Inside the Lions Automobilia Museum
– Southern California Drag Racing Museum
– High number of Mopar® vehicles on display
– Time warp experience to the Lions Drag Strip
Entering and walking the various areas of the museum is like taking a total and complete journey back into time, directly returning to the heyday of the famous Lions Dragstrip from the glory days. Upon entering, you come in and look at the surroundings and then you turn a corner and realize there’s another large area filled with cool stuff, then a big variety of more cool stuff! Then next you turn another corner and another corner, and you soon realize just how large the place is. One could easily spend the better part of a full day touring the massive collection of vehicles, and it’s not limited to just drag racing.
The Lions Automobilia Foundation houses several galleries, with each one providing visual learning experiences as to what the Southern California car culture has been all about, as well as how all this has gained notoriety worldwide. Located in the Long Beach, CA, area.
ENTRANCE
First time visitors to this museum typically are quite surprised with the depth and detail that sits inside, the artwork, the cars, the entire “time warp” phenomenon that takes place. A fun surprise!
HEMI® ENGINES GALORE!
Walking the museum will reveal numerous Chrysler HEMI powerplants! This is the re-creation of the 1958 rear-engined “Bob’s Muffler” dragster equipped with the Gen I 354-cid FirePower HEMI engine topped with six Stromberg 97 carburetors, power to the ground via direct drive mated to a Halibrand Quick-change differential. Total weight? 1,210 pounds. Innovative!
Here’s a pair of the GEN I HEMI engines, a marine application and T/F supercharged version in the Kuhl & Olson dragster. Classic early HEMI competition engines!
The GEN II HEMI engine is well represented with supercharged a drag boat powerplant and a 426 Street HEMI with inline Edelbrock carburetors, Milodon deep pan. These 426 HEMI engines debuted in early 1964 and remain strong today.
The 1940 “Price Transfer” Willys gasser was built featuring a Mike Kuhl-built supercharged 392-cid GEN I HEMI engine complete with Don Zig Magneto. During the 4-year construction, it was also fitted with custom-fabricated 304 stainless steel headers and exhaust system. A fantastic tribute to the famous Gasser era.
It’s a 1972 Plymouth Barracuda in Limelight Green that has been transformed into a “HEMI” car as the original 318 was removed and replaced by the upgraded 426 HEMI engine. Now a “one of none” car as by the time the 1972 models were released, the HEMI engine was gone, no longer an available factory option.
In the Lions parking lot, there was this street-racer-style 1964 Dodge 2-door “post” car, fitted with 426 HEMI engine and race version cross-ram intake. These were serious drag machines!
1962 DODGE DART
Marketed as the “Ramcharger” engine, for 1962 Dodge released a special 413 Max Wedge with cross-ram intake and special internals built for drag racing applications. This particular car has the same general look and flavor as one of the originals; however, under the hood is a totally “maxed-out” wedge displacing 493 cubic inches thanks to an overbore and stroker crankshaft! Even wilder than the 413 cars back in the day.
Topped with an Indy intake with Holley 1150-cfm “Dominator” four-barrel, the engine started out as a production 440 and given the works, now good for a dyno-verified 731.5 horsepower output! It was the 413 engine markings for a touch of nostalgia.
1958 PLYMOUTH BELVEDERE
Of special interest to movie buffs is a 1958 Plymouth Belvedere in red, a throw-back to the Christine movie based on the novel by Stephen King. It’s a tribute to the 24 cars that were used in the movie, of which all except for two were destroyed in the process. This one is fully restored and cherished!
CHRYSLER 300 G
While it is best known for faithfully showcasing vintage racecars, the Lions Automobilia Museum is a lot more than that. Case in point, a 1961 Chrysler 300 G with the 413 “long ram” engine, a gorgeous and fully restored Mopar luxury performance car!
EARLY BARRACUDA
The original Plymouth Barracuda from 1964 debuted on April 1, 1964, and were based on the Valiant line and with a fastback roof design. The early cars (this is one of them!) has a “Valiant” emblem on the right-hand side of the rear panel. The early A-body cars are getting hard to find and this particular example is now fitted with a 360 Mopar LA engine for added performance.
01 CHARGER
Anyone who had a television set from during the 1979-1985 timeframe most likely knows what an Orange 1969 Dodge Charger with “01” on each door is all about! Yes, “General Lee” and lots of jumping and special action shots, it was a top-rated television show: The Dukes of Hazzard.
