Mason Dixon Dragway – 1961. That was back when cars were big, heavy and large. Lots of style, lots of comfort. Just a lot of everything. Most of those cars were affectionately referred to as a “boat.” Now imagine walking through the pits and finding…not a boat…but…a 4-wheeled bomber. You’ve come face to face with Jeff Raff’s 1961 Bonneville. The car is not adorned with a shiny, custom paint scheme or the black satin rat-rod type paint, but instead is decked out in an unusual (for a car, anyway) military-style olive drab. One of the first eye-catching details on this car is the “Flying Tiger” style teeth on the scoop atop the engine. The car is powered by an impressive-looking ‘74 455 Pontiac engine topped with an 8-71 supercharger. Although it looks like is should be running on nitro or some other exotic high-octane racing fuel, this engine runs on regular pump gas. That’s a bit of a head scratcher, but then it makes sense as Raff explains, “It’s really my street car that I’m racing because my race car is still out, so I’m making do.”

Raff went on to confirm the unique look of this car is indeed a tribute to all the veterans who have served, right down to the red, white, and blue shift levers. Raff pointed out some of his bomber specific details, “the flying fortress (firewall tag), the horn button, the door locks, the 50 mm caliber console. Of course, the lettering, I tried to make it like a bomber. That’s why I nicknamed it the “Bomberville. Weight-wise, the car does live up to “boat” status, though. It comes in at a whopping 3885 pounds. According to Raff, “It’s a cool car, I have fun with it. I’ve had it since ‘08 and it sat for quite awhile. Eight years ago, I pulled it out, started tubbing it out, and tubbed it myself. I also did all the sheet metal myself, hand made the door panels. The seats are actually ’64 GTO seats, I had them done with a plain cover, as plain as you could get, I didn’t want nothing fancy. Those are actually the seats out of my race car. It doesn’t run hot. It charges. It has power steering. It’s easy to drive.” For a car that looks right at home on the drag strip, I’m sure Jeff Raff is having the time of his life cruising at a low altitude in his “Bomberville” Bonneville, whether it be going down the track or just down the street.