When Lytle relocated from Texas to California in Dec. 1962, his Tudor had made just one pass under Allison power: a clutch-frying effort of 77 mph at AHRA’s Nationals.
sounds shitty right ?
Initially-severe torque steer was eventually conquered by encasing the flywheel, clutch assembly, throwout bearing, driveshaft and pinion gear within a 14-inch-diameter torque tube of Jim’s own design. Nevertheless, after improving to mid-10-second times at 147-plus, he reluctantly parked the world’s fastest sedan.
“I may have been the first drag racer to blow my own doors off, literally!” he recalled, laughing. “At those speeds, the volume of air compressed inside the body was tearing it up. I lost the hood once, and the right door came open twice, at about 145. I got tired of fixing it. I’ve always hated doing body work. I felt that the car had just about reached its potential, anyway.”
Although that steel sedan was never seen again in public, it would make one more contribution to motorsports history: It was this old Ford that Lytle used to create the five-piece mold that produced drag racing’s first one-piece, fiberglass, lift-off body — and the world’s fastest full-fendered race car of 1964. In the next issue, we’ll discuss the brief life and lasting impact of Big Al II.
steel body version (big al 1)
fiberglass (big al 2) :
Jim Lytles replica:
1966 winter nationals: