Difference between m/p class & gas classes back in the day?

[oldbee]

Was in garage and looking at pic of Vanke in the 70’s with a B/gas at 9.85. I realize I don’t remember the rules anymore. Believe the gas classes were more lenient on engine mods & weight? Might be interesting for the younger people. ( dvw, Mike Gaines,cranky& others). Gotta keep the knowledge base updated!

 

[Budnicks]

Modified Production
?/MP
MP was proceeded by a letter designation
for weight/per cid A,B,C,D ?/MP etc.
the lower the 1st letter in the alphabet, the faster & usually lighter the car
& what types of Fuel, or mods they ran also,
no wipers, no window cranks, no heaters, no interiors etc.
other words 'Modified'

It was very similar to Comp Eliminator classes today

IIRC, someone will correct me If I'm wrong

I don't think
the CE classes started until after early to mid 70's (?)
I want to say 1967-68, it started to change, out west anyway

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My stepdad Bob ran his 64 GTO 389cid 4 bbl 4 speed 4.11:1 combo,
in like F or G (?)/MP in 1964-65 IIRC it ran mid 12's in 1967-ish
(I wanna say 12.49-ish) I was 8 y/o
It had headers & dumps/opened cutt-outs, with full exhaust still
& with special shocks & clutch & a set of M&H Cheater Slick,
(the old pie crust style of hard *** slicks, with 2 grooves in them for tread)
the rest was pretty much stock, just finely tuned & blueprinted
shaved/milled heads to bump the compression, & a trick Quadrajet

IIRC 'the old 64' was H/S Eliminator in NHRA later,
pretty much-gutted interior, still working window, cranks & 1 bucket seat
before he changed cars
he was a Pontiac guy, had several GTO's & Firebirds/Formulas
from 64-71

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NHRA Comp Eliminator classes was/is a refined system,
way more classes
like A/gas, B/Gas, AA/Gas(AA = blown), many many different classes
other examples like A/A, B/A ,C/A altereds
or A, B or C/EA etc. econo-altereds, in both of the altered classes
(there's nothing 'Econo' about Econo Altered class)
there's tons of them, for all styles of builds

example;
again weight/per cid 1st letter is weight
(or first letters, of AA designates Blown, alcohol used to be BB/A etc.)
& body/chassis style, is the second letter after the slash /
my AA/A (or AA/Gas Nostalgia) 301cid 23 T altered blown/gas
could be injected or carb/s
was IIRC 6#/per cid,
The car could weight 1,806#'s min. ready to race without driver
plus whatever extra fuel or ballast, you needed to make weight after the race
(or tech. going across the scales 'after the race/round or qualifying' 1,806#s),
not any less,
you can weight more, like for added ballast or fuel etc.
but you will be disqualified after the run, if it weighs less

the photo was like 1978-1980-ish

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Mostly all weight/per cid
with some liberal head & camshaft &/or chassis mods in MP
or now CE classes
most are all-out race cars,
with a 'National Index', is what you run on or against
sort of a bracket race still, just no breakouts (per se)
more of a run what you brung, makes sure it fits the rules
& have at it all out, no dumping people at the stripe,
not them hard on the brakes or throttle stops needed etc.

(based on the best runs/per class, set record/averages)

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not like the Stock, Stock Eliminator or even current Super/Stock classes
which have much stricter rules,
what can be done with the engines & suspensions, tires, shocks,chassis etc.

the Nostalgia S/S classes (NSS) stuff is far different, rules wize
far more liberal, rules of what can be done to the engine
especially CID limits (some huge CID engines in NSS)
& some highly modified suspension/chassis too
then it's counterpart in NHRA S/S classes

if any of that makes any sense

 

[33 IMP]

I may be completely wrong, but I thought the gasser classes morphed into modified production, which then eventually morphed into comp eliminator.

 

[gkent]

From what I recall, MP sat between Super Stock and Pro Stock and was primarily for older bodied cars. Whereas Super Stockers were limited to "stock" intakes, etc. a MP car could run what was essentially a Pro Stock motor. The difference between MP and Pro Stock being Pro Stock had to run current model year bodies whereas MP could run older bodies. GAS cars were pretty much anything you wanted as long as it was normally aspirated and ran on ... gas. Had a friend who ran a B/Gas Challenger in the '70's ... tube frame, 'glass one-piece front end, tube front axle, tunnel ram hemi (previously fuel injected) - it had been Sam Giannino's car.

 

[Shorthorse]

MP was created to fill the gap between S/SS classes and Gassers. As for the differences, I'm not sure how MP evolved over the years but originally you had to maintain all the body panels like inner fenders, braces etc. Chassis & suspension could not be modified, no straight axles. Multiple carburetors allowed, no fuel injection or blowers. No engine set back. I could be wrong but I believe the car had to be all steel with the exception of the hood scoop or any car that came with factory aluminum parts. Also, no gutted interiors. That's all I remember but hey, at my age I'm lucky to remember what the question was.

 

[blue_stocker]

Semi-correct guys...NHRA Modified Production was based on production bodied cars, f'glass (scoop only with limited height), tin hoods, full interior, basic stock front suspension with slight rear mods, tire width according to class (A/MP, B/MP, etc), 1x4, 2x4, 3x2 carburetion, slicks had to be within the stock/unaltered qtr panels, all competition handicaps were based on National Record runs, not a dial-in index so if you couldn't run NR times you were not competitive and would ultimately be round fodder, (which I was)! Hahaha...nonetheless, it was lots of fun seeing small blocks high-winding RPM to the moon and it was THE crowd-pleaser back-in-the-day!

On-the-other-hand, gas classes had 10% engine set-back, radius rear fenderwells, fiberglass and plexi-glass (no lexan then), straight axles, carb or mechanical fuel injection (blowers allowed in AA/GS, BB/GS classes), all kinds of neat car combos, '33, '39-41 Willys, English Ford Anglia, Austin, lots of 50s Chevs, any car combo you might be able to consider if it fit the rules, gasoline only...pretty wild and some great racing! BTW, both M/P and Gas were full bodied production-type cars, unlike Competition Eliminator which had Alterds, street roadsters, dragsters, and the ultra bad-*** AA/FA (but nothing like CE cars today)...fuel alterds were king for my buck!