Folks Of Interest Tony Nancy Enterprises

So last week I was having a burrito at a place which happens to be right across the street from Tony Nancy's old shop. I felt a little ennui as I ate and looked at the building...now a pool contractor business. Man, this place must have been jumpin in the early to mid 60s. In the bays across from his..Ed Pink, Kent Fuller and Wayne Ewing all had shops there. What a place this must have been!

I met Tony Nancy in the 90s sometime. I was looking through the Recycler..which was like a Pennysaver free ad newspaper, and saw an ad for a 241 Dodge Red Ram hemi. I went to go look at it and was greeted by Tony Nancy at his shop. Back then..my love for everything that is seen on the threads here was just blooming, I didn't know who in the hell he was. All I knew then was he had a cool shop and was a friendly, humble guy.

Tony starts showing me around...saw a bunch of trophies he had won, then he showed me a convertible Merc he was working on. I was impressed with what I saw and Tony said..."Well, when you do something for a long time, you can get good at it". Over 30 years later..I still remember that moment. For years after that, I would see him at the Long Beach swapmeet...Tony would always wear a red jacket..it might have had some writing on it..probably a race jacket...I don't remember. I'd always say hi and he'd always say hi back...I'm sure he didn't remember who I was.

Only as years went on..and the internet became more widely used..did I really find out who Tony Nancy was. He built some really beautiful and cool shit. Anyway..Lloyd's thread about the '39 Chevy of his childhood, prompted me to write this thread. Every time I eat at that taco place I just look across the street and remember 30 years ago..and dream of what it was 30 years before that.

 

For the times they are a-changin'.

 

His 22 Jr model A with the heavy setback was always one of my favorite cars

 

His stuff was always top-notch, very detailed and well built. His upholstery craftmanship carried over to his builds.

 

I always appreciated his designs and workmanship. I've never thought about it before until now, what did his seahorse logo mean or represent?

 

Roger that!

 

With Tony Nancy

 

If I remember correctly,,,,,,Tony did the interior for the Project X .
Many many years ago,,,,top quality work !

Tommy

 

Yes, reading an article about Project X was the first time I've heard of him (many moons ago..)

 

Is that piss yellow.... Thats Tony Nancy yellow!!! Hollywood Knights

 

How cool. Thanks for posting. I know the feeling when you go to someplace that has some historic significance. I'm sure that there are are lots of those auto places there in So. Ca.

 

The Loaner, I need to find that book.

 

Cool spotlight on an amazingly talented guy. From what I've read, if there was ever a "Renaissance Man" in hotrodding Tony Nancy would have to be one of the top contenders. He made a name for himself in the upholstery business, but he had so many other talents.
Maybe that's why they called him "The Loner" - he didn't need help to do anything.
His Wedge II dragster was on display at the Museum of American Speed in Lincoln NE when I was there a couple years ago. It's an amazing machine.
I wonder if the present occupants of that building know about its history?

 

Did you notice the change in headers?

 

That's badass brother

 

Good catch. Yep, now that you mention it the headers are completely different than the one on the magazine cover you posted. Hadn't noticed that so I dug a little deeper. The original Wedge from that cover was involved in a drag strip crash and was rebuilt. From the Museum of American Speed website, here's the info about the Wedge II car:
Tony Nancy Wedge II - Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed

 

I have a little bit of Tony's handiwork, roll cage padding he did in the late sixties. The cage is off a Kent Fuller car that I raced in '86.

 

What Marty No Sea Horse

 

Nancy Wedge in blue.


Tony Nancy/The Wedge/Century Olds
1963-66, 1969-71
Sherman Oaks, California. Gas dragster. 179.28 mph top speed. Wedge I ran from 1963-64 before it was destroyed during a run at Sandusky, Ohio. Nancy built a replacement car, Wedge II, in 1964-65, running in succession a Plymouth Hemi, a Chrysler Hemi, then a blown Olds. He toured the car in Australia and Italy in 1966 before returning to the States and storing it. Gary LeDuc, of North Hollywood, bought the car from Tony Nancy in 1969, running it through 1971 as an A/GD with an injected Buick engine and automatic transmission.

 

Quite lengthy history on Tony with tons of photos
Here:
http://www.wagtimes.com/drivertonynancy.html

 

From December 1965

Hello,

Tony Nancy had some nice builds. We all know about the red 22 Jr. roadster and the Modified T Roadster. But I was surprised as I was rolling through some old drag racing history from 1965. This ad was not in the normal classified ad section. It had its own ad away from the others. Reading these old newspapers gives a fairly good description of those times during the fading away of most popular classes and the popularity of the gas/fuel dragsters at every dragstrip.

Jnaki

The emphasis of the stories from all over the USA stemmed from the multiple class structure in the myriad of hot rod/drag race groups. It was usually the stock car classes, the gas coupes, altereds, modified roadsters, street roadsters, competition coupes, the dragster classes, sports cars and even motorcycles. The builds were parts from suppliers and for the finished project as per drag race rules.

It was a combination of all of those big ticket items along with the meticulous builds that we all saw racing on the weekends and car shows. Envious is a good term we all can relate to during those old days… But, from 1965-66 onward, the stories began to fade for those different classes. They moved more toward the fuel dragsters and factory supplied race cars disguised as stock cars. Then the altered wheelbase turned into funny cars and now it is a two class presentation for the big time events. The little guy classes are/were history.

It just seemed that Tony Nancy's stable of drag race builds was just a step above all others at the time. YRMV

 

I never did grasp WHY the seahorse became Tony's logo ?

did I miss something ?

 

Way back when the World's Finals were held in Tulsa, My buddy and I were walking through the pits. There was Tony Nancy by himself working on a dragster between rounds. I don't recall exactly what it was but he asked us to lift the front end while he put jack stands or some such under it, instructing us where to lift and where not to lift.
Nice guy, if I recall correctly his tow vehicle was a large station wagon, mopar I think.
We were appropriately in awe. That had to be in the mid to late sixties.

 

Here are a few photos from the late Pete LaBarbera showing Project X in its very early days out front of Tony Nancy's shop. Everything about these shots rules. Definitely track down a copy of Tom Madigan's The Loner...it's a great read.

 

Got to see both 22JR Roadsters restored and win their class at Hershey. Tony helped with the restorations and reupholstered both cars.

 

Curt....those pictures are really cool. Looks like they were taken while standing in the parking lot of the shop.

 

Super cool! Was it bolted to a rollbar or something?

 

Yes, but it was removed in the '90's for tweed. Auugh! These pictures are from PHR, March 1969.

@Curt Six - great pics of X, never saw those.