Yosemite Sam Has All Cylinders Blastin’!

by Chuck Green

Sam Pagano, by his own admission, is an old motor head, always has been and always will be. He grew up around Rockford, Illinois and credits his dad and uncle for his love of the sport.

“Dad sold cars, and my uncle had a body shop.” Sam told us. “I’ve just always been around cars for as long as I can remember.” Sam made his first pass down the quarter-mile in 1962 at Byron Dragway the day the track opened. When questioned about his decision to race in a straight line rather than going in circles, Sam smiled and said, “Drag racing is a form of racing that anyone could do, even me.”

Shortly after high school, Sam was working as a body man and collision repair technician when a Pontiac Trans-Am rolled into the shop with some major frame damage. Sam prepared the estimate, presented it to the customer and promptly learned the guy didn’t have the money to get his car back on the road. After a discussion over price, the customer offered an alternative. In exchange for the repairs to his Trans-Am, he would sign over the pink slip for a ’55 Chevrolet race car that, according to the customer, was pretty much race-ready. After some consideration, Sam thought this was the perfect opportunity to fulfill his need for speed with a minimal outlay of funds, so it was agreed, the ’55 Chevy for the repairs.

When the Trams-Am was ready to go, the customer delivered the “pretty much race-ready” Chevrolet. As you might have guessed, the car was not exactly race-ready; in fact, Sam recalls that the car was a basket case. “The car had a Pontiac motor with, not in, it. A Ford Econoline straight axle made up the front suspension. It was in need of a major overhaul.” Thinking he could still make it work, Sam assembled and installed the motor and tried to race the thing. “It wasn’t very good.” he conceded. It was painfully obvious that the car would require a major overhaul. So, the transformation from ugly duckling into the beautiful 5.5-second index racer we see today began in earnest.

Sam began a complete frame-up restoration and rebuild. This talented body man/collision expert/motor head did 95% of the work himself. “I had to do as much as I could, it was the only way I could afford it.” Sam laughed. The rebuild started sensibly with the frame. Sam crafted a 2×3-inch box tube structure complete with a 12-point roll cage. “I didn’t have a jig in the shop, so I laid everything out on the floor and just checked and rechecked the thing as I went, to ensure the frame was straight and level,” Sam remembers. After the frame was welded to include the gussets and set on jack stands, with a little help, Sam fabricated all of the tin work on the car: floor pan, side panels and the tubs were completed by hand. Once this stage was finished, Sam turned his attention to what the chassis would ride on.

The interior was finished with functionality in mind. There are absolutely no frills, just the necessary components to make it all work.

“I ordered the front suspension: upper and lower control arms, spindles, ball joints from the Jeg’s catalog.” Sam laughed. “I didn’t see anything for a fifty-five so I went with the package that was meant for a Chevelle.” The shock and spring package were also aftermarket. A standard 4-link suspension was installed in the rear coupled to a narrowed Dana 60 differential with a 4.56 gear. Aerospace two-piston disc brakes front and rear were installed for maximum stopping power. Weld wheels and Mickey Thompson rubber on the front provides safe and sure handling, while the massive 15-inch skins produce the traction.

The interior was finished with functionality in mind. There are absolutely no frills, just the necessary components to make it all work. The custom dash houses the Auto Meter gauge package with a VDO Xtreme 11,000-rpm recording tachometer. Sam fabricated the bracket for the trans brake button just to the right and slightly above the steering wheel. “I could have put it anywhere, I guess.” he reflects, “I just put it where I felt comfortable with it. …I get a lot of questions and confused looks about what that red button is for; it gets pretty amusing at times.” Aside from the obvious safety features, like the five-point restraint system and the side netting to keep Sam inside the car in a worst case scenario, the MSD ignition is nestled near the firewall on the passenger side, and the Turbo Action Cheetah shifter is mounted on the roll cage tubing directly adjacent to the driver’s seat. A sticker on the dash to remind Sam what racing is all about completes the interior.

She suggested Yosemite Sam, and Sam agreed since Yosemite is his favorite cartoon character, but June says it’s because her husband bears a striking resemblance to the hotheaded Bugs Bunny nemesis.

The power for this classic Bel Air comes from a Steve Schmidt-prepared, 602-cid, fuel-injected Chevrolet. The engine is based on Dart components, including steel block with steel rods, dished pistons and aluminum heads. It features a Crane roller cam and valvetrain. The injection system is a Flying Toilet by Ron’s with a throttle stop for index racing. An MSD ignition system is responsible for the fire, and a two-speed Power Glide Transmission sends the 1,000 hp to the back where the Dana 60 and the Mickey Thompsons take over.

Sam discarded the car’s steel body, replacing it with fiberglass to reduce the overall weight. Roof, trunk, quarter panels, doors—the complete front assembly is all ’glass. Sam fabricated the body molds, and did all of the finish work himself. Now complete, the car weighs just a tad under 2,800 pounds race-ready. Sam finished the build with a classic-looking red and white paint job that was prevalent in the ’50s. You have to get up close to see them, but there are some really cool ghost flames on the nose of the car.

Yosemite Sam on the quarter panels? Well, in discussion with his wife June, Sam explained that every race car should have a name. She suggested Yosemite Sam, and Sam agreed since Yosemite is his favorite cartoon character, but June says it’s because her husband bears a striking resemblance to the hotheaded Bugs Bunny nemesis.

Sam has been racing his Chevy for more than 37 years now, and has no plans to stop. His grandson races a Jr. Dragster, and it’s probably a safe bet that this beautiful little red and white Bel Air just might be passed along to the younger generation some day.

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