Keeps Him Out of Trouble

            Tonny Bacon has a car that he says, “Keeps me out of trouble.” Despite the fact that the car is a certifiable hot rod, it has so far worked.

            It started 18 years ago when Tonny said he got the hot rod bug. “I was looking for a hot rod, something I could build,” he said. The kind of car didn’t really matter. What did matter was his budget.

            “I saw some good cars but this was the only one I could find in my price range,” he added.

            What he found was a 1966 Plymouth Satellite. “You don’t see many of those around,” he said. The rarity of the car, along with the price, convinced him the decision was a good one.

            The car was tubbed and totally re-done with an all stock interior. And despite the fact that Tonny is quite capable of doing the engine work himself (he actually owns a race car called One Bad Apple), he jobbed that out to Hensley Racing of Knoxville, TN.

            “If you get a pro builder to do the engine the car is worth more,” he explained. What he got was a 446 cubic inch monster under the hood that growls out 500 horse power.

            He also let the classic Chrysler three speed automatic TorqueFlite transmission be done by Steve’s Transmission of Mt. Orab, OH and the body be done by Jerry’s Body Shop of Blanchester, OH.

            Tonny says he enjoys driving the car but in order to keep the insurance affordable he keeps the mileage under 500 per year. So he generally only drives it to shows.

            While he admits that it would be fun to turn it loose and let it run, he does notice that the car can draw some unwanted attention. “Cops tend to watch you when you’re driving something like this. They see you coming, or hear you coming, and follow you.”

            So he tends to keep it under the speed limit. Besides, he said he got the car to keep him out of trouble, not get him into any.