Quote:
Originally Posted by Stephen W.
Well, the “nose high” look came about from necessity. Staring in the late 40’s drag racers learned that to get better traction they had to get more weight over the rear tires. The simplest way was to raise the front end. Usually by taking an “I” beam front and flipping it upside down. Then in the 50’s they started to fabricate custom tube front ends and of course some drag inspired street rods did the same.
The look became more refined throughout the 50’s as lead sleds began the Kool “reverse rake” with the rear bumper barely off the ground.
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They still do that to some degree for no prep races. They run really long travel front shocks and use the rebound to tune how quickly they extend so they can transfer weight to the rear. Some of those cars will wheelie trying to do a burnout on cold tires while trying to do a burnout on regular pavement or concrete.