What follows, is a rather lengthly story. I've tried to keep it short, but it's hard to do. I've heard stories similar to this, and I thought, that'll never happen to me. The point of this story, is not to brag that it finally did happen to me, but rather, that it can happen to anyone. You have to follow every lead, make the phone calls, drive out of your way, and never ever quit!!

  Grab your favorite beverage, it's a rather long winded story !

   It all started with a phone call from my brother, Gary. He was in the Army, stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii (tuff duty huh!). Anyway, I had asked him to do some junkyarding on the island, I wanted some heater delete parts for my  '65 GT350.  Gary called late one night, and told me he had found something in one of the yards he visited. It wasn't just the heater delete parts he had found. The conversation went something like this:

Gary: "I found this car in the junkyard"

Me:   "What kind?"

Gary: "A '65 Comet Cyclone"

Me:   "So? Did you forget where you are? How would you get it home?"

Gary: "Would you at least let me tell you about it?"

Me:   "Go ahead, it's your nickle !"

Gary: "It's got fiberglass fenders, hood, doors, plexiglass windows, altered wheelbase, a straight axle, five spoke mags, and a parachute box."                  (Editor's note: The wheels turned out to be magnesium)

Me:   (After a long period of silence) "This is a joke, right? Very funny!"

Gary: "No, I'm serious! What is it?

Me:   "It sounds like one of the old A/FX drag cars, get  me some pictures, and any serial numbers you can find."

   Gary sent me the pictures, and the serial numbers. I couldn't believe what I saw, it was amazing. The big question though, was it one of the factory built drag cars, or privately built?

   I called an old friend of mine in Oklahoma, Jim Wicks. Jim is widely known in the Hi-Performance Ford community. I figured, if he couldn't help me, he would know who could. Jim called Rick Kirk, a fellow Oklahoman.

   Rick owns one the finest original '65 B/FX Cyclones in the country. He has been collecting serial numbers and data on the B/FX, and A/FX Comets for several years. Although he does not have a list of every serial number built, the cars were built in batches, and he can tell if a number falls into a group or not. Rick confirmed that it could be one of the cars built by  Bill Stroppe & Assoc., in Long Beach, Ca.. However the number did not fall in with the A/FX's, but rather the B/FX's.

   That was OK by me, as long as it was real! Gary went back to the junkyard, to try and buy the car. The owner of the yard said it did not belong to him, but to a friend of his. He would not give the owners name. He said the owner didn't want to sell.

   Gary called me with the news. I told him, "You're not leaving that rock, without the car, so don't take no for an answer!" He had to return to the yard several times, before the guy finally gave in and told him where to find the owner. He immediately drove there, only to find it was true, he didn't want to sell. He had plans to return it to the drag strip. He also mentioned that someone from the mainland had contacted him about the car, but when he told them he would not arrange the shipping, they backed out. Apparently the cost of traveling to Hawaii, and making all the arrangements was just too overwhelming.

   After several conversations,  he was finally convinced to sell. Gary borrowed a trailer from a friend on the base, and moved the car to a lock-up area on the base. The next step was to answer the big question, how did it get to Hawaii in the first place? The owner knew the history of the car, back to it's original owner, Jimmy Pflueger, owner of Pflueger Lincoln-Mercury, in Honolulu, Hi.

   The dealership was still in business, and owned by Mr. Pflueger. Several calls were made to his office, without making contact. Finally one evening, he called Gary at the base. Yes, he had owned the Comet. It had been purchased from Bill Stroppe. He had contracted Stroppe to build him the car. He had known Mr.Stroppe for several years, he had built Mr.Pflueger several engines for his offshore race boat. He could not recall too much else about the car, and suggested we contact the guy who drove it for him, Earl Char.

   Gary found Earl's name in the phone book. Earl invited Gary over to look at his scrap books. His wife had compiled several books with photos, and newspaper clippings of race results. This proved to be a very important meeting. While looking at the pictures, Earl ask Gary, "Which Comet did you find?" Apparently, Gary had been referring to it, as a "Comet drag car", and hadn't mentioned the year.

