Willie Borsch (February 19, 1930 – October 1, 1991), nicknamed "Wild Willie", was an American AA/FA and

funny car Funny Car is a type of drag racing vehicle and a specific racing class in organized drag racing. Funny cars are characterized by having tilt-up fiberglass or carbon fiber automotive bodies over a custom-fabricated chassis, giving them an appea ...

drag racer Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. The race follows a short, straight course from a standing start over a measured distance, most c ...

History

Borsch started racing in Altereds in 1960 with ''Winged Express'', built by Borsch and partner Al "Mousie" Marcellus, assisted by Howard Johansen (of Howard's Cams), Don Reynolds, Phil Johnson, Dale Young, and Jerry Hyatt. The car's 392 hemi was built by Jim Harrell (of Jim's Auto Parts). He raced ''Winged Express'' for ten years, winning AA/FA (

supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...

A-category

Fuel A fuel is any material that can be made to react with other substances so that it releases energy as thermal energy or to be used for work. The concept was originally applied solely to those materials capable of releasing chemical energy but ...

Altered) at the

NHRA Winternationals The NHRA Winternationals (commonly called the Winternats) are an annual drag racing event held by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) at Auto Club Raceway in Pomona, California. In 1962, under pressure from Peggy Hart (wife of track owner "P ...

in 1967 and 1968. Since AA/FA was not recognized as a class by the

National Hot Rod Association The National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) is a drag racing governing body, which sets rules in drag racing and hosts events all over the United States and Canada. With over 40,000 drivers in its rosters, the NHRA claims to be the largest motorspo ...

(NHRA) until 1967, Borsch was never credited with a national title. On 28 September 1967 at Irwindale, Borsch turned in the first pass in an Altered, at 7.91 seconds and . Borsch qualified for the 1968 NHRA Winternationals, a 32-car field in

Top Fuel Top Fuel is a type of drag racing whose dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of and finishing the runs in 3.62 seconds ...

, setting an AA/FA record elapsed time of 7.29 seconds. The rest of the field refused to race him, for fear of the ill-handling Altered. It turned out they were right: in round one of Super Eliminator, Borsch went from guardrail to centerline in a wild ride, which was photographed by Bob McClurg; it "became one of the most famous drag racing photos of all time." After getting a deal with

model kit A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

maker

Revell Revell GmbH is an American-origin manufacturer of plastic scale models, currently based in Bünde. The original Revell company merged with Monogram in 1986, becoming "Revell-Monogram". The business operated until 2007, when American Revell was ...

for royalties, Borsch took the wheel of the new ''Wild Man''

Dodge Charger The Dodge Charger is a model of automobile marketed by Dodge in various forms over seven generations since 1966. The first Charger was a show car in 1964. A 1965 Charger II concept car resembled the 1966 production version. The Charger has ...

funny car. Because he had become famous for driving ''Winged Express'' one-handed, using his other arm to brace himself against the body of the car, he created a dummy arm and attached it to the left window of the new funny car. This was included as a feature of the Revell kit. The Revell deal, and the partnership with Marcellus, fell apart after the independent-minded Borsch refused to wear a sponsor teeshirt for a publicity event.Boyce, p.176, item #515. Borsch died in October 1991 at age 61. He was named to ''

Car Craft ''Car Craft'' was a magazine devoted to automobiles, hot rodding, and drag racing. It was published by the Motor Trend Group. It was established in 1953. The magazine published articles directed at inexperienced and expert car mechanics, such as ...

'' magazine's All-Star Drag Racing team six years in a row, starting in 1967. He was inducted into the International Drag Racing Hall of Fame in 1992. He was also rated as one of NHRA's 50 greatest drivers.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Borsch, Willie 1930 births 1991 deaths American racing drivers Dragster drivers