really, really fast.

And really loud.

I mean, they are really loud.

Yeah.

And they can really blow up.

Oh, yeah.

Me talk.

Yeah.

You know, I grew up in East Tennessee

and Bristol was our track, Thunder Valley.

And back in the day.

I've run them all.

All of them.

Yeah.

Maple Grove.

Maple Grove was, yeah, great track.

And then Bristol was amazing

because the fence was literally on the track.

I mean, it was literally,

there was no buffer area between the fence

and the track strip.

I mean, it was real.

It could be right there.

And those guys were on a Saturday night

when they're qualifying.

Man, that stuff,

it was ginger eyebrows.

Yeah.

So being a team owner,

I love that we, you know,

I was reading about Ron Kapps.

And Ron Kapps said something about you

that it was stuck with me

and will stick with me for the rest of life.

And he said,

after being hired by you in 1997,

it was like having Joe Montana walk on the field

and teach a kid how to throw a football.

He said,

you were just the guy with the knowledge

to be the right guy for him

at the right time as the leader.

Well, you know, yeah.

Well, I guess it worked out that way.

When I met Ron,

you know, I thought he was, you know,

he was a natural.

He was driving a top fuel car at the time

on a, not a sponsored team.

And I was thinking about putting

a funny car back on.

I had a top fuel drive there.

I was retired at the time.

And Dixon was in the,

Larry Dixon was driving

with my dragster.

Right.

And we got a funny car,

put Ron in it

and man,

it started a whole new career for him.

You know, he's just the,

he's just the best.

Sure.

Absolutely.

And it was,

was it fun?

Did you enjoy being a team owner

as much as you enjoyed driving

or was driving always number one to you?

Well, driving was number one to me

in the early days.

Right.

I liked that because back then,

you know,

you have a driver had a lot to do

with the performance of the car.

You know,

it was far shifting that.

And in running through what you had to do

to get down the quarter mile,

but also you had to go a hell of a lot

about the engine.

Right.

You had to,

there was no computers, you know,

so you didn't even think

about computers back then,

but you jumped out of the car

and you go,

we need to change,

put more weight on the clutch,

needs more tire pressure,

whatever it may need.

I would tell the crew

that when they got down at the end,

we'd go back,

the pits do that,

come back out and run again.

Right.

So the driver,

I was fortunate.

Myself,

Gartlett's,

colleagues, a lot of guys like that,

Ivo,

we're all pretty good with the engines.

And so that's what made it fun.

Sure.

But in today's world,

today's world,

the driver has very little to do

with the engine

or the tuning of the car.

He's strictly there

to cut a light

and get down to the other end

and keep it between the lines.

Which is not easy to do.

No, it doesn't look easy.

But in all motorsports,

it seems to be the better,

more successful drivers

are the ones

that can communicate with the crew

or the team about what the car does

and doesn't have needs

and doesn't need.

Well, yeah,

I am sure,

especially in road racing

or whatever it may be,

you can,

but you know,

drag racing, once again,

it's a whole different ball game.

Sure.

You know,

it's all there on the computer.

The driver pretty much

doesn't have to say anything

about the setup of the car

because they can read

on the computer

what it needs.

Right.

And so it's,

couples in orange

is compared to road racing.

Sure, sure.

Well, and we always,

and you know,

as we just said,

how loud it, I mean,

those cars are,

these days are pushing

11,000 horsepower

or something crazy.

Yes, they are.

Unbelievable.

Yeah.

It's hard to believe to get it.

I just don't understand

the guy that stands there

and runs the lights,

stands there all day long.

How can that guy

hear anything anymore?

It's got to be

the deafest guy on the planet.

Yeah, yeah,

that's possible.

But you know,

really in today's world though,

they're back quite a way.

Right.

They've got good ear protection

and the way the

light system is now,

you know, once they

turn that on,

it's all run by

computers through the tower,

staging.

So, you know,

it's simple assignment

compared to what it used to be.

What it used to be,

absolutely.

And the cat and mouse part

of it, you know,

when you're staging

and getting into the lights

and all that,

I mean, that's

an art form almost

in itself, right?

Well, yeah,

you could say that.

Yeah, it is.

It's an easy job.

Tony Stewart

Right.

thrown that out.

You know,

it should be pretty tense up there

and,

but he took to it

like a duck to water.

He's really good.

Yeah.

It's funny how that

some people are just

kind of naturally good

at certain things

and he turned out to

be pretty good once

you figured it out,

I think.

Did you have,

were there favorite tracks

that you had?

Obviously there's tracks

that you probably enjoyed

going to.

But I mean,

was there a favorite track

any of the others?

Well, it's,

I would say that

with the Indianapolis

Raceway Park.

Right.

That was always

my favorite track.

And it still is today

by most of the racers

because that's

the U.S. National.

Right.

And they just ran that

here a few weeks ago.

And that is a,

that's the race

you want to win.

Unfortunately,

I've won it seven times.

A few times as a car owner

and

kind of really helped

made my career

that went in the U.S.

Nationals.

Yeah.

Sure.

Big time.

Well, and then you've got

like we were talking

about the old school tracks

with Maple Grove and Bristol

and then some that are

no longer with us.

And,

and I remember back in

the day going

when I lived in California

and Pomona was big,

which still is.

Still is.

Yeah, still is.

But not,

not quite as many tracks

out there as there was

I guess back in the

heyday.

But.

Hardly.

Yeah.

Well, it's kind of

can't be very cost-effective

to build a Bristol

or a Maple Grove today

if it didn't have,

you know,

a nice history to it.

Amen.

Yeah.

And that's it.

And, you know,

it's interesting that

like at Charlotte,

they're running four,

four wide,

four cars at a time

going down.

