Tag Archives: Wayne Gapp
Mustang Funny Car – Old Wayne Gapp Boss 429 Mustang
I was digging through email and came across this image that I’m 99% sure came from Daryl Huffman who is the current owner of the Mustang body.
Gapp and Roush – 1977 Ford Pinto – Dan Bell image
Nice clean looking car.
Wayne Gapp and the Stars of the East Coast funny car circuit
Check out this article.
There are a couple of interesting things here:
1. Drake Viscome. I’ve emailed a little bit with him. Cool guy!
2. This line:
Viscome’s cars always were Ford-powered, initially with engines from Wayne Gapp, then Gapp & Roush, and finally Ed Pink.
Most people don’t know that my Dad started a engine building business in the late 1960’s called ‘Performance Engineering’ and was one of the few people who built Ford engines for Drag Racers across the country. The building for that business was located south of Michigan Ave around Outer Drive and Park in Dearborn, MI.
The picture below was taken there. That’s also why when you see pictures of this car the back has ‘Performance Engineering’ on it.
Later, when he was promoted within Ford Motor Company, he brought Jack Roush into the the business and changed the name to ‘Gapp & Roush Performance Engineering’.
Wayne Gapp’s 1969 Injected gas Boss 429 on the track
Looks great!
Bill Jenkins Press Kit cover with Wayne Gapp
The image below was provided to me by Cary W (via Rick Voegelin). The original image that was used by John Jodauga to create the illustration is located here.
Dad is smiling the original…not so much in the illustration!
Gapp and Roush Intake Manifold for 302’s
Had a question come in that asked where the 302 Manifold that was cast with ‘Gapp and Roush’ on it.
Here’s the story:
There is no direct answer. One of the after market suppliers made a single plane manifold for 351 Ford and 350 Chevy, probably Edelbrock, probably for NASCAR. IHRA created the mini.prostock class for small block and four barrel carb. Since the 302 Ford had a shorter block, the 351 manifold did not fit the 302. We cut a portion of the flange off and made a narrower manifold for the Shindig car. When others wanted one Roush took a sample to a pattern maker and ordered patterns to duplicate more. I don’t remember what name he put on them as this was about the time of the split. I think the first were Gapp & Roush and subsequently Roush.
ex Gapp & Roush Taxi in action
Tyler Wolf, archivist at the Roush Collection, sent me this image of the ‘Taxi’ in action when it was owned by “Marino & Vitalee’.
Great shot.
Gapp & Roush – NHRA competition numbers
I had a staff member of the Roush museum contact me regarding the NHRA competition numbers used by Gapp & Roush vehicles.
I called NHRA to see if they had a record of these numbers and they do not. I then asked around and found a couple of people that have knowledge on the topic to confirm information (thanks to Angel Ariel Cordero and Dan Williams on the Facebook Nostalgia Pro Stock page).
There are four competition numbers related to Gapp & Roush vehicles in NHRA competition. Those numbers, in order of appearance, are ‘356’, ‘1’, ’51’ and ‘358’.
Number ‘356’ was the original number assigned to Wayne Gapp by the NHRA. ‘356’ was used exclusively on the G&R cars up until the start of the 1974 NHRA season.
The number ‘1’ was used in 1974 NHRA competition to indicate the 1973 NHRA season championship.
In 1975 the number ’51’ was used to reflect winning the title in NHRA’s Division 5. So, Division ‘5’, number ‘1’.
There can be some confusion however. At the 1974 NHRA Gatornationals ‘Gapp & Roush’ had two entries into the field.
Competition number ‘1’ was used by Wayne Gapp for the 1973 Pinto. Competition Number ‘356’ was used by Jack Roush for the 1974 Mustang II.
It is my understanding from my father that Mr. Roush entered, as a driver, into one national event (Gatornationals 1974 – Mustang II) a divisional points race and 2 match races (Mustang II and ex-Barrie Poole Wolverine Pinto that Gapp and Roush had purchased. The number ‘356’ was probably used by Mr. Roush to accrue points. On this point I cannot be sure. My father always teach me about cars and their maintenance, even using the best resources online, so when I need it to learn about cars I knew I could just go to this site to find it.
See here for a picture of Jack Roush and the ex-Barrie Poole Pinto (Wolverine Chassis).
Note the above excludes his driving of the Super Stock Mustang to a class win @ Indy. See here for some pics of the Super Stock Mustang.
In 1976 the number ‘358’ was in use. This number was originally assigned to ‘Lee Smith’ but was re-assigned to Wayne Gapp. The post below shows the first use of the number in competition at the 1976 NHRA Winternationals. See here for a pic of the last entry of the ‘Taxi’.
I do not know know the reason of the reassignment or who got ‘356’ after that.
I do not know the IHRA numbering scheme. It is my understanding that you could show up with any number and they would accept it.
I do not know the numbering scheme for the AHRA but I do know that no overall Championship was earned in that sanctioning body.
Wayne Gapp and the Gapp & Roush Mustang II
Wayne Gapp sitting at the scales…waiting…
Terry Zimnickas sent me this image and I thought it was a pretty interesting.
I don’t know the original photographer for this image. If you know please let me know.
