Photo: Mecum
The Dodge Charger is and forever will be one of the favorite cars to take to the drag strip, in some rare cases even in whatever stock form it rolled out the factory doors. Alongside other incredible machines built for such things, the Charger is thus continuously featured here on autoevolution. But we rarely get to see the name slapped onto a build as insane as the one we have here.
For people old enough to have been able to appreciate drag racing back from the 1950s to the 1970s, the name Tommy Ivo speaks volumes. The American racer was one of the most spectacular presences in this industry, especially given how he also liked to star in movies.
Ivo has an extremely large number of races to his name, and some of them have even gone down in history – the man is responsible, for instance, for having been behind the wheel of the first gasoline-powered dragster to smash through the nine-second barrier, a Buick-based build.
His achievements were recognized by the industry, of course, and back in 2005, Ivo was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. And now, the cars he once raced, owned, or helped make are beginning to come out into the open, looking for new owners.
Back in September, for instance, we’ve learned about the quad-engine Buick Wagonmaster he built together with chassis fabricator Kent Fuller going under the Mecum hammer in January in Kissimmee, Florida.
The same venue is where the auction house will try and sell this Dodge Charger as well. Both cars are part of the Jackie and Gary Runyon collection that also includes George Barris’ Turbo-Sonic.
This particular Charger is described by its seller as Ivo’s “finale in the nitro ranks” and one of the “original Mouseketeers” funny cars. It comes to the sale wearing a 1977 Charger body, the original one, over a McKinney chassis that supports a 426ci (7.0-liter) engine.
The powerplant is a HEMI piece, of course, and it boasts all the right gear, including a “period-correct single-plug Mallory ignition, polished Mooneyham 8-71 topped with a three-port injector, Waterman fuel pump, chrome valve covers and anodized fittings.” In this configuration, it is more than suited to burn nitromethane.
All that power hides under a body wearing the colors of the American flag, and the Tommy Ivo Hot Rod Shop livery. The current shape of the car is owed to Yello Drag Racing series funny car champion Cruz Pedregon, who rebuilt and repainted the Charger.
The drag car is listed for sale with no reserve, and we are not even given a glimpse of how much the current owners expect to get for it. We do know it sells complete with the original frame, and the parachute that helped it stop back in its glory days.
Ivo has an extremely large number of races to his name, and some of them have even gone down in history – the man is responsible, for instance, for having been behind the wheel of the first gasoline-powered dragster to smash through the nine-second barrier, a Buick-based build.
His achievements were recognized by the industry, of course, and back in 2005, Ivo was inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America. And now, the cars he once raced, owned, or helped make are beginning to come out into the open, looking for new owners.
Back in September, for instance, we’ve learned about the quad-engine Buick Wagonmaster he built together with chassis fabricator Kent Fuller going under the Mecum hammer in January in Kissimmee, Florida.
The same venue is where the auction house will try and sell this Dodge Charger as well. Both cars are part of the Jackie and Gary Runyon collection that also includes George Barris’ Turbo-Sonic.
This particular Charger is described by its seller as Ivo’s “finale in the nitro ranks” and one of the “original Mouseketeers” funny cars. It comes to the sale wearing a 1977 Charger body, the original one, over a McKinney chassis that supports a 426ci (7.0-liter) engine.
The powerplant is a HEMI piece, of course, and it boasts all the right gear, including a “period-correct single-plug Mallory ignition, polished Mooneyham 8-71 topped with a three-port injector, Waterman fuel pump, chrome valve covers and anodized fittings.” In this configuration, it is more than suited to burn nitromethane.
All that power hides under a body wearing the colors of the American flag, and the Tommy Ivo Hot Rod Shop livery. The current shape of the car is owed to Yello Drag Racing series funny car champion Cruz Pedregon, who rebuilt and repainted the Charger.
The drag car is listed for sale with no reserve, and we are not even given a glimpse of how much the current owners expect to get for it. We do know it sells complete with the original frame, and the parachute that helped it stop back in its glory days.
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