Bought my dad's old '67 Buick Skylark Funny Car...

Hi guys,

Wanted to introduce myself,my name is John Lipori and I have purchased the only funny car my dad Jerry ever constructed in his shop Brooklyn Speed & Machine in NY after a long string of successful AA/GD dragsters.
Steve Malise who owned Mid-County Buick in Brooklyn drove the dragsters and also sponsored this car run under the NY Buick Dealers Group banner.

Ron Pellegrini constructed only two '67 Buick Skylark bodies ever know to exist and he drove the other car which was Chrysler Hemi-powered named "Super Bird" which was later destroyed in an on-track incident.

This particular car is the world's only Buick-powered Buick Funny Car ever created and featured some very colorful drivers including original driver Bruce Bohan then "Coney Island" Ralph Landolphi and finally "Rapid Red" Lang who converted the car to 392 Hemi power.

I have been chasing this car down for years and now with tears in my eyes am happy to finally reunite this great piece of Buick history with my dad who is 78 and lives nearby.

I don't have the car yet but will receive it early next month.

Here are a few pictures of the car as it was raced way back when...this first picture is from Englishtown '68:


Fresh out of Brooklyn Speed & Machine...probably seeing the light of day for the first time!


430 Wildcat power with an 8:71 blower:


Car ran a best of 7.79 @ 191mph...looks downright scary!

 

Wow! I always liked that body style and built plenty of Revell funny car models like that back in the late 60's. That's like the ultimate model!

 

Repost......

 

Race action...Englishtown 1968:


NY National Speedway vs Malcom Durham's "Strip Blazer" stretched Camaro:


Englishtown match race with Doug Nash,Dyno Don & Mr. Norm...I remember that day like it was yesterday although I just turned 10:


Rapid Red Lang as the driver,car now 392 hemi-powered:


Car as it appears today...the chassis,body,rearend,interior,wheels and now the blower & intake are original to the car...amazing after almost 43 years!


Please stay tuned for further developments and if anyone knows any information on this car or has any pictures they'd care to share I would love to see them...I can be reached at [email protected]

Thanks again guys for your time,

John

 

Hey John, welcome to the H.A.M.B.
Good to see another guy comin over from the sYc.

OrigLS6

 

Ha Ha Leo...nice to see you here bud!

I got a PM from a member @ Pro-Touring who said I should post it here,said they'd go apes**t over it here,lol...

 

I saw this on the Supercar Registry, I love it...welcome.

 

Bad ass car. Welcome to the HAMB.

 

Hey glad you found it good luck with restoring it. I saw it run some where I think in the DC area. I know it was not Englishtown. I can't remember much about it but it had the Buick motor.

 

hey JOHN...Ur DAD was, and is something else! a b/b buick funny? fantastic! tell Ur pop that this old drag racer thinks he's the best. he can be very proud, that he had the the only 1 in ths world! that's awsom. call me POP...or the old FART!

 

Looks like a Buick GS? Skylarks had a different grill and the GS was based on the Buick Special? Quibble...maybe? Skylarks were not the performance version, kinda like the Tempest or the LeMans isn't a GTO except for 64 when the GTO was an option only and not a separate car line. Only reason I know or care is because I have a 64 GTO and my son has a 67 GS. Either way sweet old race car, glad it's back in the family!

 

What a great story! I'm happy for you!

 

Very COOL

 

Welcome...Great to see you found the car.. I comment you for keeping part of drag racing history alive....

 

Sweeeet!

I think I saw that car for sale at the Englishtown Swap Meet Years ago as a teenager.

I have been wondering what ever happened to it glad to see it's going to be restored.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

That car is baddass. I've been watching that car for decades. Being a buick man those pics are porn to me. I always wanted to build an old school Buick powered Buick funny car but I can't afford it yet. Just for that, tell your dad that I'm going to do one of my cartoons of the '67 for you on me. Pellegrini really liked the ones I sent to him. Looking forward to seeing the finished product. Thanx, Chuck.

 

Welcome, I love the early funny cars.

 

That is very cool. Please post some detailed pictures when you get it home.

 

welcome to the HAMB. great car!! my first car was a 67 buick california GS. i still have it.

 

You'll be an asset to the HAMB. Way to step up and be cool.

 

Welcome to the HAMB, you'll be pleasing a lot of fans on here with that historic car and such a heart pleasing story too. Glad to see the car reunited with you, as it should be.

 

hi cool! best time for funny cars a time when you could see different motors in a funny car other than a hemi .good luck with your restoration.

 

Sorry I haven't been here to update,been swamped with all things Ingenue!

By now,everyone probably knows we are proudly featured in the current (August) issue of Hot Rod magazine...talk about a dream come true!
I left out the center 2 pages here but you get the idea...


Look at how proud my 80 year-old dad is:


Since the magazine came out,a reader who was stationed in Ft Monmouth,NJ near Englishtown sent me these...how cool is this?
This 1st pic from 5/67 is actually the VERY FIRST time the car was down the 1/4 mile(!)...and I was at this race.
Ingenue ran Doug Nash's injected 289-powered Bronco Buster II and beat him when both cars broke.
Quite the crowd around Ingenue,looks like they've never seen a Buick funny car...probably 'cause they hadn't:


This next picture (taken by the same reader,also @ Englishtown) was either late 1967 or in 1969,Bruce Bohen was in the seat now,car appears to be towed towards the starting line ready for another pass...


The Hot Rod article is great but they mistakenly listed that we'd be at the Buick Performance Group (BPN) Nationals in Columbus,OH July 31-Aug 1st but that is incorrect,we will hopefully be at this event in Henderson,NC in Oct instead,then to the BPG nats next year...God willing.
www.eastcoastdragtimeshalloffame.com

Also have some shirts available I had made up (hope it's OK to mention here),please PM me if interested or better yet,email me @ [email protected]


Back:


Thanks guys again for all the interest in Ingenue...!

 

Great car hope to see it out in Bakersfield soon.

 

We plan on hopefully being there either in March or in October...

I responded to your PM Vince...

 

Very cool! This months HOT ROD is great all around, glad to see your car featured. Was the car at the Gilmore museum drag race display last summer?

Brian

 

Agreed Brian,I love that HRM went back to their roots...it is a great issue,lot's of old classic cars!

Yes,Ingenue was on display at the Gilmore Museum,that's where it was when I has her picked up...did you see it there?

 

Welcome to the H.A.M.B. from Arkansas City, KS.
firstnomad

 

Thank you...

 

very cool!!! Nice read in HRM