   It turns out, there were two Comet Cyclone drag cars owned by Pflueger. The first was a '64 B/FX, which was white. It was powered by a 289 Hi-Po, with Webers and a 4 spd. The second was a '65 A/FX, which was red. It was powered by a 427 Medium Riser with Webers and a 4 spd. Both cars were built by Bill Stroppe & Assoc.. The '65 A/FX was delivered to Hawaii, with the standard wheelbase, and no parachute. These were both added later, by Earl. Stroppe did however remove the shock towers, add the aluminum inner fenders, and the straight axle. The Thunderbird style hood scoop was also added by Stroppe, although Earl has no idea why. It may have had something to do with the Weber carbs, and hood clearance.

   This information conflicted with what Rick Kirk's data had shown. Rick believes that what happened was this: The '65 B/FX's, weren't selling as well as was anticipated. When Earl called Stroppe to order the A/FX, they decided to take one of the B/FX's, and build it into an A/FX.

Editor's Note: While the B/FX's were sold to the public, the A/FX's were not. Mercury Racing hand picked the drivers. They then sold them the cars for $1.00, with the stipulation, they be returned to Mercury when they were through racing them. Earl was not an established, big name driver at the time. Jimmy Pflueger had  been an old customer, and as they say "Money talks, and bullshit walks!" According to Earl, Pflueger payed approx.$10,000.00 for the A/FX (that's in 1965 dollars)!

   Let's return to the meeting with Earl: At the end of the evening, Earl mentioned that he might know were the '64 B/FX was. He called Gary a week later, with the name of the current owner. He didn't know where to find him, but he was supposed to be racing the car. Gary went out to the drag strip a couple times, but there was no sign of him. He finally found a guy in the pits, that remembered the car. He said it had been a few weeks since he had last seen him. The name he gave Gary, matched what Earl had given. The only thing he knew about him was that he worked in an auto parts store. Gary looked in the Yellow pages for the store, wouldn't you know it, there were a whole chain of them on the island. He started calling them all, until he found the one were he worked, but he was off that day. He left a message for him to call, after a week of waiting, he called again.

   Yes, he had gotten the message, but had lost the number. Yes, the car was for sale. He had just pulled the engine out, and put it in his Camaro. He had been running a big block Chevy in the Comet! (It was easier to find Chevy parts then Ford) Gary found the Comet sitting in the driveway of the owner. They negotiated a price, and then closed the deal. Once again, Gary borrowed a trailer, and moved the car to the base.

   Prior to the purchase of the '64 B/FX, we had already shipped the '65 A/FX back to Illinois. We put both cars in sealed shipping containers, and shipped them by boat (ship). The '65 A/FX was shipped to L.A., then transfered to a  transport truck, and brought to my home in Illinois. However, I drove to L.A. to pick up the '64 B/FX. After securing the car on my trailer, I drove to Long Beach. There I located Bill Stroppe & Son, still in business.

   I spent the afternoon with Mr. Stroppe, it's a time I won't soon forget. It was fascinating to listen to him tell stories about his racing days with Parnelli Jones, in "Big Oly", the off road Bronco. He had few recollections of any of the Comets they built, let alone ours. They were just a small part of the business, that Mercury had contracted them to build. He did however recall his friendship with Mr. Pflueger, and how he ask him to build first, the '64 B/FX and then the '65 A/FX.  To the best of his recollection, the '64 B/FX was the only one they built.

   Editor's note: You may recall one other '64 B/FX Comet , that of well known drag racer, Doug Nash. He built that one himself, from one of the Daytona endurance cars. I should probably explain for some of you, the different FX classifications. Each class is decided by cubic inches to weight ratio. The FX stands for Factory Experimental. The Comets were classed as follows:

           A/FX =  Big block engine (427) + light weight body

           B/FX =  Small block engine (289) + light weight body

           C/FX =  Small block engine (289) + stock body

           All of the above, had modified engines, with no horsepower restrictions.

  Earl told us he originally ordered the '64 B/FX, hoping to have it in time for the grand opening of the drag strip ("Hawaii Raceway Park"), which Mr. Pflueger was building. However as the time grew near, it became obvious that it would not be completed in time. Earl was in contact with the head of Mercury Racing, Al Turner, During one of their conversations, Mr.Turner mentioned that 'Dyno Don' Nicholson's '64 Comet Wagon (The Ugly Duckling), was not being raced. Dyno Don had parked the wagon, and started racing the 2dr hardtop. They arranged to have the wagon shipped to Honolulu, in time for the grand opening. All of Dyno Don's lettering was removed, and Earl had his name put on the roof.

