Ivan Thompson is a youthful Topekan who likes to drive fast—very, very fast.

But for short distances; like a quarter of a mile.

And he does this highballing with the approval of the police department. Ivan Thompson, 2, is a drag racer and an extremely able one. That is, he drives fast on the drag strip (up to 120 miles per hour within 1300 feet) and he makes prize money doing it.

Stocky, blond Ivan Thompson, who helps his father run the Tire and Battery Service Station at 234 Jackson that bears the family name, commenced his drag-racing career back in 1956 with a nearly stock sedan. In those days the closest quarter-mile strip was located in the Kansas City, Mo. Ivan spent a great many weekends at the track and competed successfully in his sedan class. However, he soon grew dissatisfied with the limited speed that his auto could produce on the strip so he decided to look around for something with more pep.

He didn’t find it, however; he built it.

Starting with a rusty old Model-T frame that he purchased from a farmer Ivan began constructing his drag racer.

Bodies for old Model-T’s are hard to come by and usually take an immense amount of time and labor to reconstruct so Thompson bought a fiberglass body-shell from a California firm that specializes in duplicating “T” bodies.

Next came a powerplant. The young auto enthusiast looked around, compared specifications and performance figures and decided on a 1959 Chevrolet V-8 of 301 cubic inches displacement. Ivan carefully tore down the engine and reassembled it according to his own wants. Besides modifying it for improved performance he added a pair of gigantic carburetors. Then he fitted to each bank of cylinders exhaust headers that efficiently extract all the burned gases from the cylinders. These “headers” empty into a pair – one for each side – of wide-mouthed pipes.

To the back of his creation Ivan added a pair of extra large tires called “racing slicks”, completely bare of tread for a more efficient start on the smooth asphalt of a drag strip. In front two small magnesium wheels and tires are mounted.

In drag-racing, Thompson explained, weight at the rear of the vehicle, over the driving wheels is essential. Accordingly, in the tiny, lockable trunk of the glass body, the auto builder added weight. In fact, he strapped in 450 pounds of lead – just to hold down the rear end and increase traction.

For safety Thompson added an iron roll-bar which can protect him in case the car turns over.

Thompson doesn’t drive his speedy creation to the drag races. Instead, he pulls it on a heavy-duty trailer of his own design and construction.

Why does a young fellow go to all the trouble of building and racing a dragster?

“Part of it is the money,” Thompson admits candidly.

However, he adds, that’s not all – “it’s a lot of fun and a challenge too.”

The young racer is a consistent winner in his class and it is only through winning that a racer gets paid.

“At a drag meet,” he explained, “we race in classes. For instance, I race against other modified cars that can be driven on the street.” That means that the car must have a self-starter, radiator, fenders and be capable of being driven on pump gasoline (as opposed to alcohol or a racing fuel)>

“Actually, there is no money to be gained by winning a class race; trophies are awarded, not cash,” Thompson pointed out. “It’s in the eliminator races that we make our expenses.” The eliminator heat is a race in which the winners of each class compete against one another for the fastest times in the quarter-mile lap. And it’s here that Thompson “makes expenses.”

“I’ve been lucky,” he admits, with becoming modesty. “But you have to be consistent and on the ball to win money.”

And Ivan Thompson is apparently all of these things for his hobby and avocation have been supported by his winnings. Also, he has scores of gold trophies to attest his skill and driving ability in the class races.

Thompson, who reckons that it would cost $2000 to duplicate his racer, figures on tearing down his engine for overhaul and inspection twice a season. “Just before the season begins I disassemble the engine and put it back together again. Then I do it again just before the championship races in September.”

Apparently this attention to his powerplant has paid off for the Topekan has taken first place in his class each time he has appeared for the championship races at Fort Worth. And the auto still has a lot of racing life left in it.

“I’ll stick with the car as long as it keeps running and winning,” Thompson declared.

And the shiny, black dragster shows no signs of slowing down.

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