19 thoughts on “The Story of Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins – Father of Pro Stock Drag Racing”
Excellent review of a heck of wrench twister. We're lucky to occasionally see one of Grumpy's Toys on display. I didn't know he bought the acid dipped #6 Camaro off of Penske. Mark Donahue was very successful racing that car in the original Trans Am series.
I used to be a crewman for Gerhart Racing out of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. One of my jobs was taking our ARCA and Cup car engines to Jenkins performance (about an hour away) for between race rebuilds. Was so cool being around his race shop so long ago. 😁
The 61 replica was built by Jenkins' friend Ronnie Evans. In fact, the engine in that car is my original 380HP 409 from my 62 Impala. In about 1965, my friend Ted Struse ( see SS_ DI Magazine Project 6 Pack) was offered the Z-11 from some guy in Jersey. The price was $2500 as I recall. We had no place to keep it, so we passed on the offer. I believe Jenkins repurchased the car for a much larger sum.
Grumps 68 Nova turned into an L-78 car is the reason i otdered onewhen getting out of the ARMY drove it across the united States to Yakima Washington stockran 13.1 at 108 mph at Renegade raceway niw have another black L-78 in garage with 51.000 actial miles Logtrkn coyote here 🐺🪖 Veteran
Very nice video, very well done. Would Love to see you do the same with Bob Glidden. (For the Ford People) Or a Lee Shepard video, highlighting all the epic races between Bob and Lee, I'm sure you'd do a excellent job at it, all your videos very informative.
Yes…. sometime in the late '70s, a barn containing many legendary East Coast drag cars burned to the ground in Eastern Pennsylvania…. I know the Cook and Leong '71 Hemi Charger RT was one of them…. and so was Grumpy's '68 396/375 Nova…
I was in HS from 69-73, and was a huge Grumpy fan. Had a friend with an older brother that was also a drag racer, running a C/Gas Falcon with a 327 In it! Love the post, never knew of the Penske connection, but it makes sense! Thanks and look forward to future posts!
To test one of the small blocks we were getting ready for the season of the Vega ( '72 ) , we put the engine in the '69 car , and tested it at Cecil , at D/MP weight . It ran 4 tenths under the record . I think the weather was very good in late '71 , probably October .
Dont mind the detractors and keyboard crewchiefs Parker. Everything you said about Toy IV is correct and documented. Hope to see you again at Camaro Nationals next year. By the way…Love your channel!
Excellent history of Grumpy Jenkins, loved seeing the coverage of the Black Arrow Plymouth, I'm old enough to remember seeing it run, was always a big fan of the car. I may be wrong but I think that later in it's life it became possibly the first altered wheelbase car.
Excellent review of a heck of wrench twister. We're lucky to occasionally see one of Grumpy's Toys on display. I didn't know he bought the acid dipped #6 Camaro off of Penske. Mark Donahue was very successful racing that car in the original Trans Am series.
I used to be a crewman for Gerhart Racing out of Lebanon, Pennsylvania. One of my jobs was taking our ARCA and Cup car engines to Jenkins performance (about an hour away) for between race rebuilds. Was so cool being around his race shop so long ago. 😁
The 61 replica was built by Jenkins' friend Ronnie Evans. In fact, the engine in that car is my original 380HP 409 from my 62 Impala. In about 1965, my friend Ted Struse ( see SS_ DI Magazine Project 6 Pack) was offered the Z-11 from some guy in Jersey. The price was $2500 as I recall. We had no place to keep it, so we passed on the offer. I believe Jenkins repurchased the car for a much larger sum.
Love your channel, Parker – been following since it began. Keep up the great work!!
Grumps 68 Nova turned into an L-78 car is the reason i otdered onewhen getting out of the ARMY drove it across the united States to Yakima Washington stockran 13.1 at 108 mph at Renegade raceway niw have another black L-78 in garage with 51.000 actial miles Logtrkn coyote here 🐺🪖 Veteran
Excellent and well-researched documentary on a legend. Well done!
Very nice video, very well done. Would Love to see you do the same with Bob Glidden. (For the Ford People) Or a Lee Shepard video, highlighting all the epic races between Bob and Lee, I'm sure you'd do a excellent job at it, all your videos very informative.
A bit too condensed, but a lot of good info… Thank you!
The whereabouts of toy IV is still unknown..
Yes…. sometime in the late '70s, a barn containing many legendary East Coast drag cars burned to the ground in Eastern Pennsylvania…. I know the Cook and Leong '71 Hemi Charger RT was one of them…. and so was Grumpy's '68 396/375 Nova…
I was in HS from 69-73, and was a huge Grumpy fan.
Had a friend with an older brother that was also a drag racer, running a C/Gas Falcon with a 327 In it!
Love the post, never knew of the Penske connection, but it makes sense!
Thanks and look forward to future posts!
To test one of the small blocks we were getting ready for the season of the Vega ( '72 ) , we put the engine in the '69 car , and tested it at Cecil , at D/MP weight . It ran 4 tenths under the record . I think the weather was very good in late '71 , probably October .
Excellent, very interesting, would the same be possible on Jere Stahl's story? or maybe Ben Wenzel .👍
Impressive career in a very competitive sport. They say that Grumpy weas generous with his time if you didn't ask him stupid questions.
🍻😎
Parker always enjoy the history lesson on your channel. Kudos to you.👏👏👏
excellent documentary 💫
Dont mind the detractors and keyboard crewchiefs Parker. Everything you said about Toy IV is correct and documented. Hope to see you again at Camaro Nationals next year. By the way…Love your channel!
Excellent history of Grumpy Jenkins, loved seeing the coverage of the Black Arrow Plymouth, I'm old enough to remember seeing it run, was always a big fan of the car. I may be wrong but I think that later in it's life it became possibly the first altered wheelbase car.