Worldkustom 2015 June English | Page 5

wheels and was named Showboat.

The Thunderbolt

In 1964 Ron had found work at Hawkinsson Ford back home in the Chicago area close to his hometown of Cicero as responsible for

various special projects. The team had four Ford Thunderbolts, in itself a product that would take several pages to illustrate, but we leave that. Ron liked the 427 and its crazy power in the Thunderbolt.

The Ford Mustang

Then the Ford Mustang was presented to the world the 17th of April 1964. Ron could not think street driving or sports car use. He only saw the strip in front of him in the small lightweight car.

Tore apart a brand new car

When Hawkinsson Ford in Chicago managed to get the first couples as they started to roll out of the factory already in the 9th of March 1964, Ron persuaded the dealer to take a brand new car and tear it out completely. They bumped out the engine compartment and put in a motor from one of the Thunderbolts. A 427 with a high rise manifold.

-Bang 0-130 miles in 10.91 seconds. Pellegrini went after that to the Ford management directly and got to show it on their own test track. Ron was