Throwback Thursday

[aunty dive]

 

[Revman]

A day late and a buck short.

An awesome engineering exercise before engineering was a thing.

 

[sdj]

A day late and a buck short.

That's called an "ASS WHOOPIN" where I come from.

 

[Formerjackman]

An awesome engineering exercise before engineering was a thing.

Some of the people involved in the wing car project were Chrysler engineers assigned to their aerospace division., so engineering was a thing even back then.

 

[Revman]

Some of the people involved in the wing car project were Chrysler engineers assigned to their aerospace division., so engineering was a thing even back then.

Well, it wasn't a thing people bitched about....might have even admired it.

 

[StandOnIt]

Well, it wasn't a thing people bitched about....might have even admired it.

You kidding? They outlawed the car, outlawed the motor, the Mopars quit the series. All kinds of hell was going on at that time.

 

[Greg]

You kidding? They outlawed the car, outlawed the motor, the Mopars quit the series. All kinds of hell was going on at that time.

Mopar verses Ford. Both provided a lot of factory support in those days and lobbied hard to get what they wanted (including restricting the competition). What wins on Sunday sales on Monday was much more important in those days.

The fans complained a lot too but I think the biggest push came from the Ford vs Mopar thing and resulted in banning or limiting the competitions wings or areo and certain engines.

Note: I just barely remember those cars and they were banned or limited by the time I started following the GN series on a weekly basis in in 1971. My posted thoughts are mostly what the other older folks I knew explained to me along with reading about it. I love racing and the people but the drivers and fans have always beem chronic complainers it never stops. We just have the internet to amplify the complainets now.

 

[Formerjackman]

Actually, I think the fans for the most part loved it, it was Bill France Sr. that was not that enamored with ultra low production specialty cars made just to get a competitive advantage in NASCAR. Remember that one of the primary reasons (besides Ford's complaints) for the Hemi getting outlawed the first time was the fact that it was not readily available in models sold to the general public at that time. Chrysler's withdrawal from NASCAR, as well as their relenting and making the Hemi a regular production option gave France cause to reinstate it. Of course what France probably didn't know at the time of the specialty car ban is that the situation would pretty much remedy itself soon enough with the withdrawal of the Ford and Chrysler from active racing support in NASCAR. More interesting to me is that just a few short years later, NASCAR allowed a car like the Chevy Laguna S3 to compete, a car clearly aerodynamically massaged for NASCAR competition, although it was never a limited production car, just an ugly one.

 

[Mike Crayne]

This hangs in my Buddys shop. His wife got it in 77 or 78. This same weekend she ran her brother-in-laws underwear up Michigan's flagpole. She said they didnt stay up long but they were there!

 

[StandOnIt]

Actually, I think the fans for the most part loved it, it was Bill France Sr. that was not that enamored with ultra low production specialty cars made just to get a competitive advantage in NASCAR. Remember that one of the primary reasons (besides Ford's complaints) for the Hemi getting outlawed the first time was the fact that it was not readily available in models sold to the general public at that time. Chrysler's withdrawal from NASCAR, as well as their relenting and making the Hemi a regular production option gave France cause to reinstate it. Of course what France probably didn't know at the time of the specialty car ban is that the situation would pretty much remedy itself soon enough with the withdrawal of the Ford and Chrysler from active racing support in NASCAR. More interesting to me is that just a few short years later, NASCAR allowed a car like the Chevy Laguna S3 to compete, a car clearly aerodynamically massaged for NASCAR competition, although it was never a limited production car, just an ugly one.

The reason the Hemi was banned was because it made so much more horsepower than anybody else. The way it was banned was that a rule was made that said it wasn't a production engine. Later Nascar limited engine cubic inches and got rid of all of the big blocks Hemi included. Ford had an overhead cam whopper in the works. It was getting real crazy.

 

[Formerjackman]

The reason the Hemi was banned was because it made so much more horsepower than anybody else. The way it was banned was that a rule was made that said it wasn't a production engine. Later Nascar limited engine cubic inches and got rid of all of the big blocks Hemi included. Ford had an overhead cam whopper in the works. It was getting real crazy.

And yet the Hemi got let back in, while the equally strong Ford SOHC motor never did. The reasoning? Most likely because the Hemi became a standard production option and the SOHC likely was never going to.

