Words and photos by Jeff Burk
8/15/2007

hen I was a very young hot rodder I had two favorite types of cars: fuel- burning dragsters and supercharged sedans -- more specifically, '50-56 Chevy sedans with straight axles and superchargers or injectors sticking up through their hoods. I just loved the look of those cars, like they were doing a wheelstand just sitting still.

This classic sedan featured on our cover is owned and driven by Tom Nowicki of Elkart, IN. The wheel-standing '55 has a supercharged 427 small-block and ran solid 6.70's on the Lancaster eighth-mile. The car originally belonged to California racer Larry King. The paint is original.

So when I got the chance to go to the east coast to a nostalgia event at fabled Lancaster Dragway just outside Buffalo, NY, I hoped that I might see a few of those cars of my long, lost youth. The fact is that I got more than I hoped for. The pit area at was full of straight-axle Chevys of all types with injectors or blowers or both screwed to the top of the engines. They looked and acted just as I remembered. Sometimes memories are better than realities, but in this case reality turned out to just as good as my memories.

So, for you geezers out there that remember these cars and for those of you who wonder what the big deal is about straight front axles, 50s Chevys, and gassers, we offer this collection.

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