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Round
9: The Fords
Text
by Danny White, Bill Duke, and Steve DeTar
Gas
Ronda’s Russ Davis Ford Mustang funny cars were some of the best-known and
most popular funny cars on the West Coast. The pictured car was Ronda’s last
funny car. Dick Fletcher built the car and Ed Pink built the 427 SOHC Ford
powered engine. The ‘69 Mustang suffered a severe fire at the AHRA
Winternationals in 1970. It won the ‘69 Manufacturers Championships at OCIR
and cracked 200 several times at low 7.40s. A fire suit that was too old
contributed to Ronda’s burns. A new one from Deist was on the way, but only
the facemask had been delivered. This accounted for the lack burns along the
neck and face area. Ronda was seriously toying with the idea of building a
Maverick Pro Stocker for the same reasons Nicholson and Schartman had left the
class: FIRE! Ronda hired Dick Poll to drive the car for a while after the fire,
then quit racing in 1970. (Leonard Maxwell photo courtesy of Bob Plumer and Drag
Race Memories; info and additional text courtesy of Bill Duke)
Gerry
Schwartz was a very young man when he began racing in 1968. Schwartz, from Fort
Wayne, Indiana, bought the chassis from Logghe Stamping Company and Roy Steffey
built the SOHC engine. Schwartz raced the car in 1967, achieving moderate
success. In ‘69, Schwartz replaced the cammer with a 427 Chevy rat and changed
the name to "Ratty Cat.” Unfortunately, Schwartz died after a collision
with Pat Foster at the NHRA Springnationals in Dallas. (Photo courtesy of Mike
Ditty)
Kenz &
Leslie was one of Colorado’s best-known race teams. The pair had successes in
many forms of racing, including land speed cars, Pike’s Peak, and oval track
racing. Ron Leslie was the member of the team that loved drag racing. He raced
AA/Fuel Dragsters before building his first funny car. The dragsters, like the
later funny cars, all were Ford powered. Kenz & Leslie had connections at
the Ford Motor Company that allowed them to get the newest parts from the
factory. The team used Logghe chassis and 427 SOHC Fords for power. The High
Country Cougar was a seven-second car that frequently raced the
"Assassination" cars of Roger Guzman for the right to be considered
the best AA/FC from Colorado. (Photo by Leonard Maxwell courtesy of Bob Plumer
and Drag Race Memories; additional text from Bill Duke)
Dee Keaton raced
Jack Chrisman’s "Chrisman’s Comet" after Chrisman had replaced it
with one of the Logghe Comets. The car had become a little outdated in spite of
many updates by Keaton. It was a Dick Fletcher chassis car with an injected SOHC
427 Ford. Keaton was well skilled in tuning a SOHC. The car raced through ‘69,
albeit later with a blower and Cougar shell. The Comet ran 8.30s at 170 on
injectors. The "Keaton’s Komet" was a regular in Southern California
races in 1967. The 427 SOHC powered Fairlane was backed by automatic
transmission like most cars of the era. (Photo courtesy of Mike Ditty)
Larry
Fullerton’s first funny car was this beautiful ‘67 Mustang. This is the car
second paint job and the first with the "Trojan Horse" fully
emblazoned on the side. In 1967, the Ring-Free Oil Company was the main sponsor
of the car. The "Trojan Horse" had an injected Ford cammer engine at
this time. Partner Keith Doheny arrived on scene in ‘69 with lots of money.
His family owned all the real estate on famed Doheny Drive. This "Trojan
Horse" ran through the end of 1970 with a Ford Maverick body. With
injectors the car, the team went 8.40s. When they added a blower, they hit
mid-sevens at 185 plus. The car was runner up to Danny Ongais in the Mickey
Thompson car at the ‘69 PDA event held at OCIR. (Leonard Maxwell photo
courtesy of Bob Plumer and Drag Race Memories)
There were
two versions of the "Psycho" funny car. The first debuted in late
‘66 and was based on the team's blown Fiat altered. The Mustang was powered by
a 427 Ford Wedge. The team simply replaced the Fiat shell with a Mustang and
voila! -- Instant funny car! Using direct drive, the "Psycho" smoked
the tires ala Jack Chrisman and managed high eights. Times improved as the tires
and tweaking refined it a bit, but mid eights were the best numbers in memory.
The car did win the Super Eliminator title (a form of Comp Eliminator) at the
‘67 Hot Rod Magazine meet at Riverside. "Psycho II" was the ‘66
Gas Ronda car powered by a blown SOHC. This car replaced the altered version
after the first car was sent to Australia where it received a 392 Hemi.
Performance numbers for the "Psycho II" will require a little more
research. The car was kept in the family for many years, eventually running as a
very competitive bracket car for both husband and wife. (Photo courtesy of Mike
Ditty; text by Bill Duke)
Dick Poll
began racing funny cars in 1969 with the former Gas Ronda Mustang. The Southern
Californian renamed the Mustang "Comanche" and began racing the open
shows at OCIR and Irwindale. The problem with the "Comanche" was that
it was too heavy to compete with the newer 1969 funny cars. With tuning
help from Amos Satterlee, the car did provide Poll a good training vehicle. The
"Comanche" ran times in the sevens as the top funny cars were headed
for the sixes. Poll would take over for Gas Ronda in 1970 after Ronda’s fire.
(Leonard Maxwell photo courtesy of Bob Plumer and Drag Race Memories)
Larry
Coleman and the "Coleman’s Super Torino" was one of a handful of
Torino funny cars. These had to be the biggest funny cars of all time. After
driving his own cars in Louisiana, Coleman moved to Memphis to join the scene
that included "Super Cuda,” "King Fish,” Joe Lunati, and others.
Larry hired Sidney Foster to rive the behemoth in 1968. The big Torino had SOHC
power and an automatic transmission, but it could run! According to Foster’s
daughter, her father ran 7.02 at 202 mph in the car. (Photo courtesy of Mike
Ditty)
Another
massive Ford Torino, here is Ted DeTar's last effort before being killed in
Florida in December 1968. The car was one of three ‘68 Torino GTs, joining
Phil Bonner and Coleman & Taylor. It was built to replace Ted’s ‘65 all
steel AWB Falcon that had been destroyed. DeTar and Garlan Smith of Wichita,
Kansas, designed and built the chassis, and Ted built a Chrysler hemi backed by
a 727 automatic and Dana 60 rear to get the power to the ground. Terry Ivey
bought the car even before DeTar was finished sorting it out. Ivey ran it
through two paint jobs before selling it himself. (Photo courtesy of Mike Ditty;
text by Steve DeTar)
An engineer
by trade, Dick Loehr is remembered as one of the top Ford drag racers. He
started racing funny cars with a ‘66 Mustang, first on Ford power, then with a
Chrysler. In 1969, Dick switched back to Ford power with a 427 SOHC. Fellow
Michigan residents Logghe Stamping built the chassis for the Chapman Performance
Products machine. Loehr ran a best of 7.35 at 202 in 1969, but that would
be his last year in a funny car. Like many other ‘60s funny car racers, Dick
switched to Pro Stock. (Photo courtesy by Mike Ditty)
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