Re: [Chrysler300] ALL-MOPAR show at Don Gartlis Museum, Ocala ,Florida, November 3 & 4

[Ray Jones <hurst300@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Another neat thing Garlits had in his Museum was a reaction timer, You 
sat in a seat with brake and gas pedals and a Christmas Tree. The goal 
was the quickest reaction time without tripping the Red "foul" light. I 
got down to about .5 seconds.
Ray

On Oct 23, 2007, at 9:57 AM, stephen schieser wrote:

I visited Don Garlits museum last year on my way to Florida from Ohio. 
It is a great museum and I highly recommend it. Don Garlits was an 
innovator to say the least, and never afraid to try something new. 
After he lost part of his foot in a serious drag racing incident; he 
decided to build a drag racer with the driver in front of the hemi 
engine, instead of sitting right behind it, straddling the 
transmission. This revolutionized how large fuel dragsters were built 
from then on, and made it safer for the driver. You can spend hours in 
the museum, and as mentioned, there is a separate museum building of 
old cars. You could easily spend hours in the museum, there is so much 
to see.
  Even more interesting to me is that Don Garlits got interested in hemi 
engines somewhat by accident. As I understand it; he went to a junk 
yard, looking for an engine, other than a Chrysler engine. They did not 
have what he wanted, but the junk yard suggested he try a hemi engine 
from a wrecked Chrysler they had on hand. He bought the hemi and was so 
impressed with its power, that he ran the hemis with great success from 
then on.
  Visit the museum for sure if you can. I was fortunate enough to 
briefly meet and speak with Don Garlits at a car show in Ft. Myers, 
Florida. He is just a nice, friendly, unassuming guy.
  Over the years, he has voluntarily run his dragsters on the deck of US 
Navy aircraft carriers, to help the Navy recruit young people. I 
understand he got interested in doing this, as he met some Navy 
mechanics, and was impressed with their skills and training. Steve S. 
in Columbus, OH.


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