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Adam's '69 Z-28 Street/Strip Car
Click here to see more pictures fo this car!
Click here to see this car on video!
With the advent of the World Wide Web, shopping
for anything you want has become a household chore. Plop down in front of your computer, sign on and in minutes you can buy
everything from food to a trip to the moon. We are some where in the middle. If you take the time to read the following,
you will be inspired and enlightened in your search for your favorite muscle car.
www.IWantThatMuscleCar.com is a spinoff of Landys Performance. Ralph Landolfi
owned Landys, a Porsche, Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari and Race Car repair and fabrication shop since the late sixties until the
start of the new Millennium. Ralph Landolfi was among the first people in the US to delve into the world of Porsche. In the
late sixties and early seventies, Ralph's shop which was located in a Boatyard in Brooklyn behind closed gates and was filled
with Exotic cars. One of the first four prototype 911 Porsches was there, so were Carreras, 356's, Ferraris, Lamborghinis,
Maseraties and any other car that a fast changing Country was starting to show an interest in. A good Historic perspective is
to liken his shop to the change of music from American Bandstand to Soul Train. But, like any story, lets start at the beginning.
In the late fifties Ralph stopped street racing his Harley Davidson and started racing a '55 Chevy. While working as a line
mechanic at the local Chevrolet dealer, Ralph was well known for among other things, his ability to tune a Small Block Chevy
to a degree where rather than go to a Speed Shop, people would go to Kinney Chevrolet to have their "tune up" done. By now
Ralph had built a Willys and then an Anglia with which he set numerous NHRA National Records in B/Gas. 1964 also brought his
son Adam into the world. Coming from Brooklyn and winning races all over the East Coast, track announcers started calling Ralph
"Coney Island Ralph." The name stuck. So did the reputation of his crowd of "Good Bad Guys." When the first flip top Funny Car
was built and sponsored by the Buick Dealers Group, "Coney Island Ralph" was tapped to drive it. With only a few runs on the
car, and Ralph still racing with Jack Merkel, Eddie Sanzo, KS Pitman and the other heavy hitters in the Gasser Wars, time
and money were tight. Then a serious top end accident in his famous Red '48 Anglia occurred when a parts chaser crossed the
finish line in front of him at about 130 MPH. Ralph broke his shifter arm and his car was now trashed. As a testament to
Ralph's achievements, all of the people involved with the car stepped up to help him build another car. With his arm in a
cast, Ralph built his chopped white Anglia incorporating many innovations that were starting to become the future. With a
couple of relief drivers not getting the job done, Ralph climbed back into the car at the U.S. Nationals and got down to four
cars before redlighting to a car that spit it's engine out soon after it left the starting line. Well, the die was cast, the
future was now, good-bye racing, hello local business man.
While exotics filled his shop until the mid-seventies, the change was evident. The gas crunch had come and gone Street Rodding
had arrived. In 1976 Ralph built his all steel 33 ford Three window which went on to win best Model 40 at the NSRA Street Rod
Nationals as well as a 1934 Ford Phaeton, Roadster and a Chopped Coupe. Showing that Racing is definitely an obsession, Ralph
had managed to find time to get his NHRA Pro Stock License in 1977 driving Rick DeLisi's "One Waco Kid". The car was a Don Hardy Built Monza.
Offshore Powerboats were next for Ralph. Racing with "Team Satisfaction" in Engine Builder and Throttleman capacities, he enjoyed the
Worldwide Racing but there was a more pressing matter at home.
By age 14, Ralph's son Adam was already a seasoned destroyer of rental cars and dirtbikes and had mastered the art of the
"figure 8 dounut" with his Sunbeam Alpine behind the gates of the boatyard. " He would rake the dirt to hide the evidence".
It was appraoching the time for Adam to race. With a 396/375 Nova he got his feet wet. With a
Tube Chassis Camaro he won a Division 1 Super Gas race and a few Quick series races finishing just a few points shy of the 1989 Division 1 Super Gas
Championship. An incident at a local track forced Adam to do what he Really wanted to do, go fast! Running the Same Super Gas
car in IHRA Top Sportsman and B/Altered he also raced the 5.0 Mustang owned by "Stormin Normin." While prepping Norman's car
in Detroit he had chance to work alongside talent like the late Steve Grebeck and John Meaney. It was a natural transition
to the ultimate doorslammer class. NHRA Pro Stock. Running with no sponsor when and where they wanted, the team of Ralph and
Adam enjoyed racing but, the Pro Stocker took the smile away from thier faces. Now, still racing together, they campaign a
B/Stock '69 Camaro, a Super Stock '69 Camaro and they are rebuilding Ralph's Red Anglia as this is typed for Nostalgia Drags.
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