Your Race Car.... Then and Now

[Kevin Panzino]

Originally Posted by Dan Lattimore

Funny how a car sitting neglected in the tall grass in my neighbor's yard could wind up parked in a warm garage---- famous and highly prized by someone else. :-)

Dan, thanks for the info!!! I could tell the car had sat for quite a while outside and in the sun. There was hot pink (yes, no joke) trim on the edges of the wheelwell carpet inside that was faded bad, as was the hot pink chevy emblem on the weight box lid.
Who was your neighbor?? Where was it? This is a whole other interesting twist to the history of it for me! You have any pictures of it in the grass? That would be very cool!
PS:I tried to PM you this message so as to not hog up the thread, but your inbox is full.

[Tom Goldman]

Many of you know my Willys Coupe I used to race and have owned for 35 years.
The car evolved from a barn find in the mid'70's turned into a traditional Gasser style rod by a former racer. after a few owners and a botched attempt at chopping the top by the previous owner to me ,I bought the shell , and correctly did the top chop and completed the car as it is today.
It will soon see both the track and the street as soon as I have time to complete its latest incarnation.

[Dan Lattimore]

Originally Posted by Kevin Panzino

Dan, thanks for the info!!! I could tell the car had sat for quite a while outside and in the sun. There was hot pink (yes, no joke) trim on the edges of the wheelwell carpet inside that was faded bad, as was the hot pink chevy emblem on the weight box lid.
Who was your neighbor?? Where was it? This is a whole other interesting twist to the history of it for me! You have any pictures of it in the grass? That would be very cool!
PS:I tried to PM you this message so as to not hog up the thread, but your inbox is full.

Guess I better clean out that inbox some ----- Actually that goes back to when Joe came down and picked it up when it was just dead yard art. My race car partner Bob Dodson ( junk car dealer ) hooked him up with our neighbor who had it sitting in his weeds. Shortly after that I introduced Joe to Bob Cupp and they started banging on the 327 / 4GC thing. See Bob all the time haven't seen Joe in years.

[Rusty Gillis]

Hubert Platt told me he had a 1969 Mustang body he wanted to sell in 1970 so we bought it to race in SS/GA. I found out it was a Q code 428CJ Mach 1 that had been one of the test cars for the Boss 302 and according to Ford it was crushed. It was built in October 1968. The front fenders were rolled, it had no quarter scoops, paint was blacked out like a Boss 302 but no stripe on the side and it had the Mach 1 scoop. In June 1971 I removed the drive train from the 1968 SS/FA Mustang that I bought from Hubert in 1969. This was the first time I ran it before it was painted and the only photo I have thanks to Terry Earwood.



This was my first NHRA points race in Miami in 1971 after paint were I received the best appearing award.



1971 Turkey Trot in Gainesville with no quarter scoops.



I raced at Indy, the Grand Nationals in Canada and was going through tech inspection at the World Finals in Amarillo and they weren't going to let me race because the quarter scoops were missing. After a lot of of discussion and with the help of the Division II tech director they said I could race but don't come to Pomona without the scoops. My painter at the time had to carefully install the scoops and I went to Miami and won the Miami National Open with a winning time of 11.24 on a 11.45 record.



I went to Pomona and won class beating Lonnie Garner racing Bob Gliddens old SS/GA 1969 Mustang short shifting and shutting off early.





I stayed in California for 5 weeks and went to Orange County during a Funny Car race and made one time run 11.18. I also race a Las Vegas and Bakersfield.



I set the SS/GA record in 1971 and 1974 but quit racing it in 1974 and never modified the the rear suspension. I decided to race in C/SA and started to restore it in 1992. My first race was a points race in West Palm Beach but it was too light so I had to run B/SA but I did go a couple of rounds. I raced it on and off at a few points meets without very much success and was racing at Orlando and the first round I had a heads up C/SA race against our very own Ken Miele. Ken beat me bad by about .3 and 3 mph and I decided since I wasn't competitive I parked it.

It sat for a few years and I decided to race it in brackets.



I don't like bracket racing so I parked it until I opened my restoration shop with my son Brian. I started out as Classic Mustangs and painted it close to the way it was raced in the 70's and took it to car shows to promote my shop.



I heard Ford was going after shops using the name Mustang so I changed the name to Gillis Performance Restorations.

I decided to race in the Southern Stock Super Stock Association so I added a solid lifter cam and aluminum heads and ran SS/GA. I did get it to run the index and went to the semi finals at my first race.





The engine was worn out and had water in the oil so I took it to Competition Motors for a rebuild to race in Stock. He has a 1969 CJ Mach 1 that needs paint and we are swapping labor and working in our spare time.

[Michael Beard]

The Turismo ran a best of a 20.45 it's first night on the track, and I won the Street class. LOL The next week Billy Nees picked it up 2 seconds and 7 mph in about 20 minutes, without exaggeration. A fresh engine and some 6x20 M/T's got it into the 15's.


John DiBartolomeo stood by, asking the same question 20+ years ago as he does now, "What is wrong with you?" ;-) In the first two NHRA races, I went a total of 9 rounds and only ran under the index 3 times... but it'd run right on the index! Made it to the semis at the Dutch Classic our second race out.


This was at Atco for our first NHRA Divisional race with the fresh, clean, and straight look from Bob Barber at Paintworks. I had a TON of help getting the car together, and I remember and appreciate every one of them, even the ones that wanted to maintain a low profile.


Keystone Nationals... back when there were contingency postings. Got the Wally for EF/SA Class Eliminations on a single, the year Hurricane Floyd blew through.


This thing is actually a bad little ride, for what it is. Won several races with it and a few R/U's when I was racing it full time while in the process of building the DragPak motor for the Volare.