All the pictures on this page are from Tom's personal collection. Captions and quotes are his. I thank him for all of us.

Tom Hanna was a pioneer race car builder, and by his own admission, "An awful driver." However, his place in drag racing history will be that of THE master "Tin Man" of all time.

Though some pictures on this page feature Tom as a digger pilot, most are of cars he hand-crafted bodies for. His "sculptures" of aluminum and magnesium have clothed some of the most beautiful fuel dragsters of all time. The pictures that aren't "his" cars, were give to him by his many friends in the sport. It is his wish and mine that drag racing fans, young and old, enjoy them here.

 

"Well, Hey! It's 1959 and I'm a driver! Plastic goggles, tee shirt and Red Ryder jeans -- ass hangin out the bottom, mashing the pedal with a pair of hi-top Keds. Swell! Oh, two months later, I crashed this thing HARD off the end of Union Grove. Welcome to the real world, Junior."
Tom Hanna

Jim Meyer, owner (left). Today he's an exec at Cessna Aircraft. Tom Hanna, driver (second from left.) "Look pretty stupid, don't I?"
Tom Elliott Photo

"I have no idea. Was given to me in '64. Do you know who it is? Must have been late '40's or early '50's". - Hanna

This is, indeed, the late Harold Nicholson. Rod Thompson wrote, "Harold died after a crash at San Fernando in 1959. Just before passing, we had been working on a destroked, over square blown Stude that Harold predicted would “twist the axles right off your car” Don Montgomery recently told a friend of mine that he'd never known a smarter racer than Harold."

"It was absolutely beautiful. Wonder whatever became of it?" Answer: Hank was killed in this car at Fremont in late 1959. DE
Tom Elliott Photo

"This is a layout worthy of consideration, again. Note the well-organized pit layout that has ample room for plenty of trash and the obligatory oil slicks to peacefully co-exist with the occasional hot rod.  Could that be Rod Stuckey looking on?"
Tom Elliott Photo

"That's a young Kenny Safford atop the roll cage, but who's that beside him?"
Tom Elliott Photo

"After his Cook and Bedwell success, Emery did time in somewhat less distinguished hardware. Here "Animal Red" (back to camera) lends a hand: perhaps to lift the... er... car out of the swamp of oil into which it appears about to sink."
Tom Elliott Photo

"Hanna solves the riddle of "The Beach". Here's the deal: We'll take off all the weight, lean 'er five, drop the tires three pounds, I'll ride the brake out past the Lions sign, then shut it off at the first light. Hey! Has anybody got a Port-A-Power?"

"Byron is one of those quiet genius types. Didn't say much but could do anything to perfection. He could make more horsepower with less money than anybody. We set both ends of the Ramona record. First car to run a 7. there. But I could never figure out when to let the clutch out. He gave up in frustration, built his own car and started winning."
Bob Hardee Photo

Tom Hanna - AA/FD - Pomona, 1964

"My first ever dragster. First ever body. .040, no Bondo, no putty. It had Bob Mayer's 354 in it at Winternationals. Norm Weekly put me away in the first round".

"Ongias. Quiet to the point of mystery. Yet a dedication and focus like no other". It was a blue Don Long car - real strange deal. Saw pictures, but never heard of it making a lap. Did it ever run?

Don Long chassis, Tom Hanna body, Don Kirby paint and Tony Nancy interior. I ask the same question as Tom, "Did it ever run?"  Yes it did.  At least once at Bakersfiled.- DE

"Found this rather dim shot, fresh out of the paint shop and back to my old Chula Vista shop (down south) in the back of Byron Blair's emporium, down the street from Crower's. In a beautiful little barrio known as Otay Mesa." - Tom Hanna

"It was big. It was ugly. And it was difficult. But it was exactly like the picture, and that's all that counted"

"L to R: Art Malone (in Al Williams 2nd Hypersonic), Bobby Langley, Bob Sullivan (deceased), Don Garlits, and The Greek. Isn't that Vance Hunt in the cowboy hat climbing out of the pickup in the background?"
Larry Bouldon Picture

"Lookit guy, mine's already warm. You go first, do your routine. I'll go right to the line. Won't burn ya down --- trust me". Ya gotta know Connie to appreciate that. -- DE

"L to R: Bob Creitz, John Wiebe, Chris Karamesines (Da Greek), Don "Mad Dog" Cook and Jim Nicoll. As many of you know, Wiebe runs a very hi-tech livestock operation. He hung the original of this picture in one of the farrowing houses and improved fertility by 28%".

