"Big Daddy" Don Garlits Fires Up Swamp Rat 12 for Us!

I went to a car show in Cherokee, North Carolina this weekend. There were tons of awesome cars, but the coolest thing there was Don Garlits and his Swamp Rat 12. Keep in mind when you watch the video, Don Garlits is 91 years old! I talked to him for about 20 minutes before the presentation and I would swear he's maybe 65.

In the video you see Don give a short presentation about the Swamp Rat and then he fires it up! 1,000HP when he first starts it, using regular gasoline. The he switches to nitromethane and the horse power jumps to 3,000!! That is a lot, but not nearly what todays dragsters have (10,000hp). Don Garlits is to NHRA as Dale Earnhardt is to NASCAR. He is absolutely a living legend!





for some reason the link is loading into ATS correctly, so I added the address below.

youtu.be...'___'7XITdA?si=aEc-cE3rU_UYNnR8

www.youtube.com... MT7XITdA


MOD NOTE
The YT link contains D M T in the address and will not load properly.
This link is from 3 months ago.
www.youtube.com...
OR-----
take out the space after the "h" and the "D"
h ttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4D MT7XITdA

Sorry, I tried as well.

link

a reply to: network dude

Thanks, glad it's not just me, wonder why it does that? I've never had it do that before. Maybe someone figures it out. Pretty cool video if you like drag cars and Don Garlits.

a reply to: esteay812
I had a blast of childhood nostalgia at the mention of Big Daddy Don Garlits!!! I used to sit in the library back in the 70s reading Hot Rod magazines, there was almost always a piece about Don and one of his rods!

I had no idea he was still around! Thanks for the video!



Bah, video doesn’t work😔

a reply to: esteay812

I can't believe what this thread!

Man 'O Man! That was my hayday, even before my '57 Nomad, the days when my girl-getter was a cherry red '57 Chev convertible with stick.

I remember what a writer/editor once wrote in one of the little hot rod rag mags back then, an impossible dream at the time: "Dragsters will never get enough traction to flip themselves over." Garltis is legendary in some quarters even if he did drive a Mopar!

Maybe my old mind is slipping but it seems that about that time 7seconds in the quarter mile was the other impossible read.

Big stuff always happened at the Gator Nationals...I wish I had those goofy muscle-car trading cards of old.

a reply to: esteay812

Damn...you're my age. I thought he was gone?! Holy Hurst shifter...the man wasn't just into fast...he was F.A.........!!!

The Snake vs. The Mongoose.
The only quarter mile runs that mattered back in my day.
Dang I'M old.

a reply to: BlueJacket

I dont know why the link is a dud from youtube. Dont Tread on Me tried to fix it, but gave them issues too.

a reply to: Observer19

Garlits has definitely seen a lot of changes in the race world! Cant believe he's 91, he looks about 65 or so.

I cant remember for sure, but I think Don Garlits came up with the dragster with the engine behind the cockpit.

a reply to: BlueJacket

Its on my youtube channel "the invisible redneck" if you wanna hear the story he tells and see him fire it up. Otherwise, dont tread on me added a link for another Garlits video that is better production quality than min and shows the same car I believe.

a reply to: FNGalpha

I grew up going to "Thunder Valley" in Bristol. Just about 90 minutes from home. I haven't been since they do 4 lane races now, but Bristol was always so fun.

I remember walking through the pits the first time and having the crap scared out of me when they fired up a nitro dragster.

I didn't realize that they use regular gasoline to start them up and then switch to intro after they're warm until Garlits explained it. Crazy the massive amount of power that is added by the switch. . . in this car it goes from 1,000hp to 3,000hp!

a reply to: mysterioustranger

He's a living legend. I always heard about him, but never realized his age. I kinda assumed he was in this 20s-30s back then, when in reality he was 60ish and retiring.

a reply to: Gothmog

Remember how popular Shirley Muldowney was back then?

I was just around 10 years old back in the 80s when they were all so popular. One of my favorites was Tony Pedregon and, of course, John Force.

a reply to: esteay812

Me too...ck out my Malibu SS, 396 dl quad carb, overhead cams, hooker headers, 3-sp converted Hurst shifter to 4 on the floor

Hell...for awhile as a teen ..I used to pretend I was Don! Tore up Telegraph Rd in Michigan ( also called Dixie Hwy..Mi to Tenn)... Blew quite a few motors back then...

The difference was Don had $$....I had very angry parents that I barfed another engine....monthly!

a reply to: mysterioustranger

That is a bad ass car! Classics are so much more fun to own and build than the new stuff. . . but. . .

Have you seen the new 2024 Chevelle SS?

a reply to: esteay812

Yes. Streets of Detroit. Auto Show weekend. We also have Autorama show, Dream Cruise.

Mind boggling variety here...and I saw it sooo fast...I barely did. Patented Chevy Sky Blue...was nice..

a reply to: esteay812

Oh..and I stopped racing in 70 after I blew 2 motors from speed shot...(blow it, they pull it, another 1 in, back tomorrow)....and BAAAM!.

Engine froze 115, blew hood, trans fluid melted gasket, burned me a bit. Hit pile of hay end of Detroit Dragway quarter mile...

End of my yaa-hoo days

a reply to: mysterioustranger

Lucky you didn't get burned up, injured, or killed! I used to fly everywhere I went in my 20s, now I rarely go over the speed limit.

I blew an engine in an Eagle Talon back in '98. . . but probably want from hot-rodding and more from brand quality, 😂.

I did have any awesome car that would fly after that. A 1996 M3, but it was more of a track car than a drag car. Personally, I went a round track dirt car. We have a trick a couple miles from the house. It would be such a good time, but so expensive, even for the low-end cars.

a reply to: esteay812

Been a member here for over a decade. Have always posted and been respectful to others. Always tried to bring good content for topics. I don't make any money from anything I share on here, I only ever shared it to create conversation about different topics.

Why were my privileges to create new threads suspended? Why did one of the mods change my password so that I can no longer log in?

Pretty crappy thing to do to a long time member and you did it without giving me an email or any other reason stating why. No warnings, nothing. Just came here to see any new comments and couldn't post. thought it may have been an error, so I logged out and I cannot log back in.

ATS has definitey changed over the years, but never thought I'd see y'all do something like this to a long time member who was ingood standing.

If all this is an error and your site has been hacked, they are definitely making your members feel terrible. Hopefully tha's all this is and I am over-reacting a bit.