been sidelined in favour of an ex-Clive Ward
FED. Dubbed Rebel, the car proved to be a
hard-hitter from the outset, running an 8.61-
second eighth-mile, which upset a few D/D
class regulars. “I had bought the rail as a roller
with a Cusso diff, then added the Cusso 239ci
sidevalve with homemade zoomies and early
Ford gearbox, once again only using second
and top gears,” Dad says. “As no one could get
slicks back then, we just used ordinary worn-
out car tyres. The rear rims are standard Ford
that I’d widened, and the fronts are 19-inch
spoke rims off a buggy, on a Ford Prefect stub
axle.” Rebel was also used as a drag racing
promotional tool at the hugely popular Rowley
Park Speedway (where my poppa, Murray
Parker, successfully raced).
05: A COOL shot that neatly sums up racing at
the time – a home-built FED rail push-started
by the daily, with the driver as the mechanic. It
may’ve been the heyday, but the guys and gals
were dealing with windy open paddocks with
dirt pits and return roads, minimal budgets, and
relatively little speed equipment on hand. To
win, you needed to be rich or very handy; Dad
was the latter. Here the now-white Rebel sports
a new 332ci Ford OHV FE Fairlane motor with
four-barrel carb, which sure made waves. The
then-current B/D (economy) class leaders were
running 186ci sixes at the time, so the bigger-
cubed OHV V8 was soon taking victories with
12.38-second quarters – not bad for a 21-year-
old in 1969!06: MY ever-supportive mum, Bernice Parker,
posing beside the newly overhead-valved rail
as they towed it to Calder for a meet. Back in
those days a winning car meant that you actually
made some money, and Mum often said thatdrag racing helped put food on the table. She
was part of the crew too, being the main ’chute
packer. Of course, you still had to actually tow
the car safely to and from the track: “I put a
221ci in my XM, instead of the 144ci; it went
a hell of a lot better towing then,” Dad smiles.07: BY 1975 Adelaide International Raceway
had finally opened and Dad stepped up the
game with ‘Parker the Carter’, an ex-Fred Hams
frame with a 272ci Cusso donk, which laid
down 11.2s. In this shot you can see Dad’s
beloved red XT GT, which he used as both push
and tow car. “The GT was a repossession that
I bought for only $3000,” he says. “But after
a few years those sorts of cars were getting
stolen at an incredible rate, and I was so worried
about losing it that I sold it and bought a red
Rambler Hornet.” Honestly, I’ve never seen a
photo of said Rambler! s4567