#Super Chevy Sunday 1983

[enobullphotography]

I’m going to try my hardest to avoid Aaliyah’s 4 page letter here. Lol, take that as a warning that this may be a long post! For starters anyone who knows me knows my deeply rooted love for cars! More specifically, Older/Vintage rides, custom or heavily modified; Lowriders being at the very top of my list if not the top spot all together.  I was 14 years old when one of my homeroom Classmates at Cardinal Spellman brought me a Lowrider Magazine to look at because of the way I was always pretending my desk was a lowrider. Lmao! In fact I’m sure I still have the issue stashed somewhere in my mothers house. It was that issue (Ironically with a dark colored Cadillac Brougham on the cover) that I laid eyes on quite possibly the most gorgeous car ever made! The 1964 Chevy Impala! (Chills!!) From that day on it would become my dream car.  Fast forward to present day:  For longer than I can remember I’ve been wanting to shoot with any lowrider and a girl in a dope wardrobe. But Lowriders are a little harder to come by on the east coast. However, I got lucky and found a 64 Impala, (same color and all as the one I fell in love with in the magazine all those years ago,) in Brooklyn while scrolling through Instagram some months ago. I reached out to the owner and he was willing to let me use the car, but when the moment came, the car had other plans. I couldn’t be mad at all. I mean its a 55 year old car, those things have a lot of emotions, and every car guy out there knows this! But it did leave me in somewhat of a tight spot. So I had to scramble to find a replacement. That’s where my boy Kris comes in! Kris is one of those guys in the car game that knows everybody! He’s also a fellow photographer. I told him I needed a lowrider, It needed to be in NYC or in Jersey where he’s from. In the matter of seconds he went through his mental roladex and gave me a name! It was Roc. Roc has a gorgeous 1983 Cadillac with the Big Gold grille! I didn’t waste any time reaching out to him to ask if he’d be willing to provide his car for the background of my shoot. He agreed and not only showed up, but brought his brother with him! I was geeked to say the least. The model who I was originally going to shoot ended up not being available for the weekend I secured the car. So yet another scramble for a new mode began! Lol.  I reached out to a good friend, Celina. She told me that she was good on Sunday and with that confirmation, it was time to pack up the lighting equipment and the camera bag and head to Jersey for a shoot that I did in my head a whole decade ago!! And that’s how the shoot came together.  I can’t thank Celina enough! On what felt like the hottest September day ever, she toughed it out in a full length fur coat that I borrowed from Che and black stockings. Super huge Shout Out to her. Also, huge shout out to Roc and his brother Mook from ‘The Crew’ Car Club for bringing out these gorgeous slabs!  And last  but most certainly not least, thanks to my main man! My brother Rudy, who not only played my assistant, but even went as far as wiping my sweat for me, lol. Had me feeling like Diddy out there! Lmao! Thank You to all of ya! I couldn’t have pulled it off without ya! I’m very proud with how this one turned out   Muse: Celina (@Celina_V) 1979 Cadillac Coupe DeVille: Mook (@TheCrewCarClub) 1983 Cadillac Coupe DeVille: Roc (@RocDeVille

#Fur #Fur Coat #autumn #Cadillac #Lowrider #Cadillac Lowrider #Deville #1979 #1983 #gold #Chrome #Elegance #Gucci #christian louboutin #loubuotin #Chanel #high end fashion #Newark #New Jersey #cobblestones #photography #Plaque #Wire Wheels

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24th Amelia Island Concours & A POSIES Retrospective

Most cars and coffee events across the country (where car enthusiasts of all types gather at some local donut shop parking lot early on a Saturday morning) can easily draw hundreds of vehicles while their owners ogle each other’s rides.

But what if the you wanted to step it up a few levels and have the best of every type of car in one place from across the automotive spectrum—from record-setting NHRA dragsters to LeMans racers, from the lowly Volkswagen to the high and mighty Bugattis and Delahayes, from all sorts of rare Porsches, Ferraris, Mercedes, as well as many different years of American cars that span the wood-spoke era to chrome-heavy ’50s behemoths?

Then you toss in a dream facility, not some corner asphalt parking lot covered in oil stains, but rather the long and carefully manicured fairways of an upscale golf course adjacent to one of the most highly regarded beachfront hotels in the world: The Ritz Carlton. And, for good measure, make this stunning weekend a charitable event. Where could this kind of perfect automotive weekend ever happen? Why in Florida at the 24th annual Amelia Island Concours D’Elegance, of course!

