1990-1993 (FORMERLY 4 YEARS- NOW CONDENSED TO 3)
andrewlandon67:
It's always a good Friday when I can drive my '67 to work, plonk down at my desk and have a new Ratto story to go with my coffee and burrito.
Jim Ratto:
The white '67 Super Flow car vs the white Chevelle night.
I will first spoil the ending, the Chevelle did prevail, by a fender. Running 3 times, it took the VW all three, but not by much. And let me add, the VW was a true 100% daily driver. No joke. This guy Roger worked for Otis elevators as a repair/maintenance guy and it was his daily transportation all over the Bay Area.
Think about that. A 24 year old car originally with 50hp, now with "race only" heads and probably 180+hp being driven (hard) every day. To me that's like using the Space Shuttle as a commuter plane.
Anyway, a friend of a friend, a guy that had the only stroker-motor VW when I was in high school, had kept tabs on what I had been doing with my '67 since I got out of HS, (he had moved on to V8 stuff himself, and should have been burned at the stake) and had heard me talking about this white car with Super Flows and almost 2300cc. To us that equated to being untouchable out where we street raced and goofed off. Everybody we had seen go somewhat fast, had, at max, some kind of 041 or similar heads, maybe breathed on. The Super Flow heads were unchartered waters for us. I had heard rumors about a few street cars running them (Pete Staat, and a kid named Kevin) and some of the trials involved to run them on the street, like modifying cylinder covers and some of the rear body of the car. Rob, the engine guy at Buggy House, actually built the 2276 roller crank motor in Roger's car and he knew all the ins and outs. Talked some about special air deflectors he bent up to go inside the cylinder covers, and his secret to getting valve covers off once the motor was in situ. All this talk about the commitments you'd have to make to run these only fueled the mystique fire. Back to the "setup", so my old friend from HS, knows of this "pro street" tubbed Chevelle with a 427 etc that is the current king of the hill. And knows the owner. And one day he tells me that he mouthed off to the Chevelle guy that there are 2 VW's looking to shut the guy down. Oh yeah? Which 2?
Your car, Jim and your buddy's with the roller crank.
My car? When did I say I wanted a piece of this? Yes I had been part of some informal matchups with friends, a 455 cu in Olds Toronado and a 389 cu in Tempest, but they were friends and we had just been seeing if a VW could keep up or not (it could, and then some). But I wasn't looking to topple this guy and his maneating pro street monster. But maybe Roger would be game.
So I told my buddy "Let me call Roger and see if he's around and wants to roll out there."
I felt an obligation to defend the VW guys in our area and keep our flag flying. Again, up to this point, I had seen my friend from HS walk all over a few V8's, and I had the two aforementioned under my belt. If I didn't act on the "threat" now, I wouldn't be keeping my pledge. And even though my buddy told me all about the capabilities through engine, heads, slicks, torque converter, rear end gears, etc that this Chevy had, it didn't mean anything to me, because it was all a foreign language I didn't want to learn.
So I called Roger and there was no hesitation. It was as if he knew I was going to call and what I was going to ask him. All he said was "Oh yeah? When? And where is this? I'll come out"
And so that night arrived and we met by moonlight at our remote location. Roger and his white '67 were there before anyone else, Frank and I were next. And then we hear a diesel engine approaching. It's a four door full size GMC with a shell, towing a trailer! Uh oh, we've been had. And the guy pulls up and he and his crew hop out and start unloading the animal in the trailer, unshackling the tie downs, and rolling it out. I felt awful, I felt like I had sabotaged Roger. Obviously this wasn't anywhere near a street car. Once out of the trailer they fire this thing up and it's on open headers and not pump gas. The plot thickens
Roger didn't seem phased at all. Always even tempered.
Like I said, in the end, the whole thing was a big charade to me. Somewhere, someone misled somebody, and Roger and I had been duped. And the guy in the Chevelle couldn't have been more full of himself. He actually, after his third pass, made a point to walk over to Roger's VW and hold his gut, point and laugh. Roger was a 6'6" guy, but like I said, even tempered.
We left, disappointed. But I told myself "it was that far ahead.... this guy didn't win fairly"
56BLITZ:
Quote from: Jim Ratto on December 18, 2020, 17:58:15 pm
The white '67 Super Flow car vs the white Chevelle night.
I will first spoil the ending, the Chevelle did prevail, by a fender. Running 3 times, it took the VW all three, but not by much.
Well . . . not the ending I was hoping for, but . . . still put a smile on my face!!
Thanks fer sharing Jim!! 8)
More please!
j-f:
Damn Chevelle, but I bet the guy should had been a bit pissed of to only put a fender on a street driven Bug with a trailered pro street race gas sipping war machine :D
You were the OG Asian and Farmtruck ;D
Neil Davies:
I think the whole forum/scene thing goes in waves, and 2020 has knocked everyone for six. Facebook is another issue - I joined, found a load of people who used to be regular posters,and then for a couple of reasons decided that it wasn't for me.
Enough of that; Jim, I love reading your history posts, it's an era just a few years before I got into it, although half a world away geographically.
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