We’ll never be able to confirm who first ever raced a Beetle over the quarter-mile, but it’s a fairly safe bet that the event took place in Southern California in the very late 1950s or early 1960s. What we do know is that, by the middle of the latter decade, VWs played a major part in theNational Hot Rod Association (NHRA) scene.
Looking back through the NHRA archives, 1967 was something of a turning point as far as VWs were concerned, for it was in that year that drag racing’s sanctioning body opened up three classes specifically for the little German imports, while Lions drag strip also introduced three VW-only classes: Bug/Optional, Stock and Unlimited.
But by this time, there were already several Beetles running in the NHRA ‘Gas’ classes (a reference to the fuel – that is, petrol – not nitrous oxide!), with some success. By the early 1970s, several VWs were in the forefront of NHRA H/Gas and I/Gas racing, the classes being determined by weight per cubic inch. H/Gas was for cars with 8.00–10.99lbs/ci and I/Gas for those with 11.00 or more lbs/ci. VW racers such as Dean Lowry’s Deano Dyno-Soar, Bill Clarkson’s Iguana, EMPI’s Inch Pincher II and the Schley Brothers’ Lightning Bug dominated the gasser racing scene.
When Adam Sheard was a schoolboy, his next-door neighbour used to drive a Beetle – he happened to be a teacher at Adam’s school, so he often gave the young Mr Sheard a lift to classes. This early contact with a Volkswagen left an indelible imprint on Adam’s memory, so it comes as no surprise that he would ultimately buy a Beetle as his first car. The very car you see here, in fact. But we are getting ahead of ourselves…
