Dos Palmas

In 1964 , Gary Goodnight Bob Keith and Maurice Williamson teamed with Arnold Chaves to race the Dos Palmas Machine Spl., a AA/GD using a 'TV' Tommy Ivo chassis, Jack Hagemann body, Tony Nancy interior and a blown 400CID Chevy built by Arnold at Dos Palmas Machine in San Jose, Calif. After some initial testing the rail was shipped to the UK where it raced in the 1st British International Drag Festival alongside 'Big Daddy' Don Garlits, Tommy Ivo and Tony Nancy.
After the Festival the car returned to the U.S. where the team raced for about eight months running a best of 8.32/177. They set a national record at Riverside before the car was shipped back to the UK in 1965 as it had been sold to the Croft Drag Racing Partnership (CDRP) of Norman Barclay, Gerry Belton, Peter Godlee, Bruce and John Ropner and Keith Schellenberg.

The CDRP never quite got to grips with the dragster until 1969 when US Air Force man 'Wild Bill' Bill Weichelt took the helm. Weichelt soon got the car back in the low-8s with the help of some nitro. He also set a British and European standing-start kilometer record of 17.7 seconds with a top speed of 275 kph.

In 1971, Weichelt returned to the U.S. and ran the car at the '71 U.S. Nationals after which the car disappeared. Despite Bob Keith's efforts, the car was lost for four decades until it was discovered by NASCAR/TV personality Ray Evernham in 2015. Thankfully, Evernham returned the car to Keith for a faithful restoration and it appeared at the 2015 California Hot Rod Reunion and was featured in an episode of Evernham's Americana TV show.