Joe Wolf's 1939 Chevy coupe Nascar modified

Does anyone have any pictures of this car. Tim Flock drove it and won at the Daytona Modified race in 1956. Junior Johnson drove it in 1959 and was disqualified for having too big a gas tank. The car had an Oldsmobile v8 that was moved back 26 inches which made the driver have to drive the car from the back seat. It was also known as the "Chevmobile".

 

Sometime ago, the Reading Eagle newspaper did a short biography on Joe Wolf, and I believe there was a photo of the car in article. Joe Wolf was one of the best in his day, but unfortunately his history has gone mostly unrecognized.

I actually saw the car sitting outside his shop when I was a youngster. In later years I would see his speedboats there.

 

Thanks, Al. Was it a local article or an AP article. I am trying to search in their archives for the article. Thanks again.

 

It was a local story and probably appeared in a Sunday edition. I get the Sunday paper and very rarely see a daily. My guess is that it was 5 - 10 years ago. Good Luck!

 

I was just thinking. The Historical Society of Berks County recently opened an exhibit on Racing in Reading. I have not been there to see it, and I understand that it has, of course, a lot of things from the Reading Fairgrounds and Penske Racing, but I don't know if there is anything from Joe Wolf.

Ironically, Joe Wolf's shop was within walking distance from Historical Society's Building. It would be a shame if they didn't have anything about him there.

Here is their website: http://www.berkshistory.org/

 

Thanks, Al. I'll keep looking. Maybe I will get lucky and find something.

 

Al, I found some pictures of the car. The colored ones are from when Tim Flock drove it to victory in the 1956 Daytona modified sportsman race. the black and white picture is from 1959. I would like to get some better pictures of the front and rear of the car and especially the interior. Since the engine was moved back 26 inches I wonder if the firewall and dash were moved back or if the engine was put in a box kind of like they do with full sized modern chevy vans. If anyone knows any info it would be greatly appreciated.

 

I love that shot of Junior waving from the back seat. Are you building a replica of the car? Just curious....Don.

 

Don, I hope to build a model of the car if I can get enough info about it. I need to know if the 324 olds and the 394 olds share the same block.

 

The 324 and the 394 do share the same block so I just need to find an amt 40 Ford sedan model to get the engine I need for the model.

 

Hey Mark...ran across your post and had to drop a line.. My father worked for Joe at Hollywood speed in Reading. And i credit his success as beginning with Joe. I have some photos and actually have Joe's little black book from back in the 50's and later..Its amazing , it has the engine specs from the chevmobile and tons of others. Including dyno figures !! My favorite entry in it is a fuel mixture with full details including benzine and a "coke bottle full" of nitromethane. It has the home phone numbers and address from bill frantz sr, Lee Petty, Junior Johnson, the Flocks, Dean Martin ,Jerry Lewis, Duane Church,Ed Iskedarian, and A Bobby Allison business card as a purolator rep. I still am using one of joes engine stands to this day at my shop. And best of all another of joes employee/disciples Sam Reber hangs out at my place. He helped build that car and tons of others and went on to build motors for Bobby gerhart, Kenny Brightbill,Meme Desantis and tons of others the race win count is rediculous...Im thrilled to know theses guys and draw from the knowledge base.Im sure he could answer most any question you could have. I will hunt some pics for you as i get time... Roger Sinistri Jr.

 

I will add a little something else about Joe Wolfe.. In the early 50s he built a very fast 39 Ford to race at Lakewood speedway in Atlanta Ga.. The track was one mile in length.. He chose Dawsonville/Atlanta Ga driver Ed Samples to drive this very fast car. ..... Bobby..

 

Thank you very much, Roger. Any pictures you can share especially of the interior and engine will be very helpful to do a good model of the Chevmobile.

 

I'll send what i have related to Joe, hollywood speed shop....ect hope you enjoy.

 

Continued.......

 

Thank you very much, Roger.

