Besides a fresh paintjob, Holz-
man’s main task was to get a
period drivetrain back in the car.
He did just that by using a former
Bob Glidden 351C that Hajek had
acquired through former Tasca
mechanic John Healy. Holzman
also fitted a period-correct Lenco
four-speed. You’ll note that much
of the interior is well-used, and
Rob believes the carpet, seats,
door panels, and more are per
original G&R days. Other items
are not to original spec, but
acknowledge several decades of
evolution and history. As an
example, the mods that make the
car appear as a ’76 were actually
never seen with Gapp & Roush
livery—rather, this was done
during the car’s Genesis era.
Speaking of the Genesis era,
then-owner Goodner reportedly
showed up to try and qualify the
Pinto in Pro Stock, perhaps for the
first time under his ownership, at
the 1977 NHRA Springnationals.
During tech, Goodner was dis-
qualified for having a rollcage that
was made of “too-thin” material.
When he asked how the same
’cage passed when it was being
raced by Gapp & Roush, he was
told that inspectors figured it had
been built in a legal manner since
it was done by one of the leading
teams. Go figure! The DQ required
Goodner to have the ’cage rebuilt,
and upon returning to Minnesota,
he turned to Don Ness for the
necessary work. Clearly, it
wasn’t the first modification ever
made to this historic Pinto, and it
certainly wouldn’t be the last!
The Edelbrock tunnel ram was
modified in the day by grinding out
the casting from around the runners
and flipping the top around backward.
Roush says the latter was done simply
to keep the carburetors out of the
windshield, as the engine was set
back as far as rules would allow.