This project started as a completely different car. I got serious in drag racing seven or eight years ago with a short, wide, obsolete funny car chassis; reputed to once have been Lou Gassparelli's first Corvette funny car. In my hands, it had a '32 Bantam body and an injected 496 Chevy on alcohol. The car was thrilling because it pulled the wheels and went reasonably straight and ran consistently. Following the "if enough is good, too much is just right' theory of horsepower, I put a blower on the motor. It was a real crowd pleaser because I never knew which direction it was going to launch. It was obvious it was time for a new chassis, long and narrow. With that decision, the current car was born.

I bought a rolling funny car chassis from Chuck Van Ness. All I had to do was drop in my engine and transmission and fit a body and I was ready to rumble. Right? Wrong. Three years and about $35,000 later, I am just now (late 2003) starting T&T passes. The engine is a completely rebuilt 511" BBC, glide, a beautiful body and lots of minor costly changes and shiny new parts. Redding Performance Marine did most of the initial engine and chassis assembly.

The crowning glory of the car, at least in my estimation, is the body and paint. Kenny Close of Red Bluff did all the fiberglass work, which was considerable. It took about a year. When he was done, the body and nose had so much bondo it weighed a ton and we were afraid the engine vibration would cause it to crack and fall off. But this was 'no hill for a climber'. Kenny found a local fiberglass company and used the body as the plug for a new fiberglass mold. Anyone interested in another brand new body? I can make lots of them!

Kenny then referred me to Dennis Price in Chico. Dennis is a genuine artist who paints motorcycles and helmets and the occasional hot boat and show car. He consented to do the T-body and nose. I told him what colors I liked and that I wanted the finished job to stop people dead in their tracks. He was equal to the challenge. The name of the car, "Rocketman", picked by Lizzie Roads, set the theme for the graphics. Dennis downloaded numerous scenes of deep space from the Hubbell telescope. He airbrushed these the full length of the nose, body and turtle deck. Can you say "Fabulous!"? Part way into the project he called me and said, "George, no roadster is complete without some flames. Do you like green?" When he was done, I liked it so much I took my golf cart to him and he flamed and lettered it to match.

The car is built primarily for Nostalgia racing. Unfortunately during its construction years, Goodguys has limited their West Coast Drag Race series to four races located primarily in Southern California. While I expect to compete at Bakersfield, a couple of races a year just is not going to cut it and I dread driving the Grapevine to Pomona. So I joined the West Coast Super Eliminator Association, a 7.90 index, which races about a dozen races a year in Northern California. A 125-inch, front engine roadster sticks out like a sore thumb among a field of hot rear-engine dragsters. Just my style! This is more like it!

Many of my successes in life seem to be based in no small part, on blind luck. It happened again. Quite by accident, I met Lorry Azevedo. Lorry won several national events in A/Fuel Funny Car years ago in his Camaro, "Drummer". He offered to help me with the roadster. This help included Woody Gilmore making some sheet metal panels to keep the burn out grunge off the battery and frame, new stainless header covers; Doug Bracey installing and roughly adjusting the throttle controller (no small job); and Lorry personally fixing a lot of things that I originally thought were good ideas by tearing them out and completely replacing them correctly. Lorry is also an engine tuner, par excel lance and will help me through the first full year of racing. If I do not humiliate him, and I get lucky again, it might continue. Lorry made considerable alterations to the original engine and chassis configuration in his immaculate racecar shop, Hat Racing in San Rafael.

I would be remiss if I did not give every one of these men who touched this project a standing ovation. What fabulous craftsmen they all are. The roadster should now handle like a cream puff and go like stink. And of course, it is drop dead beautiful to boot. This roadster is a lifetime achievement for me and I am thrilled. I will compete in 7-second Nostalgia classes and Super Eliminator. See ya at the starting line!

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