Little Red Wagon
Bill "Maverick" Golden
1964-2003
This was the first wheelstanding exhibition car, built by Jim Schaeffer and John Collier. It was first driven by Jay Howell, but very early sold to Bill Golden. The wheelstander used a Dodge A-100 cabover pickup powered by 426 Hemi. The truck suffered crashes in 1969, 1971, and 1975. After the crash in 1975, Golden converted a 1965 Dodge A-100 show truck into a replacement wheelstander and campaigned it until he retired. Click here to see video footage.
Hurst Hemi Under Glass
Bill Shrewsberry/Bob Riggle/Mike Mantel
1965-75, 1992-present
Developed by the Hurst Corporation, this was drag racing's first wheelstanding exhibition car. Wild Bill Shrewsbury drove it in 1965, the Barracuda's first season. Bob Riggle took over driving duties in 1966 after Shrewsbury left to work on his own project, the L. A. Dart. In 1975, Riggle suffered a horrible accident in the wheelstander. He stopped racing until 1992, when he returned to exhibition racing in a revamped version of the earlier car. That car was severely damaged during the taping of Jay Leno's Garage TV show in 2016. In 2016, Mike Mantel became the third driver, in the 1968 supercharged version of the old car. Click here to see video footage.
Little Yellow Wagon
Bill Kolb, Jr./George Agello
1965-67
1965 Ford Econoline pickup, powered by a 427 injected Ford engine. The original Wagon was demolished at Milton Dragway on June 12, 1966. A second Wagon was built using a 1966 Econoline and run for a few more months.
Rambler Hemi-Marlin
Preston Honea
1965-66
Preston Honea, of Norwalk, California, built and drove his Bill Kraft-sponsored '65 Rambler fastback to 153 mph speeds in match races. With fiberglass front end, doors, and bumpers, the car had a propensity to do wheelstands, so Honea decided to turn it into an exhibition wheelstander in fall 1965.
Thunder Wagon
George Shumpert
1965-68
"Wild Man" George Shumpert, of West Columbia, South Carolina, ran a Hemi Ramcharger-powered Dodge A-100 pickup truck sponsored by Chrysler Corporation. On June 11, 1966, Shump flipped out of control and demolished the truck at Cordova Dragway. Shump was unhurt. In 1968 he had a roll cage assembly built over the truck bed which permitted him to wheel into the air and completely roll over. Each year, Chrysler put a new Dodge body on the truck. On September 29, 1968, he demolished the truck again at Muncie Dragway. Click here to see video footage.
Super Ford
Sevela and Sons
1965-66
Fred Sevela and his son, Jim, from Beaverton, Oregon, built a blown fuel-burning Chrysler engined Ford pick-up truck. It was capable of 145 mph runs and crowd-pleasing wheelstands.
Mighty Mouse
Hap Harrison
1966
Hap Harrison, of Long Island, began campaigning his wheelstanding Corvair truck in mid-1966 in Florida.
Paddy Wagon
Gary Watson
1966-69
This Corvair van was built by Gary Watson and Bill Rodgers, of Corpus Christi, Texas. Watson was the driver. It was powered by a 427 fuel-injected Chevy running on alcohol. He ran this car a distance of over 3,000 feet up on two wheels. 137 mph top speed.
Mystery Mover
Jack Layton
1966-68
Jack Layton, of Howell, Michigan, drove a 1965 Corvair van panel truck.
The Original Back-up Pick-up
Hollie Swindle
1966-68
Hollie Swindle, of St. Louis, began campaigning this 1965 Ford Econoline pick-up in early 1966. It was powered by a fuel-injected Ford 428 engine.
Chuckwagon
Chuck Poole
1966-70
Chuck Poole, of Sacramento, California, used a 1966 Dodge Econoline truck for his first wheelstander. 146 mph top speed and 1,400 feet for his best distance on two wheels.
Triple Trouble/Wheelie King
Tommy Stringfield
1966-68
Tommy Stringfield, of Tampa, Florida, built and drove one of the early wheelstanders, a 1966 Chevy Nova. It was powered by three engines: one under the hood and two in the back seat! Stringfield set a world wheelstanding distance record of 4,100 feet at 110 mph at Miami Dragway. After setting that record, he dubbed his car "The Wheelie King," running a single fuel-injected 376 c.i. Chevy engine in 1968.
