The sport of drag racing has been around for nearly 100 years, first getting its start on dry lake beds in the 1930s. The landscape at the time was rebellious and informal, sometimes involving illegal street racing. But by about 1950, permanent drag strips started popping up (usually on paved airfields), and things evolved from there.
The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) was formed in 1951 by Wally Parks. At the time, he was editor of Hot Rod magazine and wanted to bring structure, legitimacy, and safety regulations into the picture. The organization is still very much alive and well in 2026, with events like the Las Vegas Nationals and the In-N-Out Burger NHRA Finals slated to take place in the coming weeks.
The timeline — at least in terms of the momentum that took place in drag racing in the 1950s — is important because it was a factor in the birth of a specific type of race car. “Gassers” were named as such because they were fueled by regular gasoline instead of alcohol. Even though I have been around hot rods my whole life, I never really understood or researched much into what the gasser look was all about, but a 1956 Chevrolet on display at a car show in Arizona prompted me to learn more.
Typically, a gasser will use a stock car body combined with a highly modified powertrain. Some of the key design features usually include a lifted front suspension with a solid straight axle and leaf springs. The idea behind that was to help with weight transfer (and traction) at the rear tires during launches. Another common engineering feature was the routing of headers through the front fender wells. Finally, as with any race-ready build, weight reduction was key, so sometimes extra trim was removed.
Ultimately, the NHRA phased out gas classes in the early 1970s, and that was one of the things that caused the gasser era to scale back, but it’s fun to still see custom builds showcasing the gasser look.
Based on the “331” on the front fenders, we have a basic idea of specs for the car’s V-8, but I wasn’t able to interview the owner to find out much else.
It looked like the passenger was having the ride of his or her life (or death?). I’m glad I was able to get up close and personal with a gasser because it’s something different from a run-of-the-mill hot rod or restomod.