1970 SUPERBIRD
Thanks to Richard Petty, the Plymouth Division for 1970 came out with the “Superbird” Road Runner, of which there were street vehicles (1935 built) to satisfy the NASCAR organization to allow Petty and his teammate Pete Hamilton to race them on the track. A winner right out of the gate, the #40 car of Hamilton won the 1970 Daytona 500 with ease!
NEW LIONS BOOK RELEASED
A new release The History of Lions Drag Strip book from Lou Hart. Filled with never-before-seen photos, 208 pages, hardcover, published by CarTech and said to be a “must read” for lovers of the famous drag strip! Available in their gift shop and on their website.
1971 HAWAIIAN CHARGER IN SCALE
So much to see inside the display cases, a 1971 Hawaiian Dodge Charger 1:18 scale adds background to the Funny Car scene that Lions was a big part of in the wonder years of the Funny Car era.
YEAKEL PLYMOUTH SPECIAL
Before Tom McEwen became famous for the Plymouth Funny Cars he ran, he spent time in the Yeakel Top Fuel car that was run out of a Chrysler-Plymouth dealership in Downey, CA, and was a regular at Top Fuel meets at Lions.
CINDY GIBBS ARTIST
Talented artist Cindy Gibbs proudly presented her latest work, “Isky”, and she finished it just hours before the event. This original art piece will be donated to the Lions museum with prints (104 of them) also available in the gift shop.
HISTORICAL IMAGES EVERYWHERE
The famous Lions Drag Strip operated from 1955 to 1972 and was a hub for Southern California 1/4-mile drag racing! The name “Lions” comes from the fact that it was initially sponsored by the Lions Club International. Located in the Wilmington District, very near Long Beach, the place was called “The Beach” and the cool air off the Pacific Ocean provided ideal conditions for record runs down the 1,320 feet of racetrack. “Drive the highways, race at Lions” was the message and the track was dedicated to the safety and welfare of the community.
Walking through the museum, there is all the cars and displays memorializing the tracks, and along with that, some fantastic photos taken by the various media that attended. Part of the fun of absorbing the museum is to view the pics and imagine what it was like to be there during the “golden years” of California drag racing.
A classic early shot of Keith Black, Roland Leong and Don Prudhomme on the starting line area of Lions!
Ron O’Donnell getting ready to stage with the Don Cook “Damn Yankee” ’Cuda Funny Car, with starter Larry Sutton activating the tree!
Leroy Goldstein in the RAMCHARGERS Dodge Challenger doing a smokey burnout circa 1970.
The 1971 Hawaiian Dodge Charger staging up with Bobby Rowe at the controls.
A shot of the Hawaiian Top Fuel car after winning the 1963 NHRA Winternationals, including Roland’s mother in the shot who fully supported the effort and hand-made the leis that her son, Keith Black and Don Prudhomme were wearing in the awards ceremony.
Big Jim Dunn in his rear-engined “Dunn & Reath” Funny Car, which had plastic pipes added for air intake for the HEMI engine in the back seat area. Wild car!
Bill “Maverick” Golden and his wheelstander Little Red Wagon at Lions, injected HEMI engine power!
“Pure Hell” Dodge Demon nitro Funny Car doing a burnout with the Lions Drag Strip sign in the background, a smart move was the design of the track markings as a majority of all vintage images from this drag strip was somewhere in the photo the Lions name is visible.
It’s a one-race only paint job, the black-hued “Snake III” ’Cuda doing its thing with a burnout.
Classic Mongoose vs. Snake in the finals at “The Last Drag Race” that took place December 1972. McEwen won!
Tom McEwen celebrating after his win! At this pairing, the Mongoose beat the Snake in the final round. Drag racing car owner Lou Baney on the left.
One of the cars Don Prudhomme raced at Lions was the “Snake III” black Barracuda and here’s a shot of him cranking on the supercharger with Ed Pink (far right) watching the details.
Another example of the great track identification the Lions is this shot of the Cannon & Soars Top Fuel car launching off the starting line.
“Big John” Mazmanian and his cars were a regular sight at Lions. Here’s “Bones” in the Willys doin’ its thing albeit with some tire smoke.
Launching on a run, the Stone-Woods-Cookie Willys with HEMI engine power and an Engle roller cam! Inside the museum, the S-W-C car is highly recognized and has a special wall art piece to celebrate its history.
Author: James Maxwell
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