Wheelie Corvair
Kenny Logan
1966-67
Kenny Logan, of Mattoon, Illinois, first began campaigning this wheelstanding Corvair under the name "White Lightning." It started out as a match race car, but with its propensity to do wheelstands, Logan focused on being an exhibition wheelstander. The engine was a 327 cu. in. Corvette.
The Canadian Highlander
John Petrie
1966-67
John Petrie, of Toronto, campaigned a fuel-burning 1965 Dodge Coronet A990 fuel-injected Hemi in exhibitions and match races. Although not expressly built strictly for wheelstanding, the car was capable of 158 mph in the quarter. Click here to see it doing wheelstands at New England Dragway in Epping, New Hampshire, in about 1966.
World's Wildest Corvair
Scotty Scott
1966-68
Scotty Scott, from Charleston, West Virginia, campaigned what he billed as the "World's Wildest Corvair." The wheelstanding '66 station wagon was powered by a blown 327 Chevy engine. At the November 1966 Atlanta $10,000 race, he garnered the title "King of the Wheelstanders." At the start of the 1967 season, he renamed it "Thunder Button."
L. I. Stang
Arnie Frank
1966-67
Arnie hailed from Long Island, New York. His '66 Mustang was powered by an injected 426 Chrysler and popped up hard enough that it usually got all four wheels off the ground as it rode the casters under the rear bumper.
Super Bug
Dave Conners
1966
Dave Conners, of Arcadia, California, employed a fuel injected Porsche engine in his VW and rear seat driver's position to carry his front wheels the full quarter mile.
Fugitive
Bob Perry
1966-68
Bob Perry, of Daytona, Florida, drove a '66 Corvair wagon powered by a blown 427 Chevy on alcohol. He carried the front wheels at Tucson, clocking 135 mph.
Jim's Speed Emporium
Jim Barillaro
1967
Jim Barillaro, of Meriden, Connecticut, briefly campaigned a wheelstanding 1966 Falcon powered by a fuel-injected 427 c.i. Ford.
The Fugitive
Bob Perry
1967-68
Bob Perry, of Daytona Beach, began running this wheelstanding Greenbriar Chevy truck in early 1967. It was powered by a 427 Chevy engine and was capable of running a quarter with its wheels up at 135 mph.
L. A. Dart
Bill Shrewsberry
1967-76
Shrewsberry opted out of driving the Hurst Hemi Under Glass in 1966 so he could develop his own wheelstanding car sponsored by the Dodge and Plymouth dealers of Los Angeles and Orange counties. This car was a 1968 Dodge Dart powered by a blown fuel-burning 426 Chrysler. He campaigned the car through 1976. Top speed was 148 mph. Click here to see video footage; begins at 0:47 mark and goes to 0:57 on video.
Chevy Rebellion
Richard Hutchins
1967-79
Richard Hutchins, of St. Petersburg, Florida, started doing wheelstand exhibitions in this 1964 Dodge A-100 pickup. In about 1980, he switched over to using a VW pickup body for his Chevy Rebellion wheelstander.
Chuckwagon
Chuck Poole
1967-83
Built and first run in 1967, Poole's 1957 VW pickup truck ran a blown 426 Plymouth Hemi on alcohol. In 1968 he also began running an A-100 Dodge truck, powered by twin blown Hemis. His first wheelstander was a single-engine A-100 Dodge truck. He employed all three wheelstanders in his career, retiring from exhibition racing in 1984. Click here to see video footage; begins at 0:35 mark and goes to 0:47 mark on video.
Trick Truck/Trash Wagon
Connie Swingle/Dick Belfatti
1967-70
Connie Swingle was the first driver of the Teleflex Corvair pick-up truck, powered by a fuel-burning 427 Chevrolet engine. In 1967, Dick Belfatti did some of the driving. The wheelstander was campaigned at least through 1968, with Swingle behind the wheel in its final season. Swingle named it the Trash Wagon (or Trash Truck) in its final years. Click here to see brief video footage, begins on 11:19 mark and goes to 11:31 mark of the video.
Hustler-Too
Chet Smith
1967
Chet Smith, of Lake Worth, Florida, began campaigning a wheelstanding Corvair pick-up powered by a Chevy V-8 engine in early 1967. Smith continued building and driving wheelstanders into the 1970s.
High Horse
Bob Doss
1967
Bob Doss, of Cincinnati, campaigned a '66 Ford Mustang powered by a blown 327 Chevy (or Pontiac) running alcohol.
