Stuff your stocking with these vintage funny cars and ramp truck

Bill Porterfield of Williamston, Michigan, proves that car enthusiasm can exceed sensible boundaries. About to turn 80, this longstanding Hagerty member has decided the time is right to surrender his prized possessions to some lucky new owner:

• I am offering a unique pair of vintage funny cars and a ramp truck for sale. This message is intended to provide a brief overview of these vehicles.

1. 1968 Don Hardy built Jim Kirby/Dick Harrell Camaro AA/FC and display boards package.
2. 1970 Chevrolet C/30 Ramp Truck, 1970 Dick Harrell/Fred Gibb Chevrolet Camaro (re-creation) AA/FC and display boards package.
3. Combination of both packages plus comprehensive Dick Harrell history, photos, articles and all cackle equipment; battery pack, fuel jugs, funnels, ear protection, fuel masks, fuel jets and partial drum of nitro.

• I can provide detailed photos and specifications via email. Basic descriptions of packages are as follows. Both cars have:

1. Merlin blocks & heads. All good internals. 68 car has 433” engine. 70 car has 540” engine.
2. Original Halibrand magnesium wheels; not reproductions.
3. Can be started from the seat or from the gauge & switch panels up front by the fuel tanks.
4. Tuned to cackle on 100% nitro. Easy to start on gasoline. Lead set at 50. Fuel on the lean side.
5. Refer to video at the bottom of this message.

1968 Car:

• Original Don Hardy built car, verified by Don Hardy and Valerie Harrell. Jim Kirby/Boemler Chevrolet gold car, became Dick Harrell team car. Has original DH candy red color with gold lace panels. Graphics are vinyl but the paint is original.
• Last raced in 1972. In storage till 2003. Began cackle career in 2010. Participant in CONCOURSE d’ELEGANCE of AMERICA in 2011 and Holley Hot Rod Reunion in 2017.

1970 Car:

• Original DH body, confirmed by Bob Gibson, repaired and restored. When the 1971 bodies came out Dick had Don Hardy install a 71 body on his 70 chassis. He was killed in that car in 1971. That necessitated the fabrication of a new chassis. Hence the term ‘re-creation’. Participant in CONCOURSE d’ELEGANCE of AMERICA and Holley Hot Rod Reunion in 2017.

1970 Ramp Truck:

• Rufus Boyd, aka Brooklyn Heavy, purchased this truck, along with a Camaro from DH in 1971. One of Dick’s guys remembers hauling DHPC customer cars on the truck.
• Original engine, 48,000 miles, 4-speed trans. Starts & runs well down the freeway. Hauled the 70 car to several recent events, including Holley Hot Rod Reunion in 2017.

Asking $225K for the 68 car. Asking $325 for the 70 car & 70 ramp truck.  Asking $495K for a package deal.

• I am located in mid-Michigan. I can fire up the engines, weather permitting:

-Bill (billporterfield2@gmail.com)

***

Porterfield first tasted speed at age 8 in a midget racer. He started drag racing at 15.

Following a stint in the Air Force, Porterfield began engineering studies under Oldsmobile sponsorship. Upon graduation, he participated in several interesting projects at GM including the construction of concept cars and campaigning Oldsmobile’s Aerotech speed machine. In 1987, with the illustrious A.J. Foyt at the wheel, the Aerotech ran nearly 300 mph at a Texas test track with a turbocharged 2.0-liter Olds Quad Four supplying power.

During his leisure hours, Porterfield founded an enterprise called Mid-Engineering devoted to the construction of mid-engined kit cars and street rods. In 1976, his Kelmark GT powered by a big-block Chevy V-8 topped 200 mph at Ohio’s Transportation Research Center. His Olds 442 powered by a supercharged V-8 located behind the driver was Hot Rod magazine’s 1978 Street Machine of the Year.

In 2009, Porterfield bought the 1968 Camaro top fuel funny car constructed by Don Hardy and driven by Jim Kirby for Boemler Chevrolet of Arnold, Missouri. This Chevy competed in mid-western match races from 1968 through 1972, then slept in storage over 30 years.

After rescuing it from oblivion, Porterfield used his funny car to generate a ruckus at car shows starting in 2010. Running on pure nitromethane, its engine cackles with ear-tickling authenticity. And this historic racer is still capable of completing quarter-mile demonstration runs. It appeared at the prestigious Concours d’Elegance of America in 2011.

In 2014, Porterfield doubled his cackler fleet by purchasing the 1970 top fuel Camaro racer campaigned by Dick Harrell for Fred Gibb Chevrolet of La Harpe, Illinois. Following restoration of the body and installation of a fresh chassis, it joined his exhibition team in 2017.

The ramp truck included here originally delivered cars to Dick Harrell Performance Center customers. Showing but 48,000 miles on its odometer, this Chevy C30 has its original V-8 and still runs nicely.

So, if your collection needs something special to ignite its eccentricity, get in touch with Porterfield before he changes his mind.