Marc Meihuizen, 1968 Pontiac Firebird, Pro Mod

Carbon fibre body as delivered from Cynergy Composites. Click body catalogue to see more of their offerings.
Early stages on the chassis jig with body and axle mocked up in place and first frame rails in position.
Main cage in place with front and rear extensions.
Axle case with four link bars and track locator. This is not a new use of cardboard for wheel tubs but a template which will be used later when the tubs are made in carbon fibre.
A little while later and many more tubes in place; full back support, funny car cage and triangulation of main chassis rails.
Top view shows x-member with slip joint bracing bottom frame rails. Motor plate in place but not yet trimmed to size. Dummy block used develop front mounts and braces.
Driver's seat area with support and framing for carbon fibre seat.
Bespoke pedals share common cross shaft. Shaft coming from bottom right links brake lever and pedal, and forward link goes to master cylinder.
Not quite a "Birdcage" Maserati but there are a lot of tubes in a Pro Mod.
Bespoke fuel and oil tanks with Pontiac logo pressed into mount and forward breather just at the bottom of the picture.
Body mount framework held by pip pins. These need to be easily removable to remove headers should a head change be necessary ... a frequent occurrence on Pro Mods.

Back from paint with final detailing to be done eg Firebird emblem at the front of the wing, already in place on the blower belt guard.

Top fuel style titanium shield behind driver protects against catastrophic tyre failure.
The crew push Marc down for his first observed run at the FIA Main Event, 2009 at Santa Pod.
Click burnout to see a slow motion video of Marc at the 2009 Main Event.

This picture © Ivan Sansom

In the staging lanes at the FHRA Nitro Nationals, Alastaro, Finland in 2009. Click Finland burnout to see Marc in action.
New replacement front end and the old which was damaged in a staging lanes incident at Hockenheim
Roger Gorringe risked life and limb in a cherry picker for this picture taken at the test session prior to the 2010 Main Event. It is © Roger Gorringe and used with permission.

Date  10-Jun-2010
Pictures by Roger Gorringe, Ivan Sansom & Webmaster