“Akron” Arlen Vanke was born in 1936 in Barberton, Ohio. When Arlen was a teenage he started his drag racing career at the Akron Airport where he raced his 1940 Ford Tudor with a “triple carburetor: early Ford V8 engine.

BIOGRAPHY

One time he borrowed his parent’s one month-old car new car and broke the transmission and had to tell his father this. His dad said… “luckily your mother doesn’t need the car until Friday”. I guess you can say he didn’t perfect his power shifting ability until a bit later in life.

Arlen married his second wife Joyce in 1989. In a previous marriage he has a son Craig.

Although Arlen Vanke was a well-known Mopar drag racer, he also drove Chevrolets and Pontiacs. In 1961, Arlen walked into a Pontiac parts department at Knafel Pontiac and was purchasing some parts for a customer’s car and saw a 421 SD engine on an engine stand. He was talking to one of the service sales person and Bill Knafel’s office was right next to them. Bill overheard Arlen talking about racing and was invited into his office to discuss the new 1962 421 Catalina SD and a few weeks later, Arlen was racing this car. Bill was so impressed with Arlen, he was offered a salesman job that lasted 8 years. Arlen built and tuned most of their cars. He drove and raced their 1962, 1963, and 1966 cars. He set numerous speed and elapsed time records and won a number of national stock eliminator titles. In 1962 he drove four different 1962 SD Catalinas, including his own “Big Red”. He also drove a black 389 Tri-power automatic Catalina convertible “Black Whirlwind” to an NHRA C/SA record at York, PA. In 1963 he drove “Tin Indian III”, one of the 14 “Swiss cheese” Catalinas, “Papoose One”, one of the 6 421 SD Tempest wagons, and “Running Bear”, a modified 1963 Tempest with a 421 SD engine that set a number of NHRA records. In 1966, after a two-year hiatus racing MOPARS, he returned to race “Tin Indian V”, a 1966 GTO and “Mystery Tornado II”, a 1966 Lemans OHC 6 Sprint convertible.

Arlen competed in racing between 1961 thru the early 70’s. In 1966, he won 3 different classes at the NHRA Spring Nationals with 3 different cars. In 1968 he won the Nationals with a Hemi Cuda. In 1971 Arlen because a member of the US Racing team with Bill ‘Grumpy’ Jenkins and many others. He stayed with the team until 1972.

In 1967 Arlen renewed his association with MOPAR and began to receive some factory backing. Never again would he drive a Pontiac competitively; however he continued to build engines and tune Pontiacs for Knafel and other drivers. Arlen was a fierce competitor who had a reputation as one of the best drivers at shifting a standard transmission. Consider that in 1966 he was never beaten in the “Tin Indian” GTO in his class. To win the NHRA Spring Nationals Junior Stock Eliminator title, he had to win nine straight races! That means he did not “red light” or miss a shift that entire day!

In the summer of 2013, he suffered a bad stroke. During his rehab, he snuck out and attended recognition for the historical drag racers marker at the Akron Municipal Airport. Arlen was also inducted into the Michigan Motorplex Hall of Fame in 2016.

When not racing he loved to joke around and could be counted on to keep the situation and conversation lively. He was always willing to talk racing and help other drivers and car owners. Arlen passed away on June 22nd 2017.

ADDITIONAL MEDIA

Photo courtesy of Don Keefe