“Big Daddy” Don Garlits himself! Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Florida
Whew! After the (not) overwhelming response from my last post I needed a break. Actually, I just kind of got distracted and forgot that I hadn’t finished the series from our Florida trip.
Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Florida
If I had any boyhood heroes that weren’t astronauts, one of them would certainly be drag racing legend “Big Daddy” Don Garlits. Garlits’ name is to drag racing fans what Richard Petty’s or Mario Andretti’s names are to stock car and Indy car racing. Old fans, at least. 😉
Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Florida
As we were driving past Ocala, FL on I-75, I saw a sign that said “Drag Racing Museum Next Exit.” Then I saw whose museum it was! We didn’t have time to stop on our way south, but made a point to visit on the way back home from St. Petersburg. Yes, it was another museum, and art of a different kind than painting and glass! And of course Kathy was thrilled to have something else to look at besides airplanes. 🙂
Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Florida
Here are way too many photos from our visit. But there were way too many cars, and even this is a small sliver of what we saw. Highlight of our visit, of course, was that “Big Daddy” himself was there, giving a personal tour to a small group of fans. We listened to a few stories before they disappeared behind a door that said “Employees Only.”
Garlits has assembled an impressive collection of not only his own cars, but cars from the history of drag racing. And that is just in one building! A second building houses hundreds of mostly stock cars from the 30s forward. A few even older than that. Many of the cars are from Garlits’ personal collection, but a lot of them have been donated over the years by thoughtful and generous owners. We spent a couple of hours there. I could have spent longer, but we needed to move on up the road. So we could get home just in time for a winter storm!
Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Florida
Enjoy the photos!
Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FloridaDon Garlits Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, Florida
4 thoughts on ““Big Daddy” Don Garlits’ Museum of Drag Racing”
Good grief, that is a lot of cars and trophies and money in those buildings. I suppose they wouldn’t let you pick out one to take back home.
It’s a very impressive collection, for sure. If I could only choose one I’d be hard pressed. Probably opt for something I could drive, like the MG or the 65 Mustang.
As a kid I used to draw cars instead of paying attention in school. Some of those streamliners and custom cars were much like the ones I drew. The drawings are long gone but I remember the cars.
Big Daddy Don Garlits!
A childhood hero of mine, for sure. Back when Wide World of Sports would feature drag races from time to time…. and before there were all the dedicated sports TV channels we have now.
What an awesome happenstance to run across the museum AND the Big Daddy himself!
Those dragsters from that era were just so flippin’ dangerous, which I’m sure was part of the appeal to our young testosterone-driven brains (or other organs). I had a friend in high school who had a Chevelle that he’d hopped up. He had a sign on the dash that said, “Strap in, Shut Up and Hold On. ”
I’d probably pick the MG myself… reminds me of the MG-TC that my uncle used to own. He let me drive it once – I was in my mid-teens. It was easy to feel like the King of the World in that car.
It was very cool to see Big in person, for sure!
I do remember seeing the occasional drag race on TV, probably WWoS, but most of my racing information at the time came from National Speed Sport News, which my dad got weekly (and I sold for a time at a local race track – little bit of trivia!) and Hot Rod Magazine. I was especially interested in the streamlined cars, the “chopped” 30s coupes and the “Pro Stock” cars, which as you know where just barely modified – except for the engines – street cars. I used to draw cars all the time and loved trying to recreate the lines of some of those bodies!
I got to see Snake (Prudhomme) and Mongoose (McEwen) at a local drag strip when they were doing their Mattel-sponsored match race series. That is a great memory and I have some (poor) photos.
The MG-TD has always been my favorite since it uses my initials. 😉
Good grief, that is a lot of cars and trophies and money in those buildings. I suppose they wouldn’t let you pick out one to take back home.
It’s a very impressive collection, for sure. If I could only choose one I’d be hard pressed. Probably opt for something I could drive, like the MG or the 65 Mustang.
As a kid I used to draw cars instead of paying attention in school. Some of those streamliners and custom cars were much like the ones I drew. The drawings are long gone but I remember the cars.
Big Daddy Don Garlits!
A childhood hero of mine, for sure. Back when Wide World of Sports would feature drag races from time to time…. and before there were all the dedicated sports TV channels we have now.
What an awesome happenstance to run across the museum AND the Big Daddy himself!
Those dragsters from that era were just so flippin’ dangerous, which I’m sure was part of the appeal to our young testosterone-driven brains (or other organs). I had a friend in high school who had a Chevelle that he’d hopped up. He had a sign on the dash that said, “Strap in, Shut Up and Hold On. ”
I’d probably pick the MG myself… reminds me of the MG-TC that my uncle used to own. He let me drive it once – I was in my mid-teens. It was easy to feel like the King of the World in that car.
It was very cool to see Big in person, for sure!
I do remember seeing the occasional drag race on TV, probably WWoS, but most of my racing information at the time came from National Speed Sport News, which my dad got weekly (and I sold for a time at a local race track – little bit of trivia!) and Hot Rod Magazine. I was especially interested in the streamlined cars, the “chopped” 30s coupes and the “Pro Stock” cars, which as you know where just barely modified – except for the engines – street cars. I used to draw cars all the time and loved trying to recreate the lines of some of those bodies!
I got to see Snake (Prudhomme) and Mongoose (McEwen) at a local drag strip when they were doing their Mattel-sponsored match race series. That is a great memory and I have some (poor) photos.
The MG-TD has always been my favorite since it uses my initials. 😉