When folks think “concours” they usually have a vision of snobby rich folks in their pressed pants sipping champagne, but the Amelia event isn’t like that. It’s much more down to earth than some of the world’s other d ‘elegance shows but, make no mistake, the cars attending this stellar event are some of the finest (and, be default, the most expensive) in the world.

Nearby several national auction houses concurrently conduct their business, offering truly amazing cars; with some bidding reaching several million dollars apiece. But this event also features more common (or at least better known) manufacturers and, surprisingly, we found many hot rodders sprinkled into the mix.

Well known historic hot rod collector Bruce Meyer had a vehicle in the show, and former Big 3 execs (and longtime hot rodders) Wayne Cherry and Tom Gale were on hand to judge some of the car classes, a job rodding enthusiast, writer, and historian Ken Gross was also on hand for.

Second generation builders Rod Emory (grandson of Valley Custom founder Neal Emory) and Rob Ida (who perfected his trade while working alongside his dad, Bob, at Ida Automotive) were both on hand with their latest work: an Outlaw Porsche 356 for rocker John Oates and a restored ’48 Tucker, respectively. Historic drag cars (Altereds, dragsters, and Funny Cars) as well as road race vehicles were displayed, and we also ran into Larry Griffey (a recent Pirelli Great 8 winner at the Detroit Autorama) who had two restored vehicles on the field.

The event actually covers two days, with the first starting early with an informal cars and coffee type of gathering where 400 or so auto enthusiasts roll in single file by themselves or with their club or friends, then park on the fairways and hob-nob with each other. A contingent of Dodge Vipers drove in, as did a Morgan club and a group of Mustang owners. Model T speedsters were present and, on the other end of the spectrum, a street-driven 917 Porsche motored onto the lawn (Hey! It had license plates, so it was street legal, right?).

On Sunday the field was open for the concours cars to drive in, and all the rare and beautiful cars took their spots for judging. In front of the Porsche booth was a row of 11 962 Porsche race cars. Vintage American race cars (including Corvettes, Cheetahs, Cobras, and Kurtis Kraft) co-mingled with their European counterparts (Peugeot, Stanguellini, OSCA, and Maserati) covering the 10th and 18th fairways of the Amelia Island Golf Club course and, if you appreciate fine automotive design, you had a hard time knowing which way to look next.

The display of dragsters (including Don Gartlits’ Wynnscharger, Tony Nancy’s Sizzler, and the rainbow-colored Dunn & Reath rail) along with a pair of Funny Cars and a pair of Altereds (including Rat Trap and the Bradford Topolino) treated the crowd to an old-fashioned cacklefest on Sunday afternoon; something we bet  many concours attendees had never seen (or definitely heard!) before.

Recently the Amelia Island Concours d ‘Elegance Foundation (the charitable organization that has run the annual concours for the past 24 years) has begun inviting handpicked honorees to assemble a retrospective of their work and showcase it in a special class alongside some of the world’s finest examples of rolling automotive art.

This year, the Foundation invited hot rod builder Ken Fenical (better known as Posies) to show a collection of cars he designed and built for customers in his Hummelstown, Pennsylvania, shop over the past 40 years. Though he made his name in the hot rod industry by creating, manufacturing, and selling a line of Super Slider suspension springs for hot rods, his artistic passion gets expressed in the cars he’s built.

As far back as the early ‘80s, Posies got noticed with a yellow 1936 Ford roadster he’d built that not only emulated the padded-top customs he remembered as a kid, but he also advanced the design further by inverting the LaSalle grille and creating his own take on the (at the time) nearly extinct genre. When the mono-chromatic look of the ’90s arrived, Posies took another route and started slicing his scallops horizontally on a 1938 Ford convertible and using multiple contrasting colors to make a statement.

Into the new millennium Posies charged forward with a stretched 1935 Ford roadster called the Aeroliner followed by the Fleetliner, which applied more of his style to a 1947 Chevy Fleetline sedan. Of late Posies has been influenced by the styling’s found in some Rat Rods, but all of his cars are drivers and built to be safely driven down the road. More recently he debuted a 1971 E-type Jaguar with flattened black paint and outfitted it with a 383 Chevy engine, driving it across the country to the SEMA Show in Las Vegas.

