BIOGRAPHY
Joe Pirrone Racing History
Joe Pirrone started racing back in the early 1960’s. His first race car was a Studebaker powered by a injected Buick. In 1964 he built a 1940 Willys coupe first powered by a blown Olds than converted to a supercharged 392. In 1966 he started construction on a 1933 Willys to do battle in the very competitive AA/GS class Joe acquired a stock 33 Willys and proceeded to transform it into a state of the art show quality drag car. He named the beauty after his racing transmission business, Boss Hydro. When first built in 1966, the power came from a 392 Hemi. In 67 he raced at the NHRA Nationals in Indianapolis During the winter of 67 Joe chopped the top and installed a late model 426 Hemi and one of his modified Torqueflite racing transmissions.
The new combination made him one of the quickest AA/GS cars on the east coast. Joe ran against the nations fastest gassers such as Big John Mazmanian, Jr. Thompson and had numerous match races against K.S. Pittman. One of Joe’s racing highlights was defeating K.S.’s 33 at a big Gasser meet at Acto NJ, which was Joe’s home track. After the 1968 season, Joe sold the Boss Hydro 33 to the Boyd Bros who campaigned the Willys under the name “Pure Acid”.
In 1970 Joe moved his business and family to southern Florida . There he teamed up with Paul Smith and Dick Henniman to build the Climax Barracuda Nitro funny car. This was Paul Smiths first funny car, and Joe was the crew chief. Paul went on to be one of the top Nitro tuners in America. After retiring from racing in the early 70’s Joe resumed his racing career when he and his son Rocky, repurchased the Boss Hydro 33 Willys and started racing the Willys at some of the earliest nostalgia races. In 1981 Joe ran a 8.55 at 156 m.p.h. to claim low ET and Top m.p.h. at the very first Old Time Drag Races held at Englishtown NJ. In 1985 Joe built a beautiful 1940 Willys with a blown and injected Hemi on alky and ran with the Wild Bunch, this group became the first Pro Mod’s. Joe retired from driving and became the crew chief for his son Rocky and his long line of supercharged race cars. Joe was not only a top notch racer, he was one of the true pioneers in the development of racing automatic transmissions. Joe was famous for his work with the four speed Hydra- Matic and Torqueflite transmissions.
Amongst many of his accomplishments were his development of a special band release for the Hydra Matic. Joe built transmissions for numerous NHRA record holders such as Al Joneic’s Bat Car, Joe Dougherty’s Tight Nuts, John Archubats Hydra Phobia and Jim Fox’s 69 Frantic Ford AA/FC. In 1997 Joe passed away after a long battle with cancer. Till his last days, Joe kept active in racing, helping his son Rocky build his Big Time Memories blown 41 Willys. Joe Pirrone was not only a great racer and innovator he was a true gentleman, he would help out anyone who needed it. Joe might not be here with us physically, but his spirit lives on with all that is good in racing
My Dad was not only a racer, pioneer of racing transmissions and a craftsman, he was a gentleman and outstanding father. He built numerous race cars in his 40 plus years of racing and his accomplishments are many.
However, his biggest accomplishment might have been how many friends he made along the way. My Dad was the type of person that personified a drag racer in the early days. He would be the first to help out a fellow racer. He spent as much time working on friends race cars as he did his own. He was a willing teacher that was very generous with his knowledge and time. As much as he loved racing, my Dad valued his family above all. He introduced me to racing at a early age, and I owe my passion for the sport of drag racing to him. In the presentation that I sent, you will find only a sampling of the cars he helped build and drove.
In 2002, I along with some of his friends recreated his Boss Hydro 1933 Willys race car that he raced in 1968. When we unveiled her for the first time at his home track of Acto Dragway, hundreds of people that knew him had tears in their eyes as they shared memories of my Dad
Rocky Pironne
Joe Pirrone started racing back in the early 1960’s. His first race car was a Studebaker powered by a injected Buick. In 1964 he built a 1940 Willys coupe first powered by a blown Olds than converted to a supercharged 392. In 1966 he started construction on a 1933 Willys to do battle in the very competitive AA/GS class Joe acquired a stock 33 Willys and proceeded to transform it into a state of the art show quality drag car. He named the beauty after his racing transmission business, Boss Hydro. When first built in 1966, the power came from a 392 Hemi. In 67 he raced at the NHRA Nationals in Indianapolis During the winter of 67 Joe chopped the top and installed a late model 426 Hemi and one of his modified Torqueflite racing transmissions.
The new combination made him one of the quickest AA/GS cars on the east coast. Joe ran against the nations fastest gassers such as Big John Mazmanian, Jr. Thompson and had numerous match races against K.S. Pittman. One of Joe’s racing highlights was defeating K.S.’s 33 at a big Gasser meet at Acto NJ, which was Joe’s home track. After the 1968 season, Joe sold the Boss Hydro 33 to the Boyd Bros who campaigned the Willys under the name “Pure Acid”.
In 1970 Joe moved his business and family to southern Florida . There he teamed up with Paul Smith and Dick Henniman to build the Climax Barracuda Nitro funny car. This was Paul Smiths first funny car, and Joe was the crew chief. Paul went on to be one of the top Nitro tuners in America. After retiring from racing in the early 70’s Joe resumed his racing career when he and his son Rocky, repurchased the Boss Hydro 33 Willys and started racing the Willys at some of the earliest nostalgia races. In 1981 Joe ran a 8.55 at 156 m.p.h. to claim low ET and Top m.p.h. at the very first Old Time Drag Races held at Englishtown NJ. In 1985 Joe built a beautiful 1940 Willys with a blown and injected Hemi on alky and ran with the Wild Bunch, this group became the first Pro Mod’s. Joe retired from driving and became the crew chief for his son Rocky and his long line of supercharged race cars. Joe was not only a top notch racer, he was one of the true pioneers in the development of racing automatic transmissions. Joe was famous for his work with the four speed Hydra- Matic and Torqueflite transmissions.
Amongst many of his accomplishments were his development of a special band release for the Hydra Matic. Joe built transmissions for numerous NHRA record holders such as Al Joneic’s Bat Car, Joe Dougherty’s Tight Nuts, John Archubats Hydra Phobia and Jim Fox’s 69 Frantic Ford AA/FC. In 1997 Joe passed away after a long battle with cancer. Till his last days, Joe kept active in racing, helping his son Rocky build his Big Time Memories blown 41 Willys. Joe Pirrone was not only a great racer and innovator he was a true gentleman, he would help out anyone who needed it. Joe might not be here with us physically, but his spirit lives on with all that is good in racing
My Dad was not only a racer, pioneer of racing transmissions and a craftsman, he was a gentleman and outstanding father. He built numerous race cars in his 40 plus years of racing and his accomplishments are many.
However, his biggest accomplishment might have been how many friends he made along the way. My Dad was the type of person that personified a drag racer in the early days. He would be the first to help out a fellow racer. He spent as much time working on friends race cars as he did his own. He was a willing teacher that was very generous with his knowledge and time. As much as he loved racing, my Dad valued his family above all. He introduced me to racing at a early age, and I owe my passion for the sport of drag racing to him. In the presentation that I sent, you will find only a sampling of the cars he helped build and drove.
In 2002, I along with some of his friends recreated his Boss Hydro 1933 Willys race car that he raced in 1968. When we unveiled her for the first time at his home track of Acto Dragway, hundreds of people that knew him had tears in their eyes as they shared memories of my Dad
Rocky Pironne
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