''Winged Express'' is a supercharged A

Fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy bu ...

Altered (AA/FA). On 28 September 1967, it was the first Altered to exceed .

History

''Winged Express'' was built in 1960 by driver William "Wild Willie" Borsch and partner Al Marcellus, assisted by

Howard Johansen Howard Johansen is an American gasser drag racer. He won the first ever National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) C/Gas national title, at Great Bend, Kansas, in 1955,. History Driving a 1955 Chevrolet, Johansen won NHRA's first ever C/Gas nati ...

( Howard's Cams), Don Reynolds, Phil Johnson, Dale Young, and Jerry Hyatt. The car's 392 hemi was built by Jim Harrell (of Jim's Auto Parts). The body, donated by

Curt Hamilton Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and is ...

, was the first

Cal Automotive Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

fiberglass 1923

Model T The Ford Model T is an automobile that was produced by Ford Motor Company from October 1, 1908, to May 26, 1927. It is generally regarded as the first affordable automobile, which made car travel available to middle-class Americans. The relati ...

used on an Altered. When completed, the car had a simple hoop rollbar and narrow slicks, with the engine tilted upward to aid traction, and was missing the rollbar-mounted wing that later became its trademark. The car was first entered in

NHRA The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

's A/Roadster class, at Riverside in 1960, where it set an A/R class record of 10.28 at . Borsch raced ''Winged Express'' for ten years, winning AA/FA at the

NHRA Winternationals The NHRA Winternationals (commonly called the Winternats) are an annual drag racing event held by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California. In 1962, under pressure from Peggy Hart (wife of track owner " ...

in 1967 and 1968. Since AA/FA was not recognized as a class by NHRA until 1967, ''Winged Express'' never earned a national title. On 28 September 1967 at Irwindale, ''Winged Express'' made the first pass by an Altered, at 7.91 seconds and . ''Winged Express'' qualified for the

1968 NHRA Winternationals The 1968 NHRA Winternationals (commonly known as the Winternats) were a National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) drag racing event, held at Auto Club Raceway, Pomona, California on 4 February. Results Top Fuel Top Fuel hosted several well-know ...

, a 32-car field in

Top Fuel Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of and finishing the runs in 3.62 second ...

, at an AA/FA record elapsed time of 7.29 seconds, only to have the rest of the field refuse to race Borsch, for fear of the ill-handling Altered. It turned out they were right: in Round One of Super Eliminator, Borsch went from guardrail to centerline, in a wild ride, captured, and made famous, by photographer Bob McClurg; it "became one of the most famous drag racing photos of all time".Motorsport.com
(retrieved 16 September 2019)

Notes

1960s cars Drag racing cars Rear-wheel-drive vehicles {{auto-stub