Got to talking to a nice fella on Reddit about his grandpa's old race car, and he was interested in getting some more info on it but didn't know how. I said if anyone will know, they'll be on the HAMB. Sounds like it ran in C/G at first and CC/G in 66 around New Jersey. So here goes in his words: "He built a C/Gas '55 Chevy in his shed with his best friend in the early 60's. They had the national record in their class for 1 day before twin brothers in California beat them. He ended up selling the car in either '65 or '66 in order to scrape together the coin to start the company that still feeds my family to this day. His was yellow and the only picture we have of it is up at his house in VT. I'll have to snap a picture of it next time I'm up there. They used to run it at Englishtown in NJ, which has since closed. I spent a lot of my childhood at that track with my grandpa and my dad." If anyone knows anything about it or has pics of it, it would be an awesome gift to this guy to post them up. I figure it looks distinctive enough with that front end treatment and colored glass that someone is bound to recognize it. Owner/Driver's name was Bill Wilson. Thanks in advance!!
The top is chopped; the lack of chrome trim around the windshield is another clue. It also appears to have a straight axle. I had a friend who had a car just like that; same color, radiused rear wheel wells, etc. except it was not chopped and in Minnesota. With all of that, someone should recognize this car. And it is cool.
That's a good point. It's a 210, so it should have windshield trim. It's possible the windshield was replaced and the trim not reinstalled, but that does add to the likelihood of it being chopped.
Hey all, Mr. Sinister was kind enough to share this picture of my grandpa's car and point me towards this forum. I told him I'd chime in when I had a couple more pictures. These are the only other pictures I know to exist, and they're cropped in a frame in the hallway of my grandpa's place in VT. I believe he ran this in C/Gas some years prior but later on it ran in CC/Gas. As stated before, apparently they had the national record in their class for a day before it was beaten. Not sure if that was before or after the day these were taken. Nor do I know if that was in C/Gas or CC/Gas. Here they are (my grandpa was the one in the red shirt):
Thanks very much for sharing these pics. That is a honest gasser. Great looking car and looks to be very well built.
Thanks man! Well, from my grandpa anyway. I of course had nothing to do with building this car but I would've loved to have been there through the build and the runs at the track. And thank you to everyone else for the kind comments. Hopefully someone on here recognizes the car or maybe even ran with him at some point.
The Jalopy Journal
