This 1955 Willy’s Aero “Northwest Terror” belongs to Herman Petersen of Belfair, Washington. This is another car we’ve rarely seen with performance improvements that make it ready for the track. He bought it in December of 2009 and it took 3-½ years to complete. In the three years that he has had it on the road, he has put more than 3,500 miles in it. “I like to drive it as much as I can,” Petersen explained.

This is actually a replica of the first racecar that Petersen built when he was fresh out of high school. Petersen builds race engines by trade, his company name is Cackle Thunder Performance. You may recognize his name from his top fuel drag racing days from the late ’60s and early ’70s. Recently he had put several engines together for other hot rods without having one for himself, so he decided it was time to have one of his own again. He sought out a Willy’s Aero to rebuild the car he had when he was younger. His brother actually ended up finding this one for him.

He powered it with a 398 cubic-inch Chrysler Hemi from 1957. It puts out between 700 and 750 horsepower and has been upgraded with a Crower hydraulic roller camshaft, Valley Head Service heads, a Hampton 671 blower, and dual 600cfm Holley carburetors.

The drivetrain is followed up with a turbo 400 transmission, Magnum tube front axle, and a Ford 9-inch rearend. He also narrowed the rear axle by 11 inches to accommodate wider tires. “With the old tires on there,” Petersen explained, “just looking at the gas pedal would burn rubber.” The Aero originally had a unibody construction so he “beefed up” the support to accommodate the larger engine and massive power.

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