This man is so cool, a bright and clever and witty, and a pioneer of the sport. A great mechanic and drive tolled up in one. Right Big Daddy you the man.
Thank you for this video! I've been going through looking for all of the older NHRA videos the past few years for my father, Bob Taaffe. He was crew chief for Don and was instrumental in helping build Swamp Rat 11. I'm glad I was able to show him some videos before he passed November 20, 2021. Don has been so great these past few months, and even helped to get a trophy urn for my dad. My father will be in his urn in the museum next to Swamp Rat XI.
I promise that I'll look for it, when I get a chance to complete my tour of the Museum, in the future. Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing was one of my Highlites of visiting Florida.
@@JohnGood-fz3vm Thank you, I appreciate it! It means a lot to me. The swamp rat 11 is near the left as you walk in the front doors from the gift shop. Maybe 3 dragsters in, if I remember correctly.
Been there prob 10 times ,and when I pull up in the parking lot, Iam like a little kid . Cant wait to get in there ,he has so much to see .Thank God he never threw anything out .You really need several days to see every thing ,read all the info thats available and if you can ,take the tour with Don .We did it in 2008 and he answered any and all questions .Just remember to let him read your lips when speaking .Those big hemis were def hard on his hearing .God blessed us with ,Don Garlits.
What memories! Used to go down to Valkaria Florida in the 60's to watch him smoke his way down the track in his rail. Not many folks there at that time, but he sure put on a show! Yes Don, thank God for his amazing grace he had on your life!
My Dad drove Pro Stock & Funny Cars in the early to late 1960s before he went to Vietnam. I got to sit in BIG DADDY's Lap and do a burnout nothing like it in the world it was one of the #1 highlights of my life. I would stand behind the Christmas tree in a fireman's jacket and helmet with face shield and watch them go down the track and having rubber from the tires hitting me so much fun BIGLOVE to Don Garlits he is the BIG DADDY of the drag strip. I still have all the shirts and hats he autograft for me he is the greatest of all times.
I couldn’t imagine the Sport of Racing ever forgetting who DonGarlits is or eventually was ! I grew up inSouthFlorida and there is never a Occassion i miss to stop by his Museumn or mention it to whoever i meet it’s my all time favorite and i personally love all the “Failed “ Experiments he designed and executed IMO it’s not a Fail if if something was learned from it ironically many great Inventers will admit that sometimes it was the Failures that made themSuccessfull
Growing having a dad who liked both guys....I believe they are both good, hardworking men, and family men also. They were legendary in their great big personalities.
I was AT Lion’s Drag Strip, in Wilmington, CA (just outside of Long Beach), on Sunday, March 8,1970....and was a witness to all that mayhem in the final round against Richard Tharp, in Swamp Rat 13....I remember even after the car cut itself in two....the engine was still running...it was just sitting there...idling. I was 8 years old. Terrifying to watch. My adopted dad thought I had seen enough, as they getting him out of the car and wrapping up was left of his severed foot.... He grabbed me by the wrist, and got us outta there.
Like they say in NHRA Drag Racing, I got my Baptism by NITRO by Big Daddy Don Garlits & TV Tommy Ivo at the old U.S.30 Dragstrip in Indiana at my very first ever drag rave in the 1970's and I have been hooked ever since, I have seen BIG race at U.S 30 & Great Lakes Dragaway in Wisconsin and Cordova Illinois. Another thing I would love to see BIG bring out that old Swamp Rat #14 to these cackle fests and cackle the first rear engine dragster that changed the sport.
My Wife and I went to Florida on a trip,we drive truck long haul and had the chance of a life time to go through his museum it was and still is one of the high lights of our lives,if we get the chance we are going to do it again
(With all respect to Don Garlits) He didn't invent the rear engine dragster. There were alot of other racers who had other types of rear engine dragsters, Art Arfons ran a V-12 rear engine, TV Tommy Ivo ran a great nitro rear engine racer. Tony Nancy had nitro rear engine dragster. What Big Daddy did was he made his run hard n fast and very successful..
Running an open rear end (instead of locked) and slowing down the steering were the keys. He was the first to make it work RIGHT and SAFELY. Don is living proof that most safety rules are written in blood.
