What would you do if you had the opportunity to own your very first racecar again? Tony Zizzo, longtime racer and father of NHRA Top Fuel pilot TJ Zizzo, was presented with this scenario five years ago and jumped at the chance to buy back his very first dragster. This isn’t any ordinary dragster either — it was one of the rare streamliner-style cars and after a restoration that took years, Tony brought his car known as “Avenger” back to the track with a modern twist.

The story of Tony’s dragster begins in 1972 when the car was originally built by Missouri native Dave Stucky. When Stucky built the car he fabricated everything from the chassis to the futuristic streamliner-style body and it was debuted in Top Fuel trim by Bill Traylor from Traylor Engineering. The car only made passes with the standard dragster body on; the streamliner body never made a shakedown run as a Top Fueler.

Tony purchased the car in the late 1970s as his first Top Alcohol dragster since the car had been converted to run that class from Top Fuel. The car was campaigned by Tony with the regular dragster body on it and a blown big-block Chevy providing the power. While he owned the car Tony was able to run in the 6.80s consistently in Top Alcohol trim at different events across the country.

According to TJ, the car just never really gelled with his father completely so he decided to let it go.

“It was an ill-handling and uncomfortable car for him so he sold the chassis back in the early 1980s but he kept the streamliner body. He mounted that body to another alcohol dragster he had and ran it a couple of times, then sold that car and kept the streamliner body. He always wanted to go run at the salt flats in Bonneville and that’s why he kept the body — so he could possibly build a car around it someday.”

Time passed and Tony owned a number of different cars since his original Stucky-built dragster. Currently, Tony has his own modern Top Alcohol Dragster he races on occasion, a Pro Modified Willys, and even a Lakester that he has taken to Bonneville to run. The thought of seeking out his original car never entered his mind until fate stepped in and dropped the opportunity almost on his doorstep.

“About five years ago a local guy called dad up and said he had one of his original cars. Dad went and looked at the car and realized it was that original car. It was mostly intact and even had all the tabs on the chassis for the original streamliner body he had hanging from the rafters of his shop. The guy only wanted $2,500 for the car, so dad jumped on the opportunity and purchased it back,” TJ explains.

Over the next four years, Tony spent a lot of money and over 4,500 man-hours working on his dragster to make it nicer than it had ever been. The big-block Chevy that came with the car was removed even after TJ suggested the car be put back to the way it was originally run. Tony had a better idea.

“Dad said he didn’t know anything about the alcohol stuff anymore and said we should just put one of our modern Hemi Top Fuel engines in the car, so we did,” TJ says.

So, with that plan in mind, Tony embarked on the task of cramming a Top Fuel engine into a 1972 chassis that was far from modern. To make the package more manageable Tony put a smaller magneto on the engine, smaller fuel pump, and decided to only run 75-percent nitro in the tank.

“The car took a long time to get put together and it ended up in what we call his ‘museum’ at home. We were worried it would never run since anything that ends up there never sees the light of day. My crew chief Mike Kern came to us about a race at Route 66 Raceway called The Classic, where there are all kinds of nostalgia cars and suggested we bring it out. I brought it up to dad and he wasn’t sure at first. As the event approached he came to me and said everything was loaded up and he just needed to borrow my firesuit. We all piled into a dually truck with a tag trailer like the old days to see what the car would do,” TJ says.

After the car made it through tech it was brought back to the pits where it fired up on jack stands without any issues. The time had come for Tony and his dragster to make their maiden voyage down the track after 30 years — but things didn’t go according to plan. An oil line failed during the burnout, leaving oil on the racing surface. The car had to be shut off and pushed back before Tony could make his pass.

The team took the car back to the pits, repaired the issue and checked the entire engine over to make sure all was well. After the Avenger received a clean bill of health it was time for another attempt at making a pass, but there were still some questions about what the outcome would be.

“We decided that a half-track pass would be the best since not a soul on the team knew what this car would do. Dad rolled into the beams, stood on the gas, it went straight, didn’t shake, and went over 157 mph to the eighth. The chutes came out and the car stopped without any issues so we were all very pleased with that first pass,” TJ explains.

Tony eloquently describes what it’s like to drive a nostalgia-based Top Fuel dragster with a modern, fire-breathing nitro engine in it.

“It’s like putting a big-block Chevy in Jr. Dragster and sending a five-year-old down the track, that’s the kind of power this car has now with the new engine in it. Even with the smaller magneto, fuel pump, and lower percentage of nitro in the car, it’s still a total handful.”

Sliding into a car that has so much personal history for Tony was something he really enjoyed. There are so many people that talk about the car they wish they could get back, but he was able to actually make that happen and isn’t taking this chance for granted.

“Everything about the car came back to me really fast when I got in it. It’s still an uncomfortable car…you would have to be a twig for it to fit right. The car just felt good to get back into because it’s fun. The body flips up and down like a Funny Car so you can get in and out easier. I thought I would be smart and add an outside breathing system and that didn’t’ work out very well. It ended up pumping nitro fumes inside from the engine area so I had to flip that off real quick. I added an escape hatch on the front windshield so when I did the burnout I opened that up to get the fumes and smoke out,” Tony says.

After the first trip to Route 66 Raceway with Avenger, Tony plans on getting the car out again to see what it can really do before it’s fully retired. “We are going to run it a couple of more times maybe and see how fast it will actually go. After that, I think I’ll be satisfied knowing wha it will go with that engine in it and then I’ll make it a show car again,” Tony explains.

It’s not very often you see a classic dragster like this get a new lease on life and Tony Zizzo is more than happy with his choice to bring the Avenger back. With its ultra-cool streamliner body and modern Top Fuel engine, this dragster is the bridge between old-school design ideas and modern brute-force power.