Yes, she has a pair of Funnies, and they're still racing. Bunny has had a series of health problems, and hasn't driven herself for a few years, but is always there when they are booked. I believe she is about 73 now.
Thanks Bob for the update on Bunny. She is one very nice person and she has been racing funny cars for a long time. Jimbo
Here's a few earlier pix. The first one was taken at the NSRA '74 Nats East in Timonium, MD. I'm not sure about the other one, but it appears to be from around the same time.
Blownolds could you email me @ [email protected] please. I have someone looking or information. Thanks
Atco ?? '67 or 68 Cole& Cole ran well. That's Ed Beyer's second 60 Pontiac (987) in background. The first one (Scalper 2) was crashed soon after he built it. Ed could really make those Pontiacs fly.
Yeah, Atco or Akco, as we pronounced it. I grew up right around the corner from the track. Got so that after a while I could sit on my front porch and tell what classes were running by the sound of the cars going through the gears.
Was Ed's car that crashed a dark red and went off the track at Cecil ? If my memory is working Ed was not driving.
If I remember correctly Dale Young was Ed's understudy. They also had a Mercury deal soon after. The Scalper2 was dark maroon. The replacement 60 Pont. Star Chief ran in primer was pretty rough but ran well. Ed was also a wiz with traction bars. His design bars really made our 55 Chevy modified car really hook up on7" tires Ed was also the Hurst "Shifty Doctor" for a while. Was also a Rep for JR headers who marketed Ed's traction bars as JR Action Bars. He was crew chief for Billy "The Kid" Stepp Pro Stock in Ohio. He was a good guy and would stop at our house. He loved my mom's ravioli.
Ed told me many times that I was cheating but had no idea how. One day at Cecil I said bring your car over and we'll see if my secret will work on your car. We ran similar cars. In the pits we knocked off between 2 or 3 tenths and gave him the jets he was using and told him what size we put in and not to vary much. I never told him what else we did and I bet it drove him nuts. I stopped racing after '68 because work, National Guard, NHRA rules changes and life in general. BTW the needle and seat valves were too small and did no pass enough gas. The n&s valve from a 287 hp carb worked wonders. Big jets made the problem worse. Ed never said we were cheating again.
Once Ed told us he screwed up and put the secondary jets in the primary and vice e versa the car liked it. My buddy Joe Dougherty of Doc's delivery fame told me he saw Ed stop on the return road about half track and get out of his car as the Monster Mash made a pass. Ed was checking to see how many shifts Spyder made on that run. Quite a guy
Fermier Bros. D/Stock 406 cubic inch 385 horsepower 61Chevy at Dover Dragstrip NY Caddy Stocker Royal Pontiac stocker 1960 Nationals
After the record meet at Cecil in '65 a few of us thought we would check out Pocono the next week, Pocono had a cash option if you won it would go up every week until you lost. The guy in my class won a lot and protested my car. He was going nuts even after the Nation Dragster listed us with a new record and the paint was still on the block/head section on the side the head was not removed. I did not like that track and never went back. The guy who protested was getting about $200 a week before our visit. I was only protested one other time and was P&Ged and found that I was one cubic inch short.
I remember the "Shifty Doctor" '57 very well. In fact, I bought a Hurst 4-spd from him in the pits at E-Town one day. Verne
Rom and I split time helping each other in the early '60's. He had a red '62 Pontiac and I helped him a lot that year. I gather he passed about 5 years ago. Did you hang out at that gas station near the White Horse Bar ?
Special treat for Mopar Junior Stock fans. A short history lesson on the early days of Ramchargers in their words. Time was running out on doing something for the '62 model year as many new parts needed to be designed, tested, tooled and produced. These included new heads, intake manifold, exhaust manifolds and camshaft for the engine. The car needed a better transmission and different exhaust system. The engine was basically the same as that run in the Ramchargers '61 car, since there was no time for engine development. The new heads had a much thicker deck in addition to larger ports. The thick deck precluded head gasket failure. The exhaust manifolds were built for best flow with no tuning. The Engine Design Department "refined" the cam designed by Jim Thornton resulting in a cam that was not quite as good. The Borg-Warner T-85 three-speed transmission was selected as it was a known strong unit and had good synchronizers. New gears with a 2.2 low gear ratio was tooled along with different input and output shafts. A new clutch housing was tooled that was explosion-proof eliminating the need for a separate scatter shield. It all came together in May when 100 Plymouths and 100 Dodges were produced - and they were the most ready to race car ever mass produced. Change the tires and go. The Ramchargers had assembled a '62 racecar for the Winter Nationals. The old short-long ram manifold was used that required major surgery of the inner fender wells. The old, nasty Chrysler 3-speed transmission was used. Perhaps it was fortunate that the Winter Nationals were rained out and all the guys had to fly home, except me. I flew my wife Carole out and we had a makeshift honeymoon in California. The following Sunday, while the Winter Nationals were running, we took the car to Fontana along with Al Eckstrand in a Torqflite equipped Chrysler 300. We raced each other several times with our Dodge being much stronger at the top end. The new B-body being much lighter than the '61 was running in the 12s at 112-113mph. But I noticed that Al got a very good launch with the automatic transmission. This piece of observation would serve us well in the spring. After the Fontana fling the car was shipped back to Detroit. The Ramchargers 1962 413 Super Stock Dodge -- the first of the factory built Super Stockers This drag race put Chrysler Corp on the map Tom Hoover and the 1962 Dodge 413 Super Stock engine Factory photo of one of the 1962 413 Dodge Dart The 1962 car, not certified by NHRA running in A/FX. It was used by Mike Buckel on his honeymoon in California. Mike Buckel and Jim Thornton just driving around Southern California in the Ramchargers new A/FX Dodge - soon to be certified as a SS/SA car.
Not enough Ramchargers ......... well we have more LOL Ramchargers article. For those of us with "Old Eyes"click on the photos and they get big enough to read the small print.
Found this in this old thread http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/vintage-drag-racers-with-their-cars.400138/ 289 comet G/SA
For the Willis Ford fans found one more of Al Kitts "Bad News" from here http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/vintage-drag-racers-with-their-cars.400138/
The Jalopy Journal
