…CHERRY BOMB!”
That awesome rocker by late ‘70’s “bad girl” band The Runaways, later re-recorded by Joan Jett with her second band The Blackhearts in the early ‘80’s, provided the perfect inspiration for the name of the latest Model Motoring ’67 GTO body to join the Drag City muscle car racing fleet, this one an enticing shade of rich candy red.
I got a great deal on this car, as it came on a red T-Dash chassis, which I repurposed for another project in order to mount the body on a brand new Ultra G for maximum “GO.” I got it, too; set up with Road Race Replicas 816 “Slots” and low profile silicone tires, this car moved out like greased lightning in her first trials, easily winning her a position in the next racing season. There must be something about the weight and the balance of this particular body which is just perfect, as every version of it that I’ve put into the racing fleet has been a top performer!
And what else would you expect from the legendary GTO? Unlike so many of the ‘67 “goats” that run the track at DC, there is nothing original about “Cherry Bomb”, as she was pulled out of a junkyard in upstate New York as a rusted hulk in 1980 by Buffalo native Izaac “Ironhide” Ingram. The tough former marine got his nickname by surviving 3 war injuries in Vietnam, and used the proceeds from his Purple Heart and combat injury compensation to pursue his passion for racing when he returned home. Since the originally gold-colored GTO’s 400/M20 4-speed drivetrain was long gone when it was pulled from the mud and hauled home, Ingram opted to replace it with a 455 Pontiac big block, which he set up for maximum impact with ported high performance heads from a 1973 Trans Am and pistons giving an 11:1 compression ratio requiring 100+ octane fuel, and a pair of Carter 4-barrels on an aluminum Edelbrock high-rise manifold that required a custom-made air cleaner to clear the hood. This runs through a race-spec M22 “Rock Crusher” 4-speed to the Richmond 3.90 limited slip which he recently swapped out with the 4:11 posi that was originally installed. Why the change? For Drag City, of course, where he trailered the car, family in tow, when he relocated to sunny San Diego in 1983.
Taking another two years to finish the car to his liking, completing the extensive metal work to eradicate the New York rust and refitting a stock Pontiac interior in iridescent red vinyl and crowning it with a custom mixed single stage lacquer to match, “Ironhide” has now brought “Cherry Bomb” to Drag City to show the crowd what a combat veteran is still capable of!
I hadn’t hear that song in too long! That perfect weight and balance would make a huge difference in the performance and this one does it all beautifully!
Yeah its an awesome track, isn’t it? I had actually been saving that nickname for a special car, and this one qualified. The song and the car: both great memories of better times!