Is there an advantage

to that?

Is a disadvantage?

I don't,

I can't quite figure out

what the point of that

is exactly.

Not putting it down,

just don't quite

understand it maybe.

Well, I kind of,

I always figured like

Bruce Smith,

that was kind of like

to do something different

and do the four wide.

And do I like it?

Not really.

Right.

You know,

I still like

two cars at a time.

I mean,

watch the four wide.

It's really hard

to keep track of

who the hell won the race

and what they're doing.

I mean,

you know,

it's a big explosion.

Right.

I guess it's something

to see once.

Right.

It's not something

on a steady diet

that I'd like

for drag racing.

Sure.

And you,

you had,

your career and winning percentage

was unbelievable.

It's probably unrivaled.

I mean,

it was,

I read that overall,

you won three hundred and eighty-nine

of five hundred and eighty-nine

races you entered in,

which was 66% of the races

that you entered in.

You won.

That's true.

Yeah.

And it was maybe

from the Greer Black

Predone car.

Right.

The Keith Black

built the engines

and Tommy Greer

in the car.

And it was

the biggest break

in my drag racing

life that I got

to drive

that car.

Right.

Buddy of yours

is Bruce Meyers owns it.

Yeah.

I do.

Yeah.

And yeah,

that car was untouchable,

especially out here

in California.

Right.

It was the car.

Sure.

And those were

hemi-powered cars

right back in the day.

They were,

what was the horsepower

back then?

A couple thousand

or was it even that much?

Yeah,

on a good day.

Yeah.

But yeah,

they were,

the best engine was the

hemi,

the hemi engine.

Right.

Sure.

Chrysler,

Plymouth,

wherever you want to call it

at the time,

the hemi,

that changed drag racing

big time.

Sure.

For that,

it was like

390 tunes in the older

blocks

and the 55

and cars

and stuff like that.

Now,

the hemi's were,

they're still badass.

That's still

the engine

they run today.

That's hard to believe, isn't it?

It's the exact 426.

The only thing

is the stroke is more in it.

Right.

It's aluminum or I should,

yeah,

a billet,

aluminum rock.

Right.

It's a whole deal of deal,

but the basic design

of a 426 engine

is what they're running today.

And that's amazing

with all the modern technology

and everything that they've

come out with since then

to still be

reliant on that

configuration,

if you will.

And it's crazy.

Of course,

the expense of drag racing nowadays

is astronomical as well, too,

because, you know,

like you said,

with your old rigs

that you had back in the day,

now they've got these custom

semis that are

two and a half million

dollars a piece.

It's crazy.

I've never seen

anything like it.

I retired

at the end of 09.

Right.

And I had

seven tractor trailer rigs

at the time.

It had,

for one top fuel dragster,

it took

two rigs,

two rigs

to keep that thing going,

to feed it parts.

Right.

In one trailer,

we had spare engines

and blocks.

Then when the funny car

had two transporters also,

you know,

in a hospital.

Yeah.

So it was been,

we were a trucking company

for a while.

You had to be right.

You had no job.

But that,

you know,

that was amazing

to be a part of that

and see the sport grow

like that

from greasy T-shirts

and no uniforms.

You know,

there was just nothing

back in the day.

Yeah.

So I got to see all that

and that's...

You were like rock stars.

You guys were like rock stars

when you rolled into town.

You have thorn up.

I mean, yeah.

They come out to see us.

Absolutely.

And,

and Mattel,

I think has remade

the hauler

and the funny cars

that go with it.

I saw somewhere

at Walmart

or something.

They have those,

the setups on that.

And of course,

I guess you had found

both of those haulers

not too long ago

and had them restored.

Right.

You found your original one

and McEwen's original one

and restored them.

Yeah.

Well,

you know,

I kept a lot of my cars.

Right.

Army car

and a bunch of cars.

I had a shop full of

my old cars

and had the hot wheel car

and the

transporters

just seemed like

the next thing to do.

It took a while

to build those out there.

I bet.

Rick Henrich has them now.

I understand that.

They're beautiful.

Yeah.

They're just,

you know,

he's got,

he's got an amazing collection,

but I bet you,

the centerpiece is,

I bet the one that people

most talk about

are those two transporters.

I would guarantee it

because they're just,

everybody remembers them

if you grew up in that era.

Yeah.

Well, thank you.

Thank you very much.

I absolutely had a ball

restoring them.

Oh.

It was amazing.

You know,

the paint worked on them

and the engines

and just,

you know,

back then,

we didn't have any money

on today's world.

You know,

you know,

we had a few bucks

and it was a fun project.

Sure.

Do you,

do you go to races

much anymore?

Are you watching on TV

or do you?

I go,

yes I do.

Matter of fact,

next year is

NHRA's

75th anniversary.

Right.

So,

I've got my suitcase packed

already

to go to quite a few

of the events

that they'll have us at,

but they'll have

Gartis there,

myself,

a lot of,

a lot of the guys

and I still work

closely with NHRA.

Right.

And Ron Kapps,

you know,

I'm still hanging with them.

And so,

yeah, I'm involved.

I'm pretty happy

with what's going on.

Yeah.

Well, it's, you know,

I imagine it's fun

to be on the sidelines

and have a little bit

of wisdom sometimes

that you can impart

to the young pups

out there, right?

Yeah.

It's just,

it's amazing

to watch,

especially wealthy people,

you know,

come out with equipment

and stuff they have

and put their

daughters

or whoever

it is and run down through there

at 340 miles an hour.

Wow.

It's pretty amazing

what it's,

what it's turned into.

It really has been.

And it's good for the sport,

I think,

to have female participants

in it.

It broadens the audience

for all of that.

Yeah.

And of course,

Yeah, absolutely.

