When Martin Heatherly rolled his 1967 Chevelle into his shop nearly
twenty-five years ago, he figured the old all-steel musclecar had made its last passes down the drag strip.
Heatherly, of Buffalo, S.C., is a throwback to the old school of drag
racing. He’s a dyed-in-the-wool, old school class racer who reluctantly
converted his former Super Stock/"F" entry into a Super Pro bracket
racer as the face of drag racing changed in the 1970s.
Heatherly refused to abandon his Gene Fulton-built small block and Doug
Nash four-speed, or 4+1 as the old gear-heads called it, both icons of
years passed. When most of his counterparts dummied down their motors
and went with automatic transmissions, Heatherly not only raced with
them but also won despite using an antiquated combination.