The Beadle Brothers - Tony and Don

Part Three - Flathead years and more 1974 - 2012

Produced by Mick Gleadow with help from Don Beadle and Tony’s widow Jennie.  Edited by Nick Pettitt

In the 1970s and ‘80s the National Drag Racing Club (NDRC) ran race meetings at nonpermanent venues such as Blackbushe, Fulbeck, Wroughton and Radlett, while the British Drag Racing and Hot Rod Association (BDRHRA) ran meetings almost exclusively at Santa Pod, with the occasional on tour meeting, such as at HMS Daedalus.

Both clubs were sympathetic to the flathead cause, in that they wanted to see flathead powered cars racing. Tony Beadle put a lot of effort into getting this good will, from both clubs. Ken Cooper, who had been racing flathead dragsters since 1965, was still racing his dragster and Tony had Gravedigger. There were also other guys, like Tony Whitehouse and myself and my brothers, who were in the process of building dragsters, but these were taking a bit of time.

As the numbers were so small, the aim of having a separate Flathead Eliminator was very difficult without the organising club's agreement. The racing structure in the 1970s consisted of grouping the cars by engine capacity and weight, putting flatheads up against ohv V8s that had an obvious power advantage.

Usually, flatheads were placed in the Senior Dragster Class featuring a variety of power plants including small block Chevys and Fords, V12 Jags, blown Daimler hemis, Buicks and Oldsmobiles. Usually progress for the flatheads through eliminations would end at the first round. Of course, sometimes you can get lucky, when race cars break down or don’t appear, so there was the occasional eliminator win.

Inspired by the success of the United Flathead Racers Association (UFRA) in America Tony had set up the British Flathead Racers Association (BFRA) in the UK. The first BFRA Newsletter was published in March 1974, with the caption “Dedicated to Fun”. Tony was the Editor and BFRA Secretary and it was printed on a Gestetner printer, which was the norm at the time. The newsletter announced a four-race BFRA Points Championship, at Santa Pod, Felton, Blackbushe and Silverstone. Flathead racers could still enter other meetings, but the dates gave a focus to concentrate on.

The BFRA record stood at 10.86 seconds 132 mph, held by Ken Cooper. As Tony said in Issue No.1 “So that’s what we’re all aiming at!!” Ken had already been out at the 1974 Santa Pod Season Opener clocking an 11 flat at 129mph but unfortunately the BFRA Championship didn’t happen that year due to cars not being ready in time and those that did come out suffered breakages. Tony had gone back to the states and attended a few UFRA race meetings, getting a few new ideas for his dragster including a trick transmission and probably brought a few more parts home as well!

Link to John Spoard’s UKDRN Forum and pics of Tony’s trip to the States in 1974... by clicking here. Newsletter number 2 wasn’t published until March 1975. It was reported that my brother Brian Gleadow and Roy Green had both started to build flathead dragsters. Tony reflected that 1974 had been a disappointing year but vowed to carry on as there was a lot of interest in flatheads and other new people coming onto the scene, such as Robert Blakemore and Martin Canto and a few months later Pete Bassett and Andy Swaffield.

Tony’s contacts in the States were now being put to good effect to bulk order parts, like crankshafts, cams, cylinder heads and whatever was needed. Dale Vaznaian then sourced all the parts and shipped the order back to Tony. The prices were very reasonable, like stroker cranks for £50, three or four carb manifolds £12.50 and Stromberg 97s for £5 each. Flathead racing was really affordable!

As well as bringing parts in from the States, Tony had also found sources in the UK. There were a few companies dealing with ex-military equipment from WW2 and the flathead was used a lot as a stationary engine to power generators and pumps. L. W. Vass of Ampthill, Bedfordshire usually had complete flathead engines for sale.

Tony also found Nordian Exports, Matching Airfield, Essex who as well as complete engines, kept a massive quantity of stock parts, like gaskets, piston rings, new carburettors etc. Tony organised a yearly trip to Nordians on a Saturday late in the year so we could stock up on parts needed in the following season. Of course, after getting our parts everyone went to the local pub nearby for lunch and a few pints! The social side of the BFRA was pretty good too! Nordian Exports owner, Wally Wheatley also put sponsorship into BFRA rounds and occasionally appeared at the track as well.