 

[StandOnIt]

 

[rd45usa]

 

[Greg]

Young Mark Martin (the one wearing the cap) sometime in the mid 1980's.
^

 

[Greg]

 

[DRS3]

View attachment 77811View attachment 77812View attachment 77813View attachment 77814

Compact Car race
Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, FL
January 31, 1960
20 laps on 2.5 mile paved oval; 50 miles

Fin	St	Driver	#	Owner	Car	Laps	Money	Status	Laps Led
1​	​	Marvin Panch	8​		1960 Plymouth Valiant	20​	​	running​	​
2​	​	Roy Schecter	17​		1960 Plymouth Valiant	20​	​	running​	​
3​	​	Larry Frank	76​		1960 Plymouth Valiant	20​	​	running​	​
4​	​	Joe Weatherly	12​		1960 Ford Falcon	19​	​	running​	​
5​	​	Curtis Turner	26​		1960 Ford Falcon	19​	​	running​	​
6​	​	Jim Reed	19​		1960 Chevrolet Corvair	19​	​	running​	​
7​	​	Harry Atkinson	99​		1960 Ford Falcon	18​	​	​	​
8​	​	Fireball Roberts	22​		1960 Chevrolet Corvair	18​	​	​	​
9​	​	Denise McCluggage	45​		1960 Volvo	18​	​	​	​
10​	​	Pedro Rodríguez de la Vega	10​		1960 Volvo	18​	​	​	​
11​	​	Chuck Dietrich	46​		1960 Volvo	18​	​	​	​
12​	​	Ed Hugus	21​		1960 Chevrolet Corvair	17​	​	​	​
13​	​	Art Riley	48​		1960 Volvo	17​	​	​	​
14​	​	Ricardo Rodríguez de la Vega	20​		1960 Chevrolet Corvair	17​	​	​	​
15​	​	Jim Kaperonis	49​		1960 Chevrolet Corvair	17​	​	​	​
16​	​	John Hill	44​		1959 Volvo	17​	​	​	​
17​	​	Speedy Thompson	98​		1960 Simca	17​	​	​	​
18​	​	Bill Reidel	69​		1960 Studebaker Lark	17​	​	​	​
19​	​	Herb Byrne	57​		1958 Morris	13​	​	​	​
20​	​	Corky Blair	80​		1958 Volvo	6​	​	​	​
21​	​	Jeff Stevens	16​		1960 Plymouth Valiant	4​	​	accident​	​
22​	​	Jim Clear	23​		1958 Volvo	3​	​	​	​
23​	​	Richard Petty	43​		1960 Plymouth Valiant	2​	​	accident​	​
24​	​	Paul O'Shea	9​		1960 Plymouth Valiant	2​	​	accident​	​
25​	​	Gene Stokes	25​		1959 Volvo	1​	​	​	​

Time of race: 00:24:32
Average Speed: 122.282 MPH

 

[aunty dive]

The Rodriguez brothers.

Jeezus …

 

[DRS3]

Ole Pedro won a few big races, and Fireball is driving a Corvair....

 

[StandOnIt]

The Plymouth's were running the leaning tower of power slant 6's. One of them wrecked or the Plymouth's would have probably finished 1-4 lol.

 

[Greg]

The Plymouth's were running the leaning tower of power slant 6's. One of them wrecked or the Plymouth's would have probably finished 1-4 lol.

Slanted to match the tracks degrees of banking to be perfectly balanced.....

 

[Greg]

A young Buddy Baker in front of the Impala.

The DiGard car that Donnie Allison drove sometime around 1973 and 1974.

 

[rd45usa]

 

[StandOnIt]

 

[aunty dive]

I wonder where Tanya Tucker is?

 

[Greg]

 

[StandOnIt]

 

[Greg]

 

[Greg]

^
Friday Hassler

 

[aunty dive]

^ I knew the guy who owned / drove the 28 pictured above at Langley Speedway near Vancouver, B.C.

John Rothwell. He’s gone now. RIP.

 

[StandOnIt]

The 43 Plymouth car flat towed to the track. Hell yeah lol.

 

[Formerjackman]

View attachment 78021View attachment 78022View attachment 78023View attachment 78024View attachment 78025View attachment 78026

My grandmother worked for Howard's Photo Lab for many years until she was forced to retire at age 63 due to injuries from a car accident. The business is long gone of course, but the building is still there, across the street from the Fort Wayne International Airport terminal. In later years Howard's was owned by Guardian Industries (the auto glass and insulation people). One of the employee perks was every year she was entitled to X number of bags of loose fill attic insulation. I think my dad and I put that stuff in every family member's attic.

 

[Greg]

The 43 Plymouth car flat towed to the track. Hell yeah lol.

I never knew many of the racers in the photos and I am sure that is no surprise. This is just my way of respecting the sheet metal and all those racers for their contributions.

But I do remember seeing a lot of cars back in the day with the tow bars attached the car. It wasn't unusual back in those days.

Saw a lot of trunk lids secured or held in the closed position with an exposed long horizontal spring pulled over some type of tab or lip as well.

 

[Greg]

The orange painted headers was badass.

 

[rd45usa]

1986

 

[rd45usa]

1987

 

[StandOnIt]

 

[Greg]

Great stuff, this thread is a good reminder if how the years fly by so fast

 

[Greg]

 

[rd45usa]

 

[Greg]

I think most everybody liked Buddy Baker and had good memories of him. But I really like this picture because it looks like the gentle giant was big and tall enough to wear that old Nova.

If he had ever forgotten to unhook the seat belts, he would have just dragged that little car everywhere behind him through the infield.

^