Blackbushe '64 Memories #1, Nobby Hills "...and then there were Garlits and Ivo and all the boys. When you're there, I don't know, how can you explain it? You know you sort of dream about these people and then you're actually standing next to them, looking at their cars. The whole atmosphere was unbelieveable, the best thing that ever happened to me. Blackbushe changed my life completely, which was what I was hoping." Custom Car, November 1984

Blackbushe '64 Memories #2, Alan Wigmore "Yes the fast cars were incredible, but things like the Willys running 144mph at nine point something, that was most impressive. The others, Garlits and Ivo, were in racing cars, but that Willys... The same with Sox and Martin's Mercury and Dave Stricklers Dodge. I remember them driving along quite gently and their exhaust note, whompwhompwhompwhomp - they were magic." Custom Car, November 1984

Blackbushe '64 Memories #3, Peter Billington "...the garlits car, I mean the crowd was electrified by the performance. It was absolutely straightforward and so brilliantly executed. The one thing that stands out in the mind about his run, in comparison with the others, was the sharp way in which the whole thing was launched, the precise and accurate way in which the power was cut just at the finish. It left the whole place in total silence, in total awe. It was like pins and needles all over your body. It was that kind of feeling, and then, of course, the applause came." Custom Car, November 1984

Blackbushe '64 Memories #4, Don Garlits "One time we cracked a main cap. Went up to a little shop in Leeds where they repaired the girdle and we made some parts on a mill, fixed the car and continued on... It sure appeared to me to be a financial success, though you know, it wasn't for the people that went over there on the team. We just, it was like an expenses tour. We just got our expenses covered, but I think the Association made money, 'cos all of 'em had large crowds...They didn't do burnouts, they didn't back up into their tracks. They just went straight up to the line, made the run and the tyres smoked right on through the lights." Custom Car, November 1984

Blackbushe '64 Memories #5, Roy Phelps "I wish I'd never got involved. Honestly, that's a fact. From that day onwards my life has been ruled by drag racing. No, I have no pleasant memories of the whole charade actually." Custom Car, November 1984

www.trakbytes.co.uk