This 60s Pontiac Gasser Wagon ‘Dry Bones’ is Ready to Take Four Friends on An Adventure at The Upcoming Edelbrock Sick Smokies!
Car and racing friends can just take things to the next level. They might encourage you to spend money on a part or upgrade, but they will be right there to help you install it when the time comes.
For Eric Bennecker, a love of Pontiac vehicles, combined with three close friends, resulted in the building of this unique Pontiac station wagon Gasser. It will join over 70 more Gasser entries at next month’s Edelbrock Sick Smokies!
There’s one more chance to join Sick The Mag on a drag and drive for 2025 - Sick Smokies Presented by Edelbrock, on October 12-19th, 2025! We’re doing seven days cruising the South, including Tail Of The Dragon, and four great drag strips! Discounted advanced spectator tickets, as well as Sick Ward / Sick Spit Show & Shine entries are available - CLICK HERE TO FIND OUT MORE about Sick Smokies!!
“My three friends Mike Ford, Lowell Rust, and Brett Kitchens have been racing Pontiacs for years,” said Bennecker. “We have done Hot Rod Drag Week several times in Lowell's 1966 GTO.”
Hanging with his friends, and doing drag and drive events, inspired Bennecker to build one of his own cars, this 1967 Pontiac Tempest wagon. “It was parked in a desert outside of Scottsdale (Arizona) for the last 25 years,” Bennecker said. “A friend found it, sent pictures, and I bought it and had it shipped back.”
Bennecker got the original 326 cubic inch Pontiac engine running, and topped it off with an 8-71 supercharger. With a vision of the Gasser look in mind for the Pontiac, the stock front suspension was augmented with a straight axle.
Bennecker completed the build in time to test it out for its debut at Sick Smokies, but his test time was short lived. “We promptly blew that motor on the first pass,” said Bennecker. “When I went to get my time slip at Shady Side Dragway, they told me not to bring it back.”
With Edelbrock Sick Smokies and being part of the largest gathering of Gassers at a drag and drive event still the goal, Bennecker swung into action to get the Gasser wagon ready for battle once more.
Ford pulled the 455 cubic inch Pontiac mill from his Southeast Street N Yeet winning Lemans to power the wagon, and a Turbo 400 with Gear Vendors overdrive backs it up. A brand new 9-inch rear end from Quick Performance will put the power to the ground.
“The name ‘DryBones’ comes from finding this car dried up in a desert and breathing it back to life,” said Bennecker, who hopes to have everything final tested, and the car lettered up, in time for Sick Smokies.
“Things will break, most likely things that we thought wouldn't,” Bennecker said of the challenges they will face. “We've packed a case of duct tape, Little Debbie oatmeal cream pies and a box of Kleenex. We hope to finish, and have the time of our lives.”
Will ‘DryBones’ have a more fruitful result from its second drag and drive next month at Edelbrock Sick Smokies? Don’t miss your chance to see over 200 competitors race and drive a full week through Tennessee, Alabama and Georgia, October 12-19!
We’ll drive hundreds of miles, visit multiple drag strips, and witness the largest group of Gassers at a drag and drive ever. CLICK HERE for more details on Edelbrock Sick Smokies!
Written by Derek Putnam. Photos courtesy of Sick the Magazine, Eric Bennecker.
If you have thoughts / feedback / ideas, please e-mail us at derek@sickthemagazine.com