The words “salt flats” may take regular RPM readers by surprise, but it’s no surprise that this masterpiece of a street/race machine is the result of the efforts of Greg Friedrich, owner and operator of Gizmos LLC.
Pretty much every car featured in RPM has to resemble a production car in some way, and everyone knows that we love street legal cars with big power. If it’s got some race cred, too, even better! Being just completed, this 1960 Plymouth Fury street/land speed car has a bit of both, with plans for it to be driven (yep, that’s right we said driven) in August from Minneapolis, Minnesota to Bonneville, UT. (a 1,350 mile 20 hour trip, one way), then raced at Speed Week with the goal of reaching 200 MPH, and then driven back to Minnesota.
This is not the first time Friedrich has been involved in the wild world of street legal land speed cars. Before this project,
The all steel body, albeit similar in basic look to the original, has been drastically altered. Gizmos converted it from 4 door to 2 door, chopped the top, redesigned the front fenders and grill, and all of the work was completed by hand in-house. Vescio’s Auto Body handled the body finishing and paint work
he partnered with Tom Conlan in creating the 1934 “Land Shark” real Henry Ford steel-bodied Coupe with 572 EFI Hemi, featured in the April 2015 issue of RPM
While living in Cali-
fornia and working for Hanson Race Cars, Greg originally met Tom in Bonneville at the Speed Week event way back in 2005. “I saw this 1934 Ford in the staging lanes with a Minnesota license plate. This was
The naturally aspirated 528 Hemi is the creation of Wheeler Racing Engines and includes parts from Eagle, JE, COMP, Mopar Performance, Hogan’s and Manton among others. It’s a far cry from the original 6 cylinder engine shown on page 63
the only plated racecar at the event and it was from my home state, so I had to investigate.” It was totally unrelated, but about a month later Greg found the Plymouth wagon in Torrance, CA and thought it would make a great base for some type of project down the road. He didn’t know it at the time, but he was connecting the dots of his
future. Soon after, he packed his bags and moved back to Minnesota with the wagon to start his own shop called Gizmos. Tom would eventually become one of his customers with the Coupe, and it took the pair about 6 months before they realized they had met back at that Speed Week event 05.
Sadly, Tom passed
Greg kept things basic inside the Plymouth but everything is hand formed in-house at Gizmos, including the seat! AEM handles all the engine/EFI electronic control duties and their Carbon 7-inch dash sits front and center. Yes that’s a third pedal! A Jeffco 4-speed manual trans with Browell bellhousing, triple disc clutch and Gear Vendors overdrive were used.
away and it was their partnership in the ’34 Coupe that inspired Greg to build his own street legal land speed car. “After Tom passed, I decided to build a new car that included all the modern advancements and continue the path of the ’34 Ford – to drive the car to Bonneville from Minnesota, race it at Speed Week and then drive it back home.” explains Friedrich. “I set out to engineer and create a very unique Bonneville Salt Flats land speed car.”
Greg learned his craft of chassis and car building from the late Don Ness, one of the highest quality builders of some of the fastest drag cars in the world, and Friedrich certainly used these skills along with his own engineering talents in creating the Plymouth.
The build, dubbed “Project 606”, has taken 2-1/2 years to complete and the hours of design and labor put into it are simply mindboggling. The car has a crazy amount of
Dart Machinery would like to thank our entire performance family we’ve built together throughout the last 40 years. Your dedicated support has made Dart what it is today, and we’re excited for another four decades of making power!
A 4-speed Jeffco transmission withBrowell bellhousing and triple disk Mantic clutch was used in the build, necessitating the third pedal. A Gear Vendorsoverdrive unit was added to the mix for long tours.
metal work alone – a chopped top, four door to two-door conversion, and redesigned front fenders and grill are just some of the metal hand-forming Greg and his talented crew at Gizmos did to change this grocery-getter into high power rolling art. Yes, this car is all metal, including the removable front clip! And while that might not be good for power to weight numbers, it sure does pin the needle for cool factor.
