The automotive aftermarket industry started as a cobbled-together collection of grease monkeys and outlaws. So it can be humbling to think how it is now a $250 billion-a-year industry, just in America. eBay, the Internet, and the rise of specialty equipment manufacturers has made buying parts and finding races easier than ever.

Back in drag racing’s heyday though, none of these resources were around. Racers and wrenches relied on magazines like Drag News and National Dragster to find cars, parts, and races to throw down at.

While most of these magazines have long since been trashed or recycled, Bangshift happens to have a large collection of these vintage racing rags lying around. They scanned a collection of advertisements and it’s awesome to see advertisements from familiar names dating back more than 40 years.

We’ve only picked out a handful of favorites to chew on, but Bangshift posted up dozens of these old advertisements, so definitely make sure to check them out. The first advertisement that really caught our eye was for 301 Chevy small blocks, complete with 12.5:1 or 11:1 pistons, all new internals including a Crane camshaft for just $299. You can barely even buy a set of pistons for $299 anymore!

Further down the page we found a ‘vert from Koons Ford, which bragged about the availability of Holman and Moody engine parts and “Cams, cams, cams for everything.” Then there is the venerable “Mr. Norm” and his ’68 Hemi S/S Dart.

Not to be left out, there are plenty of advertisements for the drag strips that seemed to pop up overnight during the 1950’s and 60’s. New England Dragway, the Mason-Dixon Dragway and the 75-80 Dragway are all represented (and amazingly, all still operational). We really suggest you hop on over and take a look, and encourage these guys to dig out even more of these awesome vintage advertisements.