Monza Thunder

Bob and Andy

Andy took his GT Chevrolet Monza to an open track day at Thunder Hill Raceway Park, CA. Despite the "freezing cold" temps of a latest polar plunge, the weekend saw some heat on the track from Andy's well groomed and sounding machine. The cold didn't stop the fun or a visit from Bob Brandle, who was with the Agor Racing Team in the 1970s when they campaigned an IMSA Monza piloted by Warren Agor. Andy reports, "...his Monza ran like a monster. It sounds real cool out on the track." And, even though fuel was at $10 a gallon, he was too excited at the time to worry about it.

"Release the Kraken"

The Monzster

Andy's Chevrolet Monza rolls out of the race shop.

Small-block Chevrolet 350 ci with Crower stack injection.

New Crower stack fuel injection and ready for action. Next up is dyno test.

Behind the wheel of the Kraken

Restoration of Stair chassis Chevrolet Monza GT car

Second owner Dick Kantrud #15 Road America 1982

This GT Monza was designed and built by Pat Stair for Jack Sandberg's "Metal Masters" team for SCCA Trans-Am racing in 1980. John R. "Jack" Sandberg was owner of JRS Racing and Metal Masters of Minneapolis. Carl Schafer was the first driver of this car. Shafer, a well known driver of Camaros, only drove the Monza at the 1980 Hallett Trans-Am race.

The current owner, Mike Perrotti, acquired the car in late 2012 and is now restoring the car for vintage racing. Progress photos of the project will be ongoing as more are received.

Provenance of Stair Monza
(Built in 1980)

	Owner	Driver	Date	Appearance
1.	Jack Sandberg (MN)	Carl Shafer	1980	#21 red/yellow
2.	Dick Kantrud (MN)	Dick Kantrud	1981-82	#15 yellow/blue
3.	Marshall Kirkof (MN)	Marshall Kirkof	1983	#61 red
4.	Rick Balderson (FL)	Rick Balderson	1983-1989	#69 white, white/orange
4.	Art Sierzanga (FL)	(stored indoors)	1989-2012	-
5.	Mike Perrotti (NY)	(restoration)	2012- present	To be determined

More about the car has been compiled by Stacy Scharch on his web page for Stair Monza

Monza at Thunderhill

Andy's Monza dives into "The Cyclone" turn at Thunderhill Raceway Park, CA.

This past weekend was the Nor Cal SAAC Fall Classic 2012 Open Track at Thunderhill Raceway Park, The event was hosted by the Shelby American Automobile Club on Saturday and Sunday, October 20-12, 2012.

Andy had his Monza at the the event and a great time. "The Monza ran like a monster," as he put it. He and his friend, a professional driver, both took turns piloting Andy's '70s era tube-frame road racer. They had it "blasting around the track" and wore out the tires. According to Andy, "The Sting Rays and Jags and (Cobras) were so far behing we took the Monza out of gear and coasted to the line. We both had big smiles on our faces."

A couple of issues with the car were ironed out. They discovered the cause of a mysterious shaking in the steering. Lap after lap, the lug nuts came loose and had to be re-torqued. Andy explained, "I had the centers of my BBS wheels powder coated a while back. The guy didn't take off the old coating and he coated the back of the rim where it butts up to the hub. The coating would get hot and start melting causing the lugs to loosen up." And added, "This would happen after about a lap." Also, the track bar on the rear axle needed to be refitted so the back end of the car could be lowered 2 inches, which helped improve handling.

There are still a few other items on the car's to-do list as Andy continues his restorative efforts with his Chevrolet Monza silhouette racecar, which has come a long way in the last year.

Chevrolet Monza Road Racer

Thomas' Monza at Laguna-Seca track day Nov 25, 2011

This 1975 Chevrolet Monza silhouette bodied tube-frame road racer belongs to Andy Thomas. He lives in California and has owned the car since 2009. He has invested time, money, and plenty of joy into returning the car to its former state as a high-powered V8 Monza road racing machine.

It is more likely the car was built for SCCA Trans-Am racing, given that it has a Trans-Am bulkhead. A protective firewall with a window port behind the front seats separates driver from fuel cell. It didn't come with a log book or sales records, but is believed to been built by a well known road racer from Oregon in 1980.

The history of this chassis and its past ownership is a little fuzzy.  Andy purchased the car from Richard Stice through Gary Eichman. Stice was owner of Ricks Hot Rods in Oregon, but only drove it on the street to local car shows. Puttering around town in a '70s muscle car with wide slicks and no power steering was probably a bit challenging.

Purportedly, the car was built by a well known racer in northern Oregon who built his own cars. The last name is thought to be St. John, but has not yet been confirmed. According to Thomas, "He made the chassis, roll cage etc. For some reason he never raced it." The car was placed in storage for a few decades before Stice got it.

Thomas continues to make restorative improvements to his Monza like a new Borg Warner Super T-10 4-speed transmission. More recently a stack type fuel injection system was added.

So far, Andy's Monza has seen on open track days with the possibly for other future events. He'd love to see a racing legend drive his beastly Monza, perhaps Greg Pickett, Willy T. Ribbs or maybe Tony Adamowicz.