17 replies to this topic

[HistoricMustang]

Never had the skill to attempt more than one or two automobile models but they have always held my attention. A search discovered but one thread that might support this attempt at viewing these masterpieces.

http://forums.autosp...ighlight=models

Thanks to all that will share and I will borrow this one from an individual that I have asked to join us in this adventure here at TNF.

Henry

OUTLAWED!-Number 2 in a Series.

Ol' Pops didn't cool his jets just because Big Bill wouldn't let him play in his back yard. While he would have much rather been rubbing fenders with the good ol' boys of Nascar, he still got in his licks behind the wheel of his favorite brand of automobile.

He ran some dirt tracks, some paved tracks and even made a few rapid trips up to the top of little hill in Colorado named after some guy called Pike. Bet it felt pretty strange going UP the mountain and with no one chasing him.

Here's the HM Galaxie Curtis drove in some USAC races in '63 that I think is the same car that wound up being campaigned by Wendell Scott after Turner crunched it a little up north.

[Bjorn Kjer]

Nice thought , hope it will catch on !

[HistoricMustang]

Am hoping Jerry will join us soon to share his EXTENSIVE collection. He has given approval to share another.

Henry

OUTLAWED! Number one in a series.

INTRODUCTION

Everybody knows that whatever Nascar says GOES! It's always been their way or the highway and sometimes the role of benevolent dictator was not only the best way but the only way to keep everyone straight.

When Big Bill was running the show there were times he had to stand alone (without the megabucks that Brian enjoys having behind him today) against some pretty tough customers- drivers, car owners and mechanics, not to mention the Big 3 Automakers.

In this rich and varied history there were some notable times that William H. G. France Sr. had to put his big foot down even if there was a good chance it could wind up being stomped or in his own mouth. I think the success of the sanctioning body through all those difficult times proves that, love him or hate him, he was the right, and possibly only, man for the job.

As I looked through pictures of my model collection I saw cars that brought to mind some of the birthing pains of the great sport of stock car racing and wanted to share them with you.

To some the stories will be well worn friends and to others new and fresh. But to all they are the story of how we got to here from there so many years ago. I hope you enjoy the ride.

____________________________________________________________

The first in this series had to be ol' Pops himself. Once quoted as saying, "I don't think I'd be happy if I wasn't in some kind of trouble", he got kicked out of Nascar for trying to organize the drivers as part of the Teamster's Union to raise money to help him finish and hold on to the Charlotte Motor Speedway back in '61.

It ended badly with Turner getting kicked out of both Nascar and the speedway before it was over. To keep his hand in he would run whenever and wherever he could and wound up in this '64 Ford running USAC races.

1964 also marked his return to his beloved Charlotte Motor Speedway where he won the 250 mile ARCA race by lapping the field in one of Jack Bowsher's '64 Fords. I got to see that race as a kid with a bunch of other Boy Scouts that always got invited to the support races back then. It is still one of my favorite racing memories to this day.

[Bjorn Kjer]

To some extent the NASCAR drivers also raced other cars , making this all the more interesting. Didnt know this on Turner ! Thanks ! The lovely photos combined with their transporters makes a whole world by itself!
For those with a combi interest , have a look at : http://gwadagone.fotki.com/nascar (yes I know these pics are of real cars , but still....)

[HistoricMustang]

Thanks again Jerry for allowing me to share with the TNF members!

OUTLAWED-#3 In a Series.

While the factories had been tap dancing around getting involved in big time stock car racing in the early fifties( OK, the Hudson effort was a full blown Vegas review), by the time 1957 rolled around the gloves were off and it seemed no holds were barred. Nowhere was it more evident than at the Chevrolet Division of General Motors where they not only encouraged the use of their product, but even came out with a 24 page guide to tell anyone who was interested just what to do to make the new '57 Chevy competitive on the racing circuit.

It had everything in it from which model to use on what type of track to engine and gear combos for different types of tracks all the way to how to modify a car for the hostile enviroment of bullrings and larger ovals. But one section, more than any other, let it be known that the "Bowtie Brigade" was dead serious about the racing thing.

It said, in effect, that the cars, engines, gears and other heavy duty parts were availible in short supply and that if you weren't "on the factory's 'short list' then you need not apply". But if there were any doubts as to how serious Chevy was about this new venture, this little rocket dispelled all doubts.