General Jerry Lee
Jerry Lee
1967-2017
Jerry Lee, of Sacramento, built this wheelstanding 1923 Model T two-ton truck employing a blown 427 Ford engine for power. It was still performing in 2017, the last of the '60s wheelstanders still making exhibition runs. Lee was a 2nd-great grandson of General Robert E. Lee. Click here to see video footage.
Bardahl Bug/Hemi Bug
Joe Vanni/Charlie Holmes/Lynwood Hardy
1967-79
Joe Vanni and Lynwood Hardy owned a 1966 VW wheelstanding truck powered by a 426 Dodge Hemi engine. Charlie Holmes, of Providence, Rhode Island, was the driver.
Windjammer
Jim Barillaro
1968
Jim Barillaro, of Meriden, Connecticut, built and drove this 1968 Falcon wheelstander, sponsored by Jim's Speed Emporium.
Wild Thing
Dick Sembler
1968
Dick Sembler, from Long Island, briefly ran this '62 VW pickup, powered by a fuel injected 427 Dodge. On Aug. 18, 1968, at Long Island National Speedway, he lost control, crashing through the guardrail and into a crowd of spectators. Eight people were injured, two seriously.
Chuckwagon 2
Chuck Poole
1968-70
One of three Chuckwagon wheelstanders campaigned by Chuck Poole, this A-100 Dodge truck was powered by two blown Chrysler Hemis. It was sold to Sylvia Braddick, a Canadian. Click here to see video footage; begins at 1:20 mark and goes to 1:27 on video.
Texas Rare Bear
Roy Trevino
1968-70
Roy Trevino, of Corpus Christi, Texas, campaigned his '68 Corvair pickup powered by a 427 Chevy. He held the world record for a continuous wheelstand of 2-1/2 miles in 1969.
Gemini Cricket
Frank Monaghan
1968-72
Frank Monaghan, of Philadelphia, employed a 1964 Dodge A-100 pickup for a backup pickup. Click here to see video footage; begins at 1:58 mark and goes to 2:06 mark on video.
Chevado
Gary Kleckner
1968-69
Gary Kleckner, of Monrovia, California, was one of the wheelstanding pioneers with his 1955 Chevy Nomad, powered by a blown Olds. Click here to view interview with Gary Kleckner.
Paddy Wagon
Gary Watson
1969-76
Gary Watson built this 1969 Chevy van wheelstander, building upon the success of his first wheelstanding Corvair van. Later he put a 1972 Chevy van body on the wheelstanding chassis.
Fugitive
Bob Perry/Tommy McKneely/Gary Watson/Randy Curtis
1969-79
Bob Perry, of Tucson, owned and drove this 1969 Corvette. 135 mph top speed. Perry sold the car to Gary Watson after 1973. Watson hired Randy Curtis to do the driving. When first built, it was the only wheelstanding Corvette in the country. In 1974, Curtis bought the car from Watson and mounted the engine inside the car, right behind his seat, with the headers poking out the sides of the windows. He campaigned it through 1979.
Shower Power
Randy Davis
1969-70
Randy Davis drove this wheelstander in the comforts of a fiberglass bathtub powered by a Chevy small block V8.
AMX Wynn's Stander
Richard Schroeder
1969-72
Wentworth & Irwin Rambler sponsored this car, owned by Richard Schroeder. Art Morrison was the driver. In 1970-71, it was called "Jet Age Special," and in 1972, Schroeder renamed the car "Dare to be Great." The car crashed at Puyallup Raceway with Morrison at the wheel. Click here to see video footage; begins (1) at 0:17 mark and goes to 0:33 and (2) begins at 1:41 mark and goes to 1:54 on video.
Moonshot
Tommy Maras/Ken Nelson
1969-76
Tom Maras, of Ashland, Ohio, campaigned this wheelstanding 1969 Chevelle Super Sport, powered by an injected 427 Chevy on nitro. Maras later sold the wheelstander to Dino's Racing Enterprises of Northern California. Ken Nelson, from Greenwich, Ohio, bought it in the mid-1970s.
Roy Phelps
1969
Roy Phelps, who owned Santa Pod Raceway in Podington, England, made exhibition runs in his wheelstanding Vette. Click here to see video footage of him readying and driving the wheelstander.
Standing Room Only
1960s
Research has found little about this wheelstanding 1957 Chevy except that it may have been an exhibition car based in Canada.