Nostalgia and the Wild Blue Yonder
Valiant dragsters delight nostalgia fans; Enders joins the Air Force for a day.
Words: Bruce Biegler
Valiant Efforts!
Fans of Nostalgia drag racing have enjoyed a serious renaissance in recent times. In what could probably best be described as “twists of fate,” two of the circuit’s most popular touring cars representing that bygone era are obscenely radical Plymouth Valiants.
California’s Greg Sullivan, is giving Mopar® fans a serious blast from the past racing his restored version of the infamous “Pandemonium” 1964 A/FX car. It was, in fact, about mid-1964 that the Valiant model (first introduced in 1960) morphed into the first version Barracuda.
“I remember seeing the car and following it in magazines when I was a kid,” Sullivan reflected. “Then when I saw it was for sale I phoned the guy and sent him a non-refundable deposit almost immediately. Three weeks later I had the car in my possession and our project was on.”
After sending the car to Hansen Race Cars for some chassis and suspension work, he then brought it up to more modern safety standards in conjunction with Bob Riggle. Following that, with help from engine builder Ronnie Shaver, the team shoehorned an alcohol burning 572 cid HEMI® engine into the frame. They run that combination with a 14-71 supercharger on about 10 percent nitro. Sullivan handed the keys over to reputed part-time Funny Car driver Cory Lee and unleashed it on the drag strip.
Needless to say the car has been a very big hit with drag racing fans. The car is well known for its “mongo” burnouts prior to exciting and unpredictable runs down the race track.
Michigan’s Dan Pickla has also become a popular fixture with Mopar drag racing fans driving his truly unique 1964 Valiant wagon. Running an alcohol fuel-injected all-aluminum big-block Chrysler, Pickla is a frequent runner within the scene in the car that is capable of running 8.7 second elapsed times.
“Originally from Texas, ours is the only 2-door station wagon like this that you will ever see,” he revealed. “It actually started out as a Barracuda but when we put that car on its roof in Ohio a few years ago we shifted things and began looking for a Valiant body— just to be something different. This car does have the original Barracuda front end and doors. Everyone that looks at our car loves it because it is rather strange and certainly is one of a kind.”
Pickla campaigns the car in conjunction with his racing partner John Amo, who is also from Michigan. They are both metal fabricators and those great skills are evident in their finished project. The team also has some deep Mopar racing roots. John was involved in building experimental cars for Chrysler in Detroit during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Erica Takes Flight!
Aspiring and very popular Mopar Pro Stock driver Erica Enders went for a ride of a different sort towards the tail end of the past 2007 season. Erica vacated the confines of her Dodge Stratus temporarily for a ride in the cockpit of a U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds F-16. Enders’ ride in the sky took place late last October from the Thunderbirds home base at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas.
“Amazing!” was the first word Erica used to describe her experience. “After we took off my pilot called out the increase in speed in 100 mph increments and I was comparing that to Pro Stock and Top Fuel. At 500 mph he stood the jet on its tail and we went straight up at 4.6 Gs. That was very intense because in my Pro Stock car we get about 3.5 Gs. We flew along with another Thunderbird and we did some amazing maneuvers together. I know what it takes to control a race car, so how these pilots can control jets that are so close together at 600 mph is just insane.
“Not many people on this earth get an opportunity to do what I did,” Erica added. “It was such a great experience. I can’t thank the USAF and everyone involved enough.”
While the experience was truly a memorable one, Erica did confirm that it will not sway her away from her career objectives racing in Pro Stock, which she expects will be rekindled in 2008.
