Top 5: Gassers at Revival

For fans of Gasoline Alley, Revival this year is a dream come true. For the past seven years Revival’s Americana corner has been masterminded by Greg Waters – but this year Greg got to go the extra mile… literally, with burnouts and a parade lap (you can see more about that here).

Gassers, or stock vehicles turned hot rods that burn petrol rather than alcohol or methanol, make a spectacular sight, and sound, but of the 20 at Revival this year who’s the daddy? Cue a GRR Top Five… but instead of us choosing, we let Greg take us through his favourites.

1. 1957 CHEVROLET ‘ROARIN’ RAT’

‘The ’57 Chevy is an icon of course and this one is among the best. It’s the fastest gasser here with a standing quarter mile time in the 9s. It’s an all-steel car with a big block Chevy, and fully blown with a big rotor supercharger. It’s very noisy and very fast. An awesome bit of kit. UK gasser royalty.’

2. 1941 WILLYS COUPE ‘NASTY HABIT’

‘This is a very original, all-steel car with a brand-new 572 cu in Chevy motor – that’s 9.4-litres. Owned by Max Powell, it was sourced in South Africa and lives in Emsworth, not far from Goodwood. Whether the style is as a hot rod, custom car or gasser a Willys Coupe is always a magnificent sight.’

3. 1933 FORD ‘ALCHEMIST’

‘This is my own car. Am I allowed to choose my own? (oh all right then – ed). It’s very typical gasser style, with a 392 cu in fully blown Chrysler hemi V8, about 550bhp. It does quarter mile runs in the 11s, but we could get that down if we ran slicks. It’s all totally period correct, the guy who built it took seven-years doing it. I tried to buy it five years ago and now I have finally got it it’s the just the best thing in the world.’

4.1964 DODGE DART ‘IDENTITY CRISIS’

‘This is a very cool car. And the guy who owns it (Brian Gibson) is a great driver, a real showboater. It’s powered by a 383 cu in Chevy motor and was built in the States. It’s an altered wheelbase car, which means that both the front and rear axles have been moved forwards considerably to improve weight over the rear wheels and subsequently improve traction.’

5.1937 CHEVROLET ‘DESERT RAT’

‘This was originally a South African car, and it still gets driven to events. It’s not particularly high powered with the Chevy 301 cu in motor but it’s quick and will run in the 12s on the quarter mile. Built by Andy Robinson Race Cars for Pat ‘The Rat’ Healey, this car has seen plenty of duty on the road as well as the strip, often being driven to the drag strip!’

Photography by Tom Shaxson