CarTech® - Dyno Don: The Cars and Career of Dyno Don Nicholson

Relive the roar of Dyno Don Nicholson's iconic drag racing cars from Chevrolet, Mercury, and Ford and dive into at his legendary career with the detailed accounts in this book.

Nicholson's first wins on a national level were actually in the early 1960s in Chevrolet products. He became extremely successful on the match-race circuit. Then, in 1964, he switched over to Mercury with the new Comet after General Motors enacted a factory ban on racing activities. He won 90 percent of his match races that year. He stuck with Ford and Mercury products and won throughout the 1960s and 1970s, even after Ford also pulled the plug on factory team sponsorship. He made it to the final rounds in nearly 50 national events during that period, in addition to winning championships, awards, and match races along the way.

Drivers often became associated with a particular manufacturer, such as Chevy, Ford, or Chrysler through sponsorship, factory team rides, or sometimes simply their own preference. The more successful drivers became household names in the drag racing community. Chevy had Grumpy Jenkins, Pontiac had Arnie the Farmer Beswick, Mopar had Sox & Martin and Dandy Dick Landy, and Ford's most successful driver of the era was the legendary Dyno Don Nicholson.

If you are a fan of a certain era of racing, a Ford fan, or certainly a Dyno Don fan, this book will be a welcome addition to your library.

Table of contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1:

• Birth of a Legend (1927-1961)

Chapter 2:

• A Bevy of Chevys (1961-1963)

Chapter 3:

• Mercury Rising (1964-1965)

Chapter 4:

• Dyno Soars (1966-1968)

Chapter 5:

• Heads Up (1969-1973)

Chapter 6:

• Mustang Country (1974-1977)

Chapter 7:

• Foxy Bodies (1978-1981)

Chapter 8:

• It's In the Blood (1983-2001)

Chapter 9:

• The Legend Lives

In Memoriam

Appendix

Index

Doug Boyce
Doug Boyce has had a life-long addiction to drag racing. He turned his first wrench at age 8 and attended his first race at age 10. The essence of burning rubber and screaming open pipes filled his head and by his early teens, he was elbow deep in building classic Chevys. He continued to fuel the fire while working 9 to 5 in the automotive field. Doug has filled what little spare time he has had writing numerous club and magazine articles related to drag racing's golden years. He has an ongoing love of drag racing and the way it used to be. He is the author of Grumpy's Toys, Junior Stock, Drag Racing's Quarter Mile Warriors: Then & Now, 1001 Drag Racing Facts, and Match Race Mayhem, all best-selling CarTech titles.