Ray Gordon's Gasser
Stay Wild
Photos by Jon Humphries
Ray Gordon bought a 1951 chevy to be his life project. Unfortunately, in a fit of passion, he finished his life project in 3 years with the help of his family and friends.
The car’s official name is “El Capitan: The Ray Gordon Gasser,” but his Dad just refers to it as “The Beast.”
The style of the build is “A Gasser,” a class of pioneering drag racing from the ’50s and ’60s. Acording to Ray, “We built it with keeping history and tradition at the top of the priority list. Everything was done how it would have been back then. It’s a rolling time machine.”
Ray's Gasser was built not bought:
- The motor is the heartbeat of this car. It’s from a car that Ray’s mother bought new in 1973. His father pulled the motor out of that car when he junked it in the ’80s. Chance would have it that he now builds competition motors, and he built the shit out of this 406 small block—made 500 plus hp and over 520 ft. lbs. of torque on the dyno.
- The graphics were hand-painted by the one and only Ornamental Conifer.
- The bodywork and base coat of paint were all handled by Ray’s good friend Dale Wickline.
- The seats were all hand-made by good friend Ginger McCabe at New Church Moto.
- The roll cage and 5-point harnesses all around are for Ray’s three-and six-year-old children. “To keep them safe.”
- The tires were hand built by Cody Adams and his dad at Hurst Racing Tires.
Stay Wild magazine had the pleasure of riding in the back seat of "The Beast" and can tell you first hand, it's a fucking blast!
