Dave has started his Classic Car used parts business.
Whether you are buying or selling, please visit his website dedicated to finding
the hard to locate parts you need.
.
The photo of Dave's Biscayne was taken
by Todd Dziaosz at Beaver Springs Dragway.
The photos of his Gasser were taken by Dave himself. These photos have been released
to the Garage Club for use as we see fit.
All rights reserved 2006
Dave attended the "Good Guys" show in
Hershey on the May 19th (2007) weekend. Click the image below to see his Gasser,
Doug Garrison's Olds, and some other shots from the event.
Dave and his Blast from the Past attended an event
the weekend of October 21st, 2006 in Pine Grove. After some discussion about his
car with some of the people in attendance, he was invited to show off his '56 at
Bruce Larson's open house on November 11th, 2006. There were other famous cars attending
like the "Stone, Wood's & Cook" Willys, Grumpies Toy II, and Andy Jensen's
Corvette. It is quite an honor as it is an invitation only event.
Before they met Saturday afternoon at his racing engines shop north of Hanover, Charlie
Garrett had not met Pine Grove's Dave Lehr.
But in the span of two hours, the two walked into Garrett's shop as friends for one
reason.
A car, but not just any car.
This car, brought on a rollback to Garrett's garage on Hershey Heights Road, was
a 1956 Chevrolet, the car Garrett drove to a National Hot Rod Association record
in its class in 40 years ago.
And it was a car which Garrett had not seen since he and owner Laverne Hempfing sold
it to a local buyer following the 1970 season.
"Where it got from there, I don't know," Garrett said, "But a guy
called me one day and said he had that car."
But that wasn't Lehr, who said Saturday he hopes to restore the two-door coupe to
its appearance when Garrett raced the "R.P.M. Special" to an elapsed -time
record of 12.72 seconds in 1967 at York U.S. 30 Dragway, which now is the York Airport.
Instead, Lehr, an antique car parts dealer found the car while delivering an engine
block at an automobile show in Carlisle.
"Right across from where I was delivering the block, there was this car sitting
there," Lehr said. "I figured, 'He's going to want big, big money for this
thing.'"
Instead, the car was for sale for $10,500. He went back four times to check the car,
then negotiated a down payment, for which he cashed a $3,000 advance off a credit
card.
Lehr found out the bargain he had when he took the car to a Pine Grove area car show
and was advised to take it to another show organized by NHRA drag racing legend Bruce
Larson near Harrisburg.
"There were historians there who recognized the car immediately and they started
telling me about the car," Lehr said.
From there, Lehr tracked down Garrett to talk about the '56 Chevy and to arrange
Saturday's meeting to discuss its renovation.
Once Lehr pulled into the driveway, it didn't take long for Garrett and Hempfing
to inspect a car which brought back good memories. Lehr said the car came with the
original tow bar, bucket seats and harnesses, which still have the original date
on them.
Garrett and Hempfing saw some of the welding work they did on the car and Garrett
recalled the fuel cell, which had been moved from the front of the car to the trunk.
"We didn't know much at the time." Garrett said. "Laverne had just
gotten out of the service. He was my partner on it and we just started building on
it and it was very successful, really."
The Chevy weighed 3,900 pounds, so Garrett said, "They weren't as fast in those
days. They weren't as safe, either. But I don't ever recall having any close calls
with that car."
Instead, the car elevated Garrett's status nationally and into a drag racing career
which lasted 38 years until he retired in 1996.
Likewise, the car moved on to several owners, ending with Lehr, who brought a large
yellow notepad on Saturday to write down Garrett's and Hempfing's suggestions.
In addition, Garrett gave Lehr documentation about the car and a trophy and banner
which the car won in an American Hot Rod Association meet in 1970 at Bristol, Tenn.
But perhaps the biggest offer to Lehr was Garrett's willingness to part with a 265
cubic-inch engine block, which the '56 Chevy used with fuel injection when it raced.
"With him being an engine builder, I'd like him to build the motor," Lehr
said of Garrett, who builds engines more than a dozen super sprint teams these days.
