It doesn’t get any more grass-roots and old-school than this. See where hot rodding and drag racing were born in this circa 1946 film clip from El Mirage Dry Lake in Southern California.
This short and sweet film-to-video clip—not quite two minutes, ideal for hurried Internet consumers—features hot rod racing action at El Mirage Dry Lake in 1946. It’s no exaggeration whatsoever to note that hot rodding and drag racing were born on the dry lake beds northeast of Los Angeles, both here at El Mirage and also at Muroc Dry Lake (which is now known as Rogers Dry Lake and is part of Edwards Air Force Base).
The racing in this reel was organized and sanctioned by the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), the pioneering hot rod club that continues to host straight-line racing events at El Mirage to this day. There’s plenty of eye candy here, including several sweet Deuce roadsters and an early lakester or two. At around the nine-second mark, we think we can spot the beautiful Modified of Phil Remington, famed racing fabricator, and a moment later we get a good look at a mighty 490 CID Marmon V16 with a wild four-carb induction setup. And at the very end, there’s a jarring warning about the menace of street racing. It’s all fascinating and a wonderful reminder of American motorsport’s hot rod roots. Video below.