Re: Joe Szabo
 

Here's another Nickey story......

One Saturday in 68.....I was sitting in the Parts Dept talking to Mike (Parts Guy) and a guy walks in and wants to buy a complete L-88 engine assy....(of course they only had about six in stock)....anyhow...he was a Geeky College type guy.....I'm thinking to myself....Yeah...Right......Mike gives him a price and he buys it right on the spot......he then ask's if we knew anyone who could put it in right away.....so I said .....what are you going to put it in, he responds that he has a 68 Vette that had a 400 H.P.(Hydraulic Cam) engine and wants to go faster.....so I work a deal to change out the engine in my garage and for doing all the work ....I would get to keep his "Old" engine with 3000 miles on it.....shook hands....done deal....Mike has a Pick-up truck and I gave him the key to my garage so he could deliver the L-88 on Friday Night......the guy drops off his Vette Saturday Morning......I spend Saturday and Sunday doing the work....the guy picks up his car on Sunday night and is just tickled pink......Everybody is Happy....Right.......................Tuesday or Wednesday I call Nickey to talk to Mike and was told that Mike had quit on Monday and was moving to California.......Wow!!!!I was supprised that he didn't say anything about that to me..... too bad I think to myself........Friday Night I go over to my Garage to clean up my mess from the previous weekend......I walk in the door and the engine is gone.....I talked to the neighbor and he said that guy with the pickup came and took it away..........he was the last one to see Mike and the engine........Go Figure......

Ken https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Ken,
You might recognize these names I just talked to a Guy who worked at the Nickey parts counter between HS and College Ralph Greinke. His buddy Dennis Sciborski was also there. They started in 1968.


BTW, cool story, un cool outcome.

Re: Joe Szabo
 

I say we go find Mike...no statute of limitations on thievery from Ken's garage https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/mad.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/mad.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Way friggin cool story!https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

Stefano, did you buy Ralphs car?

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Yes, I have it. It is in storage, close to Senior's Beat.

It was found at a lake house in Northern Wisconsin just as it was left in 1970-71. The casting date on the 512 engine is March 1970.

Ken's story sure fills in the gap of how it got up there and
why it was dormant all these years. Now I just need the history prior to Joe and Ralph running the car. It had a few paint jobs prior to the current scheme.

Anyone have any pics of a '63 Nova BB Gasser set up like this in Gold, White, Medium Blue Metallic or a Robin's Egg Blue?

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Stefano, I meant did you buy Ralphs OTHER car??? https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Got a call from "Fast" Mike, who hooked me up with 'Psycho Too' and asked me if I knew who "Little" John from Kenosha, WI is? He said that some of the info he dug up is that "Little" John built the Chassis and did the tin work on the car.

Anyone know a race car chassis builder out of Kenosha by that name https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Ken...are you there? I'll bet he knows... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Lil John Butera......was partners with Dennis Rollain at R&B Automotive in Kenosha.....John left Kenosha in about 66-67 and moved out to California and went to work for Mickey Thompson and built the Monocoque Mustangs for Ford , then he went out on his own and the rest is History.....he showed Coddington how to make Billet wheels.....Started the Billet Craze in Street Rodding.....very innovative but not a good businessman......

Ken https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Ken,
You are awesome! Not many people know that Little John Buttera was building race cars in Wisconsin, prior to moving out to California. I never even had a hunch that 'Psycho Too' had a link to Little John, until I got that phone call today.

Re: Joe Szabo
 

[ QUOTE ]
Ken,
You are awesome! Not many people know that Little John Buttera was building race cars in Wisconsin, prior to moving out to California. I never even had a hunch that 'Psycho Too' had a link to Little John, until I got that phone call today.

[/ QUOTE ]

See? Okay Ken...when is the book coming out? https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/eek.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

I don't have any expertise in factory correct numbers like some of the people on this site, but I am full of "Useless" information...........LOL

Ken https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

It isn't useless...It's awesome! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/headbang.gif

What's useless is why I can remember my phone number from kindergarden...but not what I had for dinner last night! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

[ QUOTE ]
It isn't useless...It awesome! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/headbang.gif

What's useless is why I can remember my phone number from kindergarden...but not what I had for dinner last night! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/dunno.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I suppose you cooked out on the Grill cause it was in the 70's.........Right!!!...........

Ken https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/hmmm.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

C'mon Ken....More info!! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ouguysrock.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Dennis and John (R&B) built some of the first Fiberglass Funny Cars (A/FX) at the time....they built Don Schumachers first "Stardust" car....Injected Hemi.....Also built Mr. Norm's first Flip Top Fiberglass A/FX car..the 66 Charger that Gary Dyer toured the country with...they also played around with very lightweight junior fuel cars....after John moved to California and went out on his own he built the High End type cars , again for Schumacher, Barry Setzer, etc........He was one of the first to set-up Funny cars with Coilovers in the rear, at the time most were solid mount rearends....his Tall "T" street rod was cutting edge for the time... Handbuilt Independent Front and rear suspension with the rear tires inside the fenders (most stuck out at the time)........then he built an Indy car with a small block chevy and qualified very well, but as I remember they sheared off the flywheel bolts during the race, I think he also ran a 180 Degree???? crankshaft in that engine...Seen him at the SEMA show about 6-7 years ago and he was building Custom Harleys.....the one that he had at the show was so slick that if it were outside in the rain it wouldn't get wet because there was nothing for the water to catch on.........everything was hidden and slicked off...... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/cool.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/cool.gifJust way ahead of his time.....