At Amelia Island event this year, the special show class highlighted eight cars he’d built that covered a wide stretch of Posies’ history. On one end was the multicolored 1937 coupe with its 7-inch chop and badass blown 427 poking out of the hood. Owned by John Bolkema of Mahwah, New Jersey, the coupe sounds a lot like a funny car pulling up to the starting line when it’s driving down the street.

Next to it was the 1937 International pickup owned by Arnold Gervasio of Ringoes, New Jersey. Unless you know International trucks, you might think it was a nicely restored pickup, but the bed was shortened, rear fenders widened, new bead lines were added to the bottom of the fenders and bed sides, and the bumpers were split in two.

Beside the truck was Joe Mastrangelo’s 1937 Ford convertible (dubbed Flower Child) from Carmel, New York. Built in 1983, the paint on the car was split horizontally (black on top, red underneath) in a style that was not commonly seen on hot rods of the time, but soon would be. The chopped roof was fixed and, though uncommon for the time, the vehicle featured shaved door handles and hinges.

Back in 1997 Posies was the first person to receive the newly-stamped steel 1932 Ford roadster manufactured by Brookville Roadsters. The renamed Phunkie 1932 was powered by a Ford 302 and utilized a set of Posies Super-Slider springs along with subtle changes to the taillights and fuel door.

A 1936 Ford four-door phaeton also got the Posies treatment when a second cowl section was added behind the forward bench seat, to which Posies constructed a second set of wind wings, all outfitted with black chrome hardware; the same finish used throughout the rest of the black-on-black vehicle. Trim pieces found on the hood sides were extended down the side of the body, and Posies designed the unique five-spoke road wheels.

As outrageous as some people find Posies cars to be, most of them have subtle styling cues (but a lot of them). The Orange Crisp (the name derived from the PPG paint color) 1955 Ford long roof Ranch Wagon incorporated a 1958 Edsel roof skin, dual Crown Vic side trim, and extended headlight brows. Always up for more power in his rides, Posies added a Roush supercharged Coyote engine. Built in the late ’90s, Posies still owns this vehicle.

You can see a mix of rat rod and high tech in Scott Whitaker’s five-window 1929 ThunderRoad pickup, but you may not realize the body was originally a Tudor sedan. The truck bed was fab’d at Posies out of aluminum, and the body was chopped and channeled over a unique tubular chassis.

At the other end of the row might be Posies crowning achievement: the 1937 Studebaker custom Extremeliner, built at the end of the last century. Influenced by 30s-era Cords and the overly-exaggerated roundness of Lincoln Zephyrs (as well as Andre Dubonnet’s Hispano-Suiza “Xenia” coupe from 1937) the Extremeliner utilized a one-off tubular chassis (a rarity in 1994, when work on the car started), a fabricated steel body (with aluminum hood and fender skirts), and fiberglass body panels that were initially made of wood but cast in fiberglass and woodgrain. A Corvette LT1 engine resides under the hood, there is heavy use of wicker for the interior, and the car was painted Luminescence Gold Razzleberry; the first time that color had ever been used on a car.

All of Posies creations pull and tug body panels every which way, squishing them down or exaggerating them as he see fits, just like some of those action painters of the ’60s-era wildly splashed paint onto their canvas to create the vision they saw only in their minds eye. But Posies has always been able to make a statement while delivering the goods. Kinda different? Hell yes! But then again this particular Posies has never been a wall flower. SRM

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Solid Lifter Showroom Is Place to Be at 2018 Carlisle Chevrolet Nationals

Longtimers will tell you that the weather at the Carlisle Chevrolet Nationals (until recently the GM Nationals) is a total crapshoot. On this weekend in June it’s either pouring rain, hot and sticky, or all of the above.

The 2018 edition was a rain year, with dark clouds and showers hanging around until the sun finally emerged on Sunday. The weather made for a sparsely attended show field on Friday and Saturday, but in Building Y the Solid Lifter Showroom played to a packed house in terms of both cars and attendees.

For 10 years now, Brian Henderson and Joe Swezey of the Super Car Workshop have put together the SLS as an invitation-only gathering of GM’s hottest performance models. Sure, they use the SLS to show off some of their latest restorations (and the work of the craftsmen at Super Car Restorations, which does much of their paint). But not every car in the SLS has been painstakingly restored by the guys from Latrobe. Original cars, day-two cars, cars in progress—they all make the SLS scene. They just have to be interesting examples of GM’s hottest models.

