Challengers Reunited

Words Rory Ward Photos Boyd Jaynes

Mickey Thompson standing with Challenger III (left) and Challenger IV (right) in late 1978. Photo: Petersen’s archives

Mickey watches as son Danny Thompson heads out on the 3rd lap of the 1978 MINT 400. Despite overheating and a couple flat tires, Challenger IV was leading Overall and had already set fast lap for the race. Photo: Trackside photo

he name Mickey Thompson is synonymous with SPEED. Starting at an early age he could be found building hot rods out of his California garage. His love for automobiles drove him to the T salt flats of Bonneville as he set multiple land speed records in multiple vehicles. He then moved to Indy cars, innovating what is now known as ground effects and low profile tires that became the standard. Drag racing was next with more Championships and records falling in his wake. Mickey

was always trying to build a better mouse trap…but faster.

In the late 60’s Mickey was introduced to off road racing and he really

enjoyed the challenge, but most of all it was the lack of strict rules in off road unlike what Indy car and Drag racing imposed. He felt as though

he had one hand tied behind his back when it came to creative freedom

in the pavement formulas of motorsport. After competing in the early

NORRA events in a Bill Stroppe prepared Ford truck, Mickey knew he could build something better. He built a couple trucks in the early 70’s but then

wanted to move out of the truck class and move into the highly competitive

unlimited vehicles known as class 1.

Larry Minor and Roger Mears at the 1975 Baja 500 in the “Smokey SSI” chassis.

Photo: Trackside Photo

III

IV

After purchasing the Smokey SSI chassis from Minor (left), Mickey parked it in the race shop as it waited for its turn at a complete rebuild.

Photo: Bruce Parrish

IV

Challenger IV under construction in early 1977. Photo: Bruce Parrish

The story of Mickey’s off road Challenger cars (Challenger III and

Challenger IV) would actually begin with Larry Minor in 1975. Larry won the

inaugural NORRA Mexican 1000 in 1967 with teammate Rod Hall in a Jeep. From there on he was hooked and was always looking for different ways to go faster. Larry was introduced to Smokey Allerman, a Sprint car guy who was to build his first unlimited desert car. In a time where the unlimited class

1 vehicles ran VW-inspired suspension and motors, Larry wanted something different and something to compete against the Parnelli Jones Chevy Blazer. Smokey developed a single seat chassis known as “Smokey SSI” with a 301ci

magnesium MT block with fuel injection, built by none other than Smokey Yunick with a straight axle front suspension with a unique torsion bar setup

followed by a live axle rear suspension also assisted with torsion bars.

After the 1975 season the car was parked as Larry was pursuing his Drag

racing career. He still loved Off Road and sometime in 1976 or early 1977 he had his mechanic prep the racer for a possible return to the desert. Right

around that same time Mickey Thompson stopped by his shop and told Larry

he was interested in buying the car. Larry wasn’t really interested in selling

but has said, “You know how Mickey can be” and the next thing you know the car was on a trailer back to Mickey’s shop.

Using the Smokey SSI as a template, Mickey contacted Smokey Allerman to have another chassis built with some suspension changes. Chief mechanic

John House, son Danny Thompson and Bruce Parrish would finish the new chassis with the upgraded A-arm front suspension and a 3-link rear

suspension with coil over shocks. This car would come to be known as

Challenger IV (CH4). The “Truggy” platform (part truck, part buggy) would revolutionize class 1, so much so that the “Truggy” concept would later be deemed illegal for the class sometime around 2013.

It wasn’t until late 1977 when CH4 was complete that Mickey turned his

guys loose on the “Smokey SSI” chassis and turned it into Challenger III

(CH3). The front suspension was reworked with a new steering system, two more shocks and a new rear suspension to match that of CH4. Both cars were

painted to match so they looked almost identical. It seemed the cars would

get upgraded after almost every race, be it a different shock package, bigger wing or whatever Mickey thought the cars were lacking at that particular time.

CH3 was specifically rebuilt for short course racing, mainly the SCORE Riverside Off Road World Championships. Larry raced it at Riverside in 1975, then after he sold it Mickey used it as a camera car to follow the racers around

the track at Riverside in 1977.

ED IT un E R S GER n HALLE | C

IV

Challenger IV (left) and Challenger III

(right) sit in the back corner of the race

shop in the late 80’s. Both cars show

evidence of being used as parts cars for

Thompson’s later builds.

Photo: Lyndy Thompson

III

Challenger III sitting outside Danny Thompson’s race shop in Colorado.

Rory and Cody would soon reunite CH3 & CH4 back together after almost

34 years. Photo: Danny Thompson

Challenger IV sitting in a loft at Lyndy Thompson’s race shop. Photo: Rory Ward

CH4 on the other hand was built with a longer wheelbase to handle the

harsh deserts of California, Arizona, Nevada and Mexico. That big V8 power would prove its worth on the fast graded roads, with a top speed of around 150mph. The rougher courses had CH4 at a slight disadvantage with its

weight roughly double its competitors’ and Mickey would have to lean on

the skinny pedal a little more to stay at the lead or with the leaders. All eyes

widened at the 1978 MINT 400 as Mickey and son Danny would lead the

race Overall for 3 laps until contact with a lapped vehicle would take out the steering. The thought of this so-called heavy racer beating all the light

weight unlimiteds had the fast guys worried.

As with all of Mickey Thompson’s desert creations, they were “over the top” and always a front runner. Problem was, in my opinion, Mickey had so much going on in between races with multiple businesses and projects that his desert cars never really got the needed R&D to make them bullet proof, or in this case “Mickey proof.” The best quote I’ve ever heard about Mickey

Thompson and his monster builds goes something like this. When asked

what came to mind from desert racing people when they heard the name

Mickey Thompson, someone responded with “Loud...Fast... and about 2 laps”

Like Challenger IV, it was extremely fast, but weighing almost double that of his competition, he really had to drive the hell out of it to run up front. And he usually did...until it broke.

Both cars had flashes of greatness but would usually fall prey to a DNF after running at or near the front of the pack. By the end of 1980 both cars

would be pushed to the back of the shop, sitting on jack stands and parts being “borrowed” for other projects.

On March 16th 1988, Mickey and Trudy Thompson were murdered on the driveway of their Bradbury home as they were heading to work. Son

Danny and daughter Lyndy would be in charge of dividing up Mickey’s assets

amongst the family, a very dark day in the motorsports world for sure. Fast forward 23 years later, I spotted a photo of Challenger IV on the internet and determined its location. A deal was struck in 2011 and the restoration began

on one of the most technically advanced desert cars of its time. Three years later

CH4 would race in the deserts of Baja again at the 2014 NORRA Mexican 1000. In 2016 CH4 would make its way to win its first race at the MINT 400.

In August of 2021, myself and Cody Swanty struck a deal with Danny Thompson to acquire CH3 so it too could be restored. It took a year to find the right parts, machining and getting her all cleaned up to be reunited with her “almost” twin sister CH4. It was a labor of love to get these two racers

back in the public eye to showcase the incredible mind Mickey Thompson

envisioned when building these cars back in 1977.

Mickey Thompson has given so much to competitive motorsports

including designing and building the first slingshot dragster, revolutionized open wheel racing with ground effects and even built an All-Wheel-Drive

Indy car of his own design in 1967. Thompson designed, built and produced his own shocks and tires, was the first man to 406mph in a land speed car, founded SCORE international off road racing series and later the Mickey Thompson Entertainment Group (MTEG) short course series. These two race cars are only a small taste of what this man was able to dream up in his short

time here on Earth. Just think what kind of ingenious innovations he would have concocted if he were still with us today.