Ron O'Donnell's Big Noise 'Cuda

OK, so everyone knows that the name of the state is pronounced without the "s" at the end, but the "Big Noise From Illinoi" just doesn't have the same ring to it, does it? Actually, in the environmentally conscious 1970's, the "Big Noise" from anywhere didn't sound correct (politically correct wasn't even a term then) so Ron O'Donnell changed the name of the car to the "Damn Yankee." There, that shouldn't offend anyone, should it? But then, when you grow up on the south side of Chicago, offending anyone never seems to be a real problem. Ron O'Donnell was one of many very successful match racers from the "Windy City." In a town that would produce such notables as "Mr. Norm," Gary Dyer, Kenny Safford, the "Chi-Town Hustler," Don Schumacher, Ron Pellegrini, Dale Creasy Sr., Gary Bolger, Cliff Brown and many more, Ron was one of the best, most talented and most versatile of the bunch, and match racing was a way of life for him. In the early '70's most Funny Car drag racers made their living by traveling the country in search of the perfect match race, a best two-out-of-three or three-out-of-five encounter that would pack the fans into the local tracks. Ron, who actually took his first ride in one of the legendary "Mr. Norm" cars, would become a fixture at places like Byron Dragway, Cordova and other non-national event tracks. And, while he did have moderate success on the IHRA circuit in the early '70's, where he went to a pair of final rounds, most of his fame and notoriety came on the local level. Ron may have driven more cars down more bad tracks than just about any other driver in the history of the sport, and it was on those tracks where his ability to work on and adjust the clutch really paid off. His beautiful red, white and blue car began life as a Barracuda, later became a Chevrolet Vega and, believe it or not, ended its career as a Mustang, a badly burned Mustang, but through it all, Ron O'Donnell made some really big noise in the drag racing world.

Only 2000 pieces of the "Big Noise" funny car were made. Now in stock, price £66-99

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