Bankamericar Fire Ups

Since the 2003 NHRA California Hot Rod Reunion at Bakersfield, the BankAmericar has made over a dozen public appearances including the 2004 Winternationals, Goodguys 45th March Meet, Goodguys 2004 Del Mar, car shows and many displays in conjunction with Bridgestone-Firestone. At every showing we have done static "fire-ups" which not only separates the car from a display, but also gives friends and fans a chance to actually feel the power of a 2000 HP nitro burning 392 Chrysler hemi. This page will chronicle some of these fire ups ... we hope they prove to be entertaining.

The BankAmericar made its debut at the 2003 California Hot Rod Reunion with original driver, Don Ewald in the seat. The whole deal was not without some major problems but the bottom line is we made the Cacklefest on Saturday night and voted the car that best represented the era and the overall spirit of Cacklefest.
March Meet Saga

The cars next outing was the 2004 Winternationals (Cacklefest) at Pomona. This time John Ewald took the seat and did his first ever push start. The new engine was right on!

Bob "Floyd Lippencott Jr" Muravez fired her up in the tent - big mistake.

At Pomona we also put a young lady in the car who was part of a class outing from a Diamond Bar middle school.

The next outing of note was the Goodguys March Meet where the car was part of the Bridgestone-Firestone display. We didn't do a push start at this event but did do ten static fire-ups in the pits (that's about 25 gallons of nitromethane) that lasted 3 to 5 minutes and always attracted a large crowd.

Cindy Gibbs who, growing up in the sport, you'd think would have at least sat in a dragster. Nope, not one. Now she not only gets the seat but the 2000 HP that goes with it.

Cindy's friend, Donna Winter in the car. Unlike Cindy, she didn't clap and dance - she just ENJOYED the ride.

Valerie Harrell took a turn in "The Seat".

You couldn't wipe the smile off of Michelle Read's face.

Top Fuel legend and Hall of Fame member, Gary Cochran took a turn and although he doesn't want to drive anymore, he sure likes the feel and smell on nitro.

Manny Downey, Firestone District Manager gets the trill of his life (well, maybe not of his whole life).

The next appearance of note was the Festival of Speed at Irwindale Speedway which was a car show of historical racing cars that was held during the day before the night race of USAC midgets called the Morpar Irwindale Twin 25's.

This deal tuned out to be real special for us when John Buttera showed up. John originally built this car for himself in 1968. See the whole story here: Long Trip Home

Although John saw the car when we first got in back in 2003 (it was a mess), this was the first time he'd seen it completely restored. He was stunned. After giving his blessing to a perfect job, he reluctantly climbed into the seat for a fire up.

Once the engine was lit all Lil John could do was grin and remember.

When it was over, he was one happy camper.

Another fire up at Irwindale was WDIFL Staff Photographer, Robert Briggs. Robert is usually on the other side of the camera and luckily Tim Marshall was on hand to shoot these shots.

In Robert's own words: "It took 40 years but it was worth the wait. Top pic is a young 10 year old Robert Briggs sitting in his Dad's AA/FD. And 40 years later sitting in the nitro burning Ewald Brothers BankAmericar at Irwindale with hemi singing full chorus... oh yeah!"

At the Goodguys Del Mar show we had a chance to put "The Godfather" of the Cacklefest in the car. Bill Pitts, who started this whole the cackle thing with his restored "MagiCar" (below with Jeep Hampshire in the seat) not only enjoyed his time in the BankAmericar but was kind enough to put it into words.

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This morning, my daughter Kiersten and I made our way over to Del Mar. There were many great cars there, but I really enjoyed the chance to see the "Bankamericar", all by itself. John and Alex were kind enough to offer me a seat, since I told them I was feeling lightheaded. Most of my friends know this already.(g) And since there weren't any chair available in the immediate area, they felt compelled to offer me the only seat available. OH, DARN!

After I got my big butt through the hoop, I suddenly felt better, but felt I would need some time to completely recover. This came at an inopportune moment for the boys, as they needed to fire the car for the fans. So, they thought I'd better just stay put for the morning fire up as well. HEE...HEE.

Here's a place I could "dry up and blow away" in. This was a very significant moment for me. I'm real happy
right here. In fact, a guy came up and looked at the car and down into the cockpit and asked me what it was?
I said, "It's a Buttera". He said, "Looks like a WOODY to me."

This big early hemi BARKED! It's such a rare moment to have an original fueler lit, much less be in it! I tried to take it in any way I could.

YOU WANT TO EXPRESS YOUR APPRECIATION, BUT ALL I COULD DO AT THIS MOMENT WAS GIVE JOHN A GLANCE. HE AND ALEX UNDERSTOOD WHAT I WAS THINKING.

I've never lost my appreciation for this. What I never thought would appear again, much less come to life. Alex is soooo good at this. It's like nothing to him to make this motor pound. John, Don and Ronny have a great one in Alex. Every Cackle team needs a younger knowledgeable guy like him to carry things on for many years to come. Like the people who lovingly restore and operate old farm tractors or steam locomotives. Younger ones will need to carry this on.

I'm sorry. I could be cool about it and just shake hands and say thanks. But it really is more than that. It's a young teenager's dream realized (in a way), being in that seat. And to have those dream machines go away.....and then after all these years, come back. Well, I'm a lucky guy.

I'm burning the scene into my mind, here. For those rocking chair days in the not too distant future when life slows down to a crawl and all you have is your memories and a rocker. The smile will be there. Remembering back on all that this has been. These times with the racers and race cars of my youth.