The world can always use more videos from Rod Millen’s Leadfoot Festival, and that’s doubly true when the car in the video is Ray Evernham’s ridiculous 850-horsepower ‘36 Chevy called “The Ghost.” The car was built for Pikes Peak in 2018, where it ran 18th overall with a 10:11.334 time. It also did an exhibition run at Pocono in 2019 falling just short of the double-ton with a 196 mph run.

Running up Rod Millen’s driveway should be a piece of cake, then.

The 30s sedan takes a little bit of its DNA from a half dozen different motorsport disciplines, and can tackle pretty much anything you throw at it with verve. Despite having whatever he needed at his fingertips, Mr. Evernham didn’t use any computers in the car’s basic engineering, doing everything the old-school way. It’s got bits from NASCAR, Trans Am, Sports Cars, and IndyCar.

Under the hood is an 850-horsepower naturally aspirated Chevrolet SB2 engine that can rev out to 9000 rpm and all of that power is shuffled through a four-speed Jerico box. It’s equal parts delicate racer and rip-your-face-off insane machine.

This is such a weird project that could only have come out of the brain of Ray Evernham, and I’m so glad that it exists. These kinds of no-holds-barred builds should be protected at all cost, and are exactly the kind of thing that make hill climbs like Pikes Peak and Leadfoot the most exciting form of motorsport out there. The ingenuity is just killer.

The Ghost was on track for a top-ten shootout placement at Leadfood, but... Well, you saw what happened. Maybe the tight undulating pavement of the New Zealand driveway aren’t the perfect place for this big muscle-bound monster to stretch its legs. Then again, maybe it’s the perfect place for it.