(Lead image above) Tank holds 15 gallons of Union 76 racing gas, and with a potential of 30 pounds of boost, that won’t last long. Upper A-arms are made from l inch chrome moly using 1/2-inch spherical rod ends; lower arms are 1 1/2-inch chrome moly. Vern Walker supplied the 4 3/4-inch core. Not all that glitters is gold; it’s just Gary’s way of knocking your socks off. Loren Richards built unique air cleaner, and the yellow induction plenums are made from electrical conduit. Chevy magnetic impulse distributor, triggered by an MSD amplifier, is set to give 36 degrees total, with an 8-degree retard feature when engine is under boost. Chrome shroud behind radiator houses two Harrison heat exchangers for inner coolers. Radically narrowed rearend keeps meats inside fender line, and that stance is for real.
Hark, you lovers of the oddball, you people who remember the high-and-mighty double-A gassers of old, those ancient full-bodied, full-blown animals whose short wheelbases, tiny bodies and supercharged engines carried the likes of George Montgomery, John Mazmanian and K.S. Pitman to many a quarter-mile victory. Ah, yes, that era is with us again, in the form of Gary Kollofski’s Wayzata (Minnesota) based warrior, a time-warp, twin-turbocharged, mellow yellow, ’36 Willys coupe.
Those who are enamored of those classic, mid-’50s Chevys can’t have forgotten Gary Kollofski’s unbelievable ’55. It had everything, from a quick-release front end to a race-ready 6-71 Rootified rat. But that didn’t get it. “What I was really looking for,” recalls Kollofski, “was something unique, something so ugly it was cute, and after attending a number of street rod functions, including the last two Street Rod Nationals, and seeing the caliber and quality of the top rods, I had to build one myself.”
Greg Fleury fabricated a Willys spit to ease the pain from bodyman Cary Weisner’s back. With a little “bodyman-in-the-can,” and a lot of “earful” preparation, Model 77 is looking better than good.
If you call this yellow peril ugly/cute, unique, high on quality and top caliber, Gary has accomplished his mission. He has—along with Greg Fleury, Bill Birdsill, Dick Probst, Jack Machula, Rich Klugherz, Gary Wood, Loren Richards and Cary Weisner—converted a 43-year-old subcompact into a street-driven double-A gasser.
The little ’36 Willys-Knight Model 77 five-window coupe is supported by a Fleury-fabricated space frame made from 1 1/2-inch (.125- and. 090-inch wall) mild steel tubing laced with 1-inch stringers. The front suspension is made up of independent A-arms supporting Vega spindles and 5-inch aluminum, double-adjustable Koni coil-over shocks. Steering is by Pinto, stopping by Hurst/Airheart. The rear suspension is more of the same and features a pair of 6-inch steel, double-adjustable Konis, along with unequal-length trailing arms and Watts linkage. Again, stopping is handled by a set of Hurst/Airheart 4-piston calipers placed over 11-inch “Swiss-cheesed” rotors which are activated by two Kelsey-Hayes 1-inch master cylinders that push the fluid through Earl’s Supply braided steel lines. And if you’re turned on by Gary’s selection of wheels, forget it. Those “fly-type” Motor Wheels—featuring l5x3 1/2-inch mags in front and 15xl2-inch aluminums in back—are hard items to find, much less buy. As for the rubber, I’m sure Marv Rifchin will sell you those 165×15 M&H Front Runners, and the McCrearys will do the same for those 33×15 guys in the rear.
While the Rossi-readied Turbo 400 uses all the trick stuff, Gary employs a Lamb brake to build boost and to eliminate any tendency for lag. Lamb supplies custom driveshaft too.
Wiring is an art when it’s done by Rich Klugherz of Prior Lake, Minnesota. Note that every wire can be followed. And those aren’t Tie Wraps but fishline spaced 1 inch apart.
The 1 1/2x.125-inch roll cage was made by Prior Lake’s Greg Fleury, and Thermal Structures supplied the heat insulation that will cover the firewall and floor boards. Custom Metal Finishing did plating.
Dana 60 features Geis cover, full floater, chrome moly axle housings and a 4.10 “posi. “-And while we’re at it, Earl’s Supply was responsible for the complete engine and brake plumbing.
“I didn’t chop the top because I didn’t have all that much legroom,” says the 6-foot 4-inch, 220-pound Polish prince. But that’s about all he and Greg didn’t do to the all-steel (as in steel is real) Willys. While the ol’ bod is basically ’36 OEM (original equipment manufacturer) stock, it still encompasses such subtle nuances as a welded-up, one-piece, fully removable front end; removable running boards secured to the fame via “pip” pins; fully ventilated hood top and deck lid; a custom roll pan below the spare tire relief; and, of all things, a pair of repro ’34 Ford taillights. Fleury did all the tin-bending, including floor pan, rear wheel tubs, firewall, front inner panels, trunk divider and the 15-gallon gas tank. Unfortunately, most of the metal shaping has been covered by Ditzler’s Delstar No. DAR 80575 Fruehauf yellow acrylic enamel or will be covered by black leather upholstery. “After owning that ’55, I got tired of cleaning a black car. It’s neat when it’s clean, but that’s the only time. Yellow is so much more visual, and I’ve got so much invested that I want to be seen.” Gary’s ferry could be seen in a coal mine!
The twin-turbocharged, 355-inch Chevy is simply icing on the rake. “It’s going to get me places I normally wouldn’t go.” And in a hurry, we imagine. “This is the same combination that Gale Banks pulled 900 horsepower out of, and that was a 301-inch engine.” The combo includes a. 030-inch-over NASCAR-type high-nickel block, fully prepared steel crank, Carillo rods, TRW dished-type turbo pistons, Racer Brown roller cam and rev kit,
Pete Jackson gear drive, Isky valve springs, fully polished and ported ’69 heads and one of Banks’ less than subtle induction systems made up of a pair of AiResearch TO4 blowers, pumping into a twin inner cooler and fed by a much-modified 850-cfm Holley double-pumper carburetor, and lighting the load is an Autotronic MSD-equipped ignition. Naturally, when you have 1000-horse potential on tap, you need all the help you can get; and that’s been given by a Tony Rossi-prepared Turbo 400 and an equally stout Dana 60 rearend.
“The Willys is an extension of me and I couldn’t afford to build another unless I sold the car, and who can afford 45 K?” After seeing Gary’s Willys-Knight in shining armor, maybe more people than you think.