   Editor's note: If you compare the photos, you'll notice the decals on the rear side windows are the same. Of special note is the "Crazy 8" decal, which  was simply done by removing the "44" The wagon spent approx. 3 months in Hawaii, after which it was returned to the mainland, and was campaigned by "Fast Eddie" Shartman.

   You may be wondering how Earl got his nickname "Safari". According to Earl, he and his friends used to travel to the other islands to go hunting. He refered to this as going on safari. It stuck with him throughout his life. Even today, his business is called "Safari Auto Body". You may not of heard of Earl "Safari" Char before this article, but in Hawaii, he is somewhat of a legend. After racing both of the Cyclones, he went on to race top fuel dragsters.   

   Prior to going to work for Pflueger Lincoln-Mercury (as a salesman), Earl worked at Castner Ford (as a salesman), and raced a '63 1/2- 427 Lightweight Galaxie on weekends. The whereabouts of this car are unknown. It was rumored to have been destroyed, but you never know, it could still be out there, waiting to be discovered!

   Just to give you an example, of how a person can have something right under their nose and not take the time to check it out, I relate to you the following short story.

   Gary had secured the '65 A/FX in the lockup area on the base. He had parked it outside next to a couple Mustangs. He didn't know the owner, and hadn't even met him , until one saturday, when they both happened to be there at the same time. The guy came over to Gary to ask him about the Comet. He couldn't understand why we had bought it, to him, it was just an old trashed out race car. It turned out, that he knew right where the A/FX had sat in the junkyard, and had walked around it for a couple years, while junkyarding for parts. He was amazed to find out what it really was. It just goes to show, never assume anything.

   The difference was that Gary was curious enough to take a closer look, and then to tell me about it. The fact that I had the contacts to confirm its true identity helped considerably, but anyone could have accomplished the same thing. It would have taken several more phone calls, but if you are persistant, there are plenty of people who can refer you to someone who can help. The first step would be to contact a club, for the car you are concerned with (Shelby, Falcon, Galaxie, etc.), as a member of SAAC (Shelby American Automobile Club), I know for a fact that if you give them the serial number (the Ford VIN) they can confirm or deny if you have a Shelby or not, even if you don't know the Shelby serial number.

   Editors note: If you do contact someone for help, do not give them the location of the vehicle. When I called Jim Wicks, I had no reservations about telling him the location, we've been friends for several years. You might not be as fortunate, with a total stranger. If the car turns out to be valuble, you might loose it to an unscrupulous person. Unless you know who you are dealing with, be very very cautious!

   I hope you've enjoyed reading my article. As unbelievable as it may seem, it is a true story. There were several times when Gary wanted to give up, but I pushed him on. We were already brothers, but we also became partners. Neither one of us could have accomplished this, without the other. I give credit to him, for the initial find, and all the leg work involved. My contribution, was to inspire him to go further. I also had to come up with the cash to finance the whole thing. The phone bills, the purchasing cost, and the shipping, all added up to be a considerable sum.

   I want to thank Jim Wicks again, for all his help. In addition to being a close friend for many years, he has also been an invaluable source of information. His knowledge of Hi-Performance Ford cars & parts is astounding, he can recite part numbers for virtually any factory Hi-Performance Ford part.

   I also want to thank Rick Kirk. Rick has spent countless hours researching the Ford & Mercury factory drag cars. He has compiled one of the most comprehensive collections of photos & data that exists on these cars.

   Most of all, I want to thank Earl "Safari" Char. Without him, none of this would be possible. Most of the photos are from his scrap books. He even saved the original dealer invoice for the '64 B/FX, which shows the serial number. It shows the ship to as Bill Stroppe & Assoc., and the engine a 289 HP (High Performance).  Documentation like that is invaluable.

   There are still plenty of treasures out there, waiting to be discovered. The next time you hear about an old car sitting in a barn, way out in the country, drive out of your way, to check it out. When your driving along and spot something out of the corner of your eye, go around the block. More times then not, it will turn out to be nothing, but sooner or later, you will be rewarded for your efforts. It may not be a factory drag car you find, but a treasure none the less. Remember the old saying "one man's junk, is another man's treasure", truer words were never spoken.

                                                                                                                        Happy hunting !

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