Every Year (Almost) of Ohio George Montgomery’s Iconic Willys Gasser

Here’s a rare opportunity to see the transformation of a long running, iconic Gasser. Virtually every year Ohio George Montgomery ran his 1933 Willys Gasser from its humble beginnings in 1959 to the last race it ran in 1967, before George switched to his new Mustang, is accounted for. Most racecars got replaced, or worse, met their end in on-track or trailer mishaps. George built a finely crafted machine, which only needed safety and certain mechanical updates to stay competitive. With pending sponsorship from Ford, he switched to their 1967 Mustang body, which ironically initiated the beginning of the end of the Gasser classes. With the proliferation of Mustang Funny Cars, and on the threshold of Ford’s Cobra Jet Mustangs in 1968, yet another class with Mustang-bodied cars diluted the Gassers’ unique place in drag racing. Conversely, his winning ways behind the wheel of the Willys helped popularize these rather rare cars, as did the Stone, Woods, and Cook Gassers did for the 1941 Willys. George refined his coupe with suspension tweaks, and replaced the Olds engine with the Ford SOHC Cammer engine in 1966. Running cement in the spare tire for a time to help increase traction, he also trimmed his tilt front end a bit too much. Obviously NHRA frowned on the modification, and so you can see how he fashioned aluminum pieces to restore what was once removed, saving him the cost of replacement. A shot of his Willys-replacement Mustang closes out our rare look at function and form combined in the Gasser class.

1959