In the early to mid ‘60s, Gassers were all the rage in drag racing. The “Gasser Wars” was a long series of match races fueled by clever, taunting advertising by sponsors such as Eskimo Cams, B&M Transmission, and Isky Cams, as well as racers such as K.S. Pitman and Stone Woods & Cook.

In their day, Gassers were at the cutting edge of drag racing technology. Using bulbous old sedan and truck bodies, with supercharged engines, these upright and loud machines were a site to behold. Because of their short wheelbases, most of the cars were difficuly to drive and wanted to go every way but straight. Wheelies and lane crossing was quite common.

Gassers were such a hot draw, many of the teams became full-time professional racers. In 1966, racers like Pittman and Stone Woods & Cook were getting as much as $750 for a 3-run match race.

In May of ‘66, Pittman’s ‘33 Willy crashed and the team had to scramble to build another car. A month later the team was back in business with a ‘41 Willys using a blown 392 Chrysler Hemi.

In the early ‘90s replicas of K.S. Pittman’s 41 Willys and the Stone woods & Cook Willys were built and toured appearing in match races and exhibition races. K.S. Pitman was recently honored for lifetime achievement at the California Hot Rod Reunion.