In the Rodders Journal No.46 on page 44. There is a picture of Elverne Pfeifers' 41 Willys. Does anyone know if Elverne or the Willys is still around? I am posting this for a friend of mine who does not do computers. He said that the Willys was one of the cleanest cars around at that time. Thank you for your time.
Unfortunately....Al p***ed away a couple of years ago.....the Willys was sold long ago and Al built a 33 Willys.......As with Al, the 33 was built to show car standards.....It was built with a Hemi and the car ran right on the record.......then....to go a little faster Al put in a ClutchFlite and the first time out at the Grove with the new combo......he did a wheelstand and flipped the car over on the roof.........he sold the car and never Drag Raced again........ Ken
I have some pix of one of his cars at the US Nats in Indy from the late '60s. I was lettering race cars at the time and the work on his car caught my attention. Definitely show-quality cars that ran as good as they looked.
Asked around today and found out that Al's old 41 Willy's is now a street rod in Ohio......So.......It's still around........... Ken
I have Al's 33 amd was told it ran an injected wedge not a hemi. It was rebuilt and ran an injected small block Ford, sold then ran an injected small block chev and when I got it in 1979 it was made into a rough street rod. I was told the 33 crashed Aug 24 1968 which just happens to be my birthday. From what I know he did switch to a cluchflight and the axles were drilled between the studs and when it went into second gear it got sideways and snapped the axle. The car did a couple of barrell rolles in mid air and landed on all 4 wheels. I stripped the car to bare metal in 1981 and found no roof damage to say it landed on its lid, there was some frame damage on the drivers side front frame that I replaced. When the Hot Rod reunion was in Ohio there was a Baracuda g***er project in primer there and I overheard the owner mention that the frame under it was from Al's 40 Willy which got me talking to him for quite awhile. I'm still looking for pictures of the 33 when it was crashed. When the 33 was rebuilt it was candy red, white and blue calle the "Weekend Tripper". Firesuit Phil from the Gezzer G***ers grew up with Al and knew him very well. Thats all I know Doug
Here's some pics of Pfeifer's cars. I've got an article from an old Mid America Willys Club news letter that shows the 33 with an injected hemi in it. Perhaps not too long before it was crashed. I'm pretty sure the pic of the 41 that's staged at the starting line is also his car, but it may have already been sold to someone else at that point.
Thats the 33 I have! Thanks for posting the pics. Glad to know the 33 had the stock motor in it instead of a wedge motor. I have most of all the Willys news letters, which one showed the motor? Funney I don't remember it. In one of the issues was a picture of my car that looked like a postage stamp, maybe around 1982-83. Some of my newletters disapeared in the da-vorce. She's gone but the willys is still here. I once seen a TV add for a music c***ette maybe even 8 track in the early 80's with drag cars in it and seen the 33 in it as the Weekend Tripper, how cool!! There is also a 2 page black and white magazine article (can't remember which one) as the Weekend Tripper.
Humm, that pic of the 40 does't have a Hem-I in it, so I'm still not sure of the 33 untill I see some pics
Doug: The article on the 33 was in the Oct/Nov 95 issue of the G***er Gossip news letter. The lower left hand picture on that page shows the injected hemi. If you click on the picture, it should blow up pretty big. Or save it to your computer and then zoom in on it when you view it. It's pretty clear it's a hemi. Also, if you look at the black & white shot of the 33 by Mike Hanlon, it appears you can see the front corner of the valve cover sticking through the hood side.
thanks to all for posting the info on this. the history of the Vail, Conkling & Shosie brothers Henry J that we are reviving is interwoven with Al, as the engine, transmission and wheels from his Willys were sold to Vail, Conkling and the Shosies for the rebuild of their car for the 1969 season i had thought the parts had come from the '41 as i was not aware of the existence of the 33, but i was only about 1/3 correct as the rear wheels were used on the '41, and the early incarnation of Al's 33. it is truly a small, small world on this board and please see this thread if you have not already, i will update and correct the misinformation tonite http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/s...d.php?t=428321
Once again the HAMB proves to be an invaluable resource for digging up history. That pic makes me want to run out and put a straight axle under my '33 - damn that car is period prefect and I really like that it is not chopped.
Yea I'd say thats a hemi! Its posable it might of had a wedge then a hemi, just in the pictures at one point it has big window hals on the back. Picture I have somewhere shows it chopped. I had herd that Al had it in the wind tunnel after he chopped it at AMC, true or not I don't know. Also was told it won best appearing at the US nat one year. Bumper I have is 3" dia x wide chrome and heavy and I have different wheelie bars. There was a chunk of steel between the rear axle and bumper that weighed 160 ibs. Front axle had one wheel 1" ahead of the other. When I bought it , it had a chev400 with a fake blower mated to a torqueflite long shaft, 8 3/4 chry, rear, 4ft ladder bars, front and rear suspension all chrome. I'm sure it went thru a lot of changes like most race cars
I have the 41 Willys that Pfeifer used to run. I have been collecting do***entation on the car and have started putting the pieces together to build it as close to what it was when he used to run it in the 60's. Nothing has changed on the car since the late 60's to early 70's. I have my new straight axle and currently building a wedge for it like it used to run. I am also putting the Hilborn fuel injected stacks on it. Any extra pics or do***entation is greatly appreciated. Thanks, Kevin from OH
old thread but I just saw it, I did see that willys after it was finished, and it was a piece of art! heard it got sold for some large numbers!
that was one hell of a car! and still is. I wander where it landed. I knew it was forsale, and ***umed it was sold.
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