Photo: Mecum
Following the ban on the use of nitromethane in 1957, NHRA drag racers started resorting to all kinds of more or less ethical shenanigans to remain competitive.
The legendary Mickey Thomson came up with an original idea and helped to perfect what was first an exhibition all-wheel-drive monster dragster called the Showboat, which even made the cover of the Hot Rod magazine in December 1961.
Powered by no less than four Buick V8 engines, the AWD car could transform all four wheels into toast with every push of the right pedal and was used mostly for shows full of billowing smoke instead of all-out drag races.
Fast forward 50 years after that legendary Hot Rod magazine cover and someone seems to have built an exact replica of the now-lost original Showboat. Well, not exactly “someone” since this is Tommy Ivo we're talking about, a former actor that is also an NHRA legend in his own right.
In 2007, when he was already in his 70s, Tommy Ivo commissioned the car to be not similar but identical to the original 1960s slingshot.
Just like the original car, the replica features four period-correct Buick V8 Nailhead V8 engines, with every two engines essentially forming a V16. One set of engines is powering the front axle and the other seat the rear one, all wheels being drag slicks, obviously.
Exquisite attention to detail resulted in all the custom accessories on the car to be accurately built, including some parts that are long out of production now. After having been displayed for the last few years and the Don Garlits Museum, it seems that the new Showboat is ready for a new owner.
Last year's Mecum Kissimmee auction featured the quad-engine dragster with no reserve, and it was expected that the car would go for $100,000-150,000. It didn't sell, though, so there is sitll a chance we may get to see it again soon.
Powered by no less than four Buick V8 engines, the AWD car could transform all four wheels into toast with every push of the right pedal and was used mostly for shows full of billowing smoke instead of all-out drag races.
Fast forward 50 years after that legendary Hot Rod magazine cover and someone seems to have built an exact replica of the now-lost original Showboat. Well, not exactly “someone” since this is Tommy Ivo we're talking about, a former actor that is also an NHRA legend in his own right.
In 2007, when he was already in his 70s, Tommy Ivo commissioned the car to be not similar but identical to the original 1960s slingshot.
Just like the original car, the replica features four period-correct Buick V8 Nailhead V8 engines, with every two engines essentially forming a V16. One set of engines is powering the front axle and the other seat the rear one, all wheels being drag slicks, obviously.
Exquisite attention to detail resulted in all the custom accessories on the car to be accurately built, including some parts that are long out of production now. After having been displayed for the last few years and the Don Garlits Museum, it seems that the new Showboat is ready for a new owner.
Last year's Mecum Kissimmee auction featured the quad-engine dragster with no reserve, and it was expected that the car would go for $100,000-150,000. It didn't sell, though, so there is sitll a chance we may get to see it again soon.
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