Bill jenkins camaro
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Bill Jenkins, 81, Drag Racing Innovator
Bill Jenkins, an influential and revered figure in drag racing who helped lift the sport from the streets to the professional track while introducing a host of technical innovations, died on Thursday in Paoli, Pa. He was 81.
The cause was heart failure, his daughter Susan Jenkins said.
Jenkins, a short, stocky, gravelly-voiced man who often chomped cigars, sometimes while driving, played a leading role in lifting drag racing to the level of a sanctioned sport from its ''dirty-fingernails street racing days,'' said Ron Watson, president of the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, into which Jenkins was inducted in 1996.
To fans and fellow racers he was Grumpy Jenkins, and he relished the nickname -- particularly because he knew that almost everyone knew that his gruff front was just that. ''People called him the lovable old grump,'' said John Jodauga, an editor at National Dragster, the newspaper of the National Hot Rod Association.
Jenkins was No. 8 among the nation&ap
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Grumpy's Toys
2011 biography by Doug Boyce
| Author | Doug Boyce |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Ray Mann |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Biography |
| Publisher | CarTech Books |
Publication date | January 15, 2011 |
| Publication place | Canada, United States |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Pages | 176 pages |
| ISBN | 978-1-934709-27-6 |
Grumpy's Toys: The Authorized History of Grumpy Jenkins' Cars is an authorized biography of drag racing legend Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, with Jenkins himself writing the book's foreword.[1]
The book was written by author Doug Boyce, who has also written the book Junior Stock: Drag Racing the Family Sedan.
Overview
Few men have impacted the sport of drag racing like Jenkins. His storied drag racing career began in the late 1950s and continued right up until his death in March 2012. Throughout his career, both innovation and success followed him closely. This book documents the long and colorful history of the 17 competition cars that proudly bore the name, Grumpy's Toy.
Grumpy's Toys stands as a full and complete histor
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The sophisticated competition in NHRA's Pro Stock category is reflective of the tremendous amount of science and technology that have been invested in the sport. Today's Pro Stock engines, which produce in excess of two horsepower per cubic inch on gasoline-without the assistance of fuel injection, turbocharging or supercharging-are regarded as the most efficient of their type in motorsports.
Much of this can be attributed to the career efforts of Bill "Grumpy" Jenkins, whose then-innovative use of his mechanical engineering skills in the mid-1950s not only produced many of drag racing's most successful vehicles, but also helped rid the sport of its former leather jacket-illegal street racing image.
While he prefers to regard his greatest achievements originated with engine building and related research and development work, Jenkins earned a considerable reputation as a driver, winning a combined total of 13 NHRA national Pro Stock events from 1965 to 1975. With the bulk of his driving career taking place before the era of clutchless planetary gear transmissions, Jenkins achieve
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