Carburetor Classics: The Notorious Stromberg 97

The Stromberg was an ideal candidate for rodding because it was dead simple. There was nothing tricky about the 97s, so they worked well in multiple carburetor setups when connected with progressive linkages.


In 1938 Ford replaced the Stromberg with the cheaper Chandler-Grove two-barrel carb, which from 1939 on was made by Holley. These carburetors were actually superior to the 97s in single-carb applications, but they did not work as well when teamed-up on multi-carb manifolds, racers therefore stuck with their tried and trusted Strombergs.


Soon the burgeoning aftermarket performance industry developed go-fast goodies for the lowly 97. Modified air horns, air scoops and filters were common. In the 1950s multiple-carb manifolds were made by companies such as Edelbrock, Offenhauser, Weiand, Edmunds, Navarro and dozens of others.

Nostalgia
By the early 1960s however most racers were switching to single or dual four-barrel carburetors. Both Rochester and Holley developed two-barrel carbs superior to the now outdated Stromberg for triple two-barrel applications found on the early Pontiac GTO and the L-89 Corvette. By 1970 the sight of a Stromberg on any hot rod was occasion for feeling nostalgic.


But nostalgia can be a powerful force to stop, and in the 1990s a new movement took hold in the hot rod hobby. Disgusted with the high-dollar "billet" rods so popular in the 1970s and 1980s, some rod builders constructed "rat rods" that hearkened back to the dawn of rodding. Although their bodies were in some cases made of modern fiberglass, they were painted to look rusty.