Hollywood Motors, Nailhead Buicks, Jimmy Shine and Old Yeller II
June 2020 • By Tony Thacker
Photos courtesy Balchowsky/Nagamatsu Archives & Nestor CabreraHot rodders were always the bikers of the car world, looked down upon by the elite especially those who raced round and round in their European Ferraris, Jaguars, Maseratis and Porsches. Imagine then a down home boy from West Virginia racing his ‘Nailhead’ ‘Bew-ick’-powered hiboy Deuce Roadster and killing it. For example, at a 1954 road race at March Air Force Base Max Balchowsky hit 136 mph on the back straight—not much slower than John Fitch’s Cunningham.
Max Balchowsky tries it on for size. From chalk marks on the floor to driving Old Yeller II around the block took just seven weeks.
Max’s ‘Bu-Ford Special,’ as he liked to call it, was fast but not fast enough so he and his wife Ina chalked out a new, purpose-built car on the floor of their tiny Hollywood Motors shop on Hollywood Blvd., Los Angeles. From chalk marks to driving around the block took just seven weeks. Max and Ina called their contraption ‘Old Yeller II’ (OYII) after a popular Disney movie and a previous yellow-painted special built in 1957 by Arizona racer Dick Morgensen.
Built in 1959, OYII, had a 1-3/4-inch Chromoly ladder-type frame. A big, new 401 ci Buick was pushed up against the firewall and was backed by a close-ratio, Jaguar XK-120 box and a sturdy Studebaker Champion rear end. The suspension was basic buggy springs in the rear but the IFS was a canny amalgam of Jag, Pontiac and Morris parts with big Buick drum brakes. The tires were Vogue whitewalls that were cheap, soft and sticky. They gave Max grip.
Max formed his own body by bending scraps of aluminum and steel that apparently included a discarded Coca-Cola sign over an old wooden barrel. He secured the panels using aircraft-style Dzus buttons. Max had some land in Idaho and so he registered Old Yeller there are drove it to the races. Did pretty well too and in 1960 he won five road races and a bunch of drag races before selling what he also called that ‘yellow pile of junk.’
Old Yeller changed hands several times and over the ensuing years it was raced by Carroll Shelby, Dan Gurney, Bob Bondurant, Billy Krause, Bobby Drake and others. It even appeared in the Elvis Presley movie ‘Viva Las Vegas,’ however; it eventually fell by the wayside. Dave Gibbs of Oklahoma found the car in a semi-wrecked state in 1978. Dave restored it and raced it until 1990. The following year, current custodian Dr. Ernie Nagamatsu, who had frequented Hollywood Motors as a young man and would often have coffee with Max in the late evenings, purchased it and continued to add to its History. Indeed, Ernie and his wife Elaine have taken that Old Yeller all over the world from the Goodwood Revival to Rod Millen’s Leadfoot Festival in New Zealand to Australia and to France. And, of course, they have competed all over the US from the Monterey Historics and Pebble Beach to the Elkhart Lake - Road America International Challenge races.
After almost 60 years of almost continuous ‘track-action’ that yellow pile of junk was beginning to show its age. To make matters worse, on a rain-slicked track at Elkhart Lake, WI, Ernie slid off the track and the yellow ‘Junkyard Dog’ hydroplaned across tall, rain soaked grass and caused damage. Things looked bad but once home in California, Ernie shipped the car to Orange, CA, where it was carefully massaged back to shape by Jimmy Shine’s team led by Paulo Dosdoglirian at ShineSpeedShop.com.
“She’s an old warrior,” said Shine, “she’s got scars but we put Humpty Dumpty back together again. We had to weld up some tubing, beat on some sheet metal but all these old specials were constantly being re-engineered—it’s been a work-in-progress for 60 years—so this was nothing new. We rebuilt the independent front suspension that comprised a Morris Minor rack and pinion and torsion bars.
“Depending on the venue, Old Yeller is powered by either a 401 or a 425 ci vintage Nailhead Buick, one of which even has Max’s original log intake fitted with six Stromberg 97s (the manifold was eventually produced by Offenhauser). Gone is the Jag trans replaced by a more robust T-10 and the original Stude’ rear axle has likewise been replaced with a quick-change assembled by Kenny Sapper of SpeedwayEngineering.com.
Recently, Ernie, Elaine and Jimmy invited TorqTalk.com to join them at a private test session at WillowSpringsRaceway.com, two hours north of Los Angeles. As we arrived you could hear the unmistakable sound of a Stromberg six-pack sucking air into the big Buick as Paolo put some heat in it. Ernie suited up, climbed in and slid on his helmet. Clutch pedal in, shift lever notched into first, pedal out and it was 1959 all over.
This test was all about taking it easy, checking things out, making sure everything worked, as it should. Pretty soon, however, Ernie was Max nailing the old Buick out of the bends at Los Angeles’ oldest, continuously operated racetrack. Willow Springs, opened in 1953, just before Max and Ina hit their stride, is one of the fastest, most challenging tracks in the US. Nevertheless, Ernie, with 30 years behind the wheel of Old Yeller, expertly handled the uphill and downhill ‘Omega’ section—with camber change, this is the most technical segment of the layout before entering turn 9. There’s a big dip right before the apex of 9 and a good line through there is crucial for top speed on the front straightway to the start/finish line. It was goose bumpy to hear that old V8 sucking air and thundering past.
Old Yeller and Ernie both came through the test with minimal issues. “It was like ‘Christine’ rebuilding herself,” said Jimmy, “she looked brand new again.”
Dr. Ernie Nagamatsu keeping the flame alive and honoring the original builders Max and Ina Balchowsky.
“Because I knew Max and Ina well they bestowed upon Elaine and myself their complete archives including trophies, lap charts, photographs, and communications,” said Ernie. “ When it came time to buy a car Max and I checked out several Old Yellers before we settled on number two. Knowing that we were the custodians of the Hollywood Motors’ archive, Dave Gibbs ensured that we were able to buy it. We’re not only owners we have a ‘designated responsibility’ in motorsports to preserve the history. Elaine and I take on that responsibility as an honor and we try hard to pay tribute to Max and Ina for they were one of the great ‘cornerstones’ of motorsports representing the hot rod sector of the sport. After every race or event, I unfurl a small American flag, as the Old Yeller II represented 'Americana' at its best with the WW II 'Can do' spirit and in tribute to Max and Ina.”
For more information on this historically significant sports racer visit: oldyeller2.com
