Remember Mister Twister?

[Thomas E]

They called it Mister Twister, it was a supercharged super modified that ran in Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, and maybe elsewhere.

It appeared in Hot Rod magazine. Don't recall the owner or driver, but I read that it was a real hauler. Check out those front tires, real skinnies, I have heard them called farm equipment impliment tires.

Anybody else recall this dynamite of a left hander.

[parrot]

Thomas, I remember reading about the Twister in Hot Rod Magazine also. One of the best looking supers anywhere. When I moved to Phoenix, the super mod bodied cars, except for a few, had been replaced by sprint cars so didn't get to see this one in person. I can just imagine what it would look like with a field of those cars backing it in around Manzy!

[rapid30]

I think that maybe Hank (someone) drove this car, I remember reading about this in the mag, way back when.
rapid30

[racer99]

I think that maybe Hank (someone) drove this car, I remember reading about this in the mag, way back when.
rapid30

How about Hank Arnold?

[Don Brown]

The Twister was built in Tucson, Az in 1962 by Hank Arnold. It was featured in Hot Rod magazine July 1963and one of the first open wheel race cars to do so. The Twister was known for its supercharged motor and doing wheelies. Hank Arnold, the designer, builder and driver of the Twister is a legend in the Southwest. Hank was killed in a racing accident June 17, 1967 at Manzanita Speedway in Pheonix, Az. There have been Hank Arnold memorial races in the Southwest ever since. This year will be the 43rd annual, and his memorials are sometimes held at more than one racetrack in the same year. The Twister has been restored and was on display at the Knoxville Sprint car Hall of Fame and usually will appear at Hank's memorial races. The Twister raced hard for 12 years in the 60's and 70's and has been used to promote racing for the last 25 years at various race tracks and car shows. Hank Arnold designed and built several race cars that were ahead of their time and had a name for each of his cars. (Party Doll, Payola, Little Stinker, Twister, Cherry Bomb, etc.) Hopefully someone will write a book about this amazing man and his accomplishments. Over 40 years since the racing accident that took Hank Arnold's life people still talk about him at race tracks all over the Southwest.

[Olen McGuire]

Taken from Motorsports Memorial (http://www.motorsportmemorial.org/)

Hank Arnold of Tucson, AZ was one of the most beloved drivers in the history of Arizona racing. He was always very accommodating and always had a big smile on his face. He won several track championships at Manzanita Speedway in Phoenix, Arizona as well as CRA features, always wearing a orange and white checkered wind breaker that matched the orange and white race cars that he built and drove.

Arnold was as famous for the cars he built as he was for his career in racing. All of his cars had names as many cars back then did, "Lil Stinker", "Payola" and the famous "Twister" were some of the models built by him. The "Twister" in particular was built with the assistance of Roger McCluskey and it was the first to have a blower, pulling straightaway wheel stands when sprint cars didn't do that.

Hank Arnold and Roger McCluskey were best friends and had in fact gone into business together on the monday preceeding Arnold's death.

There is an amusing story about Hank Arnold qualifying both his car and Roger McCluskey's Ecca Special for a 100 mile CRA race at the Phoenix Fairgrounds one day that McCluskey was late. It is told that McCluskey's late arrival was caused by a black cat running in front of him as he left Tucson heading to Phoenix. Roger was extremely superstitious and beleived that if a black cat ran in front of you, you had to go home and start all over. So he returned home took off all his clothes got back in bed and started all over thus causing his late arrival.

Hank Arnold qualified his car second and the Ecca Special third, but the "black cat curse" struck anyway, as he crashed and broke one shoulder while Roger McCluskey blew one rear tyre on lap 85 as he was leading by one lap and a half on Parnelli Jones. McCluskey would later get over his superstitions, when asked about the green Indy car he drove , he said "it's the same color as the money we win".

Hank Arnold died on 17 June 1967 during a heat race at Manzanita Speedway. His sprinter collided with rookie Paul Marciano's and turned over. Arnold's car landed upside down on top of a steel retaining fence causing terminal injuries. Marciano was not injured. Many drivers refused to finish the night when they learned that Arnold had died.

Arnold was buried at South Lawn Cemetery, Tucson, Arizona. After his death, the annual "Hank Arnold Memorial" for sprint cars was held at Manzanita Speedway for over 40 years. His fellow citizen Bob Huebner, from Tucson, Arizona, won two of the first five editions of the race.


Researched and entered by E. R. Kelly on 19 November 2005. Notes written by Pier Paolo Garagnani and Nanni Dietrich.