Little Hoss becomes Mighty Mouse

[1stGenFan]

Around the mid 1990's, when I found Little Hoss, I spoke with Herb Fox that day. I realized it was possibly the Fred Gibb Chevrolet racecar when discussing the car with Rick Heckler, whom I purchased the car from. Rick advertised the car in the then National Camaro Clubs monthly magazine, which had the story of the #1 ZL1 in it ironically. Rick told me some track friends had been called by someone connected to an Illinois Chevrolet dealer, about 6 weeks previously, asking about his car. That caused me to get out my book authored by John Hooper, titled "The 1969 Camaro Reference Book", published in 1991. I remembered the story of Little Hoss, with color pictures, as I owned another 1967 Z28 at the time, and always thought that whoever found Little Hoss, would be a very fortunate person, if it still existed. I have been enamored with the history of the 1967 Z28 since obtaining my first copy of Jerry MacNeish's book "The Definitive 1967-1968 Camaro Z/28 Fact Book", published in 1990. I called on the car initially with no intention on buying it, but to see if Rick had registered the car with Jerry MacNeish, whom I had previously become acquainted with regarding my 1st 1967 Z28.

After I got off the phone with Rick, I called information, to see if i could get Herb Fox's phone number. He still lived in LaHarpe, and they had his number. I called Herb, introduced myself to him, telling him it was not a prank call, and he agreed to stay on the line with me. Herb Fox had an incredible memory, as when I asked who he sold the car to, he with no hesitation stated, "I sold it to Lloyd Kirchoff". Rick Heckler shared with me the name on the 1968 Illinois title during our initial discussion, it was Lloyd Kirchoff. Herb was excited that his car still was around, and I told him I was going to buy it, which I did as soon as we ended our call, with a quick call back to Rick Heckler. Rick did not want the car, even though I told him about its previous history with Gibb Chevrolet. He thought as long as I was excited about the car, I should be the one to restore it as Little Hoss.

Soon after I called Lloyd Kirchoff, I can't remember how I found him, as he lived in Tennessee, but he was also excited his car was still around. (Remember, this was pre-internet). He shared with me how he had won the 1971 "Stock Eliminator" title at the Spring Nationals at Bristol, and I should share that with Herb Fox, which I did. You see, Fred and Herb had tried to win at Bristol in 1968, but came up short, even though they had set a World Record there. Lloyd shared his story of owning Little Hoss for 10 years, during the time of 1968-1978. He indicated he set 22 additonal World Records with his car, which he named "Mighty Mouse".

He lived in Texas during the mid 1970's, and said the car was one of the top money winning cars in the state of Texas. This was with the original engine, the 302 race prepared for Fred by Dick Harrell, in September 1967. Lloyd had rebuilt the engine several times, and raced in several categories, including with an automatic, and even with a 2-barrel carb! I have attached several pages of news clippings Lloyd shared with me, and photos showing the car when he owned it. He repainted the car in 1975 and removed the vinyl roof. He shared how he was a welder by trade, and had back halved the car around 1973, as that was typical of racecars back in that time period.

Lloyd sold Mighty Mouse in 1978, and sold the car without the engine, as the new buyer was going to install a big block and wanted nothing to do with the 302. Lloyd told me he sold the engine to Ronnie Burrows, in Texas. I was able to reach out to Ronnie who was the owner of a Texas track at the time. We spoke at length about what happened to the engine. When I introduced myself, he said he remembered Lloyd's car, and the engine, as it was quite the competitor at the tracks. Ronnie told me he installed the engine in the ugliest altered at the track, and in the early 1980's blew it up. He destroyed the block, as a broken aluminum rod had gone through the side of the block, and had even broken the crank, going over 10,000 rpm! Lloyd also shared with me how he had sold the crossram intake when he sold the car, to a guy in the New England area for $400, who had placed an ad in the NHRA publication looking for a crossram manifold.

I hope you enjoy this post about what happened to Little Hoss after it was sold by Gibb Chevrolet. It appears most of the clippings are from the early 1970's, they are the only ones shared by Lloyd, I do not know if he is still around, although I did get to meet Rick Heckler when I sold Little Hoss in 2007 at the Mecum Auction event. He was excited to see his old racecar again. When I purchased Little Hoss, it looked exactly as the last picture of this post, few changes were made since 1978. There were 2 owners between Lloyd and Rick, however, I never was able to reach out to them.