One of the Maverick's greatest innovations was the invention of the two-wheel brake guidance system. Around 1967, Maverick was visiting his mother, May, in Shoneytown, Illinois, and as they were standing out in the driveway looking at the truck she said, "Son, you're going to have to figure out some way to guide this thing while you're up in the air, or I'm afraid you're going to get yourself hurt." Maverick returned to Dodge's Woodward Avenue Garage and got together with a team of Chrysler engineers. They collectively came up with a two-wheel rear-drum brake guidance system using a pair of stand-alone Dodge master cylinders, activated by a pair of right-and left-side handbrakes borrowed from a pair of Dodge P-300 truck chassis. Maverick explained to Truckin', "I figured that this thing was fail-safe. When I pulled on the right brake handle, the truck would steer to the right. When I pulled on the left brake handle, the truck would steer to the left. The first time I ran with this setup was at an AHRA race in Arizona. I didn't think it was going to take as much effort as it did to apply power to each wheel, but it did. So, it was back to the drawing board. Fortunately, I knew Frank Airheart from Hurst-Airheart disc-brake fame. We were able to improve on the basic design using one of Frank's rear-disc brake setups, complete with heavy-duty master cylinders, and the whole enchilada."
During the last 39 years, there have been a total of six Little Red Wagon Dodge A-100 wheelstanders, and the Maverick and his candy-apple red Dodge A-100s have played to packed houses from the tip of Canada to the Mexican border. In the process, Bill, "Maverick" Golden and the Little Red Wagon have been inducted into the Don Garlits Museum of Drag Racing and International Hall of Fame (where the Little Red Wagon VI proudly sits on display), as well as establishing the 1977 Guinness World Book of Records long distance record for wheelstanders at 4,320 feet. Today, at more than 70 years old, Bill "Maverick" Golden is still out there entertaining fans, if only on a limited basis.
"Driving the Little Red Wagon was, and always will be, one of the high points of my 50-plus-year professional drag racing career," said Golden.
Standing Up to the CompetitionAs far as establishing a lineage or family tree of wheelstanders, Little Red Wagon I (truck), and the Hurst Hemi Under Glass (car) are the undisputed pioneers. But what came next in line?
Although there were a number of wheelstanding trucks being built in those early days, one of the earliest versions we know of was Bill Kolb Jr.'s Monty Gatti-constructed, Larsen Ford-sponsored Little Yellow Wagon. This '64 Ford Econoline pickup was built around July, 1964, and it was powered by a B&L-prepared, 427 Ford Hi-Riser engine. That summer, Little Red Wagon I, Kolb, and the Hurst Hemi Under Glass all met at the 1964 NHRA Nationals, where all three vehicles made exhibition runs, in spite of the fact that there was no official class for these vehicles. Another early entry in the wheelie truck biz was Easterner Dick Belfatti and his 396 semi-Hemi Chevrolet-powered Teleflex Trick Truck, which appeared in the spring of 1965, and was featured on the cover of Super Stock & Drag Illustrated magazine. Out on the West Coast, Chuck Poole and his Chuck Wagon Dodge A-100 wheelstander came onto the scene sometime in 1966. Poole's M&S Welding-constructed Chuck Wagons (there were at least four) were some of the fastest and most beautiful wheelie trucks running. Poole is widely credited for inventing the smoky burnout for wheelstanders. He was also one of the first to outfit his Chuck Wagon with titanium bars mounted to the underside of the tailgate. The titanium sparks put on one hell of a show at night, delighting the fans wherever he appeared. Poole was even known to have tried two blown 426 Hemi engines (Chuck Wagon III) mounted in tandem, but the added weight of the second blown Hemi sort of defeated the purpose.