1964 Ford Galaxie 500 - Fireball22

"Fireball" is a street-legal tribute to the legendary NASCAR driver Fireball Roberts. The car is a replica of one of his last super-speedway cars driven before his untimely death.

"Project Fireball" was intended from the get-go to replicate an actual former NASCAR racer as visually accurate as possible, yet still be street legal. I chose to pay tribute to Fireball Roberts, starting with (ironically, or twistedly... your call) a '64 Galaxie that had previously been stolen and that the thieves had tried to torch to hide their stupidity.

For now, the car is admittedly more Show than Go. As a matter of initially saving some money during the build, I stuck with the small block 289 with moderate upgrades. Since most of the car's outward appeal is cosmetic, I completed a race-bred interior that further adds to the car's accurate 60s-racer appearance. Removing all of the chrome also required filling 161 holes in the body.

I have a 390 block waiting to be built, but I'm leaning more towards a significantly upgraded small block so I don't have to change everything over (springs, mounts, tranny, etc.) to accommodate the larger motor.

Building the car at all was a bit of a lark since I had no shop, no previous welding or bondo experience, and pretty much no budget. Other than exterior paint and exhaust, it just was me, a crowded garage, and a few borrowed tools to make up for the ones I didn't already have. Still, the car was purchased October 1, 2006, and the project was completed on July 11, 2007; or a little over 9 months, for a total of about $4,000, and I am proud of it!

I also drove "Fireball" as a pace car for a charity race at the 2007 San Jose Grand Prix (yes, that is an actual 1992 Richard Petty Pontiac behind me in the pic), and it has been seen at the 2007 Reno Hot August Nights, and at the 2007 NSRA Golden State Nationals. You'll also see it on the splash page of the December 2007 issue of Street Scene magazine and its write-up of the Golden State Nationals.

Bottom line; the car is pure fun.