As purpose built as anything that rolled onto the Brickyard on Memorial Day, albeit built from the parts bins at Chevrolet instead of Curtis, Miller and Offy, the new Chevrolet "Black Widow" was intended to put everyone else on the trailer. With six lug truck hubs, a fuel injected Corvette engine and several other goodies, this Stovebolt caused Peter DePaolo and Bill Stroppe no end of headaches as the 1957 racing season opened up.

[HistoricMustang]

OUTLAWED-Number 4 in a Series.

Not really sure if this represents an outlaw situation or a self imposed exile. Back in the early fifties one of the most feared combinations was the Fabulous Hudson Hornet and Daytona speedster Marshall Teague. He won and led races in Nascar events until his ambitions caught up with him and sent him north in search of his dream to win Indianapolis. You know how well that set with France and Teague probably got word through the grapevine that he was "expendable" as far as souther stock car racing went.

Here's one of his mounts in the USAC stock car division from the '56 season as he chased fame and fortune on the northern ovals. Sadly, his dream of an Indy 500 win eluded him and by the late fifties the Daytona native was looking for a way to return to southern stock car racing. It was not to end well, however.

While trying to mend fences with his former friend Big Bill France, Teague attempted to be the first man to turn a 180 mph lap at the newly opened Daytona International Speedway. While on a speed run on February 11, 1959 Marshall's indy type car, the "Sumar Special", lifted slightly entering the first turn and and slide down the track. As the car reached the safety apron it begam a series of flips that covered over 1,500 feet from the first flip until the car came to rest. Teague, still strapped in his seat, wound up 150 feet ahead of where the car stopped. Teague' record run, attempted comeback and his life all ended on the new Daytona asphalt that early Wednesday morning.



Gentlemen, perhaps additional photographs and maybe a story or two?

Henry

[HistoricMustang]

With the advent of Chevy's fuel injected "Black Widow", everyone knew that the Blue Oval boys would have something special up their sleeve when Speedweeks rolled around.

Ralph Moody was still one of the starting drivers for the factory Ford team when the supercharged "New For '57" Fords showed up for the beginning of the season.

As Ford's fastest "executive" in '57 Moody lapped the field, twice, at the season's sixth race at Wilson, NC showing the "real" drivers how it's done. That was something that Ralph could do as long as HM was in operation, letting the air out of several "real race car drivers" sails when they questioned how much a mere mechanic could know about fast driving.

Like the "War of Northern Aggression" it depends on which camp you are in as to who is the bad guy, but as a lifelong Ford fan I still think that GM was behind the pressure that caused the pull out of the factories in mid season. First, Chevy's fuel injection (which was a source of major headaches to the mechanics) and Ford's superchargers were pulled and later the AMA voted to distance itsself from any forms of racing all together.

That left John Holman with the job of overseeing the building of most of the Ford race cars and Ralph Moody handling the fabrication with a mortgage on his airplane. And a racing Dynasty was born. Say What? Yep, Ford offered their entire racing setup, less the cars and trailers given to their drivers, to John Holman for $12,000 but he didn't have the money so Ralph took out a lien on his plane and history was in the making.

It was pretty slow going at first so they knew they had to broaden their customer base somehow. With the success of their cars on the Nascar Circuit it was still "preaching to the choir" when they advertised winning races in the Southern newspapers and the race programs. So these "good ol' boys", one from California and the other from Massachusetts no less, like good Rebels, took the fight to the Yankees.

Ralph took his red and white #22 '57 and turned it loose on USAC. He didn't win the first outing at a 300 mile race at Trenton NJ because problems put him five laps down early on. But to say he got their attention would be an understatement when he made up four of them during the latter part of the event.

Three weeks later he began a run that gave Moody a 1-2 victory with Troy Ruttman in the 150 mile USAC race in Milwaukee, and a win in August in a 200 miler and another win in a 250 miler later in the season, both at Milwaukee. He then came back in October to win the USAC 100 miler in Birmingham. The four victories and a second place finish in USAC's points race cemented Holman Moody's reputation. Adding this to their success on the Southern circuit, the orders came rolling in and "California Speed Equipment" pretty soon came to mean drag racing only.

[HistoricMustang]

When the Chrysler teams rolled into Daytona at the start of the 1964 Speedweeks they had a surprise for Ford and it wasn't pleasant. After trying to catch what they considered an illegal and limited run engine in Junior Johnson's Chevy for most of the previous season Ford had hoped to have a better time of it in '64.

Unfortunately for the FoMoCo teams Chrysler had dusted off a design that, along with a certain outboard motor manufacturer, had given everybody else nightmares in the mid-fifties. Yep, the HEMI was back and better than ever.

