Very cool car and history behind it! @J.Ukrop you sure are living the dream getting to write, photograph, and experience these things.
2017 Lions Dragstrip Museum opening event Hey J, Nice story about the Silly Willy builder/owner and his roadster. Back in 2017, when I was enjoying my day at the Lions Dragstrip Museum Grand Opening, there was so much to see, people to talk to, and things to do, that it was hard to get to every single display. One of my last places was the Silly Willy display. Directly across the aisle, I was talking to the author of latest book on the history of Lions: “So Cal Thunder, When Lions Roared.” It was a chilling discussion about him witnessing our 40 Willys coupe fire in 1960. But in the background, the car next to the "Silly Willys" fired up and began its loud circuit for the exit in the back parking lot. The Silly Willy was my next stop and was sitting right there, but the packing up process had begun. So, I put it off for another time. One thing I read in your article just "shivered my timbers…" “With each hit of the throttle, we shot back in our seats. I couldn’t help but think of what he told me about driving the car in the ’60s." “The first to second shift on a Hydro is just dynamite,” he said. “Third it falls on its face, but first-to-second is so quick and it has such a good sound. Every time it’d shift, my wife would hit her head on the roll bar—BOOM!” It seemed like we had the first C&O Stick Hydro in a Chevy Impala around So Cal when C&O started up, until 1965. That C&O shifted just like the description in the article. That first to second gear shift threw unsuspecting heads forward and back as it made its shift. Third gear was pretty much the same, but now we are going a lot faster with the noise and all, we were plastered into the seat backs. For us, the 3rd gear did not fall on its face, but allowed the Impala to get way out in front, when someone in the other lane missed a shift or was just out powered. Plus, the take off from the start line was lightning quick with relatively no wheel spin or burning the tires. (Bruce Slicks or stock) Jnaki That initial shift was one thing that our C&O Stick Hydro had and everyone that rode in the car noticed the shift upon acceleration. When my mom drove the 58 impala to the grocery store or to the shopping mall, her comment was that it made her head go back and forth each time it shifted. It also did not feel like my dad's 57 Buick Roadmaster when shifting...Dynaflow vs the C&O...no contest. Well, my mom wanted an automatic transmission instead of the 3 speed stick shift and that heavy duty clutch. Long live stick hydro transmissions…it is lightning quick in the speed shifts and does not need the help of the left foot. That left foot is used to “brace yourself” as the stick hydro bangs into each gear during acceleration.
The Jalopy Journal
