(Words and Photos by Greg Rourke) – Dennis Spal, owner of High Speed Welding in Westmont, Il. says business is booming. He has a shop full of projects to keep him and his employee busy. He has a Challenger body in white that was destined to be one of the Drag Pack V-10 cars until NHRA only allowed 50 of them. He has a couple Dodge Demons going together, and a twin turbo Dodge Polara. A 528 Hemi powered Duster is on a lift waiting on a few finishing touches. An El Camino shop truck was in back next to a nice Willys. A complete chassis hangs upside down in the rafters, and a Ford flattie sits on a shelf waiting for a glass top so it can be a coffee table.
Oh, and the genuine Grumpy’s Toy X Vega is there also. The last Toy before going full tube frame was authenticated by The Grump himself. The iron 331 engine is said to be the last engine built by Jenkins. Dennis is putting the finishing touches on it, such as getting a proper Lenco in it, an era correct master cylinder, interior tin, and other odds and ends. The car is owned by noted Pro Stock collector Mark Pappas, who received some irreplaceable parts with it. How about some boxes from Strange Engineering addressed to Grumpy? Or some mock up brake pads with instructions in his handwriting? Dennis reports a very well known collector made a very serious offer on the car, which Pappas laughed off. When completed, the car will be for display, and maybe some light passes…would you take the chance of stuffing this thing in the wall? It will be done in time for display at the US Nationals this year, they are having a Grumpy tribute.
Thanks to Dennis for allowing us into his shop.
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GALLERY LINK: 
Owning a piece of Grump history of that magnitude is second on the list only behind winning the lottery to fund such a venture. Got to hang with him in Richmond at one of the first East Coast nostalgia events. Attendance was LOW. Cool cat after weathering the initial storm. Jungle Pam and his son(forgot his name) too. In my twisted world, the thought of Grumpy, Smokey Yunick, and Elmer Trett’s freaky three way love child causes my vision to be replaced with a glowing white light. What I meant to say was, WAY COOL CAR!
……The Grumps Chevy brightens the whole place up!
I thought the grumpys vega had struts on it and a drysump. Is that a clone??
Oh chit, that last comment came out wrong, I am not tryin to be a hater.
Clone not the 11 car of his was the first car to have struts and dry sump,the 10 car which this is was the last car that still had the stock front frame rails,as little of them that there is but they are there along with the stock control arms,it also has some of the original trunk floor and fuel tank which was used as a ballast box
Wasn’t IV the first strut car….And isn’t that the one Pappas bought outta PA last winter?
Didn’t mean to say IV….obviously that was a Camaro, meant to say XI….
Nice resto . . . of the historic car that ruined PS forever. It should definitely be preserved as one of the monuments to when “stock” racing “jumped the shark.”
That car is the real deal. It was owned by Paul Thimms for years. It won many track championships at Maple Grove Raceway in Heavy/Pro.
I see the car i a 76-77 Vega, thought the #10 car was a Monza?
Just check out online that Grumpy’s Toy X was a 73′ Vega? Did they just keep updating the body wth the same X car?