Speedweeks was a rerun of the year before for Ford but with around ten or so superfast rides in the Ford competition's camp instead of two or three. And this time it looked like they would last to the end of the race. Here's the Dodge version of Ford's hemi powered nightmare driven by an emerging star for the Dodge marque. Bobby Isaac. Poor old star crossed Bobby. He sat out most of '65 because of the Hemi ban and then switched to Ford in '66 just in time for the Ford boycott over the single overhead cam engine flap.

Ford got a reprieve of sorts in '65 with the outlawing of the powerful Hemi and had one of the most one sided seasons in Nascar history. Without any clearcut competition Ford won most of the races but doing so over fields full of independents and one and two year old cars it couldn't even feel good about that. Somedays it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.



Thanks again Jerry for allowing me to share!

[HistoricMustang]

Unlike British royalty that starts at birth, no one expected that tall lanky kid from Level Cross to become "King Richard" when you began racing. Least of all Popps Lee who had to find places out behind the shop to put all the ruined sheet metal ol' "Ski King" presented him with in the early days.

But there were flashes of brilliance in the beginning with good finishes here and there, a win or two and there was that Rookie of the Year thing. But it seemed that equipment kept holding him back. At first it was the hand-me-down cars that his championship winning Daddy made availible to him and later the underpowered Plymouths he struggled with after Daytona vitually put his Daddy out of the driver's seat and almost in the ground. But there was a storm brewing on the horizon that would rock racing and catapult the young North Carolinian to the throne.

The first rumblings of the coming storm was word from Goodyear's five mile test track in Texas about certain Plymouths and Dodges turning in speeds of around 180 MPH. Keep in mind that the pole for the '63 Daytona 500 was won by Fireball Roberts at 160.943 in Banjo Matthews Pontiac.

It didn't get any better when Petty, who had qualified at 154.785 the year before, qualified at 174.418 to start on the outside pole. When the dust had settled Petty had won his first Daytona 500 and was on the way to winning his first Championship.

While it may have been true that the increased speeds brought on by the hemi overtaxed the state of the art in tire and chassis design and lead indirectly to the tragic events of the '64 season, it must have still come as a shock to Petty that one way Nascar chose to level the playing field was to take the only really competitive engine he had ever had away. ANd while it racing would go on as usual in '65 it looked like the race wins and championships had been put on hold for a while at Petty Engineering.

[Bjorn Kjer]

[Mal9444]

Originally posted by HistoricMustang
Never had the skill to attempt more than one or two automobile models but they have always held my attention. A search discovered but one thread that might support this attempt at viewing these masterpieces.

http://forums.autosp...ighlight=models

Thanks to all that will share and I will borrow this one from an individual that I have asked to join us in this adventure here at TNF.

Henry

Henry
Have you tried http://forums.autosp... Of Old Rubbish ?

That is a brilliant thread started by Barry Boor. Although mostly about slot car models it does have some pictures of other, mostly 1/43rd scale, models, some bought and some made by TNF members. The really mouth-watering picture gallery of racing car models is again Barry's, at http://62.149.36.46/...n/diecasts.html

Or am I missing the point, and this thread is to be about only NASCAR?

[HistoricMustang]

Originally posted by Mal9444


Henry
Have you tried http://forums.autosp... Of Old Rubbish ?

That is a brilliant thread started by Barry Boor. Although mostly about slot car models it does have some pictures of other, mostly 1/43rd scale, models, some bought and some made by TNF members. The really mouth-watering picture gallery of racing car models is again Barry's, at http://62.149.36.46/...n/diecasts.html

Or am I missing the point, and this thread is to be about only NASCAR?

Malcolm, my intent was not to be a NASCAR only thread.

I think models and their history is very interesting reading.

Perhaps we can request that Twinny combine all these choices into one!

Henry

[HistoricMustang]

There had been some creative bodywork in the sixties in the search of speed on the big ovals. It was said that Bud Moore cut an inch or two out the beltline and two or three inches straight down the center of his '64 Mercurys to make them a little more "equal" to the smaller cars he had to run against.

And there were some very liberal interpretation as to how much the car at the dealership was supposed to resemble the racer on pit road as the sixties progressed. A certain yellow '66 Galaxie at the Atlanta race with a former Yankee carpenter in the driver's seat and a mountain based poultry producer on the quarter panels comes to mind.