This year the room was pretty much evenly divided between Camaros on one side and Chevelles on the other, with a lone Chevy II splitting the difference. Here are highlights of the SLS, as well as a few brave souls who left their cars out in the rain.

“Rain or shine,” the promoters promise, the next Carlisle Chevrolet Nationals takes place June 21-23, 2019, at the Carlisle Fairgrounds in central Pennsylvania. For info on this and all the other Carlisle shows, visit carlisleevents.com.—Ed.

Inside Building Y, where the SLS takes place, you’d never know it was raining outside except for the sounds of heavy drops hitting the tin roof. Henderson and Swezey used to have a picturesque old building—much like a real showroom—for their SLS display. Carlisle sold that property, so SLS moved here. The smaller space forces the guys to be more selective with their invitations, but the quality of the cars is simply outstanding.

Mike Chronister bought this 1969 Camaro L78/four-speed in 1974 as you see it here, with 11,000 miles on the clock and the day-two goodies already on it. Today the odo shows 27,000, and Chronister has worked hard to maintain its immaculate state ever since. Just to keep the brushed (and not coated) aluminum American Racing slotted wheels polished takes him an hour per wheel, he figures. Watch for a full feature on this car in an upcoming issue.

Mark Hassett told us he had been trying to buy this 1971 Baldwin-Motion Camaro, known as the Beast from the East in magazine articles of the day, for years. He finally snagged the car last September. Other than a little touch-up to the white, the paint is original, as is the interior and most of the underhood equipment dressing the 454. The car’s first owner was a dentist, who sold the car to a 19-year-old who got into so much trouble behind the wheel he had to sell it. Hassett figures he is the 13th owner, as the car has passed from collector to collector. He plans to do nothing but preserve it.

Two 1969 COPO Chevelles sat nose-to-nose in the middle of the SLS. This one belonged to Albert Galdi, who found it in 2003 and bought it sight unseen as a project car. “Its running gear was used and abused,” he says. The original 427 was gone (now replaced by a CE block), and the M22 four-speed “sounded like a box of marbles.” The restoration took 18 months, with Galdi doing everything himself except the engine machining and upholstery. He plans to take it to the Super Car Reunion this summer to make some dragstrip passes.

The second COPO Chevelle belonged to Grady Burch. Readers with long memories may recall Bob McClurg’s feature in the May 2009 issue. If you don’t, let’s just say that this Chevelle is almost 100 percent original, the only exceptions being a little fresh paint on the front end and trunklid. That was added when a previous owner removed the car’s emblems and brazed over the holes. Sitting behind the car is author Matt Avery, whose new CarTech book on all things COPO comes out in September.

The last time we saw Angelo La Pera’s 1970 Chevelle was two years ago at the SLS. Then it was a body shell, displayed on a cart to show off the authentic details that Jamie Cooper and Joe Griffith of Super Car Restoration put into their paint jobs, even in areas that would not be seen when the car was finished. Rick Nelson restored the LS6/M22 Chevelle for La Pera, who’d spent years collecting date-coded parts for it.

Richard Doyle (left) shows Matt Avery some of the finer details of assembly-line work on his brother Bill’s 1970 Chevelle convertible. Doyle spent 30 years working at GM’s Baltimore Assembly Plant and held seminars for SLS attendees to share his experiences. His brother’s Chevelle is a rare one: a 396/four-speed SS painted in pedestrian Gobi Beige. In the background you can see Doyle’s Monaco Orange 1969 Chevelle SS drop-top.

Not only is Jimmy Jones’ 1968 Camaro RS/SS a big-block/M22 car, but it’s also one of around 200 (he estimates) made with the L89 aluminum cylinder head option. That rare motor was separated from the Camaro for decades, but a previous owner managed to locate the engine in Pennsylvania and reunite it with the car, which was in Virginia. The Camaro was in pieces when Jones bought it nine years ago, and he spent seven of those nine years collecting parts for the restoration.

