The Hill-boys

The year was 1961, and Don Hill bought the 1953 Studebaker as a parts car for his street 53 Studebaker.  After pilfering all the parts Don needed off the Studebaker, one sunny summer day in 1963 Don and family were having a picnic at their house in Ballwin .Missouri. 

Don’s brother Jack Hill was there and the two of them were playing horseshoes and Jack made a bet with Don that if he throw the next horseshoe as a ringer Don would have to sell the Studebaker parts car for $25.00.  Well Jack did just that and handed over the $25.00 to his older brother Don.  

You see Don and Jack Hill were not just brothers,,, they were also a team together as the Hill-Boys racing team out of the Midwest. After the second world war, the two of them started racing an open wheel stock car. The Hill-Boys were known coast to coast on dirt tracks and later, asphalt track as a fierce competitor.  In 1963  they  weren't  racing open wheel cars any more and Jack had the need to play around with the 1953 Studebaker that he just bought from Don. 

 Jack decided to put a 392 Chrysler HEMI with two four barrels, 727 torque flight transmission that was all put in to the stock Studebaker chassis. Custom headers, Olds read-end, ladder bars and a 4-point roll cage were added. The car was now ready to race and the year was 1964.

 In 1972 Jack gave the car to his son Mike Hill on his 16^th birthday. The car sat around for a few years and in 1979 Don’s son Butch Hill and Mike became partners/owners in the Studebaker. In 1990 Butch decided to sell out to Mike to build a 1939 Ford Coupe so they could go racing together. 

In the late 80’s during a race in Wentzville , MO at MAR raceway, the Studebaker was having some troubles creating real horsepower. Don Garlits was at this race and he took a liking to the car and with in one hour after sitting down with Big Daddy he spelled out all the tricks to make the HEMI perform like it should.  

 Today Butch Hill is still racing the car in the NDRL racing league. And the car is considered the world’s quickest all steel Studebaker.  

 

               The power plant is a  392 Chrysler HEMI with a 6/71 Supercharger

               with Hilborn mechanical fuel  injection running on alcohol.        

 

The car weighs in at 3,200 pounds and is still running a 392 HEMI .  Although it doesn't run a steel block anymore, the aluminum Donovan motor from the 60’s puts out 1,100 hp and 1,092 foot pounds of torque. Sitting on top of that Donovan is a 671 blower with a 4 port Hilborn injection running on alcohol. The car is still running a 727 torque flight, ford 9” rear end with 4.10 gears and believe it or not, it is still running the same ladder bars that were built in 1963.

 

No electronics other than a trans brake button.

Even thought this car looks like it is a fiberglass car going 250 mph sitting still. This car is truly old school in it’s body and power plant.  The body is original Studebaker steel even down to the door hinges and steel chrome bumpers. 

 

 

                    Many thanks for sharing you car and family history with us !

                    Photos and story courtesy of Butch Hill and  Hill-Boys Racing

                                                                                                           (2020)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Butch Hills 1939 Ford Coupe "New-Stalgia"

 

   Like most gear heads in his age group, Butch Hill notes that while growing up, he took a particular liking to hot rods as a result of the influence from his father, Don.  He was known as the Hill-Boys Race Team in the dirt/asphalt racing circuit.  

 Although his involvement with hot rods came from his father. His mother, Marilyn, was one of his biggest fans and supporters.

Butch made frequent trips to the drag strips to check out what was running. The “look and power” of those cars was something that intrigued him.  Needless to say, he was always on the hunt for cool hot rods. 

 In 1978 Butch was driving  through a local neighborhood and noticed a 1939 Ford Coupe in a driveway. He decided to stop and ask if the car was for sale. The owner answered the door and agreed to sell it to him.  After a quick look-over, the deal was done . 

 

 He dove into his new purchase with a tune up on the 396 big block Chevy motor with a 4-speed transmission and a Pontiac rear-end. He removed the Pontiac rear-end and replaced it with a Ford 9” that he narrowed down 2 inches. 

  He left the car this way for about a year until he made a connection with Mickey Thompson Tires who were coming out with their new size 33x21.5x15 tire which was way bigger than the McCreary tires of the time.

  Because this was one of the very first cars in the country to run such a large tire all tucked up under the fenders, they sent him a pair of tires. The problem was that he did not have wheels wide enough to fit those new monster tires. Weld Wheels wanted to get on the band wagon, and they sent a set of wheels called Pro Stars which again, at that time, were some of the coolest wheels on the market.  

Butch ran the coupe this way well into the mid 1990's , when he spotted a new Crower Fuel Injection Intake at a swap meet .

                          Luckily for Butch, he had connections with a company called Speed-Pro. 

                                                  You might know them today as FAST.  

 

  After buying this intake, it was time to figure out how he could make the coupe run on the street and/or the drag strip. Luckily for Butch, he had connections with a company called Speed-Pro. You might know them today as FAST.  Between Butch, Speed-Pro and BDS Blower Drive Service, they were embarking on the first ever  multi-port EFI computer system for the aftermarket. After many months of work, they managed to figure out how to make it happen.

 After all these years, the coupe is still running the first aftermarket  EFI computer system.  The motor is now 100 cubic inches larger  making it a 496 , and it's transferring the power through a Turbo 400. Bigger injectors were also added to help feed  the go juice  making it produce around 780 horse power. 

"Newstalgia" has won many drag racing events around the country. The car is very consistent with its quickest ¼ mile time of 9.73 .

Butch Hill in his office , at the controls

of his stunning 1939 Ford Coupe.

He is getting ready for another sub ten second pass. 

                                            Photo's and story courtesy of Butch Hill.  2020