Even with the work Lehr plans on the car, he is scheduled to display the "R.P.M.
Special" in July at the Muscle Car Madness show in York.
In fact, two of Garrett's former cars may be on display there.
Littlestown's Randy Davis, who also attended Garrett's reunion with his '56 Chevy
on Saturday, has owned a 1933 Willys for the past 29 years. Davis hopes to have the
Willys completely restored in time for the York show.
"It was the nicest '33 ever put on the track," Garrett said, but added
the appearance disguised an ill-handling car which crashed three times, once while
in a trailer in a traffic accident.
Even so, Garrett said he was anxious to see that restored car as well.
"I told him if he didn't get it done soon, I'll be in the old age home and he'll
have to bring it there for me to look at it," Garrett said.
Lehr got his thrill of seeing a driver reunited with his car on Saturday.
"I was happy to see him open up the door, jump in and sit in it. That was neat,"
Lehr said.
To help pay
for the publishing cost of our new, improved newsletter, we are accepting paid advertising.
It's cheap, too. $60 gets your business card size ad in 12 issues of the news letter
and a placement on the website. If your business wants to advertise with us, get
a business card to Denny.
Our first newsletter Sponsor, ClassicJunkyard.com,
is owned and operated by David "Herk"
Lehr, Garage Club member #26. As the card says, he buys and sells classic cars
and parts. Got something you want to sell, he'll give you a good offer and is better
than scrap prices on a junk car.
Want ot get your card or coupon to your business? Contact Denny at w31@comcast.net
or 570-345-3715 and he'll get your ad scanned and installed on the site.
Dave's RPM Special racing at Kal Reca back in the day.
Dave made "Gasser Wars" magazine October 2008:
Dave States: "I’ve been a car nut my whole life.
I was 5 years old when my mom bought me my 1st Hot Rod Magazine at the grocery store.
It was 1969. I was infatuated with what I saw in those pages. I couldn’t wait till
I was old enough to drive. Through out my school years, I often dreamed of what my
first car would be. 11 years later, in 1980, I got my first car, a 67 Camaro SS RS.
By then, the gas crunch had killed high performance. All of the legendary fast cars
in my area were gone. The 80’s were fun but nothing like I had dreamed of as a kid.
Through out my life, I have been involved in street racing, drag racing, dirt track
racing, car shows, swap meets, even created my own business selling classic car parts.
I became bored with the car hobby. It seemed like nothing exited me anymore. Blown
69 Camaros, 17” rimmed 32 Fords, electronic fuel injection, etc, all just bored me.
It seemed the only thing that turned me on was history. The way things were in the
50’s & 60’s was the only automotive area that really got my blood flowing. This
was interesting since I am not a product of that era. But…… I remember those cars
in the pages of Hot Rod from when I was a kid."
See the Biscayne in action below on YouTube.com!
Below: Here are some Garage Club guys with
some Beaver Springs Dragway footage from the summer of '97. Included you will see
Jeff Doud and his '68 Impala, Tom Larnard and his '69 Camaro, Mark Brown and his
'69 Camaro, Dave Lehr with his '66 Biscayne, Craig Lahar in his '68 Camaro, and Chris
Riley in his '65 Chevelle.
HISTORICAL YORK US30
VINTAGE DRAG RACER GASSER
The "RPM SPECIAL" 56 CHEVY '67 National NHRA Record Holder
WHAT WAS A GASSER?
A gasser was a class of drag race car created by the NHRA in 1959
to categorize the highly modified, anything goes, street cars that were showing up
at the early drag strips. The rules changed over the years but basically, it was
for full fendered, street legal (looking), gasoline powered cars. Anything goes when
it came to the motor. The racing was HEADS UP, fastest guy wins. The cars were divided
into classes by using cubic inch to weight.
F/Gas was 12.50 or more pounds per cubic inch.
This car was built in '62 and raced in the NHRA Gasser wars through out the 60’s
by Charlie Garrett of Waynesburo, Pennsylvania. Charlie’s home track was the now
infamous YORK US30. The car was powered by a super high revving Chevy 265 small block
and an M-22 Stone Crusher 4-speed back in the day.