Skip Lecates’ 1969 Camaro has a rare combination of parts. It’s a big-block base model with the JL8 four-wheel-disc-brake option, which is typically found only on Z/28s. He has owned the Camaro for 31 years, 18 of which he spent looking for N.O.S. parts for the car’s eventual three-year restoration. NCRS paperwork indicates the Camaro was originally sold in Washington, D.C., but Lecates cannot trace any of the owners prior to 1978. He’d like to hear from anyone with info on his car, or any other big-block/JL8 Camaro.

Rick Thayer’s Tripoli Turquoise 1968 Chevy II was one of two cars Brian Henderson and Joe Swezey posed on lifts in the middle of the SLS to show off the underside details. Painted by Super Car Restoration and restored by Super Car Workshop, Thayer’s Chevy II is not your run-of-the-mill grocery getter. Under the hood is a 325-horse L79 V-8 backed by a M21 four-speed. This is another car we will feature in a future issue.

The other car in the air at SLS was Mark Prunesti’s 1969 Chevelle, which he calls a light day-two car. It had been “hot rodded its whole life” before being “put up” in 1978, he says. He bought it in 2014; Super Car Restoration did the bodywork and paint, and then Prunesti did the assembly. He built his own Lakewood lookalike traction bars and added Appliance four-bolt headers, N.O.S. Koni shocks, and Cragars.

To hear Greg Whitney tell it, “They only made Chevelles one year: 1966. The rest are just a blur.” His car is a blur on the strip now, a competitor in FAST and the Super Car Shootout. But when he bought it in 2011 it was a well-used Chevelle with “tired paint and a grimy 396 with a ’glide. But the bones were there.” The new motor (830 hp on the dyno, 770 through the exhaust) retains the 396’s stroke but has a big bore so it’s “turning 7,500 rpm at the finish line,” says Whitney. Behind the motor is a TH400 and 4.56 gears with a spool in the rearend. How does he get 10.71-second passes on those skinny G70-14s? “Leave like a pussycat, come on like a lion.”

Jim Ross bought this Misty Turquoise 1970 Chevelle SS when it was just 2 years old and drove the car for “just one winter” before going drag racing in it. He cut out the rear fenders for slicks and added headers, a Quick Fuel carb on an Edelbrock intake, and a Hurst shifter. After breaking the original four-speed he replaced it with an automatic. Years later Ross decided to restore his Chevelle, and Henderson and Swezey stepped in. Despite the car’s dragstrip time the engine is its born-with L34, and much of the car remains original.

Chick Renn’s 1968 Z/28 has lived most of its life in pieces. A previous owner tore it down for restoration in 1979. Renn bought it in boxes in 1983 and didn’t begin the restoration until 2010. Fortunately it was “all there,” he says, “even the cowl plenum.” East Coast Muscle Cars did the car’s bodywork and paint, and Renn assembled the car with the help of friend Skip Lecates. Renn documented much of the research he’s done over the years on his car and other Camaros; his informative thread on Team Camaro (camaros.net) has more than 435,000 views.

Tim Schell “eats, sleeps, and breathes” 1969 427 Camaros. He brought this stellar example to the SLS and said it was something of an urban legend in Toronto, a car that “ruled Jane Street” when it street raced but then was tucked away in a shed for the better part of 27 years. Other than a repaint done in the 1980s the car is remarkably original, right down to the rare “liquid tire chain” option in the trunk. “Only 200 or so Camaros got that option,” he says, “and maybe only two COPOS had it.”

Meanwhile, Outside

Randy and Yvonne Davis have owned three of Oldsmobile’s screaming yellow Rallye 350s. This is their most recent, a car they bought a year and a half ago from the estate of a man who owned it for years and planned to restore it. We are glad he didn’t. It’s an 81,000-mile, all-original example with factory air and power steering. Yvonne told us they plan to leave it as-is, despite (or maybe because of) the clearcoat someone sprayed on it years ago to “preserve” it. “That means we have to live with the rock chips,” Yvonne admits, but to strip the clear would likely ruin the car’s graphics, turning an excellent original car into just another restoration candidate. For their commitment to its preservation, we gave the Davises our Celebrity Pick Award.

