How Drag Strip Newbies Built a Ford Falcon Gasser (In The Snow, with Tesla Parts)
A straight-axled, turquoise-ish 1962 Ford Falcon captured our attention near the front of the Hot Rod Drag Week tech line last year. Its occupants were somewhat hyperactive, excited to have made it to Hot Rod Drag Week and perhaps just a little giddy about meeting David Freiburger, who was patiently shaking hands and taking selfies by the dozen at the front of the line.
These boys from Toledo, Ohio made up a team called Running Rust (check out their YouTube channel here), and the patchwork-panel gasser was a fitting flagship for such a name. Josh Jablonski, his father David Jablonski, and their friend Hunter Egbert built the car in seven months, bringing it back from its grave at a tow yard.
Sick Summer merch range now available! Don’t miss out on the day - get your gear now!
“The previous owners had this thing running and they jumped it,” Josh explained. “Then when they landed, the whole car kind of taco’d. The driveshaft went through the floor, the rear suspension was all jammed into the bottom of the car, the engine was seized up. But we got it for almost nothing.”
Work began on restoring the Falcon to a driveable state, including a new frame, new floors, a roll bar, fresh suspension and a complete 347ci engine and transmission from a ’95 Mustang. The guys were particularly proud of the quick release exhaust they created. A pair of 2017 Tesla front seats somehow got grafted into the cabin (what other gassers can say Elon Musk had a say in design), while a Ford Ranchero donated the single back seat.
“It’s got about 150 miles on it maybe,” Hunter said. “We need to do a few repairs but as long as we can get through tech we can do what we need to do.”
Given the amount of energy dedicated to the car, it was surprising to hear that none of the team member had even raced on a drag strip before. Josh would be taking the competition duties, while Hunter and David were to handle the street miles.
“We’re proud of doing this in seven months,” Josh said. “We did it outside in a northern winter, where we had to shovel snow and put tarps down just to work on it.”
While finishing was certainly a goal of the team, it was somewhat incredible to see them pull it off. They got to day five at Darlington Dragway and ran a best-of-the-week 13.038 at 105mph, so Josh hot-lapped the car back to the start line in the hopes of a 12. An impromptu driveshaft separation ended the dream, but nothing could take away the rest of the week’s achievements.
Every build should wish it had the character of this machine.
Written by Luke Nieuwhof.