So, racing a flathead was practical and affordable but the big stumbling block was having to race heads up against ohv powered cars. The car had to meet cubic inch to weight requirements and the flathead was too heavy relative to the power it could make.

June 15th 1975 saw the first Flathead Eliminator in the UK when four cars turned up at the NDRC International Meet at Wroughton. Joining Tony Beadle and Ken Cooper were Pete Bassett with his Cavalier dragster and the team of Robert Blakemore, Roy Brownridge and Roger Guzowski running the BB and G car. Unfortunately, the BB and G car blew the trans during practice but continued running in high gear only. Ken beat Pete in the first round 11.53/124mph to 14.43/91mph and Tony took out the BB and G car 13.83/115mph to 16.07/98mph. The final saw Ken take it with an 11.86/123mph to Tony’s 12.86/118mph.

The next flathead race happened at Santa Pod’s Supernationals in August. Tony, Ken and the BB and G team turned up and this time Tony took the win running 11.70/126mph in the final to take out Ken’s 12.40/125mph. The flatheads were also running in Senior Dragster and Ken took the win taking out Tony Anderson’s blown Daimler hemi. He’d come back into the final via the break rule then the Daimler broke at the 300-yard mark letting Ken take it with an 11.87/121mph... Who was it that said Flatheads never die?!

Ken Cooper and the BB and G team also made it to the NDRC Midlands Division 1/8 mile meet at Long Marston a week later. All the dragsters were put into one eliminator, Ken was running an ultra low rear end gear and he took the eliminator win with a 7.46/107mph. Another three-car flathead race was held at Santa Pod in September with Ken taking the win then at Blackbushe in October Don Beadle had a go at driving Gravedigger in Senior Dragster running a best of 11.84/128mph but lost out to Bill Haynes injected ohv Ford.

1976 saw little action from the flatheads due to breakages and slow progress building cars but at Santa Pod in September five cars turned up. All the cars suffered from various breakages during eliminations which saw Andy Swaffield take the win.

Don Beadle was working at F1 team Nicholson McLaren at the time and had learnt a lot about the Cosworth DFV. He managed to get the cam specification and Tony had a flathead cam machined to the F1 spec; it made no real difference but was an interesting experiment.

1977 saw a low turnout of flatheads once again with no more than three cars competing and it wasn’t until September at Santa Pod that four cars came out to race. Tony Beadle, Ken Cooper, Andy Swaffield and Roy Green were all running strong and Tony took the win with an 11.19/126mph in the final to Ken’s 11.61/117mph. Tony also set a new BFRA Alky record at 11.16/125mph. Tony took the win again at the October meet and wound up BFRA Points Champion for 1977.

Tony had been writing letters to the BDRHRA competitions committee asking about the flatheads having their own eliminator instead of running in Senior Dragster. Up to now the flathead dragster eliminations had been run unofficially during qualifying or practice sessions before the main eliminators when the flatheads would then run heads up with other dragsters in the Senior Dragster class.

The BDRHRA racing structure was being reorganised for 1978 along the lines of the NHRA with all Dragsters and Altereds running in a Competition Eliminator handicapped against class records. BDRHRA race director and longtime hot rodder Peter Bartlett was in favour of a Flathead Eliminator provided it was agreed at the upcoming drivers meeting. It was also agreed that a minimum of four cars would be required, and they would receive no prize money from the club. This wasn’t a problem as Tony was already looking for sponsors for the class and had sent out 50 letters to various companies. They soon had replies and sponsorship from Watford Motor Accessories, the Penrose Wool Shop in Putney, Brian Taylor’s ¼ Mile Machine, Silkolene oil, Thames Valley Printers and Nordian Exports all putting money into the prize fund.

At the BDRHRA drivers meeting in November, which was attended by representatives of all four flathead dragsters that had been running in 1977, the request for a separate Flathead Eliminator was granted without a single objection. This decision was a culmination of many years hard work by both Tony Beadle and Ken Cooper. There was more good news when the NDRC and the NDRC (Midlands) also agreed to a Flathead Eliminator, as did the Pennine Drag Racing Club.

