Go, Granny, Go

There is a term for a car that looks like a mild family car but roars to life in a drag race: a sleeper.  Edie H.’s ‘63 Chevy II Nova station wagon came from the factory with an in-line six-cylinder  250 CID engine and 3-speed manual transmission with the shifter mounted on the steering column (three-on-the-tree) and was never intended to be a race car.  It was intended to haul the kids and groceries around.  With husband Bud’s mechanical skills, it has become a sleeper with a Clifford engine, built by Killer Engines.  Clifford engines are balanced, blueprinted and polished to get the most out of the normally mild-mannered six. With a Holley 390cfm 4-barrel carburetor and headers, it breathes freely.  In the old days, sleepers were notorious for street racing, but Edie only drag races on the track.  She’s won numerous times at Sacramento Speedway and at Hot August Nights in bracket racing, turning a respectable 16.1 seconds at 87 mph in the quarter mile.  Now the speedway gang call her Speedy Edie, the Grass Valley Granny in her Grocery Getter.  Watch out Little Old Lady from Pasadena, here comes our Grass Valley Granny.

Story & photo by Ron C © 2007