1965 Ford Falcon - Bad Red Bird

A fellow Hoosier-Tuttle hails from Indianapolis-had been racing the Falcon almost since it was new, with a Boss 302 for power and backing by a five-speed transmission. He raced it in E/Gas. Tuttle first saw the car at the '78 NHRA U.S. Nationals and immediately liked the idea of running a Falcon at the drags, and he kept the car in mind. "Two years later, I heard that it was for sale and I called the guy up. He'd bought it new when he got out of the army, drove it for six months and then street-stripped it (raced it AND drove it on the street) for awhile, and finally made a full race car out of it," Tuttle said. By the time that Brad bought it, the maroon two-door had been changed over to a narrowed rear end setup with a rollcage.

So he strengthened the 10-point cage with some new bracing, as per class rules, added a complete Strange rear end, axles and spool, and made his own big-block transmission and engine motor mounts. He also made the front end stronger and fashioned a trans adapter for the Powerglide transmission, the only non-Ford item on the car.

He left the deep maroon paint alone, adding only the fish-scale stripe down both sides and his name on both doors.

The engine is a monster, suitable for Super Gas. It's based on the torquey 429 Super Cobra Jet big-block, and Tuttle had it bored out to 514 cubic inches. Best times are in the 9.40-second zone at 143 mph.

The Falcon made for a perfect Super Gasser. "I wouldn't mind having a Probe for a race car, but I'm not rich and so this will have to do. It's unique, and I like it," Tuttle says. Good enough.