Description
By Fred W."Bill" Fisher, Softbound, ISBN: 9781931128056, 129 Pages, 1995 Reprint of 1954 Classic -
Hot rod - Chevrolet Six-Cylinder 216 & 235 CID Engines, GMC 228, 248, 256, 270 & 302 CID Engines, Buick Straight-Eight 248 & 320 CID Engines
Forty-one years later I am pleased to reprint my 1954 Chevrolet Speed Manual. They had become almost impossible to find, and good copies were selling for $50 at swap meets.
Our son Howard Fisher suggested we reprint the Chevrolet Speed Manual and Ford Speed Manual to make them available to today's auto enthusiasts who yearn to learn more about how it was "back then."
Since 1954, a lot of things have happened. In 1956 I co-founded Go-Power Corporation to make go-kart engine parts, wheels and books. Subsequently, I designed the first dynamometer for that company. In 1968 I started HPBooks that became (and still is!) a major supplier of automotive books—as well as books on cooking, photography, family health, and gardening. The automotive titles, among others, are still being published today. They include books I co-authored on How to Hotrod Small-Block Chevrolets, How to Hotrod Big-Block Chevrolets, Holley Carburetors & Manifolds, and How to Hotrod Volkswagen Engines.
The Holley book has sold over a million copies. That company was sold in 1979 and is now part of Putnam's Berkeley Book Division.
I started racing cars at the dry lakes (El Mirage) in the '50s, continuing with participation at the Bonneville Nationals Speed Trials. I had not been back for several years when I got interested and began racing again in 1978. We set two records in 1979, putting two drivers (Doug Roe and Ron Armstrong) into the Bonneville 200 MPH Club
with our car. In 1981 I joined the Bonneville 200 MPH Club by setting a record at 207.287 mph. Plus, we set an additional record that year to put Tom Monroe in the Bonneville 200 MPH Club.
The cover illustration of the Nicson-equipped engine is the same one we used on the 1949 edition. The race car drawing represents John Hartman's Wayne Chevy track roadster. That drawing appeared on the GMC Speed Manual I did in 1955.
Any of you who are seriously interested in inline engines (4, 6, 8) should join Inliners International. Visit their website, www.inliners.org, for information. Their fine magazine is called The 12-Port News. Six issues cost $24.00 for U.S., and $34.00 for Canada and Overseas.
Bill Fisher November 25, 1995
Life long auto enthusiast Bill Fisher died May 20, 1999. Today his son Howard continues to operate the family publishing business - as at 2004.
