8/8/2023 0 Comments Who made nova car![]() But that wasn’t what made these cars so unique. The following year, Thomas tested the SCCA waters again, this time with not one, but four ’63 Chevy IIs equipped with the same 327 Corvette powertrains and suspension systems as the Ghost. Kristek, Carl Callier, and Buddy Cortinnas (who would leave the team and go Top Fuel racing on his own) was taken sometime in 1964. However, there was a happy ending-the Ghost eventually ended up in the hands of the late, great Dick Harrell, who outfitted the car with a 427 Z11 engine, renamed it “Retribution II,” and match-raced it with tremendous success.įrom left to right: This photo of CKC Racing primaries Fritz Callier, J.E. In ’62, Thomas and his staff built and entered a fuel-injected 327 Corvette-powered/Corvette IRS-equipped Chevy II in the SCCA Production class at Riverside Raceway called “Bad Bascom’s Ghost.” Unfortunately, due to the nature of the beast (it was a prototype), the SCCA immediately outlawed the car. And then there were other less well known projects, like Thomas’ SCCA Chevy II road race cars built between ’62-63. Nationals champion Hayden Proffitt and other well-known drag racers.Īlthough GM was “officially” out of racing, Bill Thomas Race Cars more or less functioned as a “back door” for numerous Chevrolet high-performance projects generated on the West Coast, some of which were more popular than others, like Thomas’ infamous SCCA road racing Cheetahs, which were his answer to Carroll Shelby’s Cobra. They were involved in everything from the Mobil Gas Economy Runs to SCCA road racing to preparing engines for Stock and Super Stock drag racers like ’62 NHRA U.S. ![]() The CKC Racing Team Campaigned It! via Super Chevy magazine–īack in the 1960s, Bill Thomas Race Cars was a high-performance Chevrolet race shop located in Anaheim, California. Retrospect: CKC Racing Chevy II Fastback Funny Carīill Thomas Race Cars Built It. had to use a floor jack and a torch to straighten it out just so we could load the car back on the trailer.” –Driver, Cal Callier viaġ964, Callier and Kristek posing with the “orange car,” the team’s Chevrolet small-block-powered AA/FD that ran consistently at 190.00, and the team’s new Bill Thomas Race Cars ’64 A/FX Chevy II powered by a 427 Z11 carbureted big-block. Another time, I bent the front axle so badly on re-entry that J.E. There was no way you could get off the throttle and get back on it again once it stood up on the back bumper, and it used to do that a lot! I remember one time at Houston Raceway during a match race with Dickie, we both stood our cars up on the back bumpers, and the crowd went absolutely wild. That Chevy II used to do some incredible wheelstands, which made it a handful to drive. “Up until that time, the fastest car I had ever driven was a Corvette. The amazing story of Bill Thomas’ Race Cars badass (pre-Charger) Chevy II / Nova Fastback, bought by CKC Racing Team back in 1964 for $2500! Supposedly it has survived and resides somewhere in PA after changing hands–
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