But the gloves really came off during the '69-'70 seasons with the debut of the first of the Mopar Aerowarriors. First came the Charger 500 with a reworked rear window area and a flush mounted Coronet grille. Ford couldn't let that go by so they came out with a new front snout using a modified rear bumper and some fender extensions that made the already sleek Torinos and Cyclones positively slick.

Dodge was the first Mopar to unveil the really big gun when they rolled out the new winged, drop snooted Daytona and it was on. Petty wanted to switch from Plymouth to the new Daytona and Mopar said no. Ford made an offer and sweetened it with a new Talladega all decked out in Petty Blue and the unthinkable happened. The promotional hay to be made while the sun shined on a Petty Ford was anything but petty.

There was nothing to do but put the plans into play to get the Randleman Rocket back in a Plymouth where he belonged. The stylists and engineers were called into service and they delivered the goods.

While the Daytona was sort of an "eyeball engineering" project to just go fast, the Superbird was the whole package- styling, engineering and graphics. Not to mention the fact that Nascar had changed the minimums for a "limited edition" car for the '70 racing season.

The new Superbird was more of a total package than the Daytona but was still accomplished about the same way. A new extended nose and hood, a rear window "plug" and a huge wing on the rear and the Road Runner became a Superbird. Due to the fact that the backlight "plug" had some fit and finish issues, all the street versions had vinyl roofs to help hide where the roof had been modified.

About the only real fly in the ointment was that pesky new minimum unit requirement that Nascar had instated to help curb the "funny car" invasion. Instead of 500 unit like the Fords, Mercurys and Dodges, Plymouth had to build two for each dealership which meant that instead of 500 units there had to build about three times that many. Chrysler bit the bullet and built them and that's why you see more Superbirds than Daytonas now and why Petty only ran the Ford for one season.

Here's the SuperBird of Ramo Stott that he started 15th and drove to an 8th place finish in the '70 Daytona 500. While his multi colored 'Bird was winging its way to a solid finish there was another 'Bird in the familiar Petty blue fighting it out with a familiar blue and gold championship winning Ford up front. The "blue bird" would win the race and add a new Yankee winner to the "Great American Race" when Pete Hamilton held off Pearson for the win wearing a number 40 instead of the familiar 43 of his new boss. But while he didn't win, Ramo's 'Bird would still be the most colorful in the new Mopar "aviary".

But even with all the effort and money put into the "Winged Warriors" a series of rule changes would make them but a memory after little more than a year in competition and it would take 36 years and the advent of the "Car of Tomorrow" for the winged cars to once again run in the Nascar division.

I have asked Jerry to join TNF as he has much to share.

[HistoricMustang]

While the Superbird was built, among other reasons, to give Plymouth a competitive stock car and to get Richard Petty back into the fold in 1970, back in '69 when the Daytona was introduced it was for one reason only- to crush the competition from the Torinos and the Cyclones.

It was a gloves off superspeedway brawler that meant to stomp the FoMoCo cars into the ground. It looked like it was doing 180 moh standing still and it didn't stand still near enough to suit the Dearborn crowd. The needle nosed high wing body work even filtered down to the independents like my friend Neil Castles.

Ol' Neil had been driving since the fifties and was one of the journeymen drivers that never really got a shot at the big time but he was involved in a lot more stuff than met the eye when it came to fast cars. I won't say that he was involved in the transportation business in any way but get him to tell you the story about the cast on his foot, the revenours and his stolen car sometimes.

What he most definatley was involved in, besides racing, was making movies a lot more exciting when it involved cars. Neil was involved in stunt driving for everything from "Thunder Road" and "Thunder in Carolina" to the "Movin' On" TV series and a lot more. He designed a camera mount so practical and efficient that it is still used today. Of all the people I have met in racing I consider Neil one of my favorites and a treasured friend.

Neil used to wait until the Saturday before the race to qualify by running in the consolation race that was held for people who hadn't made the field. The race would not only give a starting spot for Sunday's main event but would also pay a few hundred dollars to the winner, unlike qualifications that didn't pay anything. He won so many of them that the joke around the garage area was that they were going to change the name of the "consolation race" to the "Neil Castles Benefit Race" since he was usually a cinch to win it.

While I don't usually build cars much past '67 or so, I just had to build one of Neil's winged warriors to go with my other friends cars even if it was almost "current" compared to most of my "oldies". I hope you enjoy seeing it as much as I enjoyed building it.