The 1978 Santa Pod Big Go saw Tony Beadle, Roy Green, Andy Swaffield and the BB and G team all out ready to race. Qualifying was hard and fast on the Sunday; everyone was trying each other’s rear wheels in the hope of lower ETs. Roy Green and the BB and G team set new personal bests while Tony Beadle was doing his usual trick of dropping bolts into the bellhousing whilst adjusting the clutch! Monday was race day and Roy Green in Resurrection pulled a good hole shot on Beadle who still took it with an 11.50/123mph to Roy’s 12.60/104mph. Then Roy Brownridge driving the BB and G car shut down Andy Swaffield in 4th Dimension as Andy’s overdrive let go, 12.01/115mph to 13.15/98mph. In the final both cars left together with the BB and G car taking a slight lead but with a top end charge Gravedigger took the win in 11.46/124mph to 12.08/116mph. Tony also set low ET and top speed of the meet clocking 11.31 and 125mph during qualifying.

Ken Cooper was back out at Long Marston in June making a five-car field but sadly Tony Beadle blew his motor to bits on his first qualifying run due to a broken lifter. After a full rebuild Tony was ready for action at Blackbushe in August. The motor fired up first time but after about 30 seconds on fast idle the clutch let go putting Tony out for the rest of the season. He then decided to sell the car; the chassis went to Roy Green and the 296 motor went to Robert Blakemore. Tony also stepped down as Editor and Chair of the BFRA, which was taken on by Robert Blakemore from Newsletter 44 and then me a few years later.

Despite all the difficulties racing flathead dragsters it was always a laugh and true to the motto “Dedicated to Fun”. Tony must be credited with providing the leadership of the BFRA although sometimes he described himself as “Old Grumpy” Not true!

The BFRA Newsletters have all been published on Nick Pettitt’s ‘British Drag Racing and Hot Rodding Archive’ website...

• BFRA Newsletters 1974-75
• BFRA Newsletters Jan-Jun 1976
• BFRA Newsletters Jul-Dec 1976
• BFRA Newsletters Jan-Jun 1977
• BFRA Newsletters Jul-Dec 1977
• BFRA Newsletters Feb-Jun 1978
• BFRA Newsletters Jul-Dec 1978
• BFRA Newsletters Jan-Jun 1979
• BFRA Newsletters Jul-Oct 1979
• BFRA Newsletters Feb-Jul 1980 

Beadle’s Bit from NDRC News...

Tony hadn’t given up on Drag Racing, far from it, and in October 1979 he bought the ex Tudor Rose chassis from John Gibbons and Vince Shaw who had been running it with an injected small block Chevy called Alkymist. He wanted to fit an ohv engine but not a Chevy as Tony always was a Ford man. So he set about sourcing a small block Ford of the 289/302 cubic inch variety. Basically, Tony wanted a fast but reliable car taking the Econo Dragster concept which was popular at the time.

The plan was to fund the new dragster by selling off the Gravedigger chassis and motor, but as we all know, these calculations never work out and its always “think of a cost and then double it” However, help was at hand as at a business lunch Tony met a representative from Croftshaw (Equipment) Ltd of Bromley, Kent. Initiated by a chance remark the whole deal was agreed in principle there and then to sponsor Tony’s new dragster. The cars name became Croftshaw Equipe, taking inspiration from the Herridge and Beadle Bros Glacier Bearing Special name of their Junior Fueler. Aided by the boost in funding, in November 1979, Tony bought Bill Haynes’ stock of small block Ford parts.

An essential stage in building the new dragster was extending the garage next to his and Jennie’s house in Ruislip by four feet! In 1980 work began in earnest on the new car and the first race meeting was in 1981 at the May Day Bank Holiday meeting. Tony ran throughout 1981 and by the end of the season had got the car down to 10.18/138 mph.

A detailed account of Tonys first year running Croftshaw Equipe was published in three consecutive Hot Rod and Custom magazines in February, March and April, which are published in the Gallery at the bottom of the page. 

