Gas Ronda, Drag Race Legend, 81 years young

I was able to chat with Gas Ronda for 3 hours at the NHRA Museum today. A friend of mine was filming an interview with Gas for an upcoming (Part 3) of the documentary on LIONS Drag Strip, so I tagged along. We were waiting in the parking lot for the Museum to open and here comes this new black Mustang roaring in with Gas at the wheel.
This guy was as amazing as I remembered him being back in the 60's.
He and I sat on a bench and he went on and on about the days racing for Ford, winning the Championship in the Thunderbolt Fairlane, the SOHC 427 Mustang and on to the long-nose Mustang funny cars, injected and then blown, running on nitro.
He had photos of the SOHC Mustang that he rolled at LIONS, shearing off some phone poles. He went on about his major fire a few years later in Scottsdale that hospitalized him for almost a year.
I had some of the 8X10's that I had bought at the strips back in the mid-1960's of him in the Thunderbolt and the SOHC Mustang and I brought them with me today to have him autograph them. He not only did, but he gave me photos that I had never seen before.
As a teenager, I always thought he was cool, but I never had any idea what a nice, generous and humble man he really is.
As we left the Museum, he was telling me about all the tweaking that had been done to his new Mustang "daily driver". The late Les Richey's son, Randy, takes care of it and has fooled with the electrics "a bit" to give it some added ump. It was hard to believe that this fellow was 81 years "old", as he fired up his 'Stang and rumbled out of the parking lot.
Anyway, here's some photos of the day and a few of the Museum...

 

Seeing the Gas Ronda Mustang at Lions in the 60's was the highlite of my trips there.

 

My dad pitted next to him in the late 60s at Thunder Valley in Marion South Dakota............said he was a class act, no pretenences......

 

With the loss of so many legends, it's great to see one doing so well. I can only hope to make it to 81, much less look so good.

 

Simply Awesome........Thanks for that !!!

 

Great story and pics! Always one of my favorites....

 

good to see he still doing ok.

 

Looks great for 81 yrs. young. I hope to look that good at 61. Great post...

 

Bitchin'

 

When we were kids,a friend of mine had the 1/24 kit of the mustang.Inside the box was a cheezy,thin plastic record of the sound of the car doing the 1/4.We listened to that over and over for days...I can only imagine seeing it happen.

 

Trivia question: What is Gas' real first name? Bonus points: What other profession did he do that didn't involve cars?

 

Turns out a friend of mine still has the cardboard 45 record he cut out of a cereal box when he was a kid - featured a burnout and pass of Gas doing his "thang in his 'stang".

 

Great to hear he's still enjoying life behind the wheel of a 'Stang...

 

Alright Jody,
I'll bite.
Gas is Gaspar.
He originally wanted to be a stock car driver in NASCAR.
He was, and still dabbles, as a dance instructor.
He has many years with the Arthur Murray Dance Studios.
For many years he worked at Russ Davis Ford in Covina, CA.
He owned several cocktail lounges/discos, one of which was called Gas Ronda's Funny Car Lounge in Azusa, CA.
He made a very good living at that so he could comfortably retire.
His wife is Nina and they live in Palm Desert, CA.
Nina is employed at the local newspaper.
His Thunderbolt was originally one of the few that was delivered in burgundy instead of the Wimbleton Whiite color.
Gas had it painted "Poppy Red". not the "Rangoon Red" as reported in many publications.

 

You got it Mazooma1 . I won a t-shirt years ago because I knew his name was Gaspar.

A couple of things about his T-bolt.

1.It was one of the first 11 vintage burgandy cars. These went to the Ford Drag Council members which Gas was a member.

2.It is the lowest VIN T-bolt built but was the 6th. one issued. Brannan's was #1.

3.It is still alive in Florida. Is tubbed and unrestored in modern SS trim. Bob Glidden actually drove it at one time when it was painted in Gliddens traditional red,white and blue scheme. It is no longer raced as far as I know.

4.Gas was originally sponsored and worked for Downtown Ford. The car was still vintage burgandy in this scheme. It was later painted poppy red and sponsored by Russ Davis Ford. Both dealers I believe are in LA.

I would love to meet Gas someday. He is a true legend!!

 

Hey Guys, I am Gas Ronda's Grandson John Ronda Jr. Nice to hear such great respect and kind words of my Grandfather. I will pass this along....he will enjoy it.

 

Wow Gas Ronda's Grandson...

Honor to have you here. Your Gran pops is a true legend and please send along my best wishes and thanks for the memories..
Wish I could get my Son to meet him..

I use to have this Album (you know what that is??!!) that had a recording of him making a run. Wish I still had it.

Ya gotta luv the HAMB. It brings people together..
Luke

 

Gas Ronda = Drag Ruler.

 

yes the man is a legend , and well deserved too! He always was . and still is a very gracious person and a 'class act', it is refreshing to see some one who has had not only alot of good fortune , but more than his share of tuff stuff thrown at him[fires, crashes, etc,] and still loves his lot in life; then and now !
Waldo

 

Great pics. Gas Ronda is one of those guys that seems larger than life, and always has. To hear firsthand stories about him being a nice guy on top of that, just makes it all the better.

 

Wow! Simply amazing stuff! Love the HAMB! (and old drag stories!)

 

Met him at the CHHR in Bakersfield last Oct. The man is ageless!

 

Hey, John, glad you are on the HAMB.
I had kind of forgotten about this thread that I started over a year ago, yet, here it is.
I'm glad to see that the photos link is still active on the first post so others can see the photos from that day.
Your grandfather is one cool guy. I wouldn't want to line up against him at the strip, thats for sure.
March, 2008



Tell your grandpa "hi" for me. I'll have to drop him a note in the mail...
Doug Hayes

 

A very dignified man! Great that he still is around and that his grandson is a HAMBER!!!!

 

Very cool! Please be so kind as to pass our best along to him, and tell us about your ride!

81 years old!
I dont look that young at half his age!

 

Simply amazing all around.
r

 

Gas looks great and hard to believe he is 80+ years young.I saw a lot of the Ford teams race but was never at the right place to see gas do his thing. I did however get to read just about every thing he did in the local race publications. I have the utmost respect for him and all the others in the 60's that gave us so much entertainment for many years.

 

Good to see Gas Ronda looking so well. Definately a true drag race legend in every sense of the word. All the best to Gas, hope he has many more healthy years ahead of him.

 

Super pics... thanks. It's amazing what/ who you'll find on the HAMB.
PK