Ken https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

R & B also built Larry Swiateks Gray Ghost 66 GTO Funnycar !!! Scully painted it ,Fiberglas LTD made the body...Heavy duty Chicago connection there Stefano ! ...

Re: Joe Szabo
 

R&B is still in business......Dennis is not doing very well from a health perspective.......Lil John was the creative one at R&B and when he left, Dennis continued on and did a couple of neat cars but he didn't have the finesse that John had......
One of the "Neatest" cars that Dennis built was Mini Cooper Panel Delivery.......Dennis started with just a brand new Body shell......built a tube frame,narrowed 9" Ford rear, Built Ford V6 engine, it had about 12" aluminum Rims about 9" wide....looked like a Roller Skate....the car was about as high as your belt buckle.....NEEEEEETTT!!!!!

Ken

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Does anybody know if Joe Szabo ever ran a '69 Camaro in the early to mid '70's. Do you know if Joe ever move to Pennsylvania around the same time period?

Thanks,
Mike

Re: Joe Szabo
 

[ QUOTE ]
Does anybody know if Joe Szabo ever ran a '69 Camaro in the early to mid '70's. Do you know if Joe ever move to Pennsylvania around the same time period? Thanks,Mike

[/ QUOTE ] No.....After the tax man got thru with Joe, he was Lucky to have Gas money for his car.............(thru his own fault) Ken (eating Mango's) LOL

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Thanks Ken.....enjoy the mango's. I'm eating oranges https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

Mike https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

There was another Joe Szabo out East who either raced or sponsored a front engine rail back in the day, but not the same person.

Re: Joe Szabo
 

I have discovered a bit more info about the car at the Vette/Fest.

While at the Vette Fest on display, One of the Midwest Gasser members saw the car and said that he hadn't seen it since the '60s, when he raced against it.

He asked if I was aware that the car was originally a White car? I told him that the original color appears to have been Gold, but that the whole car did have a white paint job over the Gold.

He also informed me that it was not a Mechanic at Nickey who had built and raced the car before Szabo, but a parts counter man, named Ron https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/burnout.gif

Bruce Larson's PR guy, who stopped by to look it over said that he too recognized the car and thought he might have some pics of it from back in the day.

He said that he remembered it because it was one of the first Midwest area Gassers to have such a deep engine set back.

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Does anyone know if Scully is still around. I believe he letered a car that I owned called Taboo. It was a 70 Z28 super gas car.

Re: Joe Szabo
 

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...-I-Have-It.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Cool deal Stefano...BTW...clean out your PM box a bit...if you already haven't https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Scully spends his winters in Palm Springs and summers in Palatine. He is still alive and kicking. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Thats were I live. I will have to look him up.

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Stefano.. any feedback on that lead I gave you on a " Joe Szabo in WI " ?

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Not yet, but thanks for the info!

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Just an update, on the continuing research for Psycho Too; The N.I.C.B has confirmed that the Chevy II was indeed sold new at Nickey Chevrolet, in 1963.

We are still looking for vintage race photos or film of this car in action, as well as any other helpful info.

Re: Joe Szabo
 

What great news Stefano! That is such a cool ride... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Joe Zabo's Widow as well as some of his associates have contaced us and stopped by to visit Psycho Too.

Here are a couple of Vintage Pics;

[image]http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a79...vintagepic.jpg[/image] [image]http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a79.../Psycho_21.jpg[/image]

Re: Joe Szabo
 

[ QUOTE ]
Joe Zabo's Widow as well as some of his associates have contaced us and stopped by to visit Psycho Too.

Here are a couple of Vintage Pics;

[image]http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a79.../Psycho_21.jpg[/image]

[/ QUOTE ]


Stefano........That's the rear of my 66 L-79 in the Pic.........Amazing....

Ken https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

WOW Ken.....memories! Its cool to think about what you were doing and who you were hanging with back then! A small world. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/3gears.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

[ QUOTE ]
WOW Ken.....memories! Its cool to think about what you were doing and who you were hanging with back then! A small world. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ins/3gears.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I knew that Stefano was going to get some Psycho Pic's and I just about fell over when I seen that one https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/shocked.gif......Peel away the Years........Too bad that Joe and Danny are no longer with us https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/frown.gif......Looks like Ralph (one of the owners) getting into the passenger side of my car........ https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/worship.gif

Ken https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/flag.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Wow...how cool! You just never know when pics will pop up! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Steven J found this Psycho Too about 1/2 way in.

<object width="425" height="350"> <param name="movie" value="https://www.youtube.com/v/gjtB_UFUVQ0"></param> <param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param> <embed src="https://www.youtube.com/v/gjtB_UFUVQ0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"> </embed></object>

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Another Interesting thing about Drag Racing Now and Then......is that the stands were full every weekend then.....Shake Rattle and Run is just before Psycho in the video.....Pretty Cool....

Re: Joe Szabo
 

Maybe it's just me but, I think the reason the stands were full back then was because the cars were actually cars and not some fiberglass replicas; plus more cars had manual transmissions where the drivers had to &quot;drive&quot; the cars.

To this day I enjoy watching the stock, super stock and competition eliminator classes much more than the top tier classes. I prefer to watch cars that are closer to stock bodied vehicles that I can relate to; something that I could actually aspire to driving. Of course I'd also get rid of the delay boxes and all the electrical crap too.