Well, it's really

one form of racing

that women can do

really, really well.

Right.

Reaction times and

Oh, yeah.

Yeah.

Big time.

Did you ever have

one sloppy in the face

that you couldn't know?

They're quick.

They are quick.

They're cat-like.

Yeah.

But you're the snake

so you should be able to,

you know,

you should duck her.

So did people get...

Women are

women are

extremely quick.

Cat-like reflexes.

It drives,

they really are.

And I think that's

wonderful for the hobby.

It's good to see

that women involved

in it

because we want

the sport to perpetuate

and drag racing

might be one of the

sports that is not,

you can't watch it

on television

and understand it.

It's a great person

to really know what

drag racing is all about

because you can't replace

the sound

and the fury

on television

but you can sure in person

that you know it

and if you've never been

to one go

and if you go

you'll be blown away.

Agreed.

Yeah, absolutely.

I brought

many of my friends out

there to see it

including Chip Ganassi.

Right.

First time in it.

It blows them away.

Yeah.

It's a

the never-lasting thing.

You'll never forget that.

You know,

I mean the ground

actually shakes

this vibration and say

elite, you know.

It's pretty amazing.

And it's funny

because

with all that power

and all that

that we talk about

like Maple Grove

is this coming weekend

for us here

in the middle of September

in Central Pennsylvania

here

Southeast Pennsylvania

and my wife likes

to go into the drag

races.

She has a good time

and enjoys it

because that power

I mean you just

it's something that

you can't believe

that something can

possibly be that loud

and that pounding

on the ground.

It's hard to believe.

I agree.

I agree with you.

But you know,

the cool thing is you

like Maple Grove

you can buy your ticket

and go down

in the pit area

hang out with cars

get autographs

go see pro stocks

F stock

whatever you like

you know it's there

it's a wide range of

things to do

in your drag races

and

it's why most people like it.

I think so too

and you can become

it's really one

with the fans.

I think there's a lot

of analogy

between that

and country music

about

signing autographs

and staying

and meeting with the fans

after the show

and that kind of thing

and you didn't see that

in the rock and roll world

as much.

So it's

it's kind of the same

type of thing

but those mechanics

that work on these

top fuel cars

and funny cars

I mean they put

they've got a job

that's a tough job

I mean it's

hot in hell out there

they're working

probably through the night

sometimes to

rebuild an engine

right.

Yes it's so true

as you well know

they take them apart

and so it's all

oh man

it's

they got their air guns out

and it's all

precision

done too.

Right.

You know take it apart

put it together

and do that

in 45 minutes

to an hour

and you're ready to run again

so it's pretty amazing

to watch

and that's one of the beauties

about going down

in the pits

with your

pass.

Right.

You just go down there

and watch them

do whatever you want so

yeah it's cool

it really is cool

it makes a connection

with the drivers

because let's face it

most drivers

you only see them

with a helmet on

so you don't even

you don't see their emotion

you don't see their face

you don't see

how they react to certain

things and when you're

in the pit area

you get to see them

without the helmet on

and you know

see that they have

they have a

personality right.

Yeah I agree with you

completely yeah.

