History Vintage Fuel (Connie Kalitta)

I was recently presented with a question from an older hot rod buddy that is originally from MI. He grew up near Detroit Dragway and was able to see a lot of the now famous fuel cars run in their prime.

So this is kind of a crazy story but I think you guys will like it.

My good friend Conor and I are in the market for a vintage, wood, V8 powered boat project and John, being from MI, said Ill make some calls. He seems to have a hookup on a lot of neat old stuff and has come through in the past.

So this morning he calls me and says

"Brod, a buddy of mine found a neat older Hacker Craft wood boat with a factory V drive and 440 in it complete. But there is a catch on this deal. He says we have to do some homework to get to it." So I'm interested at this point. "My buddy says that the guy who owns it was a driver for Connie Kalitta back in the day and was actually at the wheel in 1966 when the Bounty Hunter set its first 200 MPH run at Detroit. Name this man and I will get you in contact with him."

I chuckled. And after I did some digging and I am unable to find anyone else who actually drove Connie's car at that time. Or am I missing something?

So here I am. A young, wet behind the ears, wanna be looking for information, if its out there. And this is my classroom so let me have it guys.

I would so much appreciate any information that you guys may have about the car, drivers, and or when the Bounty Hunter hit the 200 mark

If this guys is blowing smoke up John's or my ass, lets set him straight and get us a neat old boat!

Thank you
Brody

 

If I give you the answer, do I get the boat?

 

Interesting bttt

 

http://www.joestevensphotos.com/Dra...Legends/15621330_SGdCcw#!i=1019932097&k=xFS9n

looks like it was Connie, according to the link above, you can even buy the pic of him and the car at Detroit in 1966....... but you never know, the world wide web has been wrong before

 

Don Garlits.....


I think him an' Connie hung out for a while when Don had a shop here in Motown...
Ya ever read the book called:
"King of the Dragsters"?????

I'm probably waaaay wrong with this answer....

 

shirley muldowney.. they were "team mates" back then

 

Yes, Shirley figures in there somewhere....So maybe it's not a man, but a driver. Bill aka Tnomoldw

 

He hired a shoe Don Schumacher

 

This page says Connie himself was at the wheel in Indianapolis when he made his first 200 mph pass. The only other 200 mph passes prior to that were made by Chris Karamesines' 204.54 in Alton, Ill., in 1960 or Garlits' runs earlier in 1964 in Great Meadows, N.J.

http://www.nhra.net/50th/top50/C_Kalitta21.html

Connie only started touring in 1963, why 3 years later would he have someone drive for him? He raced himself til the 90's.

Is it a trick question? or is it Connie himself? On a side note he turned 75 a few weeks ago and still is heavily involved in NHRA. Hope I get even a little bit done when I'm 75.

 

Kev,
It may be a trick question. But I hope not!

Thanks for the info guys,

BTTT
Hack

 

There's another, a guy from maybe N.J. He owns the original Bounty Hunter, has had it at Hershey. I can't remember his name.

 

I am 10 days older than Connie Kalitta. It's been quite an adventure. Still is. Bill aka Tnomoldw

 

I'm pretty sure Connie was from New Baltimore MI , northeast of Detroit . There was a small strip there that I spectated at in about 1962 or so ....Connie wasn't there that day . I remember there were corn fields surrounding the short shut off area . I think Connie ran a flying service of some sort , back then , too .

T

 

The car you are thinking of is the car that was owned & restored by Joe Gertlemann. Garlits now has it in the Museum. This is that car that Don drove in 1962 at Indianapolis and set the National Record at 180.36 MPH.



This question is a little confusing. conrad made his first offical run over 200 in 1964. So if the Bounty Hunter made it's first offical 200 MPH in 1964, the first 200 MPH run at Detroit in 1966 sounds odd.

If you want a more definitve answer, try contacting Todd Meyers at kalitta's race shop. He's their PR guy and should be able to get you the answer.

 

Motor City Dragway

 

I re-read the link I posted. It says Connie made his first 200 mph pass in 1964. However it doesn't say what he was driving. The question posted by Hackman in the original post is who was driving Bounty Hunter when it made its first 200 mph pass in 1966. I assumed Connies first 200 mph pass was in Bounty hunter but it may not have been. So the answer to the original question still hasn't been answered.

 

Conrad's first official 200 MPH run in 1964 was in The Bounty Hunter. I have seen pics and film of it.

 

I guess I should have been more accurate in my post. I believe that he was inquiring the first 200 mph pass that the Bounty Hunter made at Detroit Dragway, and who was it the helm when it happened.

I reread the email I received from John and I'm thinking that is what were shooting for.

Thanks again for all the good info,

Hack

 

I believe Bob Pacitto is from Michigan and he drove for kalitta a few times. The only issue here, is that it was in conrad's Funny Car in the early 70's.

 

If you believe "Heart Like a Wheel", Shirley drove a second car during that period. I'm gonna say the man himself. Final answer. But... I wasn't there.

 

sounds like a cool vintage boat, hope that works out. Whoever the driver was, they had big balls, unless it was Ms. Shirley!! ~sololobo~

 

'37kid tells me the guy's name was Joe Gerdelmann. He worked for Connie at that time and drove the car and is the currant owner of the original Bounty Hunter. Could it have been him?

 

Cool little side story concerning Kalitta Flying Service:

Some years ago here, a twin prop cargo plane made an emergency landing on a local county road. It was a pretty big deal at the time, of course. Don't know the particulars, but the guy set it down on an 'in use' public two lane road. A fairly spectacular feat, I'd imagine, as you pilot Hambers would agree, I'm sure. I remember the plane setting there for a week or so. Someone was brought in to make repairs. When fininshed, they shut down the road temporarily, and flew that bird outa there, like it was business as usual. Pretty cool I thought. Compliments of Kalitta Flying Service.

Sorry, don't know the driver, now back to our regularly scheduled thread.

 

Funny how you remember stuff ...I was at the '71 Indy Nationals ....both front and rear motor top fuel dragsters were running and Kalitta was unveiling his new rear engine creation . The car got sideways at the top end and came apart . I remember saying to my buddy , " If he stays in the cage he'll be OK ".....or something similarly brilliant .

A couple of hours later I decided to go to the hospital in Indy to treat a painfully infected thumb . There was Kalitta , in a wheel chair and neck brace ...being pushed along by Shirley Muldowney ! I was happy to see he was relatively OK .

 

Joe gurdelman

 

Great info guys! Good stories too. Im going to try a couple names and see what happens!

Thanks again and ill keep updating,
Hack

 

Was the Bounty Huntress when she drove it.

 

I remember Connie when his outfit showed up with a big block FE Ford dragster. Man, did it run! More showed right after that but he really got the Hemi-, Olds and Cadillac guys looking hard. Then a few more FE's showed and they started to set some records. He was always willing to help a fellow racer and had a heart as big as gold. I still appreciate when I see him on the screen with his son driving. He is a true competitor and also a gentleman.
Normbc9

 

I checked all the names on IMBD.com and watched the movie ''Heart Like a Wheel'' which is available on youtube.com