Tri-Five Chevys Drag Racing Legacy - Tri-Five Chevys:

Shoeboxes were often treated to wild colors and graphics. Dave Ribeiro's Super Stock P-Automatic '55 even sports painted front/rear bumpers. With a new owner, the car is still racing and winning today.

New Jersey's John Dianna gained the nickname "Johnny Junior Stock" for his hard-running '56 Panel Wagon, shown at the NHRA Springnationals, Englishtown, New Jersey, 1968. Dianna's '56 had the right stuff, including Cragars, front tow bar tabs, and sponsor help from Jere Stahl and Dick Moroso.

Dave Riolo's "Temptation" evolved from mildly modified to all-out. Northern California was Riolo's territory and his '55 Bel Air Sport Coupe gained a reputation for big numbers and wheels-up launches that pleased crowds and driver too.

Lots of ballast and small-inch Chevy put this classic '57 Bel Air in NHRA G/Modified Production class. Unidentified owner wasted no cash on lettering, but wheels-up launch at NHRA Gatornationals shows money mostly went for horsepower and fresh-off-the-street appearance.

Fred Hartman's "Rapid Rodent" '55 was an NHRA Division 1 regular in G/Mod Prod and Modified Eliminator. Hartman also traveled, as shown here at Martin, Michigan's 131 Dragway. Now deceased, Hartman was well known and liked among peers.

The Hardy Brothers ran several Tri-Five Chevys in Stock and later Super Stock in Southern California. This SS/T Bel Air coupe had no trouble lifting wheels with 265 small-block power. They parlayed their parts knowledge into a successful Ontario, California-based speed equipment warehouse business.

Carroll Caudle's Amarillo, Texas-based '55 ran stock white-on-green paint and had plenty of go from its 310-inch small-block. Caudle was multiple NHRA Division 4 Street and Modified Eliminator points champion and class winner at the U.S. Nationals. Note Keystone Kustomags and near-stock appearance.

Classic gasser match-up at NHRA Nationals, 1966, featured Harry Luzader's '32 Ford and Al Maynard's '57 Chevy, in E/Gas class run-off. Maynard's '57 has the classical gasser straight axle, sturdy GM truck rear axle, and plenty of horsepower to go with slight holeshot. Maynard's '57 took home the class trophy.

Classic shoebox racers used all body styles, including plain-Jane One-Fifty sedan. Steve Hinton's SS/T '55 from Bowling Green, Kentucky, took the class trophy home from NHRA Springnationals, National Trail Raceway, Newark, Ohio.

Richard Diorio's SS/UA '55 grabbed class win at NHRA Summernationals, Englishtown, New Jersey. Several different engine options and body styles made mix-and-match to fit class easy for class-conscious SS racers.

Originally intended for utility sales, Tri-Five sedan delivery models found their way into Stock and Super Stock classes. This unidentified, unadorned '55 Sedan Delivery was photographed at the NHRA Gatornationals running SS/O with a manual transmission.

John Barkley's M/Stock Automatic '57 Chevy and a succession of Junior Stockers were always hyper-competitive in NHRA's Division 7 racing. Barkley is currently Associate Publisher of Street Rodder and Rod & Custom magazines with Source Interlink Media, parent company of Super Chevy, so he's plenty experienced with the hands-on side of the business, too.

Four door sedans can be successful too, as illustrated by Jerry Davis' SS/P Automatic '55 Two-Ten sedan. Fenderwell headers have removable collectors for tuning exhaust length to increase or decrease torque. The '55s with automatic transmissions used Powerglide two-speeds with cast-iron cases.