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THAT SUMBITCH IS CRAZY!! The slightly inebriated race fan sitting behind me had a stranglehold on the blatantly obvious, but I couldn’t have said it any better! “Wild Willie” Borsch was making one of his out-of-control 200 miles-per-hour dashes down the Pomona Drag Strip at the 1968 Winternationals and broke his own AA/Fuel Altered national speed record in the process. Willie in his car, the Marcellus & Borsch “Winged Express”, always brought fans to their feet with his 1300 horsepower blown Chrysler-powered ’23 T Roadster sporting a wing that looked like the World of Outlaws had gone drag racing.
Wild Willie and the Winged Express were the dominant Fuel Altered team of their era, posting times and speeds appropriate more to the dragsters than their own short-wheelbase Altered class. But the real show was watching Wild Willie out in the open, single-handedly (as in one hand on the steering wheel, the other hand holding the side of the T Bucket) manhandle the car down the quarter mile. This was showmanship at its best. Willie’s solution for getting the sideways car under control: Stab the throttle and hold on! And the fans went nuts!
Precision Miniatures finished this car to look like the real thing. The engine has the spark plug wires and the fuel lines running between Moon tank, fuel block, fuel injector and blower manifold. Get out a magnifying glass you’ll be awed by all of the tiny detail: you can read “Marcellus & Borsch” on the cast aluminum valve covers, the Gilmer blower belt is real rubber and is toothed on the inside like the real thing, the wheels on the wheelie bar roll, the roll bar is padded with real foam rubber held in place with electrician’s tape and on and on. The only things they missed are the throttle linkage, the brake calipers, and Wild Willie working his magic behind the wheel. Precision Miniatures has truly created a MASTERPIECE and even if you’re not a big drag racing fan you absolutely have to have this one; it’s that good! Hopefully after they sell out of this issue, they’ll create a new edition with Wild Willie at the wheel. Precision Miniatures: I hope you’re listening!
(01/09/2003)
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