big red at hoonigans

[Barry Donovan]

legend

In my first year of driving, This car was on its first runs that made it famous in media

my neighbor we called big red (6 foot 6 and bright red hair), my last name is donovan. Someone actually thought it was funny we worked on hot rodding a truck together...and an article was found about this car in one of the magazines during that time. I was still in high school.
Silver state and the 200mph run was happening that same summer.

just a coincidence of words and what high school kids do with that stuff.
it had a donovan engine in the beginning and the cars name has always been big red.

Anyway, tim (big red) rolled that truck end for end, we went our ways into the service.(Gulf 1 era)
Timmy died last year.

I see this car and think of us and the silly things we did every time. we even had a rare 327 ripped apart in the dusty driveway, and back together in one day. mismatched pistons, who cares.

Nice to see this car go on better and better.

I think the memory that burned in is the word pro touring.. by our own teenage nature we were making a fast truck. He gained a rare 3 speed overdrive and i made the shortbox truck dangerous. What we called booster shocks is todays coilovers. what we called camber and caster is now stance.
I laugh to think as kids we were among the new found craze that owns the world today.. "pro touring"

great name for a car. time has its way and our imagination.

[pdub]

That car and those guys have done EVERYTHING. They were at Arkansas in June and went over 200. Land speed, drag racing, Pikes Peak, road courses, everything. In my book that's just called flaunting it, but back in the olden days of black and white TV Dizzy Dean said, "It ain't braggin' if you can do it." They sure can. And it doesn't hurt either that they've been on the cover of HRM a time or two, and much deserved.

[SuperBuickGuy]

that car has inspired me since the beginning.

[ratpatrol66]

Saw this at Speedweek, definitely built for speed!!!

[DanStokes]

RJ hisself gave me my Big Red T-shirt. Mutt and I were pitted across from them in Arkansas and you can't find a nicer group of folks. GO RED!

Dan

[pdub]

I didn't know the car had been burned up until I watched that video.

[Deaf Bob]

I didn't know the car had been burned up until I watched that video.

Original subframed car burnt, built #2 as a purpose built car..
Either version was/is badass!

[pdub]

Original subframed car burnt, built #2 as a purpose built car..
Either version was/is badass!

The thing that gets me, is how many events they do. All over the hemisphere. I wouldn't have any issue at all with pounding that car at whatever venue, but you have to move it there and back. The transport.....moving it......If anything happens to that car on the way it cannot be replaced. Replicated maybe, but not that same one. Not that same one. That's just incredible.

[Deaf Bob]

The thing that gets me, is how many events they do. All over the hemisphere. I wouldn't have any issue at all with pounding that car at whatever venue, but you have to move it there and back. The transport.....moving it......If anything happens to that car on the way it cannot be replaced. Replicated maybe, but not that same one. Not that same one. That's just incredible.

Read that link I sent you... Lookit their array of motors!!

[tedly]

The thing that gets me, is how many events they do. All over the hemisphere. I wouldn't have any issue at all with pounding that car at whatever venue, but you have to move it there and back. The transport.....moving it......If anything happens to that car on the way it cannot be replaced. Replicated maybe, but not that same one. Not that same one. That's just incredible.

If something happens to it, you make a better one.

[pdub]

If something happens to it, you make a better one.

A bit more amateur photography from June in Arkansas. My little Red hated it, he kept going slower and slower but Big Red for sure didn't care.

[tedly]

Those are freakin sewer pipes for exhaust.

[Deaf Bob]

Those are freakin sewer pipes for exhaust.

555 ci, natural big block or blowered... Need big exhawsh

[Deaf Bob]

The team has four different Larry Mollicone-built engines for the car, all 555 cubic inches – two normally aspirated high-compression powerplants and two with lower compression and a ProCharger. For Pikes Peaks, the team ran one of the naturally aspirated engines with Holley EFI. For standing mile and mile-and-a-half courses, it's the ProCharger with Holley EFI. Next on the horizon is Mojave, where in September Gottlieb and crew will try to top the 253-mph mark they established last year. "We got all kinds of things planned for that," Fleenor said. "We're looking for 260 mph, maybe even 265."

[pdub]

. "We're looking for 260 mph, maybe even 265."

That's staggering, those numbers. But I actually "get" it. Having been on the one-mile, you find out soon what your car can do. Or in a number of runs, over and over. You can guess that close, within a few MPH, and which way is the wind blowing? The wind matters huge when you don't have a million horsepower. But with a million horsepower.....well, that I have no idea about but I'd imagine the guessing game is the same. Probably you could still "guess" what it will do because you already know.