At the 1982 Santa Pod Big Go Tony Beadle was experimenting with a Nitrous Oxide injection kit and surprised everybody, especially himself, when he pulled a giant wheelstand during qualifying and ran his first nine. The photographers had missed Tony's wheelstand but gathered in confident hordes on his next appearance, when the car stayed glued to the ground. Tony had in fact forgotten to switch the Nitrous on!!

Tony raced Croftshaw Equipe dragster through 1982 and 1983 running a best of 9.29. Then in September, Tony set a new D/Dragster speed record of 147 mph. Unfortunately, the small block Ford motor then decided that enough was enough and destroyed itself.

This led to Tony selling the chassis at the end of 1983 to Mick and Paul Wright and Richard Lyons who ran the car as Old Timer, with a Ford V6, which was then replaced by a 400” SBC and then a Kenny Coleman 355” SBC. In 2003 Richard bought out Mick and Paul and then began the restoration of the chassis to the current Tudor Rose cackle car with much help from Dave Riswick and Steve Green at John Woolfe Racing.

In his blog, Tony (bigbadbeadle) wrote...

‘The Rover V8 Championship was my idea while I was working as Technical Editor/Deputy Editor on Street Machine magazine. I’ve got a complete run of issues from that time so can look up when I first proposed the original idea, which was for an Econo Rail/Econo Altered class. I then went to see Dave Riswick at John Woolfe Racing, and he was more interested in sponsoring a street-based championship (Dave even suggested a Range Rover class) so we changed it to that. I wrote out the rules and did all the race reports until I switched magazines and became Editor of Classic American.’

So for several years, helped by his role working for Street Machine magazine, Tony was the organiser of the Rover V8 Challenge Series, which was very successful and launched the racing career of racers such as Steve Green and Paula Atkins.

But Tony still evidently had the itch to be racing his own car and so he then went into Autograss racing. Autograss racing has quite a long history in the United Kingdom, entertaining motorsport enthusiasts with low budget action and a grassroots appeal. Tony raced his own single seater grass track racer at Tongham Motor Club held at Four Marks near Alton in Hampshire. This was a small oval dirt track. The car was well prepared, as his cars always were, and Jennie says the car usually came back from race meetings covered in mud!

Phil Tunbridge, a longtime friend and crew member on the Beadle Bros dragsters, had a BSA bike given to him by the Beadle Bros’ dad and he took it to Canada when he emigrated there. Phil then passed the BSA on to Don Beadle as he wasn't doing anything with it and Don restored it, getting an award for the restoration.

After racing, in the early 1990s Tony finally hung up his helmet to focus on a journalism role. Tony was quite a wordsmith, and he could write informatively and in an engaging way. This talent was recognised while he was still an active racer as is shown below...

• Editor of National Drag Racer Magazine 1971 – 72
• Editor of UK Drag Racer Magazine 1982 – 83, as Technical Editor then Assistant Editor.
• Technical Editor, then Deputy Editor of Street Machine in 1987.
• Editor of Classic American Magazine, an idea developed by Tony, in 1989.
• Editor of American Car World in 1993
• Editor of Triumph World Magazine in 1995.

As well as a respected journalist of magazine titles, Tony published a number of books about American cars, for which he has a great affinity and also anything a bit quirky, including the following...

1. The American Automobile: for Salamander Books.
2. Chevrolets of the 1950s: for Windrow and Greene.
3. Greyhound: for Osprey Automotive
4. Mustang – for Brian Trodd Publishing.
5. Armadale to Aquila – The History of Vehicle Manufacturing in Hillingdon, Middlesex – for Panic Button Press.

Some of Tony’s magazine articles and books...

Conclusion...

The Beadle Brothers made a huge contribution to drag racing and were also successful in branching out into other areas of motorsport and journalism. Don has made his home in the States since the 1970s, married to his wife Cathy. Tony was very active in all his endeavours until his untimely death in 2012. His wife Jennie and son John have been invaluable in putting together these stories. The respect Tony had and the regard in which he was held can be seen from the tributes to him on Eurodragster.

Link for Tributes to Tony Beadle (eurodragster.com) can be found at this link.

By any standards the Beadle Brothers were two remarkable men who were well liked and respected in their many endeavours..