Drag Racing

 

"The Whistler"

Reliant donated one of their new Scimitar GTE bodyshells to the John Woolfe Racing Team and gained good publicity from the venture.

John Woolfe was tragically killed while racing a Porsche 917 at Le-mans in June 1969.  John's half of the partnership was passed on to Arnold Burton who agreed that Whistler could continue to be campaigned for the remainder of the season.  

Dennis Priddle was recruited to drive the car and in his hands it was unbeatable when running 10.4 second runs at 140mph.  Consequently the Stratton stable won the Super Eliminator Trophy at Santa Pod for the third year in a row.  At the presentation that followed, there was a minute's silence in memory of John Woolfe.

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Above: "Whistler" Scimitar on front Cover of Drag Racing and Hot Rod from June 1969.

 

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Above:  Hot Car magazine from August 1969 featuring the John Woolfe Racing teams "Whistler" Scimitar.

 

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DRAGSE_3.JPG (35249 bytes)  DRAGSE_1.JPG (46130 bytes)  whistler.jpg (109869 bytes)    Prid_101.jpg (53085 bytes)  DRAGSE_2.JPG (19155 bytes)  JohnWoolfeScimitar.jpg (75952 bytes)

Above: In 1969 John Woolfe's Drag Scimitar was powered by a 7 litre Chevrolet engine and could reach 0 - 100mph in 4 seconds!!

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"The Sizzler"

sizzler.jpg (59527 bytes)

Above: The John Woolfe racing team gained a sponsorship deal with Mattel's Hot Wheels and the JWR "Whistler" Scimitar became know as the "Sizzler" and was now being driven by Ed Shaver and Dennis Priddle.

HotWheels.jpg (265548 bytes)

Above: The John Woolfe/Hot Wheels Team 

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WhistlerBody.jpg (69392 bytes)

Above:  The ex-John Woolfe Racing Scimitar with yellow paintwork spotted in the back ground.  Does anyone have anymore info in the car? 

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"Ecstacy"

Ed Shaver purchased the "Whistler" scimitar and with help from Pat Cuss they modified the bodywork to incorporate the new chassis with a 101" wheelbase:

EctasyScimitar.jpg (256610 bytes)  Ecstacy1.jpg (113274 bytes)

Above: Featured in Custom Car in May 1973 was Ed Shaver's "Ecstacy" Scimitar GTE drag car.  The power plant was a Chrysler 392ci.  The car was going to be on a high-nitro diet and was aiming for sub-seven second runs and was awaiting sponsorship.

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"Hillbillies"

The Hillbillies team Roland Pratt, Mike Derry and Gerald Haines bought the "Ecstacy" car from Ed Shaver.  Pass Cuss set about modifying the bodywork making it even longer and lower and gained sponsorship from Revell:

FRANK17.JPG (95971 bytes)  hillbillies-fc-1974-r27-08.jpg (34118 bytes)  FRANK14.JPG (71329 bytes)  HOTROD_2.JPG (18649 bytes)  FRANK11.JPG (99414 bytes)  FRANK15.JPG (83779 bytes)  HOTROD_1.JPG (70839 bytes)

SCIMI__1.JPG (60640 bytes)  FRANK01.JPG (90423 bytes)  hillbillies1.jpg (42475 bytes)  hillbillies2.jpg (40171 bytes)  hillbillies3.jpg (32959 bytes)  FRANK41.JPG (76203 bytes)  

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    hillbill8.jpg (82826 bytes)  hillbill9.jpg (111986 bytes)  hillbill6.jpg (67338 bytes)

 

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Above:  Chiltern Valley used the ex Hillbillies bodyshell (Does anyone have anymore info on this car?)

 

Special Thanks to: Alan Currans from www.theaccelerationarchive.co.uk for letting me use the photographs from his website, and especially to the original photographers/publishers:  Dennis Priddle, David Riswick, Roland Pratt, David Forward, Ake Remp, Cambridge News Photos, Hot Car, Drag Racing and Hot Rod Magazine.  Thanks also to "TimeTravel" from the UK Drag Racing Nostalgia Forum  http://www.ukdrn.co.uk/forum

  

 

Various Scimitar Drag Cars

KEITH__1.JPG (35981 bytes)  drag scim.jpg (497677 bytes)  drag scim3.jpg (215259 bytes)  KEITH__2.JPG (42003 bytes)  drag scim2.jpg (208013 bytes)

scimitar drag.jpg (146965 bytes)  HOT_RO_2.JPG (145380 bytes)  HOT_RO_1.JPG (83339 bytes)

 

DragCoupe.jpg (106828 bytes)   DragCoupe1.jpg (107676 bytes)   DragCoupe2.jpg (55125 bytes)   DragCoupe4.jpg (84721 bytes)   DragCoupe5.jpg (68078 bytes)

DragCoupe6.jpg (71520 bytes)   DragCoupe7.jpg (114864 bytes)   DragCoupe8.jpg (119546 bytes)

Above:  1966 Pro Street Scimitar GT (SE4a) Fully street legal fitted with a Rover V8 3.5 litre engine with a 5 speed manual gearbox.  It has a space frame chassis, full roll cage, Sherpa back axle, disc brake all round, alloy bucket seats, full harness and a parachute! 

 

john_morrisB.jpg (38629 bytes)  john_morrisD.jpg (38660 bytes)  john_morrisA.jpg (24518 bytes)  john_morrisC.jpg (25577 bytes)  john_morris_06.jpg (37690 bytes)  john_morris_07.jpg (43223 bytes)  john_morris_02.jpg (36677 bytes)  john_morris_03.jpg (37206 bytes)

john_morris_12.jpg (30458 bytes)  john_morris_08.jpg (41862 bytes)  john_morris_05.jpg (42567 bytes)  john_morris_01.jpg (32148 bytes)  john_morris_04.jpg (33091 bytes)  john_morris_14.jpg (35978 bytes)  john_morris_10.jpg (34698 bytes)  john_morris_21.jpg (44146 bytes)

john_morris_17.jpg (44270 bytes)  john_morris_16.jpg (36592 bytes)  john_morris_11.jpg (31308 bytes)  john_morris_09.jpg (75024 bytes)  john_morris_13.jpg (27840 bytes)  john_morris_20.jpg (38950 bytes)  john_morrisE.jpg (180004 bytes)

Above: John Morris's Scimitar Drag Car from 2004 & 2005 (Photographs taken by Sharkman).  

Thanks to Sharkman for his permission to use these photographs.  See his excellent website:

http://www.topendtales.com/

I am happy to say that Lee Bashford is now the new owner of this beast.  

Lee will be fitting a new Ford 351-Winsor V8 engine and adding a bit of .

I look forward to seeing it in action!!  

Good Luck Lee!!

 

 

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