This '56 was a National Record holder for a time in 67 in the F/GAS class. Dave's
document show that it was raced at the BIG ONE, the NHRA Nationals in Indy in '67
& '68. The pictures of the car with the dark rims are from Indy in '68.( See
the article to the left of this page about the reunion with Charlie Garrett.)
"In 2006, I decided to build an old school straight
axle gasser for the street. I had 48 Willys Panel truck that I was collecting vintage
race parts for. Then, one early fall morning, my life was changed forever. I had
sold an engine block on E-bay and had agreed to deliver it to a vender at Fall Carlisle
on the Wednesday morning of the opening day. 7AM, my cousin Jeff and I pulled up
to the vender to make my delivery. Parked across from his space, in the flea market
was a 56 Chevy Gasser. Since the rat rod or traditional hot rod craze was just starting,
I said to Jeff, “look, someone built a gasser replica”. I wasn’t there to buy a car
but I walked over to check it out. As I approached the rear of the Gasser and remember
thinking, “they could have made the car a little nicer”. I looked inside and spotted
a sticker on the dash that said “1968 NHRA WORLD SERIES CHAMPIONSHIP CONTESTANT”.
The sticker looked old and yellowed. I thought to myself, “you can buy those stickers
like that”. The car had its fiber glass flip nose tilted forward. As I looked at
the tunnel rammed Big Block Chevy, I started noticing the old chassis and straight
axle. That didn’t look new. There was a little collection of pictures in front of
the car along with a copy of an NHRA record holders certificate from York US30. WOW!
This was a real deal. COOL! I looked at Jeff and said” What do you think they want
for this thing? $30K ….. $40K? Jeff leaned around the nose and looked at the windshield.
He said, “they’re asking $10.5K or best offer”. I said “WOW, that sounds like a deal.
Oh well, I don’t have any money and I’m sure it won’t last long at that price. Lets
go”.
For the next 20 minutes, I walked around mumbling to myself. “Maybe if I sold my
Chevelle & my 2 - 65 Impalas, I could raise the money. I have a home equity line
of credit, but that’s only for emergencies and I have no way of accessing it here”.
Is this an emergency? The wheels were turning and finally, I ran into my friend,
Bill. Bill already owned a vintage Gasser, the Shaker '40 Willys. I told him of the
56 Gasser up on the hill. He told me to get my ass back up the hill and buy it now.
Jeff said, “lets go look at it again. All you’ve done since you found it was mumble”.
I said, “but how am I gonna buy it. I’ve only got $400 in my pocket. That won’t hold
the car till I go home to hit my home equity line and it will be gone till I get
back with cash”. I walked over to some other friends and told them about the Gasser.
My friend Chris said, “maybe you could get a cash advance on a credit card”. Well,
I’d never done that before but I checked and I had $3K available. There was a bank
open at the show. Maybe he’d hold the car for $3K? Jeff, Chris & myself then
marched back up the hill to the Gasser. The owner, Dale Campbell was sitting on the
tail gate of a pick up, across from the Gasser. There was a small crowd around the
car. I was guessing it was sold. But no one was standing near the owner. I walked
over to Dale and said, “I’m interested in your car. Does it run?” Dale just smiled
and led me over to the car. The small crowd parted so we could get to the car. Dale
flicked a few switches, and hit a button and that un-corked big block came to life.
He reached down and worked the throttle bar on the 2 Holley 4bbls. She sounded strong
as the sound echoed across the flea market. Then I looked up. I saw people from every
direction coming toward the car. At the bottom of the hill, I spotted a dealer who
buys car to sell at Barrette Jackson. He was on his way up. Another dealer was standing
next to me saying, “hey Dave, are you buying this thing?”. My friend Chris grabbed
me by the arm and whispered, “DO NOT HESSITATE ON THIS CAR. You need to move right
now!” I looked at the owner, Dale and said, “I’ll give you the $10.5. Will $3K hold
this car for 24 hours till I go home and hit my line of credit?” Dale nodded and
I said I’d be right back with the $3K. My friend Chris grabbed me by the arm again
and said, “How much money you got on you right now?” I said $400. Chris said “give
it to him so he writes SOLD on it”. Dale agreed and as he wrote SOLD on the windshield,
you could hear the crowd grown and start to walk away.
