Photos courtesy Mecum Auctions.
As writers have their typewriters and artists their easels and brushes, so too do gearheads have their toolboxes – physical items that helped their owners excel and that over time seemed to absorb their owners’ personalities. So it’s worth noting that the toolbox of Pro Stock drag racing legend Bill “Grumpy” Jenkins – along with many more of his personal effects – will cross the block this coming May.
According to Mecum, which will auction off more than 150 items from Jenkins’ estate with no reserve, the collection includes a vintage Snap-On roll chest, a 2004 Pontiac GTO, some of Grumpy’s headwear including his famous fishing hat, competition jackets, model cars, and a number of Wallys and other trophies and awards.
Jenkins died on March 29, 2012, at age 81. As a driver, Jenkins had 13 NHRA national wins to his credit – the first in Top Stock, driving a Hemi-powered 1965 Plymouth Belvedere at the 1965 Winternationals. But his name would come to be indelibly linked with Chevrolet and the Pro Stock division, which he helped found. Jenkins’s various “Grumpy’s Toys” race cars evolved from Stock and Super Stock powerhouses into the most revolutionary cars in the new Pro Stock class.
Among the drag racing firsts credited to the Grump: dry-sump oiling, strut-type front suspension on a Pro Stock car, cool cans, electric fans, kickout oil pans, and gasport pistons.
“He was a mechanical engineer to a fault,” friend and estate executor Dick Williams said. “He was lost in his own world; he was like an artist that way. If he was back working on something you might have to remind him to eat.”
Mecum’s Indianapolis auction will take place May 14-19, with the Jenkins collection crossing the block May 18. For more information, visit Mecum.com.