Street Racing Articles

[markinnaples]

Joe Oldham seems to be one of the best writers about the glory days of muscle cars and street racing during that period, so if you google him, you should be able to find some decent material.

[lowmile]

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbt...049#Post363049

[SuddenDeath]

Hi Everyone..new to the forum, but I found the post concerning the Gapp and Roush - Ruggirello Mustang II and wanted to let you know I am currently restoring it back to its original April 1977 Hot Rod Magazine article condition.

I'm hoping Mr. David Rifkin can help me with some history on it, since I have not been able to find out anything on previous owners since it left Detroit in 1981.

More to come!

Tom Tate

[kwhizz]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SuddenDeath</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hi Everyone..new to the forum, but I found the post concerning the Gapp and Roush - Ruggirello Mustang II and wanted to let you know I am currently restoring it back to its original April 1977 Hot Rod Magazine article condition.

I'm hoping Mr. David Rifkin can help me with some history on it, since I have not been able to find out anything on previous owners since it left Detroit in 1981.

More to come!

Tom Tate </div></div>


Welcome to the site........Don't be bashful about posting pic's either........LOL

Ken

[Tenney]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SuddenDeath</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hi Everyone..new to the forum, but I found the post concerning the Gapp and Roush - Ruggirello Mustang II and wanted to let you know I am currently restoring it back to its original April 1977 Hot Rod Magazine article condition.

I'm hoping Mr. David Rifkin can help me with some history on it, since I have not been able to find out anything on previous owners since it left Detroit in 1981.

More to come!

Tom Tate </div></div>

Cool car!

A Woodward feller or two here might have some background on it, as well ...

http://forums.performanceyears.com/f...03&amp;page=24

[SuddenDeath]

Tenney..I'll have to register on that forum and talk to Eric Shiffer, as it seems he is a wealth of information on these cars!

Back to the Ruggirello Mustang II...I had searched for this car for years and finally located it in a storage lot in New Jersey. I saw it once before at Gainesville Raceway here in Florida for sale in 1995, but it got away not to be seen again.

It appears it left Detroit for Florida back in 1981, then left Florida for Indiana around 1995, then New Jersey in 1997. However, I have not spoken to anyone who actually &quot;owned&quot; it or was close to someone who did yet.

I got the car in January 2010 and have been restoring it since. Currently doing paint/body work which should finish next month. I spent months just getting the car safe to start/run/drive again after many years of neglect and poorly done modifications to the rear suspension.

This is how the car looked when I found it. Photo taken in the NJ storage lot. I'm sure hoping Mr. Rifkin might be able to shed some light on it.

[SuddenDeath]

Here is an article done in late summer 1975 while the car was under construction.

[SuddenDeath]

Here is the car in January 1977 with Jack Roush behind the wheel. Photo taken on or near Farmington Road just blocks from the Gapp and Roush shop during the photoshoot for the Sudden Death article by Baskerville.

This appearance is my goal for the restoration.

[SuddenDeath]

This is the car after a few months of work getting it sorted out. The fuel system was so rotten when it arrived to me, it was literally dripping fuel on the floor! You wouldn't believe how much research it took to get the hood/scoop exactly as it was in those photos. The rear suspension was another challenge, since someone had changed it to coilover/ladder bars and very poorly done at that. I've restored the rear suspension back to the original setup in every detail, down to an original 70's vintage pair of Lakewood bars.

[SuddenDeath]

Right now we're working on body/paint to be completed next month to get the car back to its original silver coat. Thankfully, the body survived in great shape under the 6 layers of paint/primer and surface rust here and there.