‘Rompin’ Redskin’ 3
Summary
The ‘Rompin’ Redskin’’ Super Duty 1963 Catalina is an outstanding reproduction of the factory-built Pontiac Super Stock cars. These vehicles were built from September 1962 to January 1963 and came with aluminum front fenders, hood, and bumpers. Some also had plexiglas windows and holes drilled into the frame to reduce weight. They were often called ‘Swiss Cheese’ Catalinas. They were the last factory race cars built by General Motors before its infamous self-imposed racing ban in January 1963.
Owners(s) and Sponsor(s)
The ‘Rompin’ Redskin’ is owned by Joe and Cheryl Zajac of Burns Harbor, IN and sponsored by Strange Engineering and The Car Store of Evanston, Illinois.
Driver
Joe Zajac, 63, married to Cheryl, is maintenance manager for Master Lock Co of Crete, IL. A former machinist and industrial maintenance supervisor, Zajac takes great pride in performing all the work and modifications on the car.
History
Purchased in 1985 for $150, the ‘Rompin’ Redskin’ was a two-barrel automatic transmission grocery-getter. Finding the elusive Super Duty parts took five years of following leads that turned out to be both fact and fiction but finally Zajac acquired enough material to start the restoration. The car was completely disassembled and then purpose-rebuilt for NSS.
In May of 1991, the ‘Rompin’ Redskin’ posted a first-time 12.14, 112 mph pass down the dragstrip at Gateway International Raceway. The improvement process has continued since then with help from Larry Kaufman, Rick Johnson, and Randy and Jean Williams, yielding a best effort of 9.01 at 148 mph so far.
Technical
Indian Adventures iron block / Crower billet crankshaft / All Pontiac "Tiger" heads / cast aluminum intake with two AFB 4-barrel carburetors / 4-speed manual transmission / Strange Engineering rear end assembly / 5.14 ratio /
10.5Wx33 Mickey Thompson slicks
Results/Achievements
Zajac has been president of Nostalgia Super Stock Inc. since 1994. “More than the speed, I enjoy the friendships I have earned as a member of the group,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of such a great group of people.”