When I did the signing of the 300 lithographs we did of that racecar I spent an entire day, one on one, with Buddy. This was 2001 or so. I spent the majority of those 8-10 hours with him in his shop. He couldn't have been nicer. At one point he started bringing out his racing days scrap books. I remember one in particular had nothing but NHRA World Record certificates in it. I guess everytime you break a record, you get a certificate from the NHRA, even if you break your own record. Buddy had over 100.
Buddy learned the ins and outs of turbocharging while working with Formula 1 race cars (if memory serves me correctly). He then brought this knowledge over into the drag race world. He told me piles of personal racing stories, it was one of the greatest days I have ever spent involved in my own personal hobby. One of the stories I remember in particular involved a turbocharged Ford Pinto he used to race (again, if my memory hasn't failed). Apparently, he had won so many events in that particular class, that all but 4-5 racers nationwide changed their class the next year so they would avoid him and have a chance to win themselves. Buddy would have nothing of it. He told me "I didn't race for the money... I raced to kick their asses!" So rather than stay in that class and make easy money all year, he reconfigured his car to race in the class where the majority of them had gone to.
That guy is a competitor, lol.
He told me that he was friends with and liked Bob Glidden, but that the real reason he was kicked out of Pro-Stock at the end of that season, even though his car was closer to a stock car you could actually buy at a dealer than any other in Pro-Stock, was because of all the whining and protesting Ricky Smith did. I am sure he also inferred sponsorship money was also behind it. He liked Bob Glidden because Bob just competed harder...a stand up guy in Buddy's eyes. I won't say what he called Ricky Smith...but all your girlfriends and wives have one.
His car did have mechanical fuel injection and he said that when he started to try and tune it he'd literally blip the gas, take a reading, make the adjustments then take the car out for another run and blip the gas a hair longer, take a reading, make the adjustments and on and on. This is why it took so long to get the car running right that season.
After he was booted, he eventually sold the driveline out of that car to some big dollar street race guys from NYC. Who knows where it is now lol.
Great guy and one of the best memories I have relating to Epitome Exclusives Collectibles and the Turbo Buick history related items we created for our collectors.
