Grumpy Jenkins

Whilst searching for books written by Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins I came across this cool fact.

"With the bulk of his driving career taking place before the era of clutchless planetary gear transmissions, Jenkins achieved most of his wins with a manually shifted four-speed transmission, recording an incredible streak of over 250 runs without missing a shift in 1972."

Cool eh!

 

very damn cool, I remember the days of Grumpy

 

Da Grump was always fun to watch. He also said once, and I am paraphrasing because I don't remember the exact quote, that an engine doesn't know what name is on the valve covers; it only knows how well it can breathe.

 

Look for his little early book on hopping Chevies--unlike the second one, it predates money and trick castings, and is an encyclopedia of junkyard chevy building.

 

Grumpy was no slouch at hole-shots either.

 

Dang right! That's the way it should be, three pedals, four gears!

 

I'm trying Bruce

Does anyone know the name of Grumpys early (mid 60's?) little book on hopping up chevy's as it's dam hard search for something without a title!?!

And yes 3 pedals rule!!

 

I was most impressed with his 66? L-79 Nova that ran a stock class. He was almost a full second faster than what our local gurus could get out of one.

Being that it was a stock class you could compare apples to apples. Sure money makes a big difference but for the most part they all used the same parts. His parts just got there quicker.

 

I'll checkout the title tonight.

 

Cheers Bruce!!

Off out in the truck now to meet some local rodders

Steve

 

Also had a bad ass Super Stock Hemi in the 60's

 

Da Grump VS Ronnie Sox... Now that was a race to watch if you loved 4 speeds. Amazing that now there are street cars running what those pro stock guys were running back in the 68 to 72 era.

Back then I think Grump was building a lot of his competition's engines too.

 

I worked for Da Grump for 6 whole days! GM still calls HIM asking for advice...

Spike

 

Tell us about this job--this is history!

 

..Long story..ha ha ha..Here's the short version- I was an apprentice machinist at a tool and die company when I saw an ad in the paper for machinist at "Jenkins Performance" in nearby Malvern PA. Granted I was only a machinist for about six months at that time and knew very little. I applied anyway with hopes of just meeting THE William Tyler Jenkins that I had pictures of on my wall as a kid. Well, I got an interview with the man himself, and somehow I BS'd my way in the door. I still don't know how I did it... It only took him six days to figure it out. But until then, I soaked up the atmosphere and did alot of snooping around, plus got to hear a dyno all day making pulls on fresh high performance motors.I had a '68 GTO that I drove to work every day and it was Summer... In those six days I have more funny stories than I can tell here, but I have written it into a story that I will some day print somewhere... Of all the things I've done in life, I can say that I made Grumpy laugh...not smile or chuckle, but full on belly laugh....

 

good for you, grumps need to laugh too.
dan

 

and just think...da grump was that good, and they called ronnie sox "mr. 4 speed".
they were both awesome drivers in their own rights. somewhere i have a vhs tape that has grumpy in it. they mounted a fish eye camera on the floorboard of one of his cars, and recorded him banging the gears as he went down the track. it is simply amazing to watch him shift like that. i'll have to see if i can dig that tape up, and record it with my dig. camera...then i can post it on youtube for all to watch.

 

If youever saw film of Da Grump drivin, it looked like he was havin an epileptic fit he was banging them gears so hard. He put his whole body into each shift!

Doc

 

exactly...he rocks back & forth in the seat, keeping what looks like some sort of rhythem, and when he grabs a gear, it's like he's having a seizure. whatever he looked like, it worked...and he was damm good at it.

 

(Sidenote)....one of his Vega's got sold on Barret-Jackson for around $250,000 last night.

 

What ever happened to Larry Lombardo who drove for him in the 60tys and I think the seventys...He held some track records If I recall.

 

Ronnie Sox, Dick Landy, Z Grump.....It was fun watching these guys bang gears. Now watch Greg Anderson pull a lever and eat a sandwich.

 

One man is often forgotten when people talk about the Grump, Dave Strickler. Dave and Bill teamed up after meeting at Lancaster Dragway. Bill was a tech inspector there. Nobody drove a 4 speed better than Dave Strickler. They were a tough team to beat.

Trivia: What was Bill Jenkins nickname before "Grumpy"?

 

I still remember a quote from Grumpy in a magazine interview. He was talking about cutting weight. When asked how he determined if something was too heavy he said "I throw it up in the air and if it comes back down it is too heavy"

 

Found his early book:
Chevy power guide 1971-2
by Bill (Grumpy) Jenkins Engledrum Publishing, Northport, NY
Cost $1.00

Early scroungy junkyard period book, very informative...
Jenkins on the cover looks like the photog just yanked him out from under his car, lent him a comb and $3.00 worth on spiffy threads from K-Mart, and clicked.
Later book:
Chevrolet Racing Engine, about 1978...much cleaner, based on the new special blocks and heads, but still loads of strange combos and parts hunting guides.

Both necessary--the first is quite rare.

 

Another uncommon book I tripped over last night: Modifying the Late Model Chevrolet, 1955-62 by Frank McGurk

 

Cheers Bruce, your help has been very much appreciated!!

Steve

Let the search begin!!

 

"Drag cars havin fun" lots of 60's-early 70 SS and funnies, including the fisheye camera on a Dick Landy run (set to Traffic's Dear Mr. Fantasy):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnhruLK2468


Also a Part 2 available.

 

Hey Troublemaker, before Grump was Grumpy he was Jigs.

 

Jenkins, Strickler, Herb McCandless and Ronnie Sox were all good with a 4 speed. When the Pro Stockers had evolved after a few years, Jenkins said that 8.60 was about as fast as they could run with a 4 speed. He said "there's too much goning on in there to mess with a stick."

Here is a shot taken at Delmar,DE when Jenkins and Strickler (driving) took time during a match race to do some testing prior to the World Finals.




Here's the fat bastard after he stopped driving.