John Austin
John ‘Tarzan’ Austin grew up as a typical Southern California boy in the 1950’s. He was interested in cars and speed long before he was able to obtain a driver’s license but when he did get his license, his first car was a 1937 Chevy four door sedan. At the age of 16 John was able to join one of the more recognized car clubs in So Cals San Fernando Valley, the Throttle Merchants. Most of the club’s members, including John, were to be found at the local drag strip every weekend, competing for trophies, and learning how to build and drive a modified car. John was no different and if you really wanted to find him, just show up at one of the racetracks on a Saturday or Sunday.
In 1960 John got his first ride in a true race car when Ted Worby, another Throttle Merchants member, let him drive his supercharged Chrysler Hemi powered AA/Gas dragster. However, unlike most of his fellow club members, John was not employed in the automotive arena but as a bouncer at a local Valley bar. This along with his physical appearance, strength and his unique voice earned him the nickname “Tarzan” that has stayed with him over the years.
Over the years, two of the major car clubs headquartered in Southern California’s San Fernando Valley were the Road Kings and the Throttle Merchants but John bridged the gap between the two when Road King member, Tommy Ivo sold his 4-engine powered dragster to another Road King member, Tom McCorry. At the beginning of the 1963 racing season, McCorry asked John to go on tour with him as his crew chief but Ivo learned about the arrangement and managed to talk John into going on tour with him instead. This was the start of a long time “touring team” arrangement between John and Ivo with both of them working on the car. Ivo was team owner and driver, but John took over responsibility for maintaining the car and sharing the driving chores of the tow rig.
In 1971, John teamed up with Arnie Behling who was campaigning a AA/Fuel dragster known as ‘The Sprite Team’ as his crew chief. As crew chief and tuner, John helped tune the car into the winner’s circle at the NHRA Summernationals in Englishtown, NJ. In 1972 John moved to Greg Scheigert’s Hot Tuna AA/Fuel dragster camp and fulfilled his longtime dream of driving a nitro burning dragster as well as assuming the Crew Chief position for the team. John held that job until 1974 when the car’s engine exploded during a qualifying run and he crashed the dragster at the Gatornationals in Gainesville, FL and Scheigert retired from racing.
In 1975 John not only moved to another team, he also moved from the AA/Fuel dragster class to the controls of a AA/Fuel Funny Car, the supercharged Chrysler Hemi powered Vega that was being campaigned as the Bluegrass Shaker. The team was able to finish second in the NHRA Division 3 championship points that year but a massive engine explosion and fire near the end of the season left John with his hands burned and no ride and, which helped him decide to retire as a driver and stay involved as a crew member for various teams.
After that, John went to work at Raymond Beadles Chaparral Trailers in Dallas, TX where he learned to build trailers for a lot of his racer friends. Over the years John has stayed in touch with most of his racer buddies and helped bring a lot of laughs to their “social gatherings” but he also helped bring a lot of new ideals and great publicity to the sport.