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Name: Thurman Williams Location: Topeka, KS 66605 Gender: Male Age: 39 Occupation: Research and Evaluation
About:
I started out working on cars while spending time with my grandfathers and uncles. One could do body and paint, but he was a former rancher who worked at the Goodyear Plant in Topeka, my other grandfather was a former Air Force mechanic who worked at the Post Office, but who ran a side business as a mechanic, mainly for friends. My uncle was also a mechanic who worked at Santa Fe with my dad and his brother. We were always under somewhat of a threat due to an uncle and aunt who were in government and regularly received death threats. My uncle was assassinated when I was two, and I remember meeting Cab Callaway & Bill Cosby at his funeral. If anyone is in the Kansas City area, you can find a memorial statue of him at the Vernon Jordan Memorial. One of my grandfathers (The Air Force mechanic) was in Oklahoma during the Tulsa Massacre and our family always had a fast agile car nearby as a means of defense. Kansas still has "Dry" counties, and one of my uncles was a bootlegger, who used a 67 GTO Convertible to deliver libations to thirsty folk in those counties. I remember several illegal options being on that car, and my uncle explaining the function of all of them to me one day when I was 6 or 7 years old. -That was an amazing car . .. My first vehicle was a 1977 Fleetside SWB 4x4 with a built 351M that would embarrass Corvettes at the time (1986). My dad had rolled it, and so I redid all the body work, scouring parts from salvage yards all over the city. My second car was a 1981 Mustang that gave me fits. No part ever worked on that car, and in wasn't until years after I'd sold it that I found out it was a stolen car made of 3 different stolen cars. It spent more time in the shop than on the road, and most of that time was spent finding parts that would fit it. My 3rd was my favorite - a 1968 Mustang - a former show car that the previous owner had abused. I bought it for $1750, and threw in a new 302, transmission, and suspension. That car was great! When I finished, someone from Chicago offered me $12,000 cash on the spot at a local Mustang show. (That would be approximately $30,000 in today's dollars, adjusting for inflation). I didn't sell. My cousinsm, my brother, and I were pretty much the pioneers of restomodding in the area when restomodding wasn't considered cool (Restoration was in, and the purists hated us). Two of my cousins had 1967 Mustangs, my brother and I had 68 Mustangs, another had a 1966 Mustang, -my cousin Kelly had a 1982 Mustang in her garage. From there you can probably catch up on my CarDomain page, as there's a lot of information there. I never liked the Fox bodied cars, as they handled poorly compared to anything else I'd ever built, and the I-4, 2.8, & 3.8L cars had less than half the hp of my 1968 but weighed 2-500 lbs more. That changed in 1999, and after seeing a few builds of the 3.8L and driving a few of them, I figured I could put together a good package for the long distance driving I was doing for work. It's been a fun vehicle, and the surprise it creates is almost as much fun as driving a dinosour that handled, and the 302 that disproved that there's no replacement for displacement. (Back when I put together the 302, it was considered a throwaway engine - If I had a nickel for everyone who said "why are you building that little 5 liter? Go find a Cleveland/428/429," I'd be rich by now). The replacement for displacement is lightness and brains.
Professionally, I started out in engineering and switched to Anthropology. I've worked as a Federal Evaluator, a Research Center Field Director, and have consulted on projects from Nebraska to the Virgin Islands. I'm generally hired as a problem solver, particularly in Operations and technology. I've also worked in the Goodyear Plant summers while in College, in film, and in just about everything under the sun. I was a barista in San Diego, for a time, a cook at the Student Union at Kansas State, a Teacher and instructor at schools in Junction City, and Kansas State University, etc., and was a Summer Research Fellow at Berkeley.
If you think you have a chance in this type of rally, and I'm in the game -you may want to rethink your chances! ;-)
Mission Statement:
To WIN.
About My Team:
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My Ride:
Make: Ford
Model: Mustang Year: 2003 Color: Black Engine Size: 3.8L 232ci HP/TQ: 230/240 Max Speed: 140 0-60: MPG: 32-36 (dpending on tire pressure)
Team Setup:
Team: Team Hidalgo
My Role: Driver My Team Member: Leah
My Biggest Strength:
I average 40K+ miles a year in rain, sleet, snow, freezing rain, bitter cold, freezing rain, extreme heat, Tornadoes, cattle stampedes, and sometimes even fair conditions. I've driven/ridden/raced everything from horses to ORVs, including tractors.
I built the car to travel long distances, as it was part of my job to travel all over Nebraska, and the less I spent on fuel, the more of the mileage reimbursements would remain in my pocket. The emphasis has been on durability and mpg.
Compared to my 1968 Mustang, the chassis & handling needed the most attention, so that's where most of the racing modifications have been completed, so far. Once the car is retired, the engine modifications will begin.
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