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My 1964 Ford Galaxie represents and pays homage to a long-lost vision of NASCAR: when Stock Cars truly were stock. It is also a tribute to the legendary Fireball Roberts, a great driver who literally gave his life to the sport.

The project was built from a salvaged Galaxie that itself had been the subject of a failed arson attempt. My “Project Fireball” was never expected nor intended to be a Concourse-quality build. Instead, it would kind of reflect the “fix it and get it to the next race” necessity of the era. It has its flaws and warts, and wears them proudly.

It was 95% built in a cluttered garage with only a small selection of tools, a borrowed welder, and on a shoestring budget. Exterior paint and exhaust comprised the other 5%. The entire project was done in nine months for less than $3,900, including the purchase price of the car off of eBay.

Unfortunately, it does not feature the period correct 427 hi-riser engine, powered instead by a rather capable 289 at this time.

My “Project Fireball” is a demonstration of my love of historic NASCAR, and is also my first-ever (and only – so far) attempt at building any such project. I never picked up a welder or applied Bondo before I started this project. Time, money, and lack of a place and opportunity interfered with my taking on this kind of build. And it only took me 48 years to reach that point.

Building the Fireball Roberts Galaxie led me to writing my novel, HIDING BEHIND THUNDER, set in early 1960s NASCAR. There is a lot of both NASCAR history and Ford Racing history involved in the story. You can find out more about the book at http://hidingbehindthunder.com , or check it out on Amazon.

Engine Mods:
Air Intake: Edelbrock, Header: Ford Racing, Exhaust: Flowmaster, Spark Plugs: Motorcraft, Ignition: Mallory