 

I enjoyed reading about Joe Wolf and his cars, thought I would share something with everyone about my dad driving for him in 1952 at Daytona in the Black 39 Ford #47.....there is also a video out on Youtube called 1952 Daytona Sportsman Beach Race.....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecRZq8wdyYk I am also posting a picture of the car that he drove in that race. NASCAR still uses this clip when they have the 500 from time to time.....enjoy!

 

I am going to do this replica next if I can get some wide 5 wheels. Does anyone know of a resin company that makes them?

 

Does anyone know what hillborn fuel injectors looked like on a 1956 olds v8 installed in 1956?

 

Junior Johnson is a handsome devil ...

 

Here is the model I finally came up with from the refs and info you guys posted. Thank you so much.

 

Great job. Thanks for posting pics of the finished product.

 

Great model - I am a fan as well and am aware you have done your homework but I was sort of shocked to see JJ name above the door....There is two magazines you might refer to, Speed Mechanics and Hot Rod both some month in 1956 which outlined the car in significant detail, as well as details about Joe Wolfe, and Wolfe always spelled with a 'e'. I hope the guys local to Reading can clear that up once and for all. I also have movies on a DVD of this car racing at Daytona in '56, where -ahem- Tim Flock lapped the field almost twice, with Fonty Flock standing by in case relief was needed. Plenty of stills showing Flock's name on the car circa 1956 so now you know why I was shocked to see JJ on your model. The mag pics show detailed pictures of the car including the interior and the boilerplate firewall and made mention of the addition of twin rear shocks per side in the rear after Flock's first shakedown of the car, when he declared it the fastest car he ever drove, all it needed was better shocks out back. The car ran a 3/4 ton quick change diff as well.

Joe Wolfe was one of the very best and the only yankee in those days to race anywhere down south and whip the rebels at their own game. He is known to have flown out to the west coast when he had early word of Vic Edelbrock Sr. clobbering everything in sight including Offy's and Millers and everything else with a Ford V8-60 in 1947, Joe then seeing and recognizing first hand the magic of nitromethane fuel blends. I won't suggest this car was running pop as there wasn't any way by 1956 to hide the use of it. However nothing came close to what that car could do at that time.

It's pretty well known Joe used the 12:1 GM Research Oldsmobile engine heads on the engine build, the details of which is found in both articles, and later I had the idea to build a running replica of the car. I don't know if the original survived somehow but it would be great to know if it did.

 

This is the 59 version that Junior drove to third place on the big oval but was disqualified for having too big a gas tank. The graphics in 59 were much better than the 56 Flock driven car.

 

Here are pictures of the 59 version. No e in the name Wolf.

 

Thanks Much - I saw the pic of his shop sign some years ago also with no 'e', but again and again in old publications his name is noted with the 'e'. Perhaps a inside thing? Who knows - Thanks again

 

Great model! Love that exhaust system!

 

I would love to read those articles if you could post a link to them. Its too late on this build but still would like to know how the real car looked inside. If you would like to see how the model came together you can click on the link below. It was a total guess on my part because I had no pics or info on the interior or the engine other than it was a 1956 olds with fuel injection.

http://www.randyayersmodeling.com/modelingforum/viewtopic.php?t=78330

 

Yeah I'll have to dig them out. Interview with Joe by Indy driver Bill Holland. Had a barn door hinge loud pedal, cable going up and around pulley then forward to Hilborn set up. Sun 'football' 90° sweep tach, Lucas 12V battery with six caps. Vertex magneto, 1949-50 style valve covers with no wire looms. Had a single jump or bucket seat looked GM maybe 1920's, original mohair upholstery, tattered. Single SW oil pressure gauge. Had what looked like balloons of window screen over injector stacks with tape or something to hold in place. 1937 Caddy floor box, which looked correct from the bottom view of your model. I don't recall seeing any safety belts!

 

Great model everything looks perfect.. I have one question. Did the car race with the green paint on the engine?? Before Juniors mountain due contract he stayed away from green on any thing he owned..