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WALT'S PUFFERS | ROSEBUD| A990 1970 CUDA

My real drag racing career began in 1957. I was in college at the University of Miami studying all the good things that Miami presents to people from there. Anyway, I'm a very good snow and water skier Walts Puffer AA/FA Drag Racing and during one of my breaks I came back up north to Dearborn and then went snow sking. When I came back from Boyne Mountain I asked where my 37 Ford coupe was? I found it all apart with a brand new crate 392 Chrysler stuffed were the flathead should have been. Up over the recently modified frame near the ceiling of my Dads Auto Parts was a cut up body of a perfectly good 37 Ford coupe. Well I had to go back down South and my Dad and some of his friends had it all done by summer vacation. It looked pretty good.

Eight two barrel carbs on a log manifold and a Lishin camshaft. Vertex Mag gave it fire. Most cars of that style, Coupe body, no fenders, and 25% engine set back were classified as Altereds. A through E and at National events the alphabet even AA/FA Drag Racing went higher.

Great Bend Kansas, Labor Day, a National Event, and we won the A altered class and top time awards. We raced the 37 all season in 1958 at some Midwest tracks through Ohio and Michigan, Back to Great Bend in 1958. Well you would never believe how I drove the car that year. Tennis shoes, Levis, a helmet, and no shirt. . Just my Florida tan. Many people down there at the track started calling me Cheyenne after the Television series actor Clint Walker. Close but he was about two inches taller than I am. Well back to racing, I broke a piston and we tried to run it on seven and didn't do very well that year. The 37 was a fairly good sized car and we saw some little cars called Fiats. It looked like a good idea so we found a Fiat and started to go by the rules and build another A Altered.

Meanwhile, I was back in Miami, and my dad and his friends built the Fiat in the Winter- Spring of 1959. A lot of credit would go to Clair Kastle, as he did most of the construction work building the Fiat. Which was completed before I came back from Florida. In fact, I was not the first to drive the Fiat, my father awarded Clair with the honor.

Walt's Puffer AA/FA Dragster We used a dragster style 39 inch tread width rear which was the minimum allowed. The bums made us widen the rear in 1960 to 43 inch tread width. The 59 Fiat which, coincidently, was the Grand Opening of the Detroit Dragway, started the season out with a Latham 13 stage supercharger and five carbs. Most altereds were running some type of transmission and we did also.

On my first run in the car at Toledo Dragway I started out in two, which immediately broke. I pulled the lever to high and took off, never to use second again in 1959. The Lathem wasn't getting the job done; 126 mph was all it would go. Carl Grimes from Arizona pushed his Altered unofficially to 142 mph. He may have had the Drag News of Doris Herbert, A/Altered record at that speed. A shock wave came through Dearborn and I told Dad that we needed something in a hurry. A few well-placed West Coast phone calls corrected that just fine. One week before the 1959 Nationals UPS delivered parts from Iskenderian, Weiand, Hilborn, and a brand new 671 puffer on the Iski manifold and 2 inch drive. That weekend a test run at Toledo, I smoked the tires all the way through the eyes. We were now ready for the1959 Nationals at the Detroit Dragway.

My first run set a new NHRA record of 138.42 mph. I got it up to 144 during time trials and burned the clutch during eliminations and I lost to a slower car. We did take the Top Time Trophy as no body was running that fast on gas. The Millwinders Fiat from the East Coast had just set the record at 132 mph one week before the Nationals. Big Walt {my father} went up to the Millwinders crew and asked how fast they were going and they told him "was that your Red Fiat that just run?" He said yes, and the reply was "You just broke our record".

Early Dragster We did go to Chester South Carolina on Thanksgiving Day 1959 and we set the world record to 150.00 mph. on gas. This was the fastest Fiat in the world and the first to go 150mph.

Today, even Roadsters are classified as Altereds. And I can go there also. It`s because of the Walt's Puffers that Roadsters became Altereds.

I referred to the 671 supercharger as a puffer. That's where part of the name "Walts Puffer" came from. The "Walt" part is obvious but little is known where the second half of the name came from. Around the Detroit Dragway the Fiat was often referred to as Walts Red Fiat with a puffer on it. Many referred to it as the "Puffer" and so it came into being, "Walt's Puffer"

In 1960 the Fiat was still a high boy configuration and NHRA assigned the #A/A 285 to us as our National number. Nearly every pass I ran that year was a 150mph blast or close to it. The 1960 Nationals were still at the Detroit Dragway and we were ready for everyone.

One of my dads friends was a Chrysler Engineer named, Wayne Erickson, who ran "B Gas" It was a huge Blue Dodge and at the time was the National record holding car. At about 110mph. Wayne was one of a group of Chrysler Engineers who founded the Ramchargers Racing Club. The Puffer was setting records nearly every run and we were ready.

A tragedy happened during time trials and Wayne had a huge explosion from a clutch blowing up and was severely burned and two weeks later died. When that happened we withdrew from competition and lost our chance to win the 60 Nationals. The Ramchargers and my father were very close. Wayne was a frequent visitor to my Fathers home in Dearborn. They played cards several times a week for relaxation and this event shook up my mother and that was the big reason for withdrawing from the 60 Nationals." Ronnie {sleepy} Sterns" in the RJS Reath Automotive Olds powered A/A went on to win the Walt's Puffer Cobo Hall 2002 event.

Over the winter the AMT Model car company came out and honored us with the Double Dragster kit that contained a miniature of the Walt's Puffer complete down to decals and numbers, A/A285. However, we decided on a new Fiat with a chopped top and sloped windshield. And brought that car out for the 1961 season. With the same name and number. That number got me into trouble with NHRA a few years later, which has been documented, in several magazines.

Here is where we decide to build a Roadster and applied to NHRA for another class, A/R284 was assigned to us one number lower than the Fiat. The name was slightly changed to read "Walt's Puffer too". Now we had two cars running two different classes for the 1961 season. This roadster had a unique history also.

When we presented the car for inspection at the 61 Nationals in Indy and we found that the Chassis Research chassis was for a Modified Roadster. The 392 engine was set back to far for the A/Roadster class. Only 25% was allowed. We cut six inches out of the frame and re-presented it for inspection and tech was amazed at what we did overnight and then certified the car for the A/R class. We won Middle Eliminator and the prizes that went with it. One thing did go wrong however in the A/A class with me driving the Fiat. It coughed off the line and Ronnie beat me. I was furious. However, I got him with the Roadster in the Middle Eliminator run off. The Reath car was by far my closest competitor and I highly regard the whole team. I'm really glad they found the car and have it back together again.