So I mean

and the awards

that you've received

obviously the wins

that we talked about

is I mean

unbelievable

you won

1976

you won seven

of eight

of the races

yeah

that's all they had

in HRE

was eight races

right

national events

wow

and but we ran

you know during those

times it wasn't

just the national events

we run

Maple Grove

other places

match racing

right

that's what was cool

about

right

we race the

blue mats

or jungle gym

mongoose

you know in a

early that's

where we made our money

right right right

we go to

NHA races

because

the sponsors

were there

and they had TV

but yeah

in 76

you know we won seven

out of eight

and I run her up

at the eighth one

it was a hell of a year

oh man

because so many things

can go wrong

I mean

you can

there's so many things

that can

make you

not become

the fastest

or the first

down the track

to get out

well it was

yeah it was great

you know

but

myself

and Garless

and a few of the other guys

approached me

I think a little bit different

the other guys

we were both pretty

driven

I thought

I was about

driving and wanting to win

and

you know

we didn't kiss and hug

at the other end

right

someone beat us

you know

it was a whole different

atmosphere

but

now they say

guess I'm sorry

I beat you

they almost apologize

you know

it's cute

and they get a

we wouldn't even talk

to the other guy

and you get a

participation trophy

now right

yeah exactly

I love it

that's cute

it's funny

to see all that

it is what it is

it's a different world

isn't it

in so many respects

and

it's all racing

life in general

I mean

it's just a whole different

world anymore

and things

and it's almost like

you're

growing up in certain

ways

that you think

man I wish it was

the old days

I wish things could be

more like they were

but

probably every generation

says that

and will continue to say

that till the end of time

oh absolutely

you know

Formula 1

Indy car

you name it

it's all changed

you know

you're not

going to go back

to the smoky

unique days

right

things like that

how about the cup cars

I mean

you need to build

a race car down

you know

it's just different

it's almost like

you know

you just order the parts up

and you can

it's like when you read

about custom cars

that people take a

Camaro

and they make a

Resto mod out of it

and they put

Will Wood Breaks in it

and they put this

kind of this in it

and this kind of

it's just like

a cookie cutter

type thing

almost

even though it's a

custom car

it's a lot of

just

putting parts together

yeah

and then

the Motor Sports Hall of Fame

of America in 1991

which was

that's a great

organization as well too

you know

I've been fortunate

I think I'm in all

right

about

tall things

you know

yeah

it's

quite an

honor

the one

Talladega

I was blown away

because

I was inducted there

along with

AJ Foyt

Barrio

Andretti

from

Airtun Center

Nice

you know

unfortunately

we lost him

about a year or so

after that

right

around that time

but yeah

it was amazing

and to be a part of that

that was

one of the first times

they had a drag racer

you know

being part of that

Hall of Fame

except for

Wally Parts

of course

sure

absolutely

and you know

it's so nice to see that

you know

you don't have to

like one sport anymore

you can like them all

you can watch

Formula One

like that

it's not

people aren't so pigeonholed

as they used to be

and it's fun to see people

that are getting into

drag racing

even now

that people that never

really paid attention to it

yeah that's

that's true

you know

thanks to so much more

available

you know

the pro stocks

there's a guy out there

I think that has

six of them

wow

pro stocks

and he rents them out

to the Jays guys

right

I mean

they're

drag racing

they're not a place

you want to go to

I can tell you that

I used to love

the pro stock car

something about the sound

of a pro stock car

like music

it's not as loud

as a top

fuel or funny car

but it's got

a guttural feeling

and sound

that's

undescribable

it's just a great sound

yeah

well they're

normally aspirated engines

you know

and so they

they're really something

but you know

I'm a

I'm a fuel guy

I enjoy

my game you know

well it's the top of the heap

right I mean it's

yeah I think so

yeah

you know my

my theory from day one

when I started

drag racing

I wanted to be the fastest

the quickest guy at the track

right

not in this category

or that category

number one category

right right

that's what I always

looked at it

so I was never

interested in pro stocks

or anything else

because of that

yeah

hell our dragster

was blow those up

like they're not even

there

how much of a lead

govind smoking

exactly yeah

and you were the first to break

250 miles an hour right

which was a huge milestone

in a funny car

yeah

that was a huge milestone

well it was

yeah you know

we were running

245

240 this and that

but all of a sudden

you know

we're down in Baton Rouge

and we had the right

tire combination

the right track

it ran 250

which was a

it was hard to

tell the difference

a couple of miles an hour

you know

it was a milestone

it was a big deal at the time

of course Bernstein

was the first kind of dragster

to run 300

I remember that

you know

now they run

in the eighth

and this was in a quarter mile

when he did that 300

right

and in the eighth mile

now

they run

good run is like

300

and three

right

little over

300 miles an hour

in the eighth of a mile

that's hard to believe

I mean that just

yeah they

throw that on

yeah

man you have a chin strap

on your helmet

you have to like

keep your head forward

there's a G-force

it'll throw your head

you'll hit the

cage in the back

sure

it's quite a ride yeah

oh my god

that's hard to believe

in the eighth of a mile

to do that

I remember

yeah

I think

300 the eighth

yeah that's just

well I mean

zero to 60 on these things

is like

you can't even blink fast

enough to get to 60

right it's just

instantaneous

it's not even

a metric

that you could

ever ever measure

yeah

what would it be

would it be

is there something

you'd go and change

if you were the guy

who was in charge of

everything

yes

I would have stopped

them a long time

ago

of building this much

power

right

going that fast

cutting it back

from a

quarter of a mile

I wish

they would have

worked

and I

tried to get them

look at the

rules closer

sure

one magnetals to

the two magnetals

things like that

to try to

slow them up a little bit

you know because

man I don't know

where this deal

is going to end up

right

you know

right now

the real danger

is losing tires

right

this guy

Reed

not long ago

in his

top fuel car

lost her tire

turned around backwards

and you know

lost part of his hand

right

goddamn things are fast

yeah

absolutely are

you're right

too fast and you know

you hate to say that

as a racer

that you know

something's too fast

but

well there's really

no big rules on them

I mean they're all the same

right

hell they have

fuel pumps on them

that pump

like about 120 gallons

a minute

the fuel pumps

and all

it's just a

powerful bomb

it's this liquid

that goes in there

right

and then it has

around 60 pounds of

boost

wow

you know

in there

the nitrile goes off

under compression

you know

it's a liquid

chemical

it's not like gasoline

right

it goes off an explosion

I'll tell you why

it's just powerful

it's scaring me just

talking about it

well yeah me too

that's my ability

well listen

it was such an honor

to have you on the show

today we really

oh one glass question

my most important

question

what's your daily

driver

I have a dodge

demon

nice

oh man

this got so much power

you have no idea

you can throw up a demon

