FEEDBACK ARTICLE -   LEGEND OF THE TRIPLE NICKEL 

I read with enjoyment your story of the Triple Nickel Mopar but I feel obliged to let you know that the legend of the Triple Nickel goes back another decade prior to the one you have featured.

The "Original" Triple Nickel drag car debuted in the mid-50's.  If you take a quick review of the December, 1956 issue of Rod and Custom you will find the cover car and feature article concerns the Walters and Murray 1929 Ford Roadster, 555.

(Bottom left magazine in this picture http://i10.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/80/3c/7ae2_1_b.JPG )

Mooneyham and Sharp's coupe was 554, this roadster was next in the Southern California dry lake numbering scheme...555.

After a short stay in Wichita, Kansas the Triple Nickel moved to Amarillo, Texas.

Under the ownership of Don Morgan and Bob Johnson The 555 roadster won Middle Eliminator at the very first race contested at Amarillo Dragway.

The Triple Nickel roadster was the cover car on the 1961 NHRA South Central Division Drag Strip Guide. http://www.goyda.com/images/product/misc55_big.jpg

The January, 1963 issue of Hot Rod magazine carried a multi-page article titled "Triple Nickel" with photos by Dale Ham (yes, the NHRA Division Director who was best man at the Triple Nickel's owner's wedding).

Fast foward a year or so and the Triple Nickel had moved to Kansas City, Missouri and became the AHRA A/Altered National Record Holder while being campaigned by Arrow Speed Shop.

From there the vehicle moved into the hands of my father. For the past 40+ years the Triple Nickel has sat in his garage with a 409 Chevrolet and B&M Hydrostick between the frame rails.

In the early 1990's Rod and Custom covered the car again as part of a pair of "where are they now?" type articles.

A slightly cartoonish version of the car (complete with the 555 numbering) appeared as the t-shirt design of a late 1990's Goodguys race event shirt held at Indianapolis.

With all that said, yes, the Mopar from your article was numbered 555 but the "Original" Triple Nickel had a decade long championship drag racing history before your featured cars ever rolled down the race track.  - Wayne Darlington, Akron, Ohio
 

FEEDBACK ARTICLE -   LEGEND OF THE TRIPLE NICKEL 

I read with enjoyment your story of the Triple Nickel Mopar but I feel obliged to let you know that the legend of the Triple Nickel goes back another decade prior to the one you have featured.

The "Original" Triple Nickel drag car debuted in the mid-50's.  If you take a quick review of the December, 1956 issue of Rod and Custom you will find the cover car and feature article concerns the Walters and Murray 1929 Ford Roadster, 555.

(Bottom left magazine in this picture http://i10.ebayimg.com/07/i/000/80/3c/7ae2_1_b.JPG )

Mooneyham and Sharp's coupe was 554, this roadster was next in the Southern California dry lake numbering scheme...555.

After a short stay in Wichita, Kansas the Triple Nickel moved to Amarillo, Texas.

Under the ownership of Don Morgan and Bob Johnson The 555 roadster won Middle Eliminator at the very first race contested at Amarillo Dragway.

The Triple Nickel roadster was the cover car on the 1961 NHRA South Central Division Drag Strip Guide. http://www.goyda.com/images/product/misc55_big.jpg

The January, 1963 issue of Hot Rod magazine carried a multi-page article titled "Triple Nickel" with photos by Dale Ham (yes, the NHRA Division Director who was best man at the Triple Nickel's owner's wedding).

Fast foward a year or so and the Triple Nickel had moved to Kansas City, Missouri and became the AHRA A/Altered National Record Holder while being campaigned by Arrow Speed Shop.

From there the vehicle moved into the hands of my father. For the past 40+ years the Triple Nickel has sat in his garage with a 409 Chevrolet and B&M Hydrostick between the frame rails.

In the early 1990's Rod and Custom covered the car again as part of a pair of "where are they now?" type articles.

A slightly cartoonish version of the car (complete with the 555 numbering) appeared as the t-shirt design of a late 1990's Goodguys race event shirt held at Indianapolis.

With all that said, yes, the Mopar from your article was numbered 555 but the "Original" Triple Nickel had a decade long championship drag racing history before your featured cars ever rolled down the race track.  - Wayne Darlington, Akron, Ohio