The Past:   Originally owned and driven by Jim Walther of Painesville OH. The car was ordered in Dec of 1968 and was finished in early 1969. Chassis by Woody Gilmore's RCE. Body by Tom Hanna, Paint by Cerny, Lettering by Kelly. The engine was done by the old master Ed Pink. The car was raced from 69 to 71 where it was low qualifier and won numerous WCS meets. Won the Can/Am meet in Canada, Turkey Trot race in Gainesville Fla and a whole lot of match races. The car was sold in 1971 to Art Arfons. Jim built a rear engine car early that year and won The N.H.R.A. Top Fuel World Championship. He retired from driving in 1975-76 and spent the following years working in the High Performance Racing Industry until his retirement from work in 2006. He was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 2005, A life time Achievement Award in 2008 and inducted into the East Coast Drag Times Hall of Fame in 2009. During that event Jim met an old acquaintance,  Penny Flammia. And an old friendship was renewed. Soon there was phone calling back and forth, Visiting, Bench racing, then some trips to the Holly Hot Rod Reunion. Soon after that the topic of conversation was let's restore the Special Edition AA/FD. The decision was made that Penny was going to restore the car.  

 

The Present:   Soon the hunt for the car started. After a phone call to Tim Arfons it was learned that the car had been destroyed but he still had some of the old parts. After acquiring the parts he had, Wheels, Tires, Steering Wheel, Gas Tank, etc,etc  Penny restored them to their original condition. Now a phone call to J ED Horton at Horton race cars and a deal was made to build a new chassis.  With photos supplied by Walther of the original car and a 104 photos from Herman Petersen, who had the sister car to the Special Edition. J ED supplied a print of a Woody Car and the chassis was started. J ED and Penny laid out the 180" wheel base chassis. J ED did the bending and fitting of the tubing and Penny did all the welding. Soon the chassis was done and the next stop was to Detroit and AL Bergler who reproduced an Aluminum body just like the original. With the chassis and body done the car went back to Richmond Va and Carter Enroughty's shop. While the body was being done Jim Walther built the 440 ci  Fuel burning motor according to original Ed Pink specs. Carter and Penny installed the motor, built a clutch, fabricated brackets, mounted parachutes, etc, etc. Once the car was completely functional Bruce Kennedy and Danny Riddle finished the Painting and Lettering and the Special Edition was reborn. The car made it's debut at the Asphalt Angels car show Feb 2013, then the Gator Nationals, The Holly Hot Rod Reunion at Bowling Green, Ky where it was featured Friday night at the host hotel Cacklefest. Since then the car has been shown at the New England Hot Rod Reunion and the N.H.R.A. US Nationals.

 

The Future:                     *  Available For

 

                                         *   Car Shows

 

                                         *  Special Events

 

                                     *  Cacklefest - Start up

 

                  ( See and hear a piece of Drag Racing History )