I haven't driven one

but I've driven something

that was close

and it wasn't even

hard to even imagine it

you know that fast

yeah it's right

yeah back in the car

yeah 170

and I

my main driver

though to be honest with you

is the pickup truck

of course

Chevrolet pickup truck

I love that

I'm the same way

I got my GMC

truck

and I wouldn't trade

anything

I'd get rid of everything

but that

if I had to

my hot rod days are over

yeah don't need a

Corvette

you can't get in and out of

right

Don Pradoam

thank you so much

for being on the show today

we really appreciate it

alright man

thanks

good to be on the show

you are invited

Dennis Ophari

at Classic Automall

on a search

for animals

look closely

and you might

see a tiger

Jaguar

and a cheetah

or cougar

as they try

to catch a herd

of impalas

and don't forget

the wired

mustangs and broncos

plus gazelle

rabbits

and rams

instead of the zoo

you'll want to do

your animal watching

at Classic Automall

it smells better too

this is the Classic

Automall show

if you have questions

or comments

write podcast

at ClassicAutomall.com

and we're back with

the Classic Automall

show from the Classic

Automall studio

in Morgantown, Pennsylvania

well he was as good

as they get

he's a legend

he is so legendary

when he was a kid

of course we all did

we all had the models

we all had

the snake

I mean you think about it

not many people before

I didn't know anything

about drag racing as a kid

before the snake

and the mongers

right

and that came along

it was on my radar

and I knew what it was

and I was into it

and not even

realizing at the time

that Bristol

was just north of us

about 80 miles

which was Thunder Valley

the greatest track

we've ever been to

it's like the

NASCAR track

the oval

that they have there

it's just really

a great race

and you know

so legendary

I mean his winning percentage

is unbelievable

untouched

378 out of 578 races

do you know any of the

current racers

names or anything

I know John Fawrce

but I don't think

he doesn't race anymore

his daughter doesn't

his daughter

some Courtney

Ashley I don't

a force

Ms. Fawrce

which is the greatest

name of any race

yeah it really is

it's really a great race

it was interesting

his thoughts

on the four breast

races

you should see it once

but he's not

a huge fan of it

but it's

you know

it's interesting

a guy like him

the amount of knowledge

I'm most proud

of doing the show

in the fact

that we have

stuff like that documented

that it will be

out there forever

sure

that's right

how cool is that

I think I thought

about that

during the interview

I'm like

he's saying stuff

that will go down

in history is

his opinion

absolutely

so a lot of fun

as a kid

where do we

sell cars this past

where

you ask

Franklin New York

Brambleton, Virginia

Vineland, New Jersey

Los Angeles, California

Fort Myers, Florida

Shantilly, Virginia

Hardyville, South Carolina

Pasadena, Maryland

Goshen, New York

Lebanon, Pennsylvania

and over Vermont

Bennington, Nebraska

I was thinking

that would be

Monroe, Connecticut

Sellersville, Pennsylvania

Pine Grove, Pennsylvania

Georgetown, Indiana

Delta, Pennsylvania

Boothwind, Pennsylvania

New York

Effort of Pennsylvania

Manhattan, Michigan

Wayne, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Ridgecrest, California

Kuttsdown, Pennsylvania

Hawkinson, Pennsylvania

Lubbock, Texas

Eidpark, New York

Colorado, somewhere

Wow

Incredible

I'm seeing a lot of

consignments coming in

from Maryland and Delaware

which is pretty nice

We've done some shows

lately down there

and it seems to

follow the pattern

when we were

in an area

doing a show

where we take our

little dog and pony

in our truck and trailer

and kind of like

Don Pradoam set up

and we go

kind of like that

We've got a nice trailer

We've got it out of

Radner this week

Yeah, we did

Radner was fantastic

The weather cleared

for us at about

11 o'clock and

it was smooth sailing

from there on

and it looked like there was

as many people as

ever have been

And to me, I mean

I love the cars

but it's seeing people

you know, people in

the industry

it's like coming home

Yeah, it's an

old home week

thing

And it's a lot of fun

And don't forget

if you're watching this

on the air date of

September the 12th

2025

our first air date

So next Friday

is our auction

the 19th

That's right

So that's

be a week from today

if you're watching it

or listening

or watching from the first day

That's right

a week

six days

from the air date of this

So Friday, no reserve

about 90% of them

do not have titles

What does that mean?

That means they don't

have a title

It's a bill of sale only

We have paperwork

to prove that

That's right

It's a bill of sale only

It's no title

It's a

notarized bill of sale

If you buy this car

you're either buying

or buy any one of these

vehicles

you're either buying it

for parts

or you know how to

get a title ahead of time

but you can't go to the

DMV with a notarized

bill of sale

and get a title

You have to go to the

court and petition

and a lot of things

like that

So if you have any

questions about that

call me

888-227-0914

and I'll be happy

to discuss it a little

further

because I don't want

any confusion

I don't want you to

think that

you're going to be able

to figure out

how about the

1965 Pontiac Le Mans

convertible

Mayfair Maze

Over White and Black

Yes

Jim Taylor built

455

Jim Taylor's the engine

guy on Pontiac

It's kind of like Keith

Black in the Hemi cars

that Don Perdome

was talking about

Pontiac High Performance

Feature Car

PHS Documentation

which shows

what the car was

born or built with

Tremac 5-speed manual

Eaton 12-Bolt Axel

and Will Wood

as we were talking about

earlier just breaks

So it checks all those

stuff that you want to put

in these Resto Mod

Customs if you will

Really nice car

Next but not the least

1964 Chevrolet Malibu SS Hard Top

Silver Blue Over Blue

Rebuilt 327

327 is a great engine

in these cars

It's really one of the

perfect engines

for a perfect size car

A lot of times

you put the 327

to be in a bigger car

and it may not have

enough power

With these it seemed to

be the right fit

And it's got a

Muncie M20 manual

It's the true Malibu SS

10-Bolt 355-Gear Axel

Very clean car

And next is the

1980 Mazda RX-7 Coupe

I love this car

It's Stardust Blue Metallic

Over Dark Blue

Well preserved

1146 CC rotary engine

5-speed manual

Great first generation

RX-7

I mean this car

There's just something about

this car that

makes me smile

when I see it

It's just a really

neat car

And you don't see too many

for sale

Especially in this condition

It's pretty nice

You really don't

have hoarded them

Or if they're

They just used them up

They drove them until

they were undriveable

They were everywhere

They were also over the road

They were everywhere

I mean all over the road

They were on the road

Weaving all over the road

Next is the 1969

Ford Ranchero 500 Rio Grande

Yes

Calypso Coral Over Black

50,000 actual miles

One of 819 bills

I learned a lot about

that model

Doing the research on that

Long term ownership

351 cubic inch V8

FMX 3-speed automatic

It's got a Marty report

So it tells you again

What it was born with

How many of them

That were made like that

Like the one of 819 bills

It's a very uncommon spec

And speaking of dusters

As we spoke earlier

About Tom McEwen's duster

The 1971 Plymouth Duster 340

Bright blue metallic

Over black and gray

424 cubic inch Barton built

R-Block Stroker V8

That sounds like a lot of power

I love it

I've always liked the

tail lights on those cars

Dino proven 585 horsepower

Wow

That's plenty

Of course he's got a

Demon 170

And he drives around

And he drives

Is that what he said?

