Solo Speed Shop's 1955 Chevrolet Gasser

Saved. It's that incredible sense of accomplishment that makes BillFowler proud. The owner of the performance automotive/apparel lines SoloSpeed Shop and Hot Rods Plus, Bill had been looking really hard for anoriginal Gasser. He wanted one with a pedigree, one with history, and,specifically, a straight-axle. He'd found and sold a couple of Gassersalready, but they just weren't what he was looking for. He hadwell-placed people searching, and while it did take a few years, it wasthat path that helped him find one particular straight-axle Gasser hehad heard was stashed away in Long Beach, California. Bill calls itdestiny that the car and the owner would one day be together.

Destiny? That's the place and time when a car, a track, and anenthusiast all merge. Call it the small-world principle. Our example inthis issue of HOT ROD Deluxe is this '55 Chevy. It was less than a yearold when Lions Associated Drag Strip opened on October 9, 1955, underthe leadership of Mickey Thompson. The track that this Gasser would callhome from 1966 and on was also the location of its most successfulcampaigning.

Don Nunes campaigned a Hilborn-injected 301ci engine. Today the sameshort-block appears in the car with an Edelbrock Scorpion intake and a780-cfm Holley.

The first phase of our photo shoot was deftly handled by DanBrouillard at Blair's Speed Shop. Special thanks to Phil Lukens forallowing us to shoot at his Pasadena location.

Similarly, Bill was just over a year old when Lions opened. In an effortto stay true to the history, he has stayed in contact with Don Nunes,the man who raced and owned it prior to Bill's acquisition.

The story goes that Nunes was racing a '57 Chevy in the '60s at Lions,when one day a well-to-do kid approached him in the pits about a Blair'sSpeed Shop-built Gasser that he had to sell.

The current owner of Blair's Speed Shop, Phil Lukens (left), allowedus and Dan Brouillard to shoot the car at the Pasadena shop. With Philis Bill Fowler (right).

Bill found the headers in Mina, Nevada, on his way to visit his motherin Lewiston, Idaho. While stretching his legs, he came upon an old '55Gasser that had these Hooker fender-wall headers. After checking in witheverybody in town, he made contact with the owner, who sold him thewhole car, when in fact Bill simply wanted the headers. This was thethird car he bought in an effort to find and restore the Blair's SpeedShop '55. The front wheel is a 15x4 Cragar SS fitted with Firestone5.30-15 tires.

The Hurst shifter rows a Muncie M21 case fitted with M22gears--the same setup Don campaigned. It's behind a Lakewood bellhousingand McLeod clutch.

In the mid-'60s, Pasadena, California's Blair's Speed Shop was the placeyou went when you wanted a straight-axle setup in a Gasser-style '55-'57Chevy. In the article "Tube Axles for Chevys" (HOT ROD, Jan.'66), BudLang wrote, "Under the direction of Mike Hoag, [Don] Blair's chassisshop probably turns out a car a week, most of them Chevys, with a tubeaxle front end."

It was understood by Blair's customers that the wait to have a car setup required patience, but that wasn't the case with this particular

An Olds rearend fitted with 4.10 gears and a posi wasbuilt by Hamilton Engineering. Don noted to us that he ran the samerearend with a much steeper gear: 5.86.

Out back, pair of chrome reverse "Milner Specials" are fitted with Radir10-15 piecrust slicks despite the M/T lettering on the quarter. Drumbrakes are hidden behind the wheel mounted on an Oldsmobile rearend.

A genuine, polished Offy hoodscoop proudly wears the Solo Speed Shoplogo.

Gasser. According to legend, junior's dad waved ample cash to move thiscar up to the front of the line so his son would be able as a highschool senior to drive it to school. Spoiled kid. Rich dad. Opportunity.

Along with Blair's frontend setup, Southern California luminary TonyNancy did the interior and, at the time, a brand-spankin'-new big-blockChevy provided the power. That would be a class ride for a high schoolkid looking to impress his chums. However, only a few days after the carwas completed, it was stolen and stripped of its drivetrain. After thecar was recovered, another big-block was installed and its young ownerwas again driving it to school.

You know where this is going: The car was stolen again, and after it wasrecovered for the second time, the owner's father, who was footing thebills for the street Gasser, demanded that the car be sold.

Enter Don Nunes. The kid approached him in the pits and began suggestingthat Don trade his '57 plus offer cash for the '55 he had. Don, atalented doorslammer racer, had a '57 Chevy that he had campaignedsuccessfully and that even ended up on the pages of the weekly newspaperDrag Digest as a class winner and record setter.