Harry Groessel spent 65 years of owning, building, racing and fascination with the “Hudson Motor Car”. When a person would say hello to Harry, he would reply “Good Morning…..it is morning somewhere in the world”. I heard tales of Harry before I actually met him. Let me share his-story of the man I admire.
Harry was born November 19, 1928 in Marinette, Wisconsin. He moved to El Paso, Texas in April 1945 and graduated from Ysleta High School, 1947. He worked for El Paso Fire Department from 1954 until retiring in 1981.
Harry owned a 1948 Hudson and blew up that engine after it lost a fan belt. He later replaced it with a 7X engine he purchased from a dealer’s garage for $361.00. At the same time, he purchased an overdrive transmission and a Twin-H carburetors for $20.00, each.
In 1967, Harry organized and was elected first President of the local chapter of the Hudson-Essex-Terraplane Club that has members worldwide. In 2001, the El Paso local chapter hosted a Regional Hudson Meet that was attended by members from 11 states. Harry conducted a four-hour seminar on Performance Tuning for the Hudson Hornet, the highlight of the meet.
He started racing in 1957 with a 1954 four door Hudson at Enchantment Park in the upper valley, El Paso, Texas. He raced that car until 1973. His over-drive transmission was key to winning many friendly challenges on the street. A cocky owner of a 1957 Chevrolet thought his car could out run Harry’s Hudson but it was no match. He was Texas State Champion six times, New Mexico State Champion six times, and NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Division-4 seven times in his class.
His winning record is possible because he competed in bracket racing, Elapsed Time Bracket racing. The rules for bracket racing provide an equalizing handicap system. At the age of 76, he finished 4th, for the 2004 season of the SDRA (Southwest Drag Racing Association).
Harry raced at Holloman Air Force Base for over 24 years. In the year 1990, Holloman had an Officer’s Challenge. Harry trained an officer to drive his car, and the Colonel went on to win while racing the Javelin.
Harry has built his own engines, headers, exhaust systems, intake manifold and assorted other car parts. A yellow engine block was typical on Harry’s engines. A 1972 Javelin was purchased in 1973 with 10,000 miles on the car from a rental car agency. It was a bracket-racing car. In 35 consecutive years, driving to tracks as far away as Wisconsin and California, he has totaled 235,000 miles on the yellow Javelin. It served as his daily get-around-town car. He bolted a towing hitch on the Javelin and pulled a small trailer with his racing tires and tools to the racetrack.
An El Paso drag strip owner asked Harry not to race at his track anymore because other local racers stopped showing up because Harry was winning too many Championships. With Harry’s very uniquely painted engine, other racers insisted that he was running a modified engine.
I hope you enjoyed reading and remembering about own friend, Harry.