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History "Body In White" Factory backed race cars....

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Deuces, Dec 17, 2011.

  1. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,751

    Deuces

    Cool info guys!!!! Let's keep her rollin'!...
     
  2. tommy
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 14,757

    tommy
    Member Emeritus

    Oh yeah. I remember him. I saw him run at York and Capitol.:rolleyes::D

    [​IMG]

    He must have been a very special race car driver...he got his engine a full year ahead of the other special racers when it was first available in 63.:eek:

    I agree with your terminology (that is what got me started on this thread) I just don't agree with your dates. I know I get anal about our history but the real facts are important to me. I lived it and I don't like revisionist history. If we don't keep it straight.... it becomes an accepted fact...after all "I read it on the HAMB" it must be true. Right? I feel a responsibility to the young guys to keep our history accurate so if I read something that is not accurate, I can't help myself and I open my big fat mouth.

    I'm not trying to be an ass. I just want our history to be repeated accurately. Have a nice day.
     
  3. My father worked at Ford's Atlanta Assembly Plant in Hapeville GA from 1952 (the year I was born) until he retired in '82. This was back when NASCAR stock cars were still built from regular production cars. The Atlanta plant built all the cars ordered for the Holman-Moody and Banjo Matthews teams. I followed NASCAR racing back then, and he would tell me when he got home if they had run any NASCAR jobs. He said that they didn't put any sound deadening or sealer on those units. Fred Lorenzen toured the plant one time and Daddy got to meet him.
     
  4. falcongeorge
    Joined: Aug 26, 2010
    Posts: 18,341

    falcongeorge
    Member
    from BC

    Very well said Tommy. I had the feeling that this thread was going to take a bad turn about two pages back. Too bad, its potentially an interesting subject, but if its discussed openly on the HAMB, one that is going to end up being buried under an ever-growing pile of steaming bullshit, story-telling, and "I can top that whopper".

    Its like the street-racing thread. If guys could put thier egos aside, it could be interesting, but everyone has to tell a better story than the last guy. Thats why I never posted on that thread, and probably should have given this one a wide berth as well.
     
  5. carryallman
    Joined: Jan 5, 2009
    Posts: 399

    carryallman
    Member

    not to steal the thread here ! but i bought a 76 ? chevelle in the late 80s advertised as a body in "white ", went looked at it, man was it clean ! no motor trans just a rolling car ! it was artic white ,no interior just a plain vinyl seat had it awhile tried to get it titled,{and make it a licensed street car w/a trick chassis }and the state vehicle inspector was at my door ! seems it was a high school give away "shop car" for high school kids to work on with the understanding it could not be sold or driven on the streets! how it got away from a local high school nobody would admit ,luckily the guy i got it from gave me a reciept plus i had the paper advertisment . the state guy threathned to have it impounded and me charged w/something BUT i held my ground and was able to sell it for a stock car ! anyway a body in white is the way to get a great builder car ! mike "carryallman" wahl
     
  6. Dave Strickler's 1961 Biscayne was not a "body in white". It was a production built car.

     
  7. Rusty O'Toole
    Joined: Sep 17, 2006
    Posts: 9,657

    Rusty O'Toole
    Member

    Would you like to know the definition of "body in white"? This goes back to the earliest days of the automobile and possibly to horse drawn carriages.

    In the thirties and earlier, expensive cars like Rolls, Packard and Cadillac were available with custom made bodies by specialist body makers like Derham, Fleetwood, Murphy and others.

    The factories would order the more popular bodies in batches of 50 or 100 and keep them in the warehouse until a customer ordered one. These were the custom bodies shown in the car maker's catalogs and advertisements.

    They were called a "body in white" because the body was finished, but not painted, instead it was painted with white lead primer. The seats were covered in white muslin cloth.

    When a car was ordered, a body would be taken from the warehouse and painted and upholstered to the customer's specifications. The body department would also install custom accessories like a divider window for limousines, extra gauges, clocks, radio,vanity cases, even a built in bar.

    The body would then be installed on a chassis and the complete car delivered to the dealer.

