PROJECT WHITE WAGON: COMPETITIONPLUS.COM EMBARKS ON A PROJECT CAR
If you loved those old school Modified cars, the ones that used to zing the small block engines upward to 10,000 rpm, then we have the project for you.
In the next six months, CompetitionPlus.com will undertake the challenge of building a project car which will represent the tradition of an old school Modified eliminator car while following the never-ending path of technological advancements.
Project White Wagon will represent the aforementioned qualities combined with a historical twist.
Project White Wagon is based on Gene Fulton’s classic 1970s era Modified Production 1964 Chevy II wagon.
If you loved those old school Modified cars, the ones that used to zing the small block engines upward to 10,000 rpm, then we have the project for you. 
In the next six months, CompetitionPlus.com will undertake the challenge of building a project car which will represent the tradition of an old school Modified eliminator car while following the never-ending path of technological advancements.
Project White Wagon will represent the aforementioned qualities combined with a historical twist.
Project White Wagon is based on Gene Fulton’s classic 1970s era Modified Production 1964 Chevy II wagon.
It is our goal to build a modern day version of the car referred to as “Fulton’s White Wagon”.
A little over thirty-one years ago, Fulton’s homely-looking wagon terrorized the IHRA class racing scene, winning three world championships. Fulton says the car won as much as $15,000 in one month while racing close to his Spartanburg, SC home.
Fulton, a Vietnam War veteran, collected a sack full of high performance parts during his tour of duty with the Air Force, and studied the latest automotive manuals during his time off to find just the right kind of race car to use them in.
Fulton was honorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force and stopped by an Amarillo, Texas used car lot on his way home. He found the perfect car to fulfill his racing fantasies in a six-cylinder wagon.
He paid cash for the car, cranked the rattling engine and began the long drive home. Thirty miles shy of home the six-cylinder engine began rattling even worse and eventually gave up the ghost.
Fulton’s most successful race car ended up making the last part of the journey home behind a car towing it with a rope down the interstate.If you loved those old school Modified cars, the ones that used to zing the small block engines upward to 10,000 rpm, then we have the project for you.
In the next six months, CompetitionPlus.com will undertake the challenge of building a project car which will represent the tradition of an old school Modified eliminator car while following the never-ending path of technological advancements.
Project White Wagon will represent the aforementioned qualities combined with a historical twist.
Project White Wagon is based on Gene Fulton’s classic 1970s era Modified Production 1964 Chevy II wagon.
It is our goal to build a modern day version of the car referred to as “Fulton’s White Wagon”.
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He had no visions of special awards or drawing praise from onlookers.
Fulton had only one vision – winning.
He taught the competition early that looks didn’t win races.
A prime example was his first IHRA national event win. Fulton flat-towed the wagon to Bristol in the midst of a rain storm and when he arrived, the road grime and mud from NC/TN Hwy 19-23 made the car anything but a candidate for Best Appearing.
There were some chuckles and even a few cracked jokes.
Fulton summed up the weekend by saying, “In the end, they didn’t laugh after I beat them and took their money.”
Fulton won three championships in six years with the White Wagon and was challenging for a fourth when he crossed paths with the one combination capable of stopping his potent race car.
An Econo altered Vega broke a spindle forcing it into Fulton’s lane and sending the once invincible wagon into barrel rolls.
Fulton, suffering from internal injuries, including a bruised heart and lung, was taken to a local hospital.
Friends loaded the mangled remains of the race car on Fulton’s trailer and brought the car back to his shop.
Fulton couldn’t bring himself to leave the car in a junk yard and instead, presented the wagon with a honest-to-goodness funeral and memorial service. The car was buried in a six-foot grave behind his shop.
Placed on top of the grave was a tombstone that read, "In Tribute of the Competitive Spirit of Men. In Honor of The White Wagon 1971 - 1978, Killed By A Hit & Run Driver."
Fulton to this day swears a part of that car has lived on through every car he built after the crash.
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Nary a day has gone by, that Fulton hasn’t thought of that old car. His engine shop, filled to capacity with big displacement, high-horsepower engines sports a poster sized shot of the Wagon looking down on the business it helped to build.
Last June marked the 30th anniversary of the White Wagon’s demise.
To honor that car, CompetitionPlus.com along with chassis builder Tom Lukans began brainstorming ideas of a tribute car, a replica to honor one of the most successful racers and cars to come out of Spartanburg.
Building a replica would be difficult, but why build a replica if it can't be raced?
Instead of a throwback car, eighteen months of planning and research will instead produce a modern day version of that classic legend. A month ago, the dream took its first step to reality when a Chevy II wagon was placed on the jig at TL Race Cars in Union, SC.
We expect this project to take six months to complete and the end goal will be a quarter-mile pass by Fulton, who hasn’t raced in over two decades.
The Project White Wagon will be built to compete as a SS/E Modified entry, the modern day equivalent of the old E/Modified Production division.
The junkyard-found 1964 Chevy II wagon will be groomed to accommodate a 292-inch, Fulton Competition-inspired small block Chevrolet coupled with a 5-speed clutchless transmission.
The suspension will be a Quartermax Chassis Components four-link along with a nine-inch Ford rear end, also provided by Quartermax. The shocks will be from Santhuff.
The competition weight will tip the scales at 3,358 pounds. However, our goal is to take the all-steel race car and get it down to 3,000 pounds. The team envisions low nine-second laps and maybe if the sun and moon lines up just right, an eight-second lap.
This ten-part series will chronicle the build, so that you can follow the project all the way from start to finish.
PART 2 - PROJECT WHITE WAGON - GETTING THE CAR ON THE JIG
TL Race Cars (864) 427-5269
Fluid Power Specialties (864) 599-1118
Minton's Wrecker Service (864) 474-2581
Fulton Competition
PART SUPPLIERS
A.E.D. Motorsports Products (tubing)
Aeromotive Inc. (fuel system)
Aurora Bearing Company (rod ends)
Autometer Guages (tech, engine gauges)
Bill Miller Engineering (rods, pistons)
Browell Bellhousings (bellhousing)
CFE Heads (cylinder heads, intake)
CFM Composites (seats)
Comp Cams (camshaft)
Dart Engineering (Engine Block)
Flatout Gaskets (engine gaskets)
Hedman Headers (headers)
Jegs Mail Order (misc.)
J&W Nova Parts (body panels and body sheetmetal)
Liberty's Transmissions (Transmission, Gears)
Matco Tools - (tools, tool box)
Mickey Thompson Tires & Wheels (front tires, slicks)
Moroso Performance (valve covers)
Quartermax Racing & Chassis Components (suspension, chassis components, axles)
Ram Clutches
Santhuff Shocks (front, rear shocks)
Strange Engineering (Axles, Rearend companents)
Weld Racing (front, rear wheels)
Winberg Crankshafts (crankshaft)
