Hi George , Do you recall who owned that little Opel with the
hemi ??
Could it have been Jim Zakia , from Niagara Falls , N. Y. ? In the
early 60s
he brought his outstanding 55 chev " C " gasser down to a two day meet at the
now long gone Connecticut Dragway , and I was glad I wasn' t running
that day,
mainly because it gave me lots of time to check out his car ------ outside
/ inside /
underneath ------- it was a masterpiece of craftsmanship , and he was very
helpful
in enlightening me on many of the real trick features on his machine . A
masterful
car builder , and a real credit to the sport ! As I also ran in this
class , I
think my chances of a class win that weekend were less than a snowball in
Hades,
but it would have been fun trying ! I stopped in at his shop in
Niagara Falls
in the early 80s , but he had already left for the Nationals ------- but
I remember
his shop foreman told me he was now running a blown Opel in a hotter class
.
I remember he held one end of the record ( don' t recall if ET or
speed ) when
he visited Connecticut , and his Hilborn injected chev ran a Schooler
Cam .
I haven' t heard of those cams for quite a few years now ------- must
have gone
the way of Letterio , Giovannini , and Dempsey Wilson cams !
Your message brought back some great memories to this nostalgic
old drag racer / wrench / fan ! Thanks a lot , and whether you
go with
the De Soto or the Chev --------- it' ll be fast , classy, and
FUN !!!
Bruce in slightly warmer Connecticut
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