Willys Gasser build pics....from the 60's

I thought you guys might enjoy these pics taken by Dave McDannel in the 60's while he was building his Willys coupe called "Orange plus".
He raced it with an injected 482ci big block chevy up til 1975. Dave was a CHP patrolman from So Cal. I bought this car in November of 84 and ran it on the street for several years with a tunnel rammed 327 and 4 speed. I got these pics from Dave back in the 80's.

 

Started as a 37 or 38....

 

Strippin her down......

 

Fiberglass items were Kellison.........

 

Vrooomm, Vrooomm........

 

Fresh paint....

 

I love this picture!

 

Dave and his baby.......

 

With lettering......

 

9.42 @ 144mph.......

 

Winning a best appearing car trophy at Irwindale in 1972......

 

Fantastic pictures. That's what drag racing used to be all about. When everybody built their cars in their own backyard. What happened to the car? Please don't tell me it got turned into a slammed and tubbed bracket car. That Willys is the only way those cars should ever look. By the way, my own '55 uses Kellison fiberglass.

 

It was in pieces when Dave delivered it to the next owner........

 

badass!

 

This is how it looked when I bought it. It had sat in this garage for 7 years. The only thing the guy before me did was assemble the loose parts into a rolling shell. There were no crossmembers in the frame and the floor and firewall were junk. This was my dream car! Magnesium Halibrands and American spindle mounts, fiberglass panels, race car lettering, drilled front axle.... It was alot of money though, $2,000! hell I didn't have that kind of money so he gave it to me for $1,750 and let me pay it off. Ahhh the good old days. So I went home , pulled the engine and trans out of my 56 Chevy and sold it off to finance the Willys. Imagine finding one like this today and rolling it out of its resting place. It was every bit as sweet for me then as it would be today!

 

And after alot of work she was on the road. I drove it like this for a few years. I was living in Santa Barbara at the time.

 

Kev,
Wow this post is right up my alley. A cool old gasser with history. You still own this car, correct?

I have a 40 coupe sitting and waiting and my car has remarkable similarities to your car. My car was also home built and like any race car should be, they lightened it by putting on a glass nose, fenders and decklid. I still have steel doors but the glass is Cal Auto and has been on the car since the mid 60's.

Thanks for sharing!

 

oh shit oh shit!!!! damn kev. this was one of my favorite cars when i was younger, this one and pat kings. autosport was 3 blocks from my house. awesome post!!!!!!!!

 

I sold this car in the early 90's. I have a coupe bodyshell with all 'glass panels. Very rough body but I'll get to it sooner or later. It eventually ended up in primer while I owned it........

 

Yeah Ricky! When I first moved to Santa Barbara you could see Pat's coupe from the freeway as you drove by. I have good pics of it from before he got it on the road....somewhere. It was one of my favorites too. I went to the Antique nats with them at OCIR when they first got it running. Good times! Remember the cruise nights at Char West.......mmmmm, Gordo burger....

 

yeah char west! damn man! good memories. remember when pat & henry would take out that full race 34 there? it was a customers car, sometimes they would drive it by my house. i found my old autosport engineering shirt, maybe i'll post a pic! post some pics of pat car if you can. i would really like to see them.

 

So Mr. KK, how much did you sell the 56 for? I saw a pic of ot in another of your post. That thing looked badass too!

 

OL 55.....I can't remember exactly, it was either $2,000 or $2,500 less engine and trans. I never finished the interior either but body and paint were nice. That was mid 80's. The whole time I had that car I really wanted a 55 2dr post.

 

Love that gasser. Wish it was mine!