He's got a pickup truck

His pickup truck is really

He's got a demon

But he's got a demon

Sure, I mean, I guess if you're a drag racer

You've got to have something

You've got to have something like that

It's going to thrill you

It's going to have a tercel

Right, exactly

They make tercells?

Not that there's anything wrong with tercells

Don't tercell fan club

I don't think they make them anymore

I don't believe they do

But you know, there could be a fan club

A tercell

I'm sure there's a tercell club

Out there on Facebook

So this thing is really a true duster

But it's been, you know, highly modified

Into, you know, a drag racing car

If you will

And last but not least

The 2014 Mercedes-Benz G63 AMG G-Wagon

Obsidian black metallic

Over Designo black

And titanium gray pearl

55,000 actual miles

One owner G-Wagon

5.5 liter 535 horsepower

Twin turbo V8

7G tronic automatic

Yeah

What's a tronic?

Luxurious and capable

And garage cab is one owner, actually

Yeah

This thing is, these things are really beast-like

And if you want to be with the in-crowd

That's the thing to add

Yeah, that's the G-Wagon

It's the one to have

You pull up at the country club

That's it

By golly, you're going to fit right in

And you're not going to pay

Nearly as much as they stickered for

I think I said quarter

But I think it's about a third

Of what they stickered for now

Yeah, absolutely

So again, on the auction

If you haven't registered to bid

Go onto our website

Classicautomall.com

And you can get registered to bid

If you haven't done so already

Ready

Complimentary breakfast

We're going to be serving

For bidders and consignors

From 9 a.m. to 10.30 a.m.

Gluten-free

The old GF thing

Yeah

I'm just kidding

And if you buy something

It's an 8% buyers premium

With no minimum

So it's not a $500 minimum

Like most places do

Because there'll be stuff

That will sell for less than a month

Sure, great

And there'll be 62 vehicles

From a single collection

And we're really looking forward to it

Yeah, and there's about 20

That are titled

Yeah, that are titled

Out of about 83 we have

And 20

20 of them

20 of them have titles

So, again

If you have any questions about that

Just reach out to me

Either by phone or email

Or whatever your preference is

Including the new editions

That just went up this week

Which are really worth looking at

Absolutely

Got a 56 Lincoln Mark II

And a 57 Ford Fairlane

That's really, really

In a nice condition

Yeah

And one of our consignors

Has decided it's just time-formed

He's ready for him to go

He's ready to move on

To the next chapter

And go buy something else

With the money

Elvis fans, take note

This 56 is very similar

To what Elvis had

Absolutely

As one of his first cars

How about that?

So when we return

We'll be joined by our friend

Keith Martin

From Sportscar Market Magazine

We'll see you in just a couple minutes

Here's a special offer

From Sportscar Market Magazine

Get a six-month subscription

For just $19.95

By going to sportscarmarket.com

Slash test drive

And the number six

That's sportscarmarket.com

Slash test drive six

If you're a buyer, a seller,

Or just general classic car enthusiast

Publisher Keith Martin says

We've been around almost 40 years

Just the Wall Street Journal

Of the collector car world

Activate your six-month trial

Of Sportscar Market Magazine

By going to sportscarmarket.com

Slash test drive six

That's sportscarmarket.com

Slash test drive

And the number six

Offers for a limited time

Be in the know

With Sportscar Market

Keith Martin, Sportscar Market Magazine

Where we bring his blog to life every week

Good morning, Keith

Good morning, Stuart

It's great to see you

Great to see you

And we've been kind of spotty

Getting together lately

Because we've had a lot going on

And that's okay

And we have two weeks of life

What I heard, Stuart

Was that Monterey was so expensive

You couldn't afford to pay your internet bills

Well, that's not far from the truth, Keith

You know what?

It was a lot of fun

I won't do it quite as much

Or as crazy as we did it last time

Or this time

But it was a whole lot of fun

And it was a great bucket list thing

To check off

And we'll go back

But probably not to the same level

That we went this time

So the car show I was at this last weekend

Was a car show, but a different car show

It's our 48th annual

All British field meet

And it bills itself

As the largest three-day

British car show in the nation

Wow, how many cars?

About 600 cars

Wow

That's crazy

It's really delightful

You know, what's interesting to walk through it

Is these are all pre-OBD cars, right?

Right

And so you're looking at cars

Pre-EPA, pre-DOT

So what all it took was an engineer

And a stylist

Right

And a salesman

Yeah, and a salesman

You gotta have the salesman

Yeah

So it's amazing to see

All the different variations

In the way that cars were approached

I didn't realize the TR3s, for instance

Were the first production cars

With disc brakes

I had no idea either

And that's interesting

And that would be something that you would think

Would come up more often

That you would have heard that

Or recognized that

So each manufacturer

Had their own specific vision

And what I like to tell people

About cars that are being built

Or art, anything

People are responsible for the questions

That are being asked in their era

And what's the technique

For the TR3

That was the best that they could do

What a revolution the TR3

The MGA were over the cycle-fendered cars

Exactly, a huge difference

And a much more cohesive looking

About them

They didn't look like they were old

When they were new

That was the problem with the fender cars

They all looked old from day one

Right

And I think that the MGA

And the TR3

Are two of the really coolest looking

British cars

Available British cars, if you will

I would agree with that

And they were a definite break from pre-war

Right, exactly

And of course then

They had to modernize them

And of course then the regulations

Kicked in

And you saw what you saw with bumpers

And different things like that

And people trying to figure it out

Without completely destroying the car

And of course some of the bumpers

On the MGs were

It was not only the bumpers

But the U.S. changed its

Headlight regulations

In terms of the height

That the headlight had to be

Above the pavement

And the way that MGB solved it

Was they just raised the whole car

Up two inches

That sounds logical, right?