This is a COPO. Specifically, this 1974 Nova is a 9C1 police car and just the second one built. The 9C1 Nova was the brainchild of former Motor Trend staffer (and reserve L.A. Sheriff’s Deputy) John Christy, who wrote a letter to Chevrolet in January 1974 with an idea to turn Novas into police cars by fitting them with Z28 engine and suspension parts. He reasoned that the compact Novas would be more fuel efficient than the Satellites, Coronets, and Matadors the department was using (this was during the OPEC oil crisis). Chevrolet bit, and between 1974 and 1978 built some 15,000 of them, most going to California law enforcement agencies. When their service was complete many of these cars were sold to film studios, and most of those were destroyed in movies and TV shows. A man who runs a 9C1 registry, who goes by Alex, figures that just 20 have survived. This one was bought at auction by a film editor who garaged it for 34 years and also kept “stacks” of the car’s original paperwork, says Alex. Note the original L48 engine and the shotgun rack in the trunk.

OK, so maybe Greg Fleenor’s 307-powered 1969 300 Deluxe is not a muscle car per se, but its sleeper simplicity drew us in, as did the fact that this is a rare base model equipped with power steering and A/C. Fleenor bought it “25 years ago from a little old lady” and restored it a short time later. In fact, it’s one of the first cars painted by Mark Coates, now of ABM Restorations and, according to Fleenor, Tim Wellborn’s painter of choice. “He’s married to my first cousin, and that’s how I got him to paint a Chevy,” Fleenor says.

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Drag Racing Legend Bob Glidden Passes at 73

Ford racing icon and 10-time NHRA Pro Stock champion Bob Glidden passed away December 17 at the age of 73. Glidden, of Whiteland, Indiana, was one of the most prolific builders and drivers the sport of drag racing has ever seen. Glidden’s career spanned over 25 years and in addition to running Pro Stock, Glidden made a few appearances at World Ford Challenge events behind the wheel of his son Billy’s popular Fox-Body Mustang. Bob Glidden passed away at 9:40 pm, Sunday evening—he was with his wife of 54 years Etta, and their sons Billy and Rusty.

Glidden’s storied career began in the late 1960s behind the wheel of a 427 Fairlane and a Galaxie in the Stock ranks, and he continued driving full-time in Pro Stock until 1997. Along the way, he acquired the nickname “Mad Dog” for his relentless work ethic and dedication to giving it all. Glidden dominated the scene in the 1970s and 1980s, winning back-to-back NHRA Pro Stock championships in 1974-1975, followed by three in a row from 1978-1980, and then five straight championships from 1985-1989.

Glidden retired from full-time driving in 1997, after an accumulated 85 NHRA national event wins, the most in NHRA at the time, which has been only surpassed by John Force and Warren Johnson. Bob Glidden remains third on the NHRA all-time win list.

Glidden’s accomplishments didn’t end at the 1,320 either, he is listed 4th on NHRA Top 50 drivers (1951-2000), he was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2005 and he received an induction to the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America in 1994.

“Everyone in the NHRA community is saddened to learn the news of Bob’s passing,” said NHRA President Peter Clifford said in a statement. “He was a true competitor who left a lasting legacy of excellence both on and off the track. Our thoughts, prayers and deepest condolences are with the Glidden family at this difficult time.”

While he briefly drove a Chevrolet and Plymouth, Ford fans consider him the ultimate Blue Oval driver. Glidden got his start while working as a line mechanic at Ed Martin Ford in Indiana before making racing his full time career. Glidden drove the aforementioned big-block Fairlane in NHRA Division 3 Stock and Super Stock competition, but switched to a 428 Cobra Jet Mustang in 1968.

Eventually, in 1972, Glidden sold a pair of Super Stock Mustangs and purchased a Pro Stock Pinto from Jack Roush and Wayne Gapp. Glidden’s success on track led him to resign his position at Ed Martin Ford. That same year, he made the courageous move to full-time racer and scored a runner-up to Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins at the final Supernationals of the 1972 season.

Glidden claimed his first national win in 1973 at his hometown race, the coveted NHRA U.S. Nationals. Bob Glidden ran a 9.03-second run at 152.54 mph, which was top speed in qualifying and of the Pro Stock field.

Glidden improved his engine building and race craft and that helped him achieve strength in throughout the 1970s. He won his first championship in 1974 and in 1975 he scored five top qualifiers and eight top speeds. He also won seven events and his second straight Winston Drag Racing championship.

Glidden locked in his third Winston title in 1978. He started the season in his Ford Pinto, winning the Winternationals and Cajun Nationals. By season’s end, Glidden switched to the boxy Ford Fairmont, and with that car he finished the season undefeated in five national competitions. Glidden had seven national victories that season, tying Don “The Snake” Prudhomme. That year he broke the Pro Stock single-season record of six wins set previously by Jenkins.