"Best appearing car award to Kennard Warren and Bob Crowe. Driven by Jack Williams. They lost early on and put the engine in James and Roger's car. Check me out in my low-rise corduroys and Hush Puppies. Linda's got the beehive sprayed up nice, and Jack's wearing the same wing-tips he drove in. Are we dapper, or what"?

"John crashed so violently that after they picked up the biggest lump, which had to be the engine, there was little else anyone could identify"
Bob Hardee Photo

"Blake Hill had it built as a kind of sister to the Hawaiian. It was orange metal flake. Fuller chassis, it was really quite nice, but after is was sold it went to hell pretty quick." - Hanna Originally driven by Stan Shiroma, Mike Sorokin and others. Later purchased by Paul Gommi, it met its end (and that of its driver, Gary Allen) on the side of the bridge at the end San Fernando in 1968. - DE

"Well, on the first pass, about half track the ol' belt came off. Kept pullin' so I stayed with it and the ol' belt came off again. When I stopped, both front tires were gone".

"Carbone built the beautiful Don Long car and first time out won with low E.T. and top time. Check in hand, he asked himself why, for so long, had he driven other people's cars? Eventually he had the answer".

"One of Mike's Woody cars. Mike is over there at the right wearing as big a smile as you ever say on him at the races".

"L to R: Keith Grammer, Bill Steiskal, Joe Schubeck, Red "Animal" Latham, Jerry Baltes, Jack Williams, Bob Sullivan, Darrel Dumont, Jimmy Nix, Lee Owens, and Bill Crosley".
Steve Suhajcik Photo

"The family that plays together... has matching T-shirts. Can you imagine their resume? 5 words. Family business: Lifetime drag racers".

"Some folks would tell you Kenny started at the top. Before the Chelsea Pub here he's paying his dues in a front engine fueler".

F to B: Don Prudhomme's "Shelby Super Snake", Creitz, Greer & Donovan, Walton & Anderson, Roland Leong's "Hawaiian", and Steve Frase. "Don was the best technical craftsman I ever met... bar none. He would challenge you indirectly, yet in no uncertain terms to bring your level of craft up to his. It would anger you for the moment, but he was always right, and anyone who cared about their work improved by his example". Sidebar: I loved my Don Long car. DE

"Wes Cerney (left) and the guys! He made a lot of horsepower back then, too. But only on the weekends".

"Mulligan in the lights - still hazin' the tires, reaching for the chute release. Check how far the tires are off the bead".
Jere Alhadeff Photo

John Wiebe "The blond hair is gray now, otherwise he's exactly the same. Still owns a big chunk of Kansas... hasn't lost a bit of wit and wisdom".

"This may have been the nicest car of its era. Built by The Surfers (Jobe & Skinner). Every piece of it was just detailed to perfection. I was so impressed, I offered to build the body for nothing. By the time it was finished, cash was tight; so they sold it to the Bandell Bros. in New York. I way hungry and the Surfers knew it. They paid me for the body though they didn't own me a dime. They were really wonderful guys". Sidebar: I will go as far to say this was THE nicest fueler ever. Tatum bought it from Bandell and preserved it for years. The feds seized it last year and that could mean it could end up on the auction block some day. Hummmmm. -- DE

"I heard he died of a heart attack while driving a dragster. He was a fun guy. What war stories! He lived at my house while I built this body. He could really eat for a skinny guy. This was probably the nicest looking Garlits car ever".

Marvin actually died when a slick blew in the lights at Tuscon, 1977.

"He won 14k in a match race against McEwen. After that race he came by and gave me a $50 bill! The only customer that ever gave me a tip. But then, he's the only customer that ever won $14,000! Thanks, Bennie!"

John "Jaydub" Bateman's finest hour. Big John had some really nice race cars, but this was by far the nicest.

"This it the Creitz and Greer Woody getting a little gift wrap.It was runner up and best appearing car at the '67 Winternationals. Gene Goleman crashed this car at Union Grove [see pic below]. Went high in the air and hit one of those light poles. It was to be his last ride. He was talking to them as they loaded him in the ambulance, but cranial damage was too extensive and the brain swelling simply couldn't be managed. Gene was a gentleman. At the time of the accident the tail wasn't on the car and later I adapted it to another Woody owned by John Bateman and driven by both Foster and Carbone."
Tom Hanna
Photo by Jere Alhadeff - (See Bateman Shot Above)

"Isn't that the rear 1/3 of a crankshaft"? Rear Engine - obviously. I used this only because it was one of the most violent explosions I ever saw. The hazards of nitro. I love it. -- DE

"Tom Elliott took this photo on our first trip to Mecca. March of '59. God willing (and how dare he refuse) 40 years and 8 months later we'll go back and Jim Hill can buy us all that cold one he promised. One beer. For everybody." - Tom Hanna