We are so lucky

To have lived through this era

Where my first car was a bug-eye

And then an MGA

And then an alpha

But they were all

The MGA

I bought it out of a junkyard

For 250 bucks

And the guy said

If you just put some STP

In it, that rod knock won't sound so bad

Of course that'll fix it

It always fixes it, right?

And if it won't start

You just beat on the starter

With a hammer

Until it does turn over, right?

It will start

At some point it will start

But if that's not the charm

About this

And I don't know what is

The ability to be able to know

How to kind of

These little shortcuts

That you can know

How to try to fix something

Or try to limp home

On some kind of way

And not have to call the tow truck

You know, that's very gratifying

I bought a big Healy

A BN7

At about 100 miles from me

I'm driving it home on the road

It ceases to progress, right?

The motor goes real quiet

And the car just

Coast to the side of the road

Ten minutes later

A guy in another BN7

Pulls up next to me

Behind me on the freeway

He said, oh, I know

Your problem is

He gets out of hammer

He hits my eschew fuel pump

The car starts and he says

See you later

It's like God sent divine

Intervention down

And he was right behind you

I know

That's great

But you know

Go ahead

It's fun to teach kids

Stuff like that

The little intricacies

And the way to do it

And how you had to do this

And I remember at a suburban

That you had to get underneath it

With a screwdriver

And turn the flywheel

Just a little bit

So it would get a point

Where it would catch the teeth

And actually start

And that was impressive on a date

Well, you know, I had a

Land Rover Defender 90

And I was on a first date

With somebody going to

Timberline Lodge

And my front U-joint went bad

So what I called a wrecker

And he came and we

Popped the car up in the air

And we took the front U-joint off

And I was saying

Was the front

Yeah, it took the front

Trunk the front driveshaft off

Put it in the back of the car

And put the car in all

Four-wheel drive

Well, all-wheel drive

Yeah, all-wheel

But it would have been

Two-wheel with that

Right

Because I only had

Continue

And she looked at me and she said

Did you just take a part

Off your car

And throw it in the back

Yeah, that gives her

A good warm fuzzy feeling, right?

Exactly

We had a

We had a Mercedes 420 SEL

As just a daily driver

And the rear shock came loose

Because it rusted out

On the upper tower part

And so we just

Took one of the rear

Shocks off and threw it

In the trunk

And still drove it

And it didn't matter

Well, you know, we

We have been lucky

Because we've been through

Cars when they've been

Pretty good

And then gone

To pretty bad

Sure

Well, as you

And I both have talked

About in the past

And we both know

When the 70s hit

And of course

I was, you know

I was mid-teens

When the 70s

In the middle of the 70s

And we thought

There's never going to be

A cool car ever again

Everything

The horsepower's gone

The performance is gone

The handling, the looks

Nothing's going to be

Cool anymore

And of course

We were wrong

And I'm glad we were

OBD2

Yeah

You know

Look that up

For those of you

Don't know what he's talking about

The British

All British field

Your question was

Should you

Slalom the Jaguar?

Yeah

Because they offered

A low-speed

Slalom, you know

Which is like an autocross

Right

Tight turns

And with

That V12 Jag

It's got

It's an automatic

So really

Just put it in first gear

And drive it

Just go and don't hit

The cones, right?

Yeah, don't hit

And the comments

I get back were

Very interesting

Because one of them said

Do you like your wire wheels

Actually touching

The rim

Or would you like to have them

Just poke the

The spokes poke through

Into the tire?

Yes

And you said

Of course

That's what I would like

Duh

They said

No, just exactly

What are you going to prove

By doing this to this car?

I liked when your comment

Was about

I can't remember

But your

Mechanic loves it

When you put

10,000 miles on a car

In a day

Or the equivalent of

You slam on the brakes

Or more times

In a slalom

Than you do in six months

Exactly

Yeah, it's

It's tougher on the cars

Than people realize

You better have it

Well-sorted

Otherwise you're going to

Have problems with it, right?

Yeah, it's also

It's a bit like my daughter's

Got a Lotus Elise

Now that's a good

Cardado car

Sure, absolutely

Tight

And small

And agile

And fast

And all

Everyone checks all

The right boxes, right?

The V12 Jaguar

Ways 3,500 pounds

And most of it's

The engine up front, right?

That's right

The thing that you're

Quealing when you're

Turning on the tires

And making them

Swine

I decided

I looked

I put a

Stack of Benjamins

$5,000 on one side

And I put the trophy

For the slalom on the other side

Which is that?

Which would I

Which would I rather have?

The 5,000 or the trophy?

Did you

And you chose the trophy

Of course, right?

Of course

And because

Car guys

Yeah, car guys

We're not going to

Not choose the trophy

So this event's been going on

Since the 70s

I mean, that's

That's pretty amazing

48th year

Wow

How cool is that?

600 vehicles

And I imagine

Every parts vendor

That had anything to do

With British cars

Was there as well, too

That's right

And it's just

I mean, there were

Probably 70 or 80

Landrovers

Of different categories

MGs, triumphs

I saw

Three triumphs

Stags

Of different categories

iconic to people and really hit certain people's buttons

and don't always do it for the general population.

I have never heard the words iconic and triumph stag

usually in the same sense.

Well, I just wanted to be, you know,

have a first here, Keith, for heaven's sake.

We've got to differentiate ourselves from everybody else.

And the four of them were kind of hiding off

in the corner.

Right, exactly.

Well, because they're-

I think they were swapping parts.

They were, yeah, because they can do that somehow,

morphing internally or something.

So anyway, so great to have you on as usual, Keith.

