Imagine growing up in an island paradise where drag racing was largely unknown and you were the only guy you knew who was really, totally into it. That would constitute a daunting uphill climb in search of knowledge and experience for most people. But from the 1960s forward, that was the path pioneered by Hawaii native Roland Leong, who became a brilliant car owner, builder and tuner for some of drag racing’s very best. This is Leong’s long-overdue, and largely untold, life story.
As the cover images make clear, Leong quickly became legendary for fielding some of the most beautifully turned-out cars ever to thunder down a dragstrip. Not only that, but his brace of cars, all of which carried the moniker Hawaiian, were top runners and record setters, whose best-known driver was arguably the young Top Fuel gunfighter Don Prudhomme, who delivers the foreword of this 176-page softcover volume. Written by the estimable quarter-mile historian Lou Hart, this is another entry in CarTech Publishing‘s fine lineup of tight, information-filled volumes on drag history. Long overdue, and affordably priced at $36.95.
Jim Donnelly On Wheels 