Did anyone ever see "Jungle Jim" Liberman race on the East Coast?

I've done some reading up on this drag racing icon and never knew how immensely popular he was in the 60's and 70's. He literally provided all the entertainment of a traveling circus, whether running his car or talking to his fans. I didn't realize he was originally from Pennsylvania, and drove a Yellow Corvette. Did anyone here know him or meet him personally? Here is a good article that outlines his life pretty well. :cheers: http://www.nhra.com/50th/top50/J_Liberman17.html

[Mac]

Uh oh..... what's this?

One of Liberman's strengths over the years was that he was the leading banner carrier for the underdog Chevrolet contingent. There was some grumbling from die-hard purists in 1969 when he was finally forced to set aside his beloved rat motor in favor of a Chrysler Hemi, but he actually built upon his popularity by adding improved performances to his already established standards of showmanship.

[Grey Ghost]

One of his cars is in Big Daddy's Museum in Ocala, Fl. I always stop in ! Just off the interstate, if you are ever in the area. Also has Big's cars and others. Man, what a great place. His mom was there last year. So nice and friendly ! Big even answered an email that I sent to the musuem - personally ! :cheers:

[Lynndale]

Saw him only once. Capitol Raceway near Washington, DC. Summer of 1970.
He was a wild man! He'd back up from his burnout faster than a lot of the stockers raced!!

:cheers:

[wallyknoch]

I knew him well from Drag Racing. Run against him several times and we would all go out to eat after the races. :thumbs: :flag

Uh oh..... what's this?

One of Liberman's strengths over the years was that he was the leading banner carrier for the underdog Chevrolet contingent. There was some grumbling from die-hard purists in 1969 when he was finally forced to set aside his beloved rat motor in favor of a Chrysler Hemi, but he actually built upon his popularity by adding improved performances to his already established standards of showmanship.

Mac, I think by the early 70's, if you were a serious AA/FC or AA/FD and wanted to win races, you pretty much had to use a Keith Black Hemi. KB was an infamous engine builder from California, who catered to the nitro racers.

Yes, it says Chrysler, but I think it was the design only, because Keith built the complete aluminum long block at his factory. I've seen one of his complete engines advertised on eBay and his name is cast into the block. I can't help thinking that he was contractually obligated to use "Chrysler" when mentioning his product line, but his engines were far from a stock Hemi engine. Check his site below. :thumbs:
http://www.keithblack.com/history.html

[JohnZ]

Mac, I think by the early 70's, if you were a serious AA/FC or AA/FD and wanted to win races, you pretty much had to use a Keith Black Hemi. KB was an infamous engine builder from California, who catered to the nitro racers.

When I was running my AA/FD in 1961-62, I sent my 6-71 blowers to Keith Black for machine work, bearings, drive gears, and end plates; nobody in the Detroit area in those days knew how to set up a 6-71 so it'd live for more than a couple of runs in a fueler. I was touring with the car, and needed the reliability on the road to keep the car running; he was big with blowers before he developed the KB aluminum Hemi block (in those days, we ran Chrysler Marine blocks and heads with Moldex cranks and Carillo rods).
:steering:

One of his cars is in Big Daddy's Museum in Ocala,

Grey Ghost, another one of JJ's cars is in the Smithsonian Museum of History and Technology in Washington DC. It's right next to Big Daddy's Swamp Rat #30. I haven't had a chance to see it, but I did see the Swamp Rat...wow, what an awesome machine!! :eek: That was the first time I ever saw a AA/FD from 4 feet away. :yesnod:

[Bowlerdude]

I never saw Jungle Jim race on the east coast but I saw him many times here on the west coast. The Manufacturers Funny Car Meet at Orange County International Raceway was always a great event. Also saw Jungle Jim at Lions, he always put on a good show.

Anyone know where Jungle Pam is?

[67HEAVEN]

Anyone know where Jungle Pam is?

http://www.junglepam.com/

[SBR]

I remember putting together model kits of his cars when I was a kid. :cheers:

[GregP]

Not quite the east coast, but I did see him and Jungle Pam at US30 in Indiana in the 60-70 time frame. Jungle Pam is still around, saw an interview with her on Speed channel a while ago during a show about Jungle Jim.

-Greg

[transamsd73]

I saw Jungle Jim race at the old Connecticut Dragway in Colchester, Ct back in the late 60's, early 70's. I also saw him race at the SummerNationals at Englishtown NJ in 1975, 1976. He was a spectacular showman. I think every teenage boy was in love with Jungle Pam!

[dennis]

saw him quite a bit at E-town. Remember being there the day they landed on the moon back in 69. Think there was a rain delay

[transamsd73]

When I saw him at E-town, he was not qualified for the finals. It was the last round of qualifying, and they were putting the car together in the staging lanes. They got it done, fired it up and he qualified for Sunday. Though he did not win, he was a crowd favorite, who would have given any racer today a run for their money, especially with his burnouts.

[3X2]

Saw Jungle many times at Maple Grove, Atco, Cecil, and E-town. Along with Ritchie Zul, JJ was my favorite driver back in the 70's Here's some links to JJ and JP:

http://www.junglepam.com/jj-photos.html

http://66.154.44.164/forum/showthread.php?t=233012

[C409]

..... Everyones eyes were on Pam ..... .....

[rwlc5]

I saw him and Pam many times at Capitol raceway in Crofton Md. Just this past Saturday I went to the Simeone Foundation museum near Philadelphia and they had an exhibit on drag racing. They had a Jungle Jim Vega on a hauler.