Due to a change in the rules, which didn’t suit his Ford, Glidden switched to a Plymouth Arrow for 1979. Despite running a new car and engine, he won the season-opening Winternationals and did not lose a round until mid-season. His streak ended after 50 rounds (14 races), when he uncharacteristically redlighted the second round at the Mile-High Nationals.

Back in a Ford for 1980, Glidden was the man to beat. He chased Chevy Camaro driver Lee Shepherd for the 1980 Winston title all season, barely eclipsing Shepherd to claim his fifth overall and third straight championship.

For 1982 NHRA went from a power-to-weight formula to a new 500ci displacement limit for Pro Stock. Glidden commissioned chassis builder Don Hardy to build a new Ford EXP for the season and was planning on running a 351 Cleveland engine in the car. Due to the new rules, he was forced to use a modified Boss 429 Ford engine in the short wheelbase car. The results were as Glidden put it, “the worst handling race car he ever drove.”

Glidden won only a single event, the NHRA Springnationals, with three Runner-up finishes. The following season, he and Ford teammate Rickie Smith debuted new Thunderbirds at the 1983 season opening Winternationals at Pomona.

The T-Bird was an instant hit with fans, and it wasn’t too shabby on track. It set top speed at 177.86 on route to a runner-up finish at the opener in Pomona. Glidden scored victories in 1983 at the NHRA Springnationals, Mile High Nationals, Northstar Nationals and at the U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis where he ran a track record of 7.68. Glidden also set a speed record in 1983 with a pass of 182.18 mph.

Glidden had a handle on the longer-wheelbase Thunderbird, and the 500-inch Shotgun engine and that allowed him dominate the 1985 season. He led the chase from start to finish, winning five national events and securing his sixth Pro Stock championship.

Glidden was back for 1986, but things didn’t go as planned. After a semifinals round win at the Southern Nationals in April, his Thunderbird got crossed up and he shot to the left-side guardrail. Glidden hit the railing nose first, which caused the car to flip over and then barrel roll multiple time before coming to rest right-side up in the shut-down area. The Ford was destroyed but Glidden climbed out unscathed. In fact, he had the wherewithal to remove his fire jacket and place it over the carburetors and manifold to hide any secrets.

Glidden returned to the next race with a new mount, though his first victory of the season came in July at the Mile-High Nationals. It was the first of his three straight victories. And despite the slow start, he hoisted the Wally at the final seven events to claim his seventh Winston NHRA Drag Racing title.

Glidden was victorious in 1987 eight times, which included his 60th NHRA national win. And he completed the season with five straight wins and his eighth Pro Stock championship. This was perhaps his most dominant season, as he made 10 final-round appearances, won a record 42 rounds of competition, and he qualified number one in all 14 events!

Glidden’s two-season streak finally ended at the 1988 Gatornationals with 22 straight top qualifiers. And in 1988 he won five of the last seven races en route to his fourth straight title. For 1989 Glidden switched to a Ford Probe that set a national e.t. record at 7.277 seconds—the quickest Pro Stock run in NHRA history. He used the Probe to win at the Fallnationals, which was his 67th career victory. Glidden again showed his Pro Stock prowess, winning his record 10th and final championship in 1989. He swept 5 of the first 7 events and 7 out of the first 11. Overall he won 9 times that season, ending the 1980s with 49 wins.

Glidden completed his career winning three events in 1990, one event in 1991, two events in 1992, and two events in 1993. He won his 85th and final national event at the Mopar Nationals in 1995, after missing most of the 1995 season due to open heart surgery during the off season. Glidden retired after just two events in the 1997 season.

But regardless of those impressive stats, Bob Glidden was the guy Ford fans rooted for, and even if you didn’t like Ford, you respected him. He dominated and continued to keep Ford at the top of Pro Stock, even when outnumbered by Chevrolet and Mopar. He was humble with the fans, and feared by his opponents. He was a fighter, even in his last hours.

“He fought like you wouldn’t believe,” his son Billy confirmed. “He even tried to get out of bed last night at 8:20. But today, his condition took a turn for the worse. Even when his nurse believed he wasn’t going to make it long into today, he once again defied the odds.” Rest in peace Bob Glidden.

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