Lenco transmission

[Dave Rifkin]

Originally Posted by X66 714

Joe Ruggirello is the name you were thinking of. Had one of the new Mustang II fastbacks. The story back then was Joe took the Mustang to G&R & they had a 505 match race motor on the floor. It was said that Joe said I want that in there & left them a check. Don't know what the truth was.
Scott's Camaro looked to be a 1969 Z/28 RS. It was orange with black stripes & black vinyl top...Joe

That's right about both cars. The G&R Mustang wound up at the Atlantic Car auction some years ago and was white with blue stripes; looked kind of rough. A gentleman bought it (not at the auction) and has restored it to outstanding condition; he has shared some pictures of it since completion.

[Peter426]

Originally Posted by Dave Rifkin

That's right about both cars. The G&R Mustang wound up at the Atlantic Car auction some years ago and was white with blue stripes; looked kind of rough. A gentleman bought it (not at the auction) and has restored it to outstanding condition; he has shared some pictures of it since completion.

Ruggirello/Roush Mustang II

“This is the horse that ate the rat, that smoked the cat, that gobbled the goat. It came from the house that Gapp ‘n’ Jack Built.” Those were the words in the subtitle of Gray Baskerville’s story on this car in the Apr. ’77 issue of HRM. Sudden Death, the infamous Jack Roush and Wayne Gapp-built, Joe Ruggirello-owned ’75 Mustang II, also made the Top 100 Most Influential Hot Rods of All Time list in the Jan. ’08 issue. As mentioned in the bit on Steve Lisk’s Challenger (next page), this badass little car was a fierce fighter on the streets of Detroit and packed a 505ci big-block-huge for the time.

Nobody seemed to know what happened to it, even Jack Roush, until we were contacted by current owner Tom Tate, who saw the car at a Fun Ford Weekend show in 1995 with a “For Sale” sign in the window, but the owner was nowhere to be found. He instantly recognized it as the Ruggirello/Roush Sudden Death Mustang II that had burned such a vivid imprint on his teenage mind nearly 20 years prior, even though it was now painted white with blue stripes. The car disappeared after Tom walked away, and though he always kept an eye out for it, it didn’t appear until January 2010, when it popped up on eBay. Tom quickly leaped at it."



"It's The Same 505 Inch Roush Engine, But A Previous Owner Stuck Turbos On It. We're Sure It's Wicked Evil But Not Original, So They're Coming Off."

[Peter426]

"September 1977 Woodward Avenue Wasn't The Place To Be Back In 1977. The Hot Spots Were The Deserted Roads In And Around Detroit, Where Cars Such As Steve Lisk's '71 Dodge Challenger Had At It With The Likes Of Joe Ruggirello's '75 Mustang II And George Tassos' Feather Light '69 Corvette. Thanks To His Booth Arons Hemi And Three Speed Lenco, Lisk's High Nine Times Were Hard To Beat."

[Peter426]

"November 1979 With A Rare Exception, The Cars We Rod Tested Were Built For Or By Their Owners. Lou Mancini's '68 Dodge Hemi Dart Was One Of 72 Hand Built A Bodied Cars Produced By Hurst Performance In Detroit. Like Mancini Said, "It's A Nice Box With A Hemi Thrown In It.""