And we will look forward to speaking to you again next week

on the Classic Automall Show

and bringing the sports car market podcast to life.

We'll see you then.

You've been listening to the Classic Automall Show

with their host, Stuart Howden,

executive producer, Steve Sethere,

produced and engineered by yours truly, JR Russ,

video editor, Randy Lambie.

Available on classicautomall.com,

YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.

Questions, answers or comments,

write us at classicautomall.com

and if you want to talk about buying a classic car

seen on our website,

you're looking for a particular vehicle

or want to consign your classic for sale,

write us at info at classicautomall.com

or call and talk to a real live classic car specialist

at 888-227-0914.

That's 888-227-0914.

Music courtesy of the Pat Travers Band

for tour dates, contact and stuff, visit pattravers.com.

Learn how thousands of smart homeowners

are investing about a dollar

to avoid expensive home repair bills.

John, a former non-customer said,

my air conditioner broke

and I had to spend $1,900 to fix it.

Jeff, a customer wrote,

my air conditioner broke

and I got a new one at no out-of-pocket cost.

Mary, a former non-customer wrote,

my heating system stopped running.

I had to spend $3,000 to get a new one.

Lisa, a customer wrote,

my heater stopped working.

I got it fixed at no out-of-pocket cost.

800-814-5615.

For about $1 a day,

you can have all the major appliances

and systems in your home

guaranteed fixed or replaced.

Call now.

If the lines are busy, please call back.

Call the Home Warranty hotline now

at 800-814-5615.

That's 800-814-5615.

About this episode

Don 'The Snake' Prudhomme, a legendary drag racer, shares captivating stories from his racing career with host Stewart Howden. The conversation covers Prudhomme's iconic nickname, his fierce rivalry with Tom McEwen, and the evolution of drag racing sponsorships. They discuss the technical aspects of drag racing, including the significance of reflexes, the shift to modern safety measures, and the impressive speeds of today's top fuel cars. Prudhomme reflects on his time as a team owner and the changes in the sport over the decades, offering insights into the thrill and challenges of drag racing.

Chevrolet Camaro Chevrolet Corvette Chevrolet Impala Chevrolet Malibu Dacia Duster Ford Cougar Ford Fairlane Ford Mustang Ford Ranchero Land Rover Defender Lotus Elise Mazda RX-7 Mercedes-Benz 420 SEL Mercedes-Benz G-Class MG MGA Pontiac Lemans GTO Convertible Toyota Tercel

Original notes

Show #210 airdate 09-10-25 Stewart welcomes Don "The Snake" Prudhomme, renowned Drag Racer, 1991 inductee into The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. Discussion includes his nickname "The Snake" and his epic battles on the track with Tom "The Mongoose" McEwen, the origin of the "Funny Car" differences between straight-line and other types of racing, drag racing then and his biography "Don 'The Snake' Prudhomme: My Life Beyond the 1320" (referring to the number of feet in a quarter mile) as well as the book "Six Seconds to Glory" which inspired the 2013 movie "Snake and Mongoose).

Legendary Hall of Fame Drag Racer Don The Snake Prudhomme joins the show to discuss his incredible career with host Stewart Howden. Prudhomme talks about how he got his nickname when he started racing because he was tall and thin and had quick reaction times and a crew member gave him the name Snake because of his quickness off the line and appearance.

He talks about his Funny Car Match races with Tom The Mongoose McEwen and their matchbox deal with Mattel and how it helped grow drag racing and the funny car division and make it popular. Prudhomme also talks about restoring the car hauler roll backs they used in the early 1970s and eventually selling them to Rick Hendricks of Hendricks Motorsports. Prudhomme not only restored his car hauler but also the one used by Tom McEwen. Prudhomme talks about how his races with McEwen helped grow the sport because they bright in sponsors who were not car related. They were some of the first non-automotive major sponsors like Mattel Hot Wheels.

The Snake talks about how he and Tom McEwen found and came to own the 1967 Dodge D700 Crew Cab car haulers in 1970. At the time the racers with the best rigs were Sox and Martin and Dick Landy and were pro stock style cars. Dick Maxwell who managed Plymouth Racing hooked McEwen and Prudhomme up with those trucks. Don Prudhomme’s hauler actually came from Richard Petty who had used it for years to haul his race car.

Don Prudhomme talks about the current state of drag racing and what he would change. He discusses that instead of shortening the track from ¼ mile to 1,000 feet they should have had a plan to calm down the race cars. What should NHRA do to improve drag racing? They are now going faster in 1,000 feet than they were in a quarter mile.

Send us a text

GET OUR FREE APP: https://ClassicAutoMall.appimize.app When it opens click on the ORANGE button to install on your phone or computer for DIRECT ACCESS to our VIDEO and AUDIO shows and our website.

CONTENT NOTE: Contests, Prizes, Offers, Vehicles & other items may no longer be available or offered after each show's original broadcast or posting date.

Recorded in our Showcase Studio just inside the entrance of the Classic Auto Mall in Morgantown, PA, Host Stewart Howden, Classic Auto Mall President and Classic Car Specialist Steve Saffier talk about this unique and amazing place often with amazing guests.

YES...Classic Auto Mall is a REAL former shopping mall that covers almost EIGHT football fields with an average of nearly ONE THOUSAND classic vehicles under one, climate controlled roof and they're all FOR SALE!

Be sure to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE to be informed of new episodes and SEE them on the Classic Auto Mall YouTube Channel. We also invite you to VISIT US IN PERSON at Classic Auto Mall, one hour west of Philadelphia at PA Turnpike Exit #298, VISIT us online at ClassicAutoMall.com or talk to real, live people about visiting, buying or selling your classic on consignment at 888-227-0914.