Page 43 - NM Spring 2018
P. 43
Steve – I’m a mechanic at a running the previous few years, the time I was 40, and with the
Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram we meaning my son Brent and nostalgia craze ramping up, I was
dealership in North Carolina. myself. I was tired of both tuning ready to find or build one, and that
and driving and even though Brent was when I saw Jim Henry’s “Bad
Jim – I was a tool maker for the had been doing very well driving News” for sale on the internet. It
Boeing Company and that job was NHRA alcohol funny cars, he too was built in the ‘80s as a tribute
very instrumental in helping me was looking for a change. We both to the real car built in 1965 by
with engineering and design of all like nitro cars - especially old nitro Ted DeTar’s Performance Shop in
things mechanical. Later, I spent cars - so I pulled the old tired hulk Wichita, Kansas. By the way, Jim
31 years in the real estate business, soon to be the “Big Iron” out of helped build the car. He was fresh
from which I retired eight years storage and started to refurbish it out of high school and working for
ago. Ted.
to its former glory.
NMM - What gave you two the NMM - What got you both
idea to re-create this particular Steve - I had been infatuated interested in drag racing and when
class of car? with the A/FX cars after seeing and where did you attend your first
them in a 1968 article in Hot
Jim - The idea to put the “Big Rod Magazine that featured the one?
Iron” back together again came “new” fiberglass fliptop cars, the Steve - The fact that drag cars
to me in 2011 after I was getting predecessor to the Flopper. I was were a work of art and would still
somewhat bored with racing the just 10, but fell in love with the A/ look gorgeous after a full season
injected nitro altered we had been FX’ers and knew I wanted one. By Continued on page 45
Spring 2018 Nitro Madness Magazine 43
