CLUNKBUCKET

A day or two before any modern motorsports racing event, lumbering mega-trucks pull in and unfold into human-assisted race support giant robots. Empty parking lots are transformed in mere hours into a sea of trailers with satellite uplinks, spare parts, and very deep pockets to keep it all humming. This was not always the case. Phil Burgess over at NHRA Insider has assembled an excellent history of drag racer and master showman TV Tommy Ivo’s towing rigs, featuring words and photos from none other than TV Tommy Ivo himself. Before dreaming up and building the glass-sided rolling display trailers he made famous, Ivo towed his dragsters behind his own cars, which included a few sweet Cadillacs, a stylish Buick wagon, and a Buick Riviera! Head on over to NHRA Insider for the trailers that helped make the Ivo famous, the storied adventures of Tarzan, and how Don “The Snake” Prudhomme once washed his hair with motor oil.

MORE: Tommy’s Towing Toys and Ramp Truck Ramblings at NHRA Insider.