Where is “Wild” Willi Boelcke’s 1969 Coronet? Well we know that Willi is still racing out at the salt flats and when I received my May 2013 issue of Mopar Collector’s Guide I found out on page 29 that his Coronet was still around and for sale. Here’s the story from my angle…what I can remember anyway. I believe it was 1988-89 and on one of my first trips to the Bonneville Salt Flats to attend Speed Week in August I met Willi and his Coronet. I do remember the first configuration of the car didn’t have all the fancy racing paint like in the picture I took below. It was fairly plain with a 440 six pack and 4 speed with a Super Bee six pack hood. I remember his best speed was around 144mph which is not to bad for a stocker at 4000ft above sea level. One of the next years which I believe to be 1990-91 Willie showed up with a 440 with the Stage V Hemi head conversion with a big tunnel ram, and the six pack hood was raised up almost in a cartoon like fashion to clear the intake setup. Well…about the last thing I remember is Willi running around 200mph with the setup in B/Production and blowing up the engine. After that I was spending time in the Air Force and didn’t ever keep track of the car or Willi.
B/Production is generally a class that has been dominated at Bonneville by Plymouth Superbirds, Dodge Charger Daytonas, and big block Camaros that run around 220+ mph so pushing that big Coronet through the air must have been quite an experience!
The hood on the car for sale in MCG was not the same one I remembered but I think it would be more aerodynamic than the massive raised six pack scoop that I saw on it!
Check out this 2012 article about Willis Blown/Fuel Rear Engine Modified Roadster. Interestingly his roadster carries the same car number that his Coronet had….426.