Living Nightmares: EJ Potter's Allison V12 Powered Drag Strip Behemoths

Four or five years ago American Pickers found 2 of his V8 bikes Widowmaker and Bloody Mary, both were purchased for 45k with the promise of putting them in a museum they also showed a video clip of EJ doing an exhibition run from 1999.

He also made a pulling tractor that he used to run locally here in midmichigan. It also had an Allison engine. Once when at a tractor pull, he took off with the sled in tow, and by the time he shut it down, he had left the end of the course and was across the street still pulling the weight sled. He was a legend here from Ithaca Michigan

I spoke to EJ a number times around 2006 when I bought his book. He would waffle on a bit and it was absolutely fascinating listening to him. The guy had had one of the most brilliant engineering minds and was way ahead of his time. It sounded like; rather than BS and talk about what he was going to do, he would just do it then talk about it and show what he had done. I owned one of his dynamometers and it was pretty interesting the way it was built. I am truly lucky to have come across him in my lifetime. If most people did 10% of what this guy did, they would be very satisfied. He was a true legend and the nicest person as well. Thank you for the video.

We need more people like this in the world

Jeez this guy had balls the size of bowling balls ! Fearless to say the very least. I've never heard of him and I certainly appreciate you sharing his story.

I was there for the Allison v12 Plymouth run at Atco. The car was white with a blue top and the body looked like he'd grabbed it out of the junkyard, EJ sitting in the backseat. He takes off with tires smoking and achieves great speed but doesn't stop at the end of the track and crashes mightily into the tree stump barricade that was not visible from the pits or the grandstands, old red Cadillac ambulance takes off for the crash site. After a long period of drama while waiting, the ambulance returns slowly back up the track with EJ standing on top in a victorious stance, waving his hands in the air, the sign of a true showman. We didn't know he was in pain, he didn't convey that to his fans and I don't think anyone who was there that day will forget that show, EJ was a master showman.

This guy is AMAZING! I cannot come up with anyone this engineering/maker like as a person today, everybody just gathers stuff nowadays, rather than make it from scratch. And he made stuff with zero autocad, zero 3d printing and all that - Impressive!

I read about Potter in a motorcycle magazine in the 1960’s. It said he started the V8 bike on the line with a center stand holding the rear wheel off the ground. No clutch, just revved it up with the wheel spinning an inch above the pavement, then rolled it forward off the stand! The front brake would get cooked every few runs, but he said he didn’t care because he bought a barrel full of them, used. Respect for his massive bravery, but I’m totally impressed by the fact that he engineered and built it all too.

My dad lived just down the road from EJ in Ithaca Michigan. My dad was a teenager then and always looked up to EJ. He used to tell me stories of hanging out and watching him work on stuff.

As a young Brit at the time I first read about the " Michigan Madman" in Hot Rod Magazine pictured sitting on his v eight motorcycle. One of my life's heroes. Sad to hear he's no longer with us with his wild machines and burning prodigious amounts of fuel. Great guy.

Brian, thank you for this series, and for THIS pod. Being from Michigan, I saw all of EJ's creations. Not only was he crazy, and a great showman, he was just a nice guy, very down to earth. Once again, thank you so much.

Two uploads in one week? Damn, Brian's putting in that overtime! Nicely done as always man. Such a gem of a story

That was great ! I knew of EJ and his bike exploits. I saw him at at a tractor pull here in Ontario with his Allison powered behemoth. It was crude but very interesting and was called "Double Ugly". Many , many thanks Brian ; greatly appreciated.

The alcohol dipped gloves... God damn that's a legendary story on its own. Glad he had a good keeper in the passenger seat. In his shoes I would've ducked out!! Even with the best moral support right next to me!

Seen his bike run a couple times and once looked it over and spoke with him, an interesting, intelligent guy with a real enthusiasm and belief in what he was doing

Needed a wagon to also carry his ginormous pair of balls down the strip. Absolutely tickled that the wagon got made back into a daily. Great vid and insight into one of drag racing’s pioneers

I remember seeing him at Atco with the Chevy Motorcycle. I remember a magazine article with a v-12 in the back of a Dodge Dart wagon.

Saw his pulling tractor when I was a kid. Amazing. Pulling was an awesome homegrown sport then

Thank you so much for the story. I have 25 years of mopar magazine and I live in Australia. I tell this story and most people think I’m full of shit. Great bloke with BALLS Thank you

Brian, I read E.J. Potters book and one thing he wrote that changed the way I looked at things in the mechanical world (My Day Job ) what he said was to always do your own research. And that statement has helped me fix more things efficiently and diagnose more problems correctly ...