Shop Tour - Hardcore Drag Racing

      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 P

                           Special thanks to Butch Hill for sharing his family history with us !     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.