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In 1958 a friend of George's told him he had seen an “ugly ‘ol Willys,” just the car he needed to have.  It was a running, driving, all steel '33 Willys at a salvage yard in Hillsboro, Ohio.  George bought it for $100.  Construction of the now famous 1933 Willys didn't use anything off the '34 Ford, the Willys had a fresh motor, blower, and tranny. George got that car done in time to  compete  in the NHRA Nationals in Detroit, Michigan, on Labor Day, 1959. It won both "A" Gas and Little Eliminator classes. The car also introduced the now infamous "Concrete Spare Tire" for optimum rear weight distribution. This "spare tire" truly showed the ingenuity of George Montgomery but was later banned by NHRA. With superior overall vehicle appearance long being a Montgomery standard, that first event also saw the Willys competing in the NHRA National Champion Custom Car Show, in which it won the Best Competition Car award. All of George's cars through the years have continued that great look. George went on to score class wins at the NHRA Nationals in 1959, 1960, and 1961.  He became one of the first racers to win consecutive Nationals with his back-to-back victories in Little Eliminator in 1959 and 1960. George won his class again in 1961 after switching to a blown small-block Chevy to run the new A/GS Supercharged class where he won Class and Middle Eliminator at the 1963 Nationals. In 1964, George's Willys was selected as one of the ten best American drag cars to participate in the US Drag Festival in England. Throughout the 1960s, George was one of the most frequently booked AA/Gas supercharged racers on the match race circuit, often going head to head against Mazmanian, Stone-Woods-Cook, Pittman, and the other stars of the category. 
Drag racing's booming popularity soon caught the eye of Detroit's “Big Three” automotive manufacturers, who soon began recruiting quarter-mile talent for their own factory race teams. In 1966 George was quickly picked up by Ford as one of the racers selected to develop the company's new 427 c.i. SOHC hemi engine. Montgomery quickly made good use of the engine's added horsepower, racking up class wins at the US Nationals in 1966 and 1967, along with a Class trophy at the 1967 Winter Nationals. Still running his '33 Willys body at the time, Montgomery was approached by Ford to consider racing with a more current body - one which was similar to those on display on Ford dealer showroom floors. In mid-1967, George put together and began running a new Ford Mustang body on a Willy’s chassis, it was known as the Malco Gasser.  It had a Ford C-6 transmission, Ford 9" rear end with a torque tube and axles he had fabricated himself. It also included many other of his custom designed items. He immediately realized the benefits of the car’s inherently superior handling and aerodynamic characteristics. Said Montgomery, "The Willys was actually a very poor handling car, but at the