[HistoricMustang]

To help counter the advantages the rebodied mid-sized Ford products had in '68, Chrysler did a little fine tuning on their slippery new Charger. A couple of minor "tweaks" made a world of difference on the new Charger 500 and the boys from Dearborn back to playing "catch up" again

Ford looked at the flush rear window, which they already had, (wonder just how fast Smokey's Chevelle would have been with a rear window change?) and a new flush grill which the Fords didn't have. As in any good "peeing" contest, you take what the other guy does and do him one better. This particular occasion was no different.

Ford decided to not only make the grill flush but also make the grill and, in the process, the frontal area a little smaller by adding a sloping fender extention, new grill and a modified rear bumper to replace the stock front bumper. When all the dust and shavings had settled at the FoMoCo whittling session the Mopars were back to square one and the Blue Oval Boys were back in business with a new weapon named for Fance's brand new superspeedway, Talladega.

LeeRoy took both Daytona races and also won at Charlotte, Darlington, Atlanta and Rockingham as the first man to win at all five superspeedways in a single season. With the new bodywork, LeeRoy's ability behind the wheel and the tried and true 427 engine, Ford didn't really need anything else. But for the long suffering Mopar teams, it seems kinda unfair that he also had a certain ex-whiskey running chicken farmer from Wilkes County calling the shots on his car from the pits along with one of Holman Moody's secret weapons that helped them "Nab" numerous victories as his chief mechanic.

[HistoricMustang]

The guys in Dearborn didn't forget the L-M crowd when they got ready to go racing in '69. In a continuation of the "kinfolks that weren't" Yarborough and Yarbough saga that was played out on the South's superspeedways in '68, the Wood Brothers fielded this potent Cyclone Spoiler II for Timmonsville terror Cale Yarborough.
With a red and white paint scheme, gold numeraled ride that previewed the look of some of the worst nightmares in Mopar's superspeedway future to come, in '69 Cale won the Atlanta 500 and the Motor State 500. Backing that up the following year with the '70 Motor State 400 and the final '70 superspeedway event, the American 500 at Rockingham, Cale won the last "Clash of the Titans" before the aerocars were legislated out of business by the upcoming season's rule changes.

It is unlikely that the streets nor the ovals will ever see their like again. And it is a fact that anyone who was priveliged to see a field of these aerowarriors in full warpaint do battle on the high banks will ever forget it. I was fortunate to see the newest speedsters do battle on the oldest superspeedway and to see David Pearson win it in a Holman Moody Ford.

[HistoricMustang]

Often wondered how wire wheels were accomplished on models.

Henry

http://www.scaleauto...els1/index.html

[HistoricMustang]

March, 16, 1966- the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning for true stock car based stock car racing? That's the day that the new Fairlane racer the Wood Brothers brought to Bristol International Speedway was refused permission to race by Nascar officials.

Its disqualification marked "the end of the beginning" of FoMoCo's attempt to replace their full-size stock car racers with their newly upsized intermediates, now offered with big block engines, to bring their cars more in line with the intermediates that Mopar had been running.

It was the first hybrid , or "half-chassis" car in Nascar that had, up until now, required a stock frame catalogued for that body be used in the construction of a legal racer. It was disqualified for a number of reasons, one of the main ones being that the front track was wider than stock.

The main reason for that was the fact that chassis wizard Ralph Moody had grafted on a front snout from a '66 Galaxie to eliminate the shock towers of the stock Fairlane and allow the tried and true Galaxie suspension to be used.

Two weeks later the boys from Virginia show up with the pocket sized Ford again, this time at the "Hickory 250" in Hickory NC. By now Moody has taken a few inches out of the crossmembers and narrowed up the front suspension so that it meets the rules and it takes the combination of a Hemi with no less than David Pearson, that year's eventual point champion, to beat ol' Pops in the new Fairlane. Tuner led the first three laps and then lead from lap 171 to 198 when Pearson got around him to lead him at the end by four seconds.


This race marked the "beginning of the end" for the traditional stock car as this chassis would be refined and would be the basis for what would become known as the "rear steer" or "Banjo" chassis perfected by another chassis genius, "Banjo" Matthews, from Arden NC and used sucessfully in Nascar for the next twenty five years or so.

This brings to an end this series of models of OUTLAWED stock cars from the early years. I hope you have enjoyed them and I look forward to hearing from you about the series. Also, I am open to suggestions for new photo series featuring racers from my collection of stock car models of the fifties and sixties. Until then, keep it between the fences.





WOW! Any suggestions on additional stock car models? - Henry