9 July 2011

Drag Racing History - Greer Black & Prudhomme A/FD






Few would disagree that the most famous of all restorations is the Greer-Black-Prudhomme 1962 car. It was one of the most beautiful dragsters ever built was also one of the most successful. In an era when function took precedence over form, the legendary Greer, Black & Prudhomme dragster combined the best of both worlds, that is, it looked great and ran even better. With a combination of the money from Tommy Greer, the engine and clutch science of Keith Black and the raw driving skills of a young car painter by the name of Don Prudhomme, the GB&P car struck fear in the hearts of its competitors.




With its yellow body (the car also ran with a red/orange paint scheme), chassis by Kent Fuller and a 392ci Chrysler engine from the mind of Keith Black, the Greer, Black & Prudhomme dragster cranked out some of the best times of the era, including an unbelievable 7.77 sec et at over 191 mph in 1964. Then, at the end of their remarkable two year run, the team basically disbanded, with Tommy Greer going into drag boats, while Keith Black became “just an engine builder” and not a car owner and Prudhomme, well, he went on to have a  moderately successful career  ;D in the sport of drag racing as both a driver and a car owner and that’s not too bad for a kid who started out as a car painter in Southern California.
And, coincidentally, one of the first cars that he painted just happened to be this Greer, Black and Prudhomme yellow dragster.






The car was sold to a team called "Reno Auto Wrecking"  (pic below) in 1967 and at some point after this the car went into storage until restorer Steve Davis (not that one) restored it.


The restoration of this incredible piece of drag racing history was left in the hands of Steve Davis - who was not new at this game and remains to this day as one of the premier car restorers in America. Steve's attention to detail is only rivaled by Bruce Dyda and Pat Foster.


Early Saturday morning of the 2000 California Hot Rod Reunion the crown jewels of the restored "Fuller Fleet" were rolled out to the track for a photo shoot.
L-R: The Magicar, The Vagabond , Greer-Black-Prudhomme, Western Mfg. Special.











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