GMP 1:18 1967 Ford Malco Gasser Mustang Dragster- "Ohio George"

“Ohio George” Montgomery’s 1967 Ford Mustang AA/GS car foretold the end of the Gas Coupe and Sedan class and the transition of the “Gassers” and “Altereds” into the “Funny Cars” that are such an exciting part of today’s drag racing. And he did it by bolting a fiberglass Mustang body to the ’33 Willys frame of his very successful gasser!

“Ohio George” was truly a legend in the Supercharged Gas class in the late ‘50’s and early ‘60’s. Driving his “ugly ol’ ’33 Willys”, he won seven class titles as well as several Little and Middle Eliminator titles at the NHRA Nationals between 1959 and 1967. But the last engine he used, a Ford 427” SOHC “Cammer”, produced so much power…. an estimated 1200 hp on pump gas…… that the high-sitting ‘33 Willys was really getting squirrelly at the finish line. The engine had really outgrown the car! Subsequent tests in Ford’s wind tunnel revealed that the car was producing over 600 lbs. of lift “in the lights”.

But Ford “had a better idea”! Ever-conscious of “win on Sunday, sell on Monday”, Ford proposed swapping the “barn door-like” Willys coupe body for an aerodynamic, all-fiberglass, ’67 Mustang body that Ford had made to provide to Funny Car teams. Larry Trout helped George modify the gasser’s Willys frame including extending it forward to provide mounts for the tilt-up Mustang front clip, Bud Harbin applied the beautiful two-shade metalflake blue paint, and the Malco Gasser was born. The car continued to run in AA/GS (double A gas supercharged) but also held records in BB/A (double B altered). The car’s best time was an 8.12 sec. e.t. @ 173.07 mph.

The Malco Gasser was cleverly engineered with special adjustment screws built into the rear upper spring mounts allowing adjustment of the pre-load on each side of the rear of the car. George also ran air shocks in the rear with separate systems and gauges to allow individual balancing of the air pressure from side to side. Fuel management came from a four-port Hilborn injector system sitting atop a GMC 6-71 blower. One Crane cam under each valve cover actuated the large valves in the hemispherical heads. To allow room for the blower, the magneto was re-located to drive off of the chain case in front of the left cylinder head. Exhaust exited through a set of Kustom Headers. The power was directed through a Winters-modified Ford C-6 automatic transmission to an Olds rear-end with drum brakes. Halibrand wheels were on all four corners with a huge set of M&H Racemaster slicks responsible for hooking the car up with the strip. Besides the brakes, a Simpson drag chute was deployed for slowing the car after one of its 8-second passes.

GMP did a masterful job of recreating this car! There is one incredible amount of detail that has been invested in this model: the chrome headers are individually blued as they would be on the real car, all the hoses and wiring are just as they would have to be on the real car, the steering wheel is a mixture of photo-etched chrome steel with a plastic rim just like the original Covico wheel would have been. Even details like the links that secured the parachute risers to the chassis and the emergency brake cable are just as they would have been. I could go on and on calling out GMP’s replication of each small detail, but suffice it to say that everything is there as it was on the real car……. nothing’s missing! Add to this an engine that is beautifully executed and accurate, a metalflake paint job that absolutely comes alive under the light and all the beautiful graphics of the original car and you have one beautiful model. I’m sure “Ohio George” was filled with pride when he saw his car in 1:18 scale reproduced so beautifully. Tom Long and the gang at GMP deserve a lot of credit for the job they’ve done in bringing us this wonderful model!

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