NORRA 1000 James Garner 442 race car restoration in progress

[hickeyracing]

Hello all at Race Dezert.com, Iam Ron Johnson the owner of Hickey Racing, I own a rare collection of Vintage race cars and trucks, For the up coming NORRA 1000 event i will be bringing back my Vic Hickey built James Garner driven 1970 Olds 442 better known as the GOODYEAR GRABBER OLDS, The car has been in my collection for a few years waiting for the right time and with the NORRA 1000 around the corner now is the time, The car is going threw a 100% correct restoration, It will be in 1969 Baja 1000 race condition as seen in some of my photos, We plan on running this car and my 1969 Vic Hickey C-10 4X4 truck that has 14.000 original miles and the original driver Cliff Coleman who drove it at the 1968 Baja 1000 will be behind the wheel again, I hope we can get a lot of cars and drivers fron Race-Dezert to attend this event, Also the cut off year has been changed to 1989 to get more people and cars to attend,

 

[BajaFand]

VERY VERY COOL!!! I have to give you some props because if I owned any of those cars it would be hard for me to race them knowing the risk of wrecking or damaging them.

 

[hickeyracing]

Its not going to be a all out race, Its a 3 day Rally with speed limits so i hope to bring it home in good condition, Thanks

 

[burro8]

Ron,

Do you also have the "Banshee"? It was on ebay a couple months back and the man who owned it at that time lives down in the Paso Robles CA area.

Steve
Vinatge Burro buggy owner, Tiny Thompsons and Les Choats.

 

[Marty Fiolka]

Nope...the Banshee was purchased by the Swift family. From what I understand, they may also be trying to bring that car to the NORRA event.

 

[Vtr_Racing]

Wow, that is very cool. Does anybody know if the old "Baja Boot" by Mickey thompson is still around and who owns it?

 

[trenchless]

Are you going to be posting photos of the progress like you are with the Blazer on the class 3 site?

 

[hickeyracing]

I would have liked to get the Banshee but i did not have the $$ to buy it, The 1970 442 is going to be done in 12 weeks from now, I can post photos of the process, The Baja Boot was owned by a friend named Bob Law but he sold it about 6 months ago, 195K over my budget again, It was sold to a guy in Texas thats all i know And Marty can you give me a call i would like to talk to you about doung a story on the 442 in Dirt sports ,And i liked the photo of my truck with KJ Howes last month, Thanks, Ron Johnson 253-592-2577

 

[WickedGravityVideo]

That 442 is sooo badazz! I am glad to see someone with it that is going to restore and run it. Please post photos of restoration progress on RDC. I can't wait for the Mexican 1000.

 

[Random Thoughts Racing]

Wow, that is very cool. Does anybody know if the old "Baja Boot" by Mickey thompson is still around and who owns it?

This one? I had it in the booth at the 2008 Mint contingency and even got to drive it a bit, I cant remember the owners name off the top of my head but he did take it on the Mint prerun!

 

[Ol' Curmudgeon]

This one? I had it in the booth at the 2008 Mint contingency and even got to drive it a bit, I cant remember the owners name off the top of my head but he did take it on the Mint prerun!

Didn't Vic Hickey build the Boots? And how old ARE those tires!?!

 

[hickeyracing]

that Baja Boot is the one owned by Bob Law, Here are some photos when Bob and I took it out for the pre run, It was a blast getting the Baja Boot out in the dirt again

 

[hickeyracing]

Here are some photos of my 1969 Class 3 race blazer Iam building and thats my own design 9" front axle with dana 70 Cs and dana 60 knuckles Should be strong

 

[harleys dad]

the bajaboot is so cool looking, forsure the first truggy. look forward to seeing the 442 out and breathing fire again. To bad James Garner wont be driving it again. That would be the most BA thing going if he did

 

[hickeyracing]

Vic Hickey built the 2 Baja Boots, And he built my 1969 race truck and he built my 1970 Olds 442 and the Banshee and the Mint boot and the prototype for the Hummer and the first K5 Blazer and many other cool projects, Iam doing the bast i can to buy the original race cars and trucks when the $$ is there, Its hard to out of my pocket build a race Blazer, Restor the 1969 race truck restore the 1970 Olds 442 and then take them to California and Mexico to show them, Right now is my focus to get the 442 done for the NORRA 1000, The body and paint is done very soon, Now iam working on the running gear, Its a lot of work to get done and race ready in 90 days and then we get to run it at the 1000, Right now there are 2 of us doing the car and when we head to Mexico there will be 3 of us to support the car 2 in the car and 1 chase, I should sell a 1 day ride or drive in the car to help with the restoration, There are going to be 3 days, Also they are going to film a major documentary on the history of the 1000 and of NORRA and i got word today the producer wants me to install a camera mount in the car so they can film from inside the 1970 Olds 442 car, That will be fun

 

[Vtr_Racing]

the bajaboot is so cool looking, forsure the first truggy. look forward to seeing the 442 out and breathing fire again. To bad James Garner wont be driving it again. That would be the most BA thing going if he did

I agree. That was the cutting edge of our sport back in those days. My Dad would tell me stories about that buggy. I was pretty young in those days.

Thanks for keeping those things around and sharing those pics with us. What you see there folks is the history of our sport.

 

[maple1]

This sounds like it is turning into one heck of an event, you should be commended for the resto project and rally program for such priceless rides. Please keep us all posted. This is great!!!

 

[hickeyracing]

Thanks for the interest, I will post photos soon on the build

 

[Mark Newhan]

Hickey racing,

Does that Blazer qualify for the Mexican vintage race? I sent an e-mail to NORRA to find out some of the criteria, but have not gotten a response. The "rules" say that you can build a "replica vehicle, but how will the competitors be policed. I have many ideas about this...

I believe that this NORRA event is sparking a lot of interest in the "old ways" and will grow to be a big event, maybe a couple of events a year.

 

[hickeyracing]

My Blazer is to Hi Tech and has to many body mods to enter, They are very open, Shoot me a PM and i should be able to get you a fast answer,The Vintage cars and trucks can be recreations or anything built after 1989 and close to the design year it would have raced, Thanks Ron