April 22, 2006... A very sad day.

Apologies for the blurry resolution. Must have been the tears falling into the PC.

Unbeknownst to me, this April 22, 2006 was a very sad day. A great man has passed. The legendary (amazing how MUCH that word shows up in this blog...) RONNIE SOX passed from this life after a prolonged fight with cancer. Along with a goodly amount of Mopar afficianados, I am profoundly saddened by the loss of such an accomplished racer. My heartfelt condolences go out to his wife, Diane, his family, to his many friends, to those fortunate enough to know him.

Ronnie achieved the greatest number of victories with the "Li'l Boss" 1967 through 1969 Fastback 'Cudas, 6 Championships, if I am remembering this correctly. No one could ever match his timing and prowess with speed-shifting 4-speed manual transmissions. I always enjoyed any news of him winning. He really was quite a force to be reckoned with on the dragstrip!

Speaking of which, here is a nice picture of Jake King, Buddy Martin, and Ronnie, and in my opinion, it shows how much these guys enjoyed their vocation:



He WAS "Mr. Four-Speed"... check out this quote from NHRA's site, about Ronnie:

"Ronnie Sox, long regarded as one of the greatest four-speed drivers ever and voted No. 15 on NHRA’s list of Top 50 drivers, died April 22 after a long battle with cancer. He was 67.

The longtime racing partner of Buddy Martin was the winningest Pro Stock driver (nine victories in 23 events) during the short-lived four-speed era (1970-72), and he claimed six Super Stock victories from 1967 to 1969. His skills as a four-speed driver in match races, in cars ranging from his lumbering, full-sized Chevys in the early 1960s to his injected, nitro-burning Barracuda Funny Car in 1966, are also part of drag racing lore.

Perhaps the best measuring stick for Sox's shifting talents is 1973, when everybody switched to the clutchless Lenco transmissions. Many teams cited reduced breakage as the primary reason for the move, but just about every driver went quicker with a Lenco, some picking up as much as a tenth of a second. Sox, by contrast, was the only driver whose car slowed with a Lenco, losing a very measurable .04-second."

I say the team of Jake King, Buddy Martin and Ronnie Sox were one of the most feared in drag racing! They always seemed to work well together! All the time!



Ronnie campaigned 'Cudas almost exclusively, although they also had some very notorious "B"-Body missiles as well. Some of the Dusters he ran later were just as spectacular. In my opinion, though, the sight of him bangin' gears so effortlessly down the tracks in those fastback 'Cudas are the best of memories! Ronnie really did well with the '68 'Cuda. 1968 was a great year to run Mopars, and the factory was even selling TURN-KEY-RACE-CARS in the form of '68 Fastback Plymouth 'Cudas and '68 Dodge Darts. With 426 Cross-ram HEMIs, fiberglass front ends, lightweight side window glass, lightweight A100 van seats, they even went to the extreme of having the side glass raised and lowered with seat belt webbing instead of heavier crank handles and gearsets! Trunk-mounted batteries were commonplace. All for reduced weight! From the factory! What a program! Cars sold in primer, and with street usage disclaimers. Unless you were unable to drive, you had a good shot at a win SOMEWHERE, sometime! Now picture THAT, but apply the potent ideas and abilities of the Sox & Martin Team to this factory racing unit that ALREADY has VERY strong "kung-fu"!!! They gave new meaning to the phrase: "Go, TEAM!"... Heavy accent on the "GO"!!!! Likewise "TEAM"!

But what a TEAM, too! Master Mechanic Jake King, Wearer-Of-Many-Hats (doing whatever needed to be done!) Buddy Martin, and THE Driver With The Gift Of SPEED, RONNIE SOX (who also, by the way, would do whatever needed to be done)!!! Taking THAT potent unit and making it even MORE efficient and powerful was what Sox & Martin were all about. After that heavy factory involvement ended, the guys did it up with even more gusto! They continued on long after insurance companies and manufactured oil crises essentially buried factory performance cars for the dry era after the Musclecar period. Did quite well, too. Step back into time, and into Ronnie's "Office", with this nifty Stewart-Warner Gauge Advertisement from 1969:



Step back about one year, to 1968, and here is a cool shot of the huge Dodge Transporter with not only the '68 'Cuda, but the '68 GTX on the back! Now THAT is some SERIOUS hardware:



Ronnie seemed to be fondest of the '67- '69 Fastback Barracudas, but the '68 always had a special place in his heart. Here is a picture of Buddy and Ronnie going over Ronnie's favorite ride, the 1968 'Cuda:



Friend Paul Harsh (whom I've not seen in a few years), owns a very nice '70 Superbird 440 and a really sweet little '67 Formula-S Fastback, which he converted into a nearly perfect replica of Ronnie's favorite "Li'lBoss". Paul was fortunate enough to actually meet Ronnie a couple of years or so ago at a Mopar meet. He said that Ronnie actually found HIM, and complimented him on what a nice 'Cuda he had! He said they really had quite a nice time talking 'Cudas, Mopars, racing and other such topics! One of these days, if I have my camera with me, I shall have to ask Paul about that visit he had with Ronnie, and shoot some pictures of his S&M 'Cuda. I do have a few shots SOMEWHERE of it, at a car show shortly after the bulk of the mechanical and cosmetic conversions were done. It REALLY looks nice! Runs about as fast, too! Born with a 273 v8 under it's bonnet, the 'Cuda had a 440 Magnum in it that last time I saw it. Paul then had plans to acquire a crate HEMI to complete the project.

My daughter Katy and I visited Paul one weekend afternoon after he had done the 440 swap. He took us for a nighttime ride in the 'Cuda (still with the stock factory B-5 Blue paint). With 3 people in the car, even I was surprised with how quickly it launched, how well it dug in, how fond of high speed it seemed to be! Katy found the low-back bucket seats fairly "chiropractic", too! That little 'Cuda was pretty darned nice with the original 273 in it. But with that 440... in a car that weighed less than 3000 pounds... what a neck-snapper!!!

Paul was very well-studied in all things Mopar, and actually owned a fearsome 1969 A13 'Cuda 440 Fastback, Saffron Yellow with black stripes. Which, again, if I am remembering this correctly, THAT was either his first car OR his first NEW car. He sold the A13 and always regretted it! He could not believe how eager it was to overcome stillness and achieve high-velocity! After acquiring the '67 Formula-S from the estate of the elderly first owners, he soon grew tired of the 273 small block and longed for the old A13 days.

After the 440 conversion, he got the idea to up the ante and do it up like Ronnie Sox's 'Cuda. Paul always admired Ronnie, and this next project just seemed to be a natural progression! Although, he was doing pretty well with the 440, I wonder if he ever got the crate HEMI for it. I cannot remember if he still had the 440 in it when he met Ronnie. I do remember him saying it was a Mopar meet where they ran drag races, had burnout contests, etc. He certainly enjoyed meeting Ronnie and visiting with him! He said Ronnie was a good guy, and from what I have ever heard and read of him, I can easily believe that. Wish I had met him before he went on, but I sure am happy for Paul! What a neat experience he had! I wonder what additional plans Paul has for his 'Cuda since Ronnie has passed on... We are much poorer in his absence.

Farewell, Ronnie! We lift our collective front wheels in praise and remembrance of you!