A complete custom tube
chassis provides the bones for the project and Greg used 4130 chromoly tubing from front to back, which includes a full roll cage to keep him safe while in race mode at 200-plus mph.
As for power, Gizmos worked with Wheeler Racing Engines to create a 528 naturally aspirated, fuel injected, pump gas Hemi. An Eagle crank and rods with JE pistons spin inside the block that is topped by Wheeler re-worked Mopar heads, a custom Hogan’s intake and electronic
Friedrich’s 1960 Plymouth Fury Wagon Street/Land Speed Race Car
Body & Paint:
The body is all steel. Gizmos completed a 4 to 2-door conversion. Many parts are hand-formed steel. The paint work was done by Vescio’s in Rogers, MN, 3M supplied all the body filler and supplies. House of Kolor paint was used and the custom color was created between Jon Kosmoski and BO, (owner of Vescio’s)
Chassis Modifications:
All of the chassis is a hand built tube chassis built from 4130 chromoly tubing. All of the suspension and steering components were also hand built out of 4130 in-house at Gizmos.
Suspension:
The front is a C6 based IFS suspension that was built out of chromoly and FK rod ends. This includes a stout front anti roll bar and custom built rack-and-pinion steering.
The Rear is a very custom 4-link with Gizmos own billet Watt’s Link. Another custom anti-roll bar is in the rear keeping the body stable.
Afco shocks were custom built and valved for the front and rear.
Engine:
The 528 HEMI is fuel Injected by AEM electronics. JE pistons, Eagle rods and crank. Mopar heads ported by Wheeler. Mopar rockers, Manley stainless steel valves and Comp Cam springs. Manton push-rods and a Comp Cam custom roller cam and lifters were also used.
Induction & Fuel Delivery:
Hogan’s custom intake, electronic fuel Injected with AEM engine management, bird catcher injector hat. Aeromotive fuel pump with a 32 gallon ATL Fuel Cell.
Transmission: Jeffco 4-speed transmission, Browell bellhousing, Mantic USA triple clutch and a Gear Vendors overdrive.
Rear Differential: Winters “Champ” Quick Change Rear axle.
Brakes: Brembo GTS 6-piston calipers in the front with Brembo 4-piston calipers in the rear.
Tires & Wheels:
Forgeline custom built the street wheels and the race wheels. Mickey Thompson street tires and experimental Bonneville race tires.
Interior: Not much for a traditional interior but everything was hand built at Gizmos including the seat. AEM carbon dash unit.
Miscellaneous: This build was documented along the way and is posted on Gizmos Youtube page to show how much work it takes to build a car, unlike today’s TV shows.
fuel injection system. “Wheeler built this engine to last both on the race track and the cross country roads, all while running on pump gas,” said Friedrich. The EFI Hemi is controlled by AEM electronics with everything from their coil-on-plug system to their carbon digital dash.
Behind the Mopar mill resides a 4-speed Jeffco transmission with Browell bellhousing and triple disk Mantic clutch plus a Gear Vendors overdrive unit. That’s right, this big bad Plymouth is a stick car! Rounding out the equation is a Winters Quick-Change rear axle suspended by a custom 4-link/Afco coilover suspension. Greg designed a trick billet Watt’s link and stout anti-roll bar to keep the body stable.
Vescio’s Auto Body handled the amazing body finishing and House of Kolor paintwork, while Porter Muffler took care of the custom-built Gizmos designed a trick Watt’s link for the custom 4-link/coilover rear suspension system.
The ‘60 Plymouth is now turning heads at the race track, on the street, and at car shows...
mufflers and exhaust system.
With countless hours of engineering, fabricating, metal forming, and detailing, the ‘60 Plymouth is now turning heads at the race track, on the street, and at car shows. The special touches on this car are endless, from the custom pump gas EFI Hemi, to the full tube chassis and front to rear belly-pan that transitions into the rear air diffuser. For Greg Friedrich, not only is the Fury a personal tribute to his friend that inspired him, but it’s a testament to Gizmos high quality craftsmanship and ability to create a functional street driven, 200 mph track capable hot rod.
