[Brian Baker]

I thought some of you might find this interesting. Back in the day, Mickey Thompson campaigned 4 '73-'74 Grand Am funny cars. This was one of them, an earlier '73 variant driven by Dale Pulde. Barn fresh and recently purchased directly from Mickey's daughter. These shots were taken by Scott Misus this past Saturday at Maple Grove Raceway for their 50th anniversary event. Dale Pulde was also at the event, pilotting his '77 Trans Am "War Eagle" nostalgia fuel funny car.

[Chief Wanabee]

Brian (and Scott) thanks for the pics, I really like the last one. Do you know the plans for it - will they restore it or go for vintage racing?

[Brian Baker]

Army Armstrong is the new owner. I spoke with him Saturday at the track, and have known him for the last several years from attending nostalgia events. They originally thought of pulling a plug from it to recreate bodies, but the condition of it is so fragile they decided against that. Current plans are to turn it into a "cackle car", one that will run on nitro' for display purposes, but not be raced. They will be pulling a plug from Dave Sano's Grand Am in the fall, and making a body from that, with which they plan to paint up exactly as this one you see here, but not "fresh" paint...they're going to distress it to recreate all of the barn fresh flaws...and then they're going to race it.

[77 Canamman]

Really like this car. Saw it at Beaver Springs on June 9.

[TA-71]

Great post, thanks for sharing!!

[vin63]

Great post! Brings back good memories.

[thepontiacman]

Looks Good !

I have a model kit of that GA Funny Car 4 Sale.

[email protected]

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Brian Baker

These shots were taken by Scott Misus...

[muscle_collector]

so has it been sitting at mickeys sisters place all these years?????

[Brian Baker]

Originally Posted by muscle_collector

so has it been sitting at mickeys sisters place all these years?????

Daughter.

I don't know when she took possession of his stuff, I would imagine not long after her parents murder.

[455Grandville]

Niiiiiiiiice. I had model kit and a slot car of that years ago.

[Steve Hoog]

Originally Posted by muscle_collector

so has it been sitting at mickeys sisters place all these years?????

Don't you wish that you had known this little tid bit

[Brian Baker]

Was sitting at his daughter's place...not his sister's...in Oregon. I knew about it in 2004. Back then she swore she would never sell...time changes minds I guess.

Here's a video of Dave Sano's Grand Am when he tore the body up at Atco from a transmission/flywheel explosion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwerZFsgmZA

[Brian Baker]

And here's the same car after Dave pieced the body back together:

http://www.sanoscustompaintllc.com/raceteam.htm

[thepontiacman]

Here is a pic of the box of the model M/T GA.

[Alvin]

...

[Alvin]

A-Body Site M/T updated info: http://users.boardnation.com/~abodys...d=9957;start=2

eBay Find: The Original Mickey Thompson Revelleader 1973 Pontiac Grand Am Body
http://bangshift.com/bangshift1320/e...ac-grand-body/

One of the coolest funny car bodies of all time is for sale. Yes, it has a chassis, too but that chassis it not the original pipe, so we’re more gaga over the body than anything else. The 1973 Pontiac Grand Am you see in the photos below was the first Grand Am flopper ever built and the body was built by Ron Pellegrini in Chicago who Thompson commissioned for the job. Of the zillion cool things regarding this body, one of the coolest is that Pellegrini had a 1973 Grand Am long before any were known to exist outside of GM Engineers. No one really knows if Pontiac called Mickey or Mickey called Pontiac to make this happen but what we do know is that the work was top secret and done in a hidden area at Pellegrini’s shop.
Once completed, Mickey Thompson chose Butch Maas to campaign the car and for two races he did. Sadly at the Gatornationals in ’73, Mass blew the car up and suffered a fire that damaged both the chassis and the body. Rushed back to California, the car was put back together by a crew that included Dale Pulde and others. It then went back on the road and over the course of Pulde running the car, it set national records, won races, and crowds were totally into it. We love this style so much because if you look at funny car photos from 1973, you’ll see LOTS of Mustangs, Camaros, and Vegas, but not much else. This Grand Am was a very unique piece that actually had some success which is both rare and awesome.
The seller claims that the body was purchased from Mickey Thompson’s daughter and that it is sitting on a 1970s era funny car chassis but not the correct one that it was originally mated with. If the car had that ‘Lil John Buttera, 118″ wheelbase chassis under it, we’re pretty sure that the price would be a lot higher than what ever it is now, which is probably not cheap. We’re not sure what the reserve is but with bidding currently at $6,500 bucks we’re sure it is significantly higher than that. If you know your nostalgia funny car stuff, you know that east coaster Dave Sano campaigned at Grand Am bodied nostalgia car with one of the great paint jobs (he is a painter) of modern times. Sano’s car was exploded and repaired but it stands (for us) as the only Grand Am flopper we have seen in person.
With original paint, lettering, and battle scars, this is one of the coolest things currently for sale on eBay. DO WANT.
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE PHOTOS AND THEN HIT THE EBAY LINK TO SEE MORE STUFF AND INFORMATION!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-197..._Street_Legal_

[Brian Baker]

The current chassis it is sitting on is not the "70's era chassis" reported in that article. When Mickey's daughter had it in storage, it was sitting on (purportedly) the chassis that Mickey used for a Maverick funny car he campaigned prior to the G/A. Possibly this one:

http://www.70sfunnycars.com/FunnyCars40.html

The chassis that is under it is one Army Armstrong put under it after he purchased the body from Mickey's daughter.

[Alvin]

Originally Posted by Alvin

A-Body Site M/T updated info: http://users.boardnation.com/~abodys...d=9957;start=2

eBay Find: The Original Mickey Thompson Revelleader 1973 Pontiac Grand Am Body
http://bangshift.com/bangshift1320/e...ac-grand-body/


http://www.ebay.com/itm/ORIGINAL-197..._Street_Legal_

Originally Posted by Brian Baker

The current chassis it is sitting on is not the "70's era chassis" reported in that article. When Mickey's daughter had it in storage, it was sitting on (purportedly) the chassis that Mickey used for a Maverick funny car he campaigned prior to the G/A. Possibly this one:

http://www.70sfunnycars.com/FunnyCars40.html

The chassis that is under it is one Army Armstrong put under it after he purchased the body from Mickey's daughter.

Nice catch on the chassis/frame Brian.
When I posted that I wondered if you'd comment.
After a certain period of time most of these original vintage "tissue & paper clip" made dragsters become "tributes" - yes?

[Brian Baker]

I know Army personally, and I have seen the car in person (before he sold it). I was going to have Army make a body for me from the original, but by the time he was ready to do it, I had already spent the money on an unexpected repair of the wife's Excursion. The guy he sold it to contacted me late last year (before he began advertising it) to see if I was still interested in having a body pulled from it (he still has the plug that Army created from it as well). Alas...no money to finish the Crusader, let alone get another body.