Don Garlits Long and Storied Career

When we heard that legendary drag racer “Big Daddy” Don Garlits was coming to our hometown to play a VIP gig at the Iola Old Car Show, we decided to drop by his location to see what was exciting.  We got the biggest kick out of his “trick trailer” that serves double duty as a museum telling the story of his life.

Garlits used the trailer to haul his Wynn’s Carger Mopar dragster from Florida to Wisconsin, but once the car was situated out front for autograph and photo taking sessions, the trailer became his archives.

Spectators were able to enter it and view a wonderful collection of photos – including many historical 8×10 black and white shots that traced his career from new-kid-on-the-block to king of the hill.  It is well known that Garlits appreciates history (he runs a car museum at home in Ocala, Fla.) and his photos prove it.

Looking at Garlits’ photos made us wonder how many other racers and car collectors use photos to decorate their car hauling trailers.  When you think about it, the use of photos is a great idea.  You can have enlargements of your cars and race wins made for just a couple of bucks and they will add interest to any trailer.  Garlits had the walls of the trailer plastered with photos from one end to the other.

The photos were not framed (which would add to the cost and possibly make for a lot of rattling as the rig moves down the road).  Instead, the prints were mounted on a common black background and notes about what each photo showed were written in long hand with white ink.  Many photos were from the early 1960s, when Garlits also raced Mopar powered dragsters and Mopar cars.

Photos like these make a car hauling trailer more interesting.  If you don’t want to eat up as much sidewall space as Garlits does with the photos in his trailer, you can put a line of photos all around the top of the trailer sidewalls or you can mount them on the front wall or even the back of the rear door(s) or ramp door… Remember, if you have a ramp door, the car is going to be rolling over the photos, so protect them with plastic or Plexiglas or by clear coating them decoupage style.