Buddy Ingersoll’s claim to fame in drag racing is usually credited to the Buick Regal that he used to turn Pro Stock on it’s head with in the 1980s. In an era where the typical Pro Stocker was packing around 700 cubic inches of violence under the hood, Ingersoll’s twin-turbocharged 260ci Regal had been shot down in flames by the NHRA, but the IHRA gave him a shot. After early teething issues and an incident where a run that would’ve taken 0.05 off of Bob Glidden’s run was disallowed for a “rear-wheel start” (a hot button for Ingersoll to the end) the big moment came at the 1986 IHRA Fall Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee. He wasn’t faster, exactly. But he was competitive and the way he ran the other car down at the top end of the track grated nerves. He wound up losing to Glidden in the finals, but many in the Pro Stock realm were calling for the turbo Buick to be removed.

Ingersoll is best remembered for the Buick (really, a re-skinned ex-Warren Johnson Hurst/Olds), but he had been using smaller engines and turbochargers to piss off the competition for years prior. One of his more infamous creations was this Ford Pinto, which packed 140 cubic inches and 26 PSI of whispering death feeding the horses underneath that hood with the offset scoop. It’s odd to think that a Ford Pinto would be the basis of a machine that would bring index racers to their knees, let alone one that made the conversion from street to strip without the need for a V8 swap, but here you are. The only shame? Supposedly this car is packing a rear gear that starts with the number 6. Imagine the noise this thing had to be making through the traps!