THEN & NOW, A Review by Phil R. Elliott

Drag Racing’s Quarter-Mile Warriors Then & Now

By Doug Boyce

Published by CarTech and available through www.cartechbooks.com <http://www.cartechbooks.com> and other CarTech outlets

Drag Racing’s Quarter-Mile Warriors Then & Now is the type of book that will bring hours of pleasure to everyone who procures a copy.

I suppose about half of all bench race stories, paved with selective memories of those way-back-when days, with a good bit of embellishment thrown in, end in, “I wonder where that car is now?” Certainly many of our favorites were treated like what they were, old racecars that were sold, traded, crashed, burned or left to rot, neglected behind someone’s garage. With their days of competitive usefulness long gone, what good were they anyway? Kids playhouses and flowerpots possibly.

No matter. What Drag Racing’s Quarter-Mile Warriors Then & Now deals with are those drag race vehicles that didn’t rust totally into oblivion, didn’t go to the crusher, didn’t end up as a new Kia. Doug Boyce has done a great job of running down individuals who searched for, found, and lovingly restored these treasured artifacts from those days of yore.

And Boyce didn’t just cover fuelers and funnies like others might have, he found plenty of Pro Stocks, altereds, gassers, Super Stockers and Stockers as well. There is a lot of information to be found in the nearly 200 pages, in black & white, color and words, to satisfy every geezer and newbie alike.

For someone who saw the cars during their original heyday, Quarter-Mile Warriors is a great trip down memory lane. For those who did not, it gives a good account of not only what they were and what they did, but especially stories of the people that raced them. Further, Boyce introduces the modern day players involved in bringing back these three-dimensional museum pieces to fully functional status. And, in many cases, the task of restoration was not an easy one.

“The Contents page of Drag Racing’s Quarter-Mile Warriors Then & Now shows the great number of restored racecars inside, and the amount of legwork author underwent to document each and every one of them.”

The stories of discovery are often reflective of a Sherlock Holmes mystery, full of twists and turns, dead ends and even broken hearts and dreams. But in the case of each car covered in Quarter-Mile Warriors, the stories have happy endings. And without giving away any of the plots, these are not used-car “restorations,” where things look reasonable from 50 feet away. These are nut-and-bolt restorations, bringing historical accuracy into the present time for us to enjoy. And Doug Boyce does a good job of bringing all of that exactness into print.

Just as an example, when the finest AA/FD of any era becomes a non-competitive entity, it either sits or is passed on to another owner. Often, said car is stripped of its rear-end, steering gear, spindles and other bits, which are passed on to its replacement. Then, it becomes an in-the-way cast-off, or is relegated to the rafters. A new owner might replace its nitro hemi with something less and race it in another class. It should not be a stretch of anyone’s imagination that in fifty or more years, literally dozens of modifications can be made while continuously racing a given chassis. Different engines, transmissions, rear-ends, wings, brackets and myriad modifications have been made to evolve the chassis to fit the needs of each individual’s wants, needs and tastes. And a proper restoration must remove and replace each and every change, using accurateness based on only minimal photographic evidence and aging memories.

What unfolds inside Quarter-Mile Warriors is the revelation and documentation of each and every journey to search out and bring back these wonderful vehicles.

I highly recommend grabbing this one and reading it cover to cover. I keep reaching for it, and each time I do, something inside brings another smile. Thanks Doug.