I finished the deal the next day and picked to car up shortly there after. I had
no idea what I had bought. Dale told me it was Charlie Garrett’s old car, The RPM
Special. He told me Garrett was still building engines in Hanover and that Garrett
had given Dale copies of some old pictures and the record holder certificate. Dale
had owner the car for around 10 years before selling it to me so he could Pro Street
his other 56 Chevy."
"After I got the car home, I wrote a little article
about the car for my car club web site. Charlie Garrett’s daughter must have Googled
her dad’s name and found the article. They contacted me and told me they’d like to
see the car. Charlie & his partner Lavern Hempfing hadn’t seen the car since
they sold it in the fall of 1970, right after they won the AHRA World Finals with
it. I started think to myself, “Holy crap, what do I own?” I agreed to take it down
to Charlie’s shop, the same shop he raced that car out of 40 years ago. Upon arriving,
a new paper reporter and a slew of Charlie’s friends and family swarmed the car.
Charlie climbed right up in it and he & Lavern started reminiscing about the
good old days in the RPM Special. About flat towing it in 66, setting the record
in 67, winning the 70 AHRA World finals at Bristol, then loading and heading straight
for the 1970 NHRA World finals at Indy. Later that day, Charlie’s brother, Randy
gave me the fender cover they won at the AHRA World finals. Lavern gave me all the
pictures that he had of the car and the original record holder’s certificate. Charlie
gave me the 70 AHRA trophy, then asked me what my plans were for the car. I told
Charlie I want to restore it the way it was when they raced it in 68. After awhile,
Charlie walked away and came back with a crank in a garbage bag. He said, “Here.
This is the 265 Power Pack crank that I was saving as a back up for this car. The
block is in the shed out back if you want it”. That day, I left Garrett’s with the
block, the crank, the pictures, certs, trophy, all the history and stories. Here
is what I learned.
The RPM SPECIAL was built in 1966 to run in E/Gas. The car was actually owned by
Lavern Hempfing. Charlie built the engine and drove it. The 56 ran a Hillborn injected
265, a 62 Borg Warner 4 speed, and 57 Olds rear w/ 5.13s. The car was silver with
a black Mach 1 style stripe and orange & black lettering. It was called the RPM
Special because Charlie often turned over 10,000 RPM with it. During the 67 season,
it was discovered that if they loaded the trunk with weight, they could break the
current F/Gas record of 12.92. The studs in the trunk were added, weight bolted in
and a 12.69 pass recorded at York US30 on July 30, 1967. NHRA rejected that pass
but 2 weeks later on Aug. 12, 1967, a 12.72 pass was excepted as the new National
Record. The record stood for almost a year before a 56 Corvette in Tennessee smashed
the record with a 12.52. In 67, the car still had stock front suspension and steel
front end. For the 68 season, the car was lightened for D/Gas. The frame was cut
at the firewall and a hand built Ed Jones straight axle chassis & glass flip
nose added. Chassis features hand built axle and 40 Willys spindles & brakes.
In 68 69 & 70, the car saw action all over the country at many National events.
A sticker from Indy in 68 is still in place on the right side of the dash. In 70,
Charlie & Lavern won D/Gas at the AHRA World Finals in Bristol, Tenn. The car
was then sold in the fall of 1970. Not much is known about where it was for the last
38 years. Amazingly, the only things changed since 1970 were the paint, motor (396)
& trans (TH400). It still retains the rear push bars, trunk weight studs, 1 _
gal Moon tank, hand made traction bars, 5.13 57 Olds rear, roll bar w/ head rest,
59 VW bucket seats, 57 dated Air Force harness, Ed Jones front chassis & hand
made tow bar (made from radius bars in frame of Model A Ford). Even the fiber glass
nose is the original from 68.
