West Australian nostalgia fan Greg Dale has an exceptionally impressive collection of cars in his garage.
“I have had a long interest in nostalgias and hot rods,” Greg said.
“When it comes to why I have collected the cars I have, I just love the era and the names of the guys who drove, owned and tuned these cars.”
From the 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone he will drive at the Perth Motorplex’s next Nostalgia meet to Mickey Thompson’s 1969 Mach 1 Mustang Funny Car and a whole host of vehicles in between, Greg’s collection is awe inspiring.
We were lucky enough to catch up with Greg recently and he told us a bit more about his cars and showed us around what he has in his garage right now.
1965 MERCURY COMET CYCLONE
The 1965 Mercury Comet Cyclone has a Holman Moodie 427 High Riser; a Factory big spine four-speed with Hurst shifter, without Liberty gears; a 9” rear with 4.56 gears; and the original Cragar front wheels and Cragar rears. All of the running gear and parts are from the 1960s and there is no modern ‘go fast’ gear as Greg wanted to keep the car “pure nostalgia.”
“This car was owned by two brothers who raced it around the Georgia hub up until 1970,” Greg explains.
“The car sat around until 2000 and was sold with some partial restoration completed before I purchased it in 2013. I had some restoration undertaken in the US and then imported it to Perth, where I then fully restored the car.
“The car ran twelves back in the day and recently, I took it to the Perth Motorplex for its first run in fifty years! I took it easy as I was running the engine in, and it ran 12.90 at 111 miles per hour – it ran nice and straight too and has plenty of potential to run some good, classic times.”
MICKEY THOMPSON’s 1969 MACH 1 MUSTANG FUNNY CAR
The Mickey Thompson 1969 Mach 1 Mustang Funny Car was legendary in its heyday and unsurprisingly turns heads anytime it is brought out of Greg’s garage.
“In late 1968, to coincide with the launch of the ‘69 Mach 1 Mustang, Ford supplied Mickey Thompson with a then unseen Mach 1 and wanted Micky to build a winning funny car,” Greg explains.
“The body was moulded from the car supplied at Mickey Thompson’s shop in Long Beach and then went to the Fiberglass Trends shop to be extended and set up.
“Mickey had Lil John Buttera design a chrome molly dragster chassis, which was a first in funny cars at the time.
“Lil John, Pat Foster and a team of specialists including ‘the Surfers’ (Bob Skinner and Tom Jobe) went on to build this amazing funny car.
“Ford supplied anything Mickey needed, and it is rumoured that Ford spent over a million dollars on the car back then.
“The car was driven by Danny Ongias who was known as exceptionally quick off the line and never backed off. Ed Pink told me he was one of the best ‘60’s drivers, so you can see why Mickey wanted him.
“One of the best tuners of the day was the famous Amos Satterley, who tuned the Ford SOHC (Cammer) to perfection.
“In September ‘69 at Kansas raceway the car ran 6.96 at 211mph – that was unbelievable back then and it was the first Funny Car to crack the sixes. The car went on to win at the ‘69 US Nationals and 11 of the 12 major events for the season.
“After Danny Ongias left Mickey Thompson, the car was being tested in 1970 and crashed. Mickey did not want Ford to know, so everything was hushed up and the car totally disappeared. The chassis was cut up and I the damaged body was sold privately with stipulations to the buyer that it was to be a ‘keep your mouth shut’ arrangement.
“Scott DaPron worked for Mickey Thompson between ‘67 and ‘72. He did the first paint job on the car and fitted the door handles plus other emblems and the bumpers.
“Scott has an amazing collection of old drag race cars from the 60’s and is always on the look-out for more.
“As part of this, he came across the body over 20 years ago behind a shed. He could see the work he had done many years ago and quickly purchased it.
“The car sat up in the rafters for many years at Scott’s shop. Scott became a great friend of mine over many years and he would not sell the body until one day, I managed to do a deal with him on the condition I would run it down the strip.
“The body had been repaired from the ‘70 crash and it was easy to see the repairs. They were not the neatest repairs, but they were left as was done. The front wing support holes were filled in – running wings on Funny Cars had been a first, but they were then banned as you couldn’t get the driver out if there was an accident as there were no roof hatches back then.
“As the first Lil John Buttera/Pat Foster chassis was not around, I found the last Lil John chassis built in ‘77. It had been restored by Donnie Reeves and Donnie located for me an iron Cammer – Donnie was of great assistance on the project.
“I then met up with Danny Thompson (Mickey’s son), and he gave me permission to letter the car again. He was such a great help but did not want the car to run on the strip again due to liability.
“So, in 2019 I did three exhibition passes at the Perth Motorplex to keep my promise to Scott and to celebrate the 50th anniversary run of the car. It will not run again though, other than some cackle events.”
COMING SOON
Greg is currently also working on two other projects, ensuring his amazing collection is ever evolving.
“I have the Estrus Racing copy of the Mickey Thompson Mach 1 Mustang, which I bought as a roller in 2016. It now has a Shelby Cammer in it and hopefully will be ready to run in March,” Greg said.
“I am also building an original steel 1932 Ford 3 window coupe that was chopped back in 1961. The car was never finished and had sat around for nearly 60 years in Long Beach, California. It will be powered by an Ed Pink Ford 427 Hilborn injected Cammer and boast a five speed Tremec and 9” Strange Engineering rear end. When finished, it will be a street car and occasional strip runner.”
For information on upcoming Perth Motorplex events, please visit www.motorplex.com.au
