Stripped down to a mechanical definition, gassers were a short-lived trend in drag racing during the 1950’s – carrying through the early 1970’s – wherein production models from the 1930’s to (commonly) the mid-1950’s where stripped of down to the barest weight possible. Additionally, gassers employed truck straight axles to provide improved weight distribution upon acceleration, as straight axles are lighter than independent front suspension. Common among gassers are weight reduction techniques like fibreglasss body panels, stripped interiors and “perspex” windows.

But where’s the fun in that?

Gassers today are much more than just a fleeting trend in America’s drag racing evolution, which remains today more for nostalgia’s sake than any technological advantage. Algon, Hillborn, and Crower mechanical fuel injection systems have been antiquated by today’s computer-controlled EFI systems. Lightning rods and Powerglide transmissions are clunky and prone to breakage, but remain the gear of choice for today’s gassers. Why? Because people build gassers today not for a drag strip advantage, but a unbridled coolness. Gassers, as crazy and bizarre as they might appear and wholly cool.

Fenderwell headers are noisy and limit driveability. Mile-high leaf spring suspension lifts gassers chest high, making them top heavy and ungainly. Who cares, right? Gassers mark a period in America where speed was king, where function largely outweighed form. Flamboyant metalflakes, pearls and candy finishes complemented by wild lettering and clever naming made them all the more in-your-face. Gassers, more than nearly any other form of drag machine left a mark on the map by their iconic look than any other class.

Their name stemming from their gasoline-only class designation, gassers forbid the use of methanol or nitromethane. Thereby, all the techniques imaginable were used to propel these heavily modified machines down the 1320 as quickly as humanly possible. Today, gassers exist by pure will, particularly as speeds have swelled into nearly impossible numbers during their heyday.

We wanted to take a quick minute and showcase some of our favorite examples of tribute gassers, modern machines made by today’s enthusiasts recreating the spirit and tradition of one of the coolest and most compelling periods in our long love affair with the mod rod and dragster.