Jenkins' 1970 Camaro
Print #PS-12
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By 1970, Grumpy's very successful 1968 Camaro had seen over two years of heavy racing and was pretty much used up and no longer competitive. Chevrolet had just came out with the restyled Camaro for 1970, so 'Da Grump built one.
The big-block Camaro looked fantastic but was as inconsistent and troublesome as the Hemi Mopars were fierce. After two years, Jenkins retired the car to build his tube-framed small-block Vega.
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Grumpy's Toy VIII
1970 Camaro
Print #PS-34
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Interestingly, Jenkins later leased the car to Bruce Larson after Larson had been involved in a bad crash and fire. After Larson got his own Pro Stocker, Jenkins then sold the car to New York racer Richie Zul. Richie thrashed the car like crazy and surprised many with some amazing performances. Then the car simply vanished. Rumor had it the that some people who didn't like Zul dumped the car in the Hudson River. We'll never know, but it's a good story.
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Grumpy Jenkins' 1972 Vega
Print #PS-13
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After two years of looking at the tail lights of Pro Stock Mopars, Jenkins found a loop-hole in the Pro Stock rules for 1972. NHRA was allowing the use of Vega and Pinto cars as racers. The only problem was that those cars do not have any kind of "frame," as they are uni-body construction cars. Grumpy noted that the rules call for the driver to be protected from all direction - hence a full roll-cage tube frame was the only way a Vega would pass safety inspection. The 331 cubic-inch small-block, tube framed Vega trumped the hemi Mopars and changed Pro Stock forever, ushering in the tube frame chassis Pro Stock racers.
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Grumpy Jenkins' 1974 Vega
Print #PS-38
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Pro Stock was advancing at amazing speed as ets kept dropping and top speeds were increasing. Although Grumpy didn’t quite have the edge that he had with the ‘72 Vega, he was always a contender.
Bill was in the process of getting himself out of the driver’s seat. Larry Lombardo and Ken Dondaro were both hired guns for Jenkins during these years. As match racing became more fierce, Jenkins would sometimes drop in one of his 500+cubic-inch “Carolina Mountain Motor” all-aluminum big-blocks into his Vega and astound everyone. Although not legal for NHRA Pro Stock competition, the match race setup sure kept Grumpy in the drag-mags.
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Grumpy's Toy XII 1975 Monza
Print #PS-36
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The '77 Monza was Grumpy's last really competitive Pro Stocker. For match races, Bill had a secret weapon, his 500 cubic-inch, all-aluminum big-block "Carolina Mountain Motor" that cranked out some mid-8s! |
