A fellow named Smokey spent time bondoing up the frame cross members under his Hudson Hornets to improve air flow in the fifties. So aero modifications go way back in NASCAR history. Mr. Yunick was way ahead of the pack in that area. That's probably why he was signed on as an H&M mechanic in 1957.
Cool. Didn't know that about Smokey being with H&M! P.S. Thanks Jack! C5HM, John I presume? Thanks also!
Great picture. It sure looks funny today, to not only see the "driver" working on his ride; but see a HINGED door wide open and what looks like stock seats and door panels! <!-- / message --><!-- sig -->__________________
Speaking of Smokey. I was talking to a retired Daytona city policeman a few days ago at the F-100 Nationals. He was telling me that what was left of Smokey's old place had burnt down recently. Most of the site had been razed a few years ago, but the former laundra-mat bldg was still there on the corner.They're pretty sure it was set. Now back to our regular programming.
hi john - i don't doubt that smokey did that , but i can't imagine that it made a measurable difference in AERODYNAMICS . the last time the hudsons were a force in nascar was 1954 . at that time most of the tracks were dirt , and somewhere around a half mile in length . i'm thinking smokey may have done that to help chassis members cleave thru the mud , and/or to keep the mud from sticking to the chassis . i have read that smokey did some testing with models submerged in flowing water . i guess , technically , this would be called HYDROdynamics . smokey also said that he would reshape and smooth the intake ports on those big sixes with epoxy . the rules said you couldn't GRIND the ports , but they didn't say you couldn't add material to them . because of smokey , france had to constantly expand and clarify nascar's rule book .
Amanda, Here is another picture of your father at the '89 H&M Reunion. There was a contant line of people wanting his autograph. I took a picture of Chris watching in disbelief. I don't believe he knew how famous his father was. I will try to locate it and post.
Jack, Well, Smokey told me that's why he bondoed up the cross members on his Hudsons. You don't think he'd exaggerate or stretch the truth or anything...do you? (HA!).
of course not ! why , smokey was as honest as.... umm... as honest as...well , uhh.... hey , how about those mets ?
This is Tony Raborn, brother of Jerry Raborn in a previous post. One of Tony's many jobs was hauling the race cars to the tracks.
When I get some time I'll go back and read this entire thread, but thought you might like these pics taken at the Muscle Car Masters (Eastern Creek, Sydney, Australia) a couple years ago
I have seen that '64 before. I was wondering what exactly it's H&M connection was? It is certainly not a Grand National Stock Car built at H&M for sure. Perhaps it is a light weight drag car Galaxie prepped at H&M then? I'd be interested in hearing the story. Do you know the VIN? Thanks!
The info on the window represents it as being one of the Factory Lightweight drag cars. I assume the H&M connection is the engine work.
This car was built in Australia from parts the late Len Lukey had shipped to Australia from Holman Moody. Denis O'Brien obtained the parts in 1979 from Lukey's widow and assembled the car using a bodyshell found in Canberra. O'Brien acquired a brand new 427 Hi-Riser, aluminum bumpers, diffs, gearboxes, axles, rollcage and polycarbonate windows but no bodyshell. Can't help you with the VIN and it probably wouldn't help as the car didn't come from H&M as a complete vehicle.
Thanks for the update. The car is a neat piece whatever its point of origin. If I am not mistaken, isn't one of the original H&M prepped/Alan Mann 1963 Galaxies "down under"? There is one in England, too IIRC.
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Here is some information on Len Lukey's Galaxie from the Ford Galaxie Club Of Australia.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]"Back in 1962 a race-prepared 1963 fordoor Galaxie 500 sedan (body 54A) was raced at touring car events around Australia. The car was delivered to Holman and Moody in Charlotte NC, and modified suitable for road racing using parts homologated for touring. It was then invoiced and shipped (pre-paid) to Len Lukey, via Melford Motors with a scheduled delivery date of 19th September 1962.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The car was often raced by the late Lex Davison, John Raeburn, and on occasion by Norm Beechey, and has a colourful history. It apparently required ongoing development work to prepare it for reliable racing, much like the Beechy Impala of the same period. It infortunately was not allowed to race here in Australia in the same trim as the cars raced in the UK, due to requirements of CAMS of the day. It had to retain the drum brakes, and was prevented from using the fibreglass panels and bumpers it was supplied with. It was however a genuine R code, and came factory fitted with the now legendary 427 lo-riser centre-oiler engine. [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]After a period of being driven as a road registered car, and after much effort Gary Smith tracked the car down and purchased it from the outer north eastern suburbs of Melbourne. After moving to Perth, the car was sold to Wayne Holland, who sent it to Marc Ducquet in NSW for sorting and an engine rebuild. This was at approximately the same time Marc was preparing his fastback. The fordoor then returned to Gary in Perth and was raced in (historic) Appendix J class for several years. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]David Bowden of QLD currently owns this car. Soon after purchasing the car from Wayne, the car was given a full mechanical restoration, and is now on display in QLD. [/FONT][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]It is now part of the fabulous racing car collection David has on display in QLD Australia. The car is complete and awaiting restoration. I was lucky enough to view the car in March 2005 and Chris, Dan and David were perfect hosts, explaining their passion for the Australian race cars in their collection."[/FONT] Here's a shot of Norm Beechey driving Lukey's Galaxie at Sandown Park, Melbourne in 1964.
When the car was driven by Davison when it originally ran a 406, I beleive. The reason it was a 4 dr was because at the time you could only race a 4 door in sedan racing in Australia. When Beechey took over driving the car later (now fitted with a 427) It was in Neptune racing Blue, and ran a hood bulge.
That's funny stuff. I can picture lil Kyle sobbing and standing in a puddle of his own pee with a snot bubble coming out of his nose around those two gentlemen.
It's acording to the year. In the '55-56 era Ford used a 2-4 with the old hay-stack carbs. Ford also ran 2-4 in the 60s ('64 or so I think may be later).
actually , ford ran 2X4s in '56 and the early part of '57 [ as a backup and along with their superchargers ] . superchargers , injection , and multiple carbs were outlawed about the middle of the '57 season . then nascar allowed ford to use 2X4s in '67 and '68 - and i believe nascar allowed them in late '66 , when ford ended their boycot .
The Jalopy Journal
