After Surviving Death Week and Sick Week, Danny Grubaugh Making Big Changes to Storied AMC Station Wagon for Remainder of 2024
Danny Grubaugh has made the trip from California to be a part of Sick Week Presented by Gear Vendors Overdrive event each and every year, and the first two years, he brought his unique 2006 Dodge Charger Ute, a vehicle that would stand out among the hundreds of participants in Sick Week.
But when we ventured west for the 2023 Death Week event, Danny joined us with his 1973 AMC Gucci Sportabout station wagon, another interesting and unique vehicle.
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Unlike his Ute which sports a modern V8 HEMI, the AMC was still ticking off the miles with the original AMC 258 cubic inch straight six-cylinder engine, and Danny hopped up our radar a few notches when he ventured off the Death Week route to head north to Seattle, Washington to work an eight-hour shift.
He even christened the extra miles with a ‘Death Week was here’ stick on the space needle, then was able to navigate the second half of the 1100 mile ‘off-course excursion’ to rejoin the Death Week route in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Despite the extra miles and lack of sleep, Danny was able to fully complete the route and checkpoints, earning him the ‘Survivor’ skull and a top five nomination for ‘Top Tourist’ at the completion of Death Week.
Less than four months later, Danny would once again venture from California to Florida to tackle Sick Week, with good friend Alex Brody as co-pilot. Just past his halfway point, the AMC’s inline six-cylinder engine decided to tap out of the game.
Thankfully, Danny had an idea on how to get things fixed and get back on the road, which involved a swap to a 232 cubic inch replacement AMC engine.
The exchange was made, and Danny got back to burning up the miles in time to make it to the tech line on Sunday of Sick Week with just an hour to spare before the lanes shut down. The AMC completed the week, and the Danny / Alex duo decided to lock down the ‘Top Tourist’ award with lots of bonus stops and miles as well.
Back in California after just north of 6,600 miles on the Sick Week trip, Danny messaged us with a headline: “The Gucci wagon will be getting some updates before its next drag-and-drive, and LS Fest West is on our radar.”
Well the cat is out of the bag now, as Danny has released some photos of the LS engine mocked up in the station wagon’s engine bay.
The Gucci wagon will get a 5.3-liter LS-swap with twin turbochargers for a BIG boost in power over the straight six, and a beefy 4L80 overdrive transmission will back up the new powerplant. A Holley Terminator X will run the operation.
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Danny Grubaugh and Matt Reekie.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com