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Alan Currans photo
(This article was first published in the February 1972 edition of Custom Car magazine)
Imagine a fuel dragster driver's feelings when the flywheel on a car that's taken months to rebuild erupts just feet out from the startline on a shakedown run, sending bits of steel a hundred feet in the air and the mechanic into a war-dance. That's what happened to Brian Ringsell just a few years back when he turned up at the British championships with co-owner John Reynolds to debut a beautiful American-style hemi digger.
But undaunted and luckily unharmed John decided the team would have another go and midway through last season the results of yet another major rebuild hit the asphalt - this time with a double-strength home-brewed flywheel backed with a tough triple-plate specially developed by the Borg & Beck clutch wizardry division of Automotive Products.
Since then the Ringsell-Reynolds machine - better known as Taxi - has successfully campaigned in the B Dragster ranks and even dabbled in show business with an appearance at the Paris Motor Show.
Best times to date are 9.66 seconds and a terminal of 140.25mph both squeezed from a 19-year-old 331cu in (around 5.4 litre) blown Chrysler. John is a garage director and Brian is an engineer, so much of the heavy work - including the 145in frame, tube front axle and hubs etc - was no problem, though something like £1200 had to be spent to get Taxi on the strip.
Capacity of the Mopar was left stock, as were the crank, pistons, rods, valves. Stateside goodies hauled aboard take in a Racer Brown three quarter-race cam and kit, Weiand inlet manifold, Hilborn bug catcher fuel injection and of course that big 'n' beautiful 6/71 Gimmy huffer. (General Motors supercharger to those readers who normally purchase Motorsport magazine).
Slug rings came from Cadillac, bearings from Glacier. This coming season will see Taxi relying on Duckhams for lubrication. The rail's ignition system, mag-fired of course, uses Champion flints to fire the alky.
Direct-drive power feeds through a '62 Ford Zephyr 4.11 rear end to Ford-mounted Dunlop Racemaster 9.50-15in rubber, while up front Taxi is shod with Avon 17in boots. Friction shocks and Vee-DubbleU torsion bar suspension keeps the forward end stable.
A&A Platers of Watford were responsible for the car's vast amount of chrome plate - including rocker covers, radius rods, front axle and steering gear - while Brian and John between them cooked up Taxi's metallic purple paintjob and carried out all the trim work.
Incidentally, if you ever wondered what happened to a Jag-powered digger named Baron's Barrow that later raced in the 12 second bracket under the title of Wee Green Pee - you're looking at it. We're assured that nothing quite so drastic is planned for '72, just maybe a trip into the eights.
Mike Lintern
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