Any Gear Head UFO Enthusiast? 1965 Plymouth A990 Belvedere UFO Drag Car

Here's something you normally don't read about on this forum. Just about every other day, I look for either new, or old UFO case files/stories that haven't yet been posted on this forum. Well, today I found something really interesting.

I've always been a gear head, ever since my dad ran a Mobil service station back in 1966, soon after retiring from the USAF in 1965.

The vehicle below, reminds me of that time period, since it's a 1965 Plymouth Belvedere. However, this is a special vehicle for two reasons. 1) It's a Belvedere with the special A990 version of the Race Hemi, that was rated at 425 HP. Plymouth built under 200 of these Super Stock ready vehicles, which came with thin-gauge steel components and no rear seats, heaters, radios, or even carpets, in order to reduce weight. 2) Back in 1966, this particular A990 Belvedere was raced by Tom Tignanelli, in NHRA Super Stock, which he named "UFO".

In 1965, Tom was a mechanical engineer, who worked as a technician and test driver in the Road Test Garage at Chrysler Engineering in Highland Park, Michigan. At the the time, Chrysler engineering received two A990's and one was eventually bought from Chrysler by Tom's father, who was involved in drag racing.

The Birth Of The UFO Drag Car:

“We rolled the car into Shadowoods Auto Center in Roseville, Michigan—my dad’s business—at the end of the 1965 race season in order to build it for Experimental Stock. It never left the shop until it was ready to race in the spring of 1966. My dad, brothers, Alex Richards, and I did the chassis modifications, drivetrain preparation, and paint work. We had a great relationship with the guys at Logghe Chassis shop, so they built the front straight-axle suspension. We moved the front axle forward 10 inches and the rear forward 15. The factory lightweight fenders and hood were replaced with lighter fiberglass parts from the Golden Commandos. We also replaced all the factory glass with orange Plexiglas.”

Further modifications included replacing the steel trunk floor with aluminum, installing a rare aluminum dashboard, and mounting a 3 1/2-gallon Moon spun aluminum fuel tank in the front grille. Tom built the Hemi motor with an Isky 550 Le Gerra cam, Chrysler race pistons, and the stock A990 magnesium cross-ram intake manifold with twin Holley 3116 carburetors. The aluminum cylinder heads were race-prepped by Bartley Kenyon, featuring a five-angle valve job. The Hemi was located farther back and higher in the altered-wheelbase shell. Modifications brought the total weight of the UFO from 3,400 pounds to 3,000.

The UFO emerged from Robert Tignanelli’s shop as if it had been abducted by aliens. It was unbelievably faster.

LINK

Pictures of Tignanelli’s "UFO" Belvedere Back In The 60's:







The current owners, bought the UFO car in 2014 and had AAA Restorations in Rushford, Minnesota, totally restore the car back to it's glory days.

Pictures Of The "UFO" Belvedere After Restoration:







Drag footage of a 1965 Plymouth "Hemi" A990 Belvedere (red car), From 2004:

Man, he timed it just right for takeoff......Mopar baby....

Had to see that 4 times......5

Beautiful car. The AFX mopars have long since been my favorites. Such a great time to have been involved in drag racing, everything was evolving. You always had a surprise at the track on sundays.

I have a 65 belvedere II. Its been a drag car since the early 70's, not a 990 or anything special though.
I have thought about altering the wheelbase from time to time, (ive had it since 1990,) but its totaly rust free, so cutting it up would hurt to much at this point.

Really sweet to see the car in action. true horsepower!! I have a buddy who has an original 67 Sox and Martin gtx Hemi drag car. I tend to drool a lot around that car.

Love that sound when the driver pours the coal to the engine!

I was, for some reason, expecting a car that was saucer-shaped... Oh well