Yes, this car has changed my life. I now own a cool piece of history that has opened
a lot of doors for me. I can take this car to any show in the country and get attention.
I’ve collected all the parts to put the correct drive train in it again and will
be repainting the car silver again. I currently show the car at nostalgia meets and
use it in short move flicks that my friends in www.Keystonegarageclub.com make. We
recently staged at street race scene against my friend Bill’s real steel 40 Willys.
This is the old “SHAKER” Willys, brought back to life for the street. His Willys
features a blown 429 Ford. The scene was shot as a trailer for “DIARY OF AN AMERICAN
STREET RACER” Hope you like it. If you don’t, you don’t like Gassers. Go back to
your 17” rims and EFI."
See the '56 Gasser in action below on YouTube.com!
See the '56 Gasser in action below on YouTube.com!
The "RPM Special" is a very cool piece of drag racing history.
There are many Gasser replicas being built, but here is an example of the real thing.
Dave is taking the extra time to restore this car, not to pristine condition, but
to period correct condition. These cars were not built for show. They were a hands
on, get down and dirty, purpose built vehicle. If it didn't improve times it wasn't
done. Watch for the correct 265 cu. in. engine with machanical fuel injection to
be installed in the near future.
Click any image for a full sized view
Below: Dave's plans are to restore it the
way it was in '67 and someday possibly put it back on the street. Check out
some of the gasser's features in the pictures below:
Among the items given to Dave for his restoration is a brand new fender
cover that waas presented to Charlie Garrett when he won the 1970 World Championship.
Think Dave will use it to cahnge plugs or something!?
Dave installed the period correct quarter windows and is having reproduction
numbers and stickers made to replicate exactly what was on the body in the 60s.
Probably the future star feature of this car is the original mechanical
fuel injection setup. Nothing screams Gasser louder than the 8 stacks peeking through
a tilt front end over a straight axel.
Dave even landed the original fuel pump with the injection setup.
It mounted on the timing chain cover, obviously. Note the "big foot" gas
pedal that was popular back then.
To get the interior more period correct, Dave also installed a vintage
Sun Tach to replace the large faced modern tach and shift light shown here.
Dave has also fitted the tilt front end with the original headlights
and bezels Here it was show with some block off plates installed.
Note the mounting studs in the trunk floor used to put weight in or
out of the car so it could run different classes of the NHRA Street Gas Class.
Back in the 60's, real gassers did not run starters. They push started
them in gear. This car still has the original push bars.
This is an original Two Gallon Moon fuel tank with the rare spring
hold downs and spinner cap. The NOS system next to it is not original and will be
removed in the future.
Back in the 60's, tire clearance was not an issue. They just cut the
fenders till the tires fit. This was called radias-ing the wheel wells.
A common rear of the day was the 57 Olds Dana. This one has 5.13 gears.
I guess that is why the car was called the RPM SPECIAL.
When raced in the 60's, this car was equipped with these 59 VW seats.
My plan is to remove the current racing seat and re-install them.
For safety, this car used army surplus jet air craft pilot harnesses.
These are dated 1957 and Dave has them installed in the car again for show purposes.
The original stickers still line the dash. This car ran at the Nationals
in '68!
When the car raced in the 60's, it was a small block with a 4 speed.
It currently has a very healthy 396 RAT with a TH400. (to be replaced with original
set up.)
The 1 piece fiberglass tilt front end was the norm for most Gassers.
It took weight off the front of the car and made it easy to work on the engine.
The hood scoop is a straight from the past. This style in now nic
named "THE GRUMP LUMP". That's because famous Super Stock & Pro Stock
driver "Grumpy" Bill Jenkins often used this scoop on his famous Super
Stock cars.
Note custom built boxed front frame.
Custom, hand built front straight axle with '40 Willys spindles and
brakes.
Note the original hook that is still welded to the straight axle.
This was used to tow the car to the starting line.
Original, hand made tow bar. This car was flat towed to the Nationals
in Indy in 67. In 68, they bought a flat bed truck.
