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MY LITTLE DUECE COUPE
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Here we have the supermodified of the 50's.
The coupes.This would be the only decade that the supers would resemble an automobile
that could be seen on the highways of America. The action involved in this form of
racing still kept us on the edge of our seats. The speeds were approximatly half as
fast as the supers of today,but you see,the cars were top heavy.So entering the turns
with too much enthusiasm could just as easily turn them over as spin them around.
You can still see these cars run in races around New England today. They call them
the Legends. Their owners may be a bit more cautious in their charge to the front
than they used to be, but this is a show worth seeing for the pure nostalga .
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RACING GONE TUBULAR
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The sixties brought on the tubular steel chasis,with some
sheet metal,shaped and riveted on to form the roadster styles that we have come to
love today.Shown in this picture is a true pioneer in the sport of
supermodified racing.The late-great Jim Shampine was the one to show us most of
these new innovations. Some thought he was a little wacky. Then the checkers started
to add up,and well,other than an intensive study in horsepower,the cars really have
not changed all that much since Jimmy's time.I believe it was Jim who would show us
the offset engine seen in the picture below. This would give these cars superior
cornering abilities, and dramaticly increase the speeds.
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THE NEED FOR SPEED
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The chassis wars being pretty much settled now,brings on the
never-ending search for more horsepower.It's the seventies now.They're burning alchohol
,methanol,rocket-fuel,nitro-glycerin,who knows? By now these cars have become to fast
to be safe on some of the older 1/4 mile speedways.This would lead to the development
of the wings you saw on my first page.Even so,the supers would never again run on some
of the tracks where it all began,like Hudson NH, Groveland Mass.etc.
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| Favourite Links
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Make sure to visit this Jimmy Shampine Memorial
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ISMA supermodified tour schedule
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STAR speedway (Epping,NH)
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