    Later you could order a "body in white" from any car maker as long as it was a current year's production body. They would divert one off the assembly line. This would be a complete body shell, in primer, with no glass, no upholstery, wiring, no nothing just an empty shell.

    They sold a few for rebuilding late model wrecks. If a current year car was in a bad accident it might be easier to replace the whole body than try to fix it. But of course, this was a very laborious and costly thing to do. It would only pay to do it if it was a quite a valuable car. Such as a current year model with low miles.

    By the late fifties stock car racers were stripping and modifying their cars so thoroughly it must have occurred to someone that it would be easier and cheaper to start with a body in white and build it up from scratch. Who was the first to do this I do not know. But would guess it started in the late fifties or early sixties NASCAR builders.

    You could probably order a body in white today if you wanted one. Whether they still call it that, a bare body shell may be in the dealer's parts catalog. Of course it would have to be a current production body.
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2011
  8. Maybe you miss understood my post. He got a body in white in early 62. He ran a 409. He ALSO ran the 427in a factory car until another driver blew it up, WHEN it was available in 63...not in 62. He was one of the few drivers that actually drove one in competition.
     
  9. Belvidere Assembly built them from fall of '77 till summer of 87. After that were a few years of Die-Nastys
     
  10. The body shop department is called BIW in the plants. If something needs repair, such as a missing stud or a damaged panel, Body in White repair is called to the line to handle it.
    Yes, with proper connections or a willing insurance adjuster, a BIW can be ordered. Todays racing doesn't require such dealing, though.
     
  11. shop teacher
    Joined: Jun 23, 2007
    Posts: 225

    shop teacher
    Member

    When I worked at Southview Chevrolet in the early 70's they had a specialty manual with part numbers for "body in white" cars. It had a stop watch on the cover with green pages. It was replaced by the Chevrolet Power books.They offered Camaro,Nova, Chevelle & Monte Carlos. I have never seen one anywhere or in any books or magazines. Bill
     
  12. Big Bad Dad
    Joined: Mar 27, 2009
    Posts: 317

    Big Bad Dad
    Member

    On a semi related note,
    I have a tag hanging in my garage that I pulled off of a big 1975 Dodge Monaco county cop car I parted out several years ago. It was a fender tag next to the VIN plate. It says:
    "Body in White
    Special Paint
    Special Mask"
    I thought the plate was cool and hung on to it..:)
     
    stillrunners likes this.
  13. a990hemi
    Joined: Sep 3, 2009
    Posts: 174

    a990hemi
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    Here's another Paul Gentilozzi D/G Super Gas car that originated as a body in white.

    [​IMG]
     
  14. I don't know where it started. I worked on a '65 Ford that had been purcahsed body in white in '65. it was still as it was purchansed in '70 when I got to wrk on it. It became an FX looking car and sold to a bracket racer. Damned shame it really neede to be raced heads up like it was intended originally.
     
  15. BISHOP
    Joined: Jul 16, 2006
    Posts: 2,571

    BISHOP
    Member

    You can order a "body in white" still to this day. Bare, no glass, interior, or paint. Comes E-coated.
     
  16. careyohio
    Joined: Jun 6, 2008
    Posts: 410

    careyohio
    Member

    My sons 1970 ROD SHOP Cuda is a "body in white" that
    Dave Koffel ,who was working for Chrysler at the time, arranged for the ROD SHOP to get.
     

    Attached Files:

  17. a990hemi
    Joined: Sep 3, 2009
    Posts: 174

    a990hemi
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    I sure do like this Cuda ...might you share some histrory with us?
     
  18. a990hemi
    Joined: Sep 3, 2009
    Posts: 174

    a990hemi
    Member
    from Wisconsin

  19. a990hemi
    Joined: Sep 3, 2009
    Posts: 174

    a990hemi
    Member
    from Wisconsin

    This would be the final Chrysler car that Sox and Martin campaigned together.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  20. careyohio
    Joined: Jun 6, 2008
    Posts: 410

    careyohio
    Member

    Glad you like it. Click on the blue Willys and follow the link to my original post on this car.
    Carey
     
  21. 68 BIW
    Joined: Apr 29, 2020
    Posts: 1

    68 BIW

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