I know this has been mentioned before but Ithought I would do a refresh. On the way back from my stay in the Keys following the Sandcastle meet I stopped in the Don Garlits Drag Racing Museum. This is a must see for any kind of gearhead or hand lettering afficiando. Although I'm mainly a dirt track kinda guy, I did do some drag racing back in the sixties. The cars on display here are unbelieveable. I've seen a number of them run, like a few versions of the Swamp Rats, Dick Landy's Dodge, and my all time favorite drag car, Bruce Larson's USA-1, which was prettier than ever ! The real treat , however , was all the hand lettering by the top names in the race car field. Kelly, Nat Quick, Mr J, Glenn, Alton, Dauber, Stanford, Pugh and on and on. Absolutely fabulous eye candy!!!!!
[ May 02, 2003, 02:41 PM: Message edited by: George Perkins ]
Posted by Ryan E Young (Member # 2325) on :
The whole time in Fl I kept wondering how far it was. I didnt ask becouse I didnt want to know how close I was. I knew I didnt have the time.
Posted by George Perkins (Member # 156) on :
If you went back on I-75, you passed within 300 yards of it It's right off one of the Ocala exits, takes two minutes to get there.
Posted by Don Hulsey (Member # 128) on :
I stopped in there the last time I was down that way. I have to agree, it is one of the best displays for gearheads or letterheads. It was about 10 o'clock at night when we passed it this time, so I just stayed on the interstate. I would have liked to stop to see how much it has changed in the last 12 years.
Posted by Steve Shortreed (Member # 436) on :
Talk about a timely post! Barb and I were just there today!
George is right. I don't follow the drags like I used to, but in the sixties, I knew every car and driver. We took a bunch of still photos and then returned to catch it all on video. I'm hoping to share the video with all of you via HeadTV. Watch the BB for programing info.
Posted by David McDonald (Member # 3433) on :
I took my dad there a couple of years ago. I was dissapointed when we arrived in the parking lot, it looked like such a small building. When we got inside we were both amazed at how much stuff and the quality of what was on display. We had a great time together.
Posted by Luke Scanlan (Member # 2481) on :
George, and Steve, you're both on my $#!t list. You were here in Ocala and didn't let me buy you dinner?! I have been doing work for Garlits lately. I did the Ed Garlits Swamp Rat Too, The Creitz, Greer, & Donovan T/F rail, The miniature Swamp Rat II model, and the best one of all, Ed Big Daddy Roth's Yellow Fang dragster. He is presently buiding a repro of his old Buick from the 50's era that I'll probably get to do. Don is a trip. If I have half of his energy when I'm his age, I'll be happy! He's WFO all the time.
Posted by Dave Draper (Member # 102) on :
Not to worry Luke, next trip through I'll definately give you a holler. Give yourself a big pat on the back, Yellow Fang looked great !!!! It's also nice to see things restored correctly rather than having vinyl stuck on something built in the sixties.
The only drawback I found was the lettering artists seldom got mentioned either on the originals or the restorations. I kept wanting to jump the ropes to look at the bugs.
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
It's right off one of the Ocala exits, takes two minutes to get there.