Not until 1961 did Lytle get the lead that would change his life, along with his legacy. Recently discharged from the military in Texas, he was bench racing with a buddy in San Antonio when the friend’s father mentioned that two old Allisons were stored at the local airport. The next morning, Lytle discovered that one of them was a rare 113 model, whose left-hand rotation was compatible with automotive drivetrains. When the hanger manager offered it for $100, Jim jumped at the bargain.
“I was just about to drop a Buick V8 into a ’34 Tudor,” he recalled. Instead, he cut out its floor and firewall, chopped the top six inches, and installed the six-foot-long Allison. He
picked the 1962 AHRA Nationals in Dallas to unleash the beast. However, his single-disc truck clutch lasted less than 1320 feet; the interior filled up with thick smoke, and Jim coasted across the finish line at 77 mph.
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Undeterred, the young racer went to work building what is believed to be drag racing’s first four-disc clutch. By the time he finished the fabrication, it was early 1963, and Lytle was residing in southern California. The car’s second pass came at Lions Drag Strip, rewarding Lytle with a mid-11-second e.t. at 133 mph — and an action photo in Drag News.
Initially-severe torque steer was eventually conquered by encasing the flywheel, clutch assembly, throwout bearing, driveshaft and pinion gear within a 14-inch-diameter torque tube of Jim’s own design. Nevertheless, after improving to mid-10-second times at 147-plus, he reluctantly parked the world’s fastest sedan.
“I may have been the first drag racer to blow my own doors off, literally!” he recalled, laughing. “At those speeds, the volume of air compressed inside the body was tearing it up. I lost the hood once, and the right door came open twice, at about 145. I got tired of fixing it. I’ve always hated doing body work. I felt that the car had just about reached its potential, anyway.”
Although that steel sedan was never seen again in public, it would make one more contribution to motorsports history: It was this old Ford that Lytle used to create the five-piece mold that produced drag racing’s first one-piece, fiberglass, lift-off body — and the world’s fastest full-fendered race car of 1964. In the next issue, we’ll discuss the brief life and lasting impact of Big Al II.
Pictured at Lions Drag Strip during its final outing, Big Al I clocked 10.50s at 147-plus before its premature retirement in Sept. 1963. Black primer indicates repairs forced by the suicide doors tendency to open at top speed. Windshield frame was removed to gain visibility for the owner-driver, who sat at the extreme rear of the body. (Photographer unknown; photo courtesy of Jim Lytle) 
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