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Was Hemi / Opel from Niagara ?

To: americanpartner@yahoo.com
Subject: Was Hemi / Opel from Niagara ?
From: FastmetalBDF@aol.com
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2000 16:59:11 EST
        Hi  George ,    Do you recall who owned that little  Opel  with the 
hemi  ??
Could it have been  Jim  Zakia ,  from  Niagara  Falls ,  N. Y.  ?     In the 
early  60s
he brought his outstanding  55 chev " C " gasser down to a two day meet at the
now long gone  Connecticut  Dragway ,  and  I  was glad  I  wasn' t running 
that day,
mainly because it gave me lots of time to check out his car  ------  outside 
/ inside /
underneath  -------  it was a masterpiece of craftsmanship ,  and he was very 
helpful
in enlightening me on many of the real trick features on his machine  .  A  
masterful
car builder ,  and a real credit to the sport  !     As  I  also ran in this 
class ,  I
think my chances of a class win that weekend  were less than a snowball in  
Hades,
but it would have been fun trying  !      I   stopped in at his shop in  
Niagara  Falls
in the early  80s ,  but he had already left for the  Nationals ------- but  
I  remember
his shop foreman told me he was now running a blown  Opel  in a hotter class  
. 
      I   remember he held one end of the record  ( don' t recall if  ET or 
speed ) when
he visited  Connecticut ,  and his  Hilborn  injected chev ran a  Schooler  
Cam  .
  I   haven' t heard of  those cams for quite a few years now  -------  must 
have gone
the way of  Letterio ,  Giovannini  ,   and  Dempsey  Wilson  cams  !   
      Your  message  brought  back  some  great  memories  to  this  nostalgic
old  drag racer / wrench / fan  !     Thanks  a  lot  ,   and  whether  you 
go  with
the  De Soto  or  the  Chev  ---------  it' ll  be  fast ,  classy,  and   
FUN  !!!
                   Bruce  in  slightly  warmer  Connecticut   

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