Burger Baron was a familiar name in Western Canada’s fast-food industry for many decades, particularly in small town Alberta communities where the brand was a fixture and still exists in a few of them to this very day.
The legacy of their burgers made the Burger Baron name famous in Alberta, but older car guys in the Canadian province may remember the fast-food brand was also on a ¼ mile track car back in the 1960s.
Jim Sutherland

The car in question began life as a 1933 Ford Model 40 Tudor Sedan and eventually found its way to the Edmonton Speedway Park as a quarter mile machine during the back half of the 1960s. All good things must come to an end, including a race-track career for a pre-war hot rod, so the Ford was retired and forgotten until it was purchased by Randy Gegolick in the early 1990s.

Randy had a game plan for his old track warrior: resurrect the old Burger Baron track car as a street machine. Randy’s goal was not for faint-hearted or under-skilled car guys because the former race car from the Sixties was gutted to reduce its overall weight, a process that meant Randy had to deal with a long list of missing body parts.

The Burger Baron version’s old school 392 Hemi track engine was also missing, so Randy decided to head in a different direction with his version, namely a 5.0-liter engine donated by a dearly departed 1987 Ford product.

The Blue Oval small block was also fuel injected, so Randy was able to enjoy then-current fuel delivery efficiency when he installed it into his ’33 Ford project. Randy also added a Ford C-4 automatic transmission into the powertrain mix, a choice that kept his Ford-in-Ford game plan alive and well during the process.

The Blue Oval plan continued with Randy’s choice of a Ford 8-inch rear end with 2:79 highway gears because he wanted to drive the repurposed ’33 Ford instead of racing it ¼ mile at a time.

In his words, Randy felt “no need to burn tires” with his hot rod and who can really blame him since the former track car had already proven its worth during its former life when the car ran 121 mph in the quarter mile.

The car is an amalgamation of Randy’s choice for the best style features found on early 1930s Fords, including the curved front grille offered on the 1933 Ford Model 40 versions.

Randy added extra stopping power to the Ford when he installed disc brakes on all four wheels of his hot rod, a decision inspired by the fact he wanted to drive the car in modern traffic. He also added an electric wiper system to his ’33 Ford for the same reason.

Creature comforts were in Randy’s game plan, so he installed a 1990 Toyota driver’s seat with power lumbar and side support for the long-haul trips in his ’33 Ford.

The net result is a former track star that has become a road star under Randy’s ownership. It was a tall order when Randy chose to tackle the major rebuild challenge, but now he has enjoyed many years of happy motoring memories in his ’33 Ford.

He made an excellent decision in our opinion here at MyStarCollectorCar.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
- CLICK HERE to Sign Up for the Newsletter
- CLICK HERE to Like us on Facebook
- CLICK HERE to Follow us on Twitter
- CLICK HERE to Follow us on Pinterest