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History Holman-moody the history

Discussion in 'Traditional Hot Rods' started by frank spittle, Mar 18, 2011.

  1. fordloverracing
    Joined: Mar 19, 2011
    Posts: 84

    fordloverracing
    Member

  2. Pops1532
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 544

    Pops1532
    Member
    from Illinois

    Thanks for the link but I'm not sure that is the car I saw on ebay. The car on ebay was beat. It was so bad the seller talked about painting around the signatures or tracing them, painting the entire car then re-doing the signatures. I thought it was just signatures from those affiliated with Ford as well. Could be a different car, or could be my memory playing tricks on me.
     
  3. frank spittle
    Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    Posts: 1,672

    frank spittle
    Member

    Yes Rick. The HAMB is strickly a pre-'65 Traditional Rod and Custom board. But as you can see they are somewhat lenient with that up to a point. You never know when you reach that point until a moderator gets involved. When that happens and there is a lot of pissing and moaning....soon you don't have that thread to rant at. Anyone who has been here awhile has seen it happen.

    As far as I am concerned we can post anything that Holman & Moody was involved with during their years until Ralph Moody left in about '73. If we are out of line they will let us know. But I DO NOT want anyone posting anything NOT H-M related. No drivers who never drove a race car without the "Race Prepared" H-M logo should be talked about. No pictures of ANY race car above '73. Let's not push our luck. And if a moderator steps in and you don't like it.....SHUT UP. This is their playground and they are the ones who make the rules. I have yet to see someone kick them out.
     
  4. ecode ragtop
    Joined: Apr 28, 2009
    Posts: 125

    ecode ragtop
    Member
    from illinois

    I don't want to add any pictures that don't belong! I built two replica 56 N.A.S.C.A.R. Fords. Not H/M cars but DePaolo Eng. I did have a lot of technical help from the late Ralph Moody.The #26 Ford Convert. driven by Curtis Turner( the winnest car in N.A.S.C.A,R. history) and the #99 Wild Hog ( the first Ford Factory sponsored, race car along with the #9 of Joe Weatherly). I worked off alot of Ford Factory pictures and would be willing to share, if they fit in here. thanks Tom
     
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  5. ecode ragtop
    Joined: Apr 28, 2009
    Posts: 125

    ecode ragtop
    Member
    from illinois

    Frank. Your last post was put up, while I was typing mine, so I will not send any pictures. But I will relay a couple of stories Ralph Moody Told me . when he allowed me to resorse my builds, while looking thru his old steamer trunk of old black and white pitures in his basment trophy room. It was a real pleasure to be a friend of his. Tom
     
  6. frank spittle
    Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    Posts: 1,672

    frank spittle
    Member

    Tom,
    We have already established that anything John Holman and Ralph Moody were involved with as a team including Depaolo and Stroppe is on topic so post away. Since not many of their original race cars survived recreations are acceptable too.
     
  7. genuine jack
    Joined: Mar 6, 2011
    Posts: 268

    genuine jack
    Member

    thanx for the clarification and ruling , frank . i'm anxious to see tom's and fordloverracing's photos and info .

    and why don't you take a guess at the mystery driver of the #22 , '57 ford ? you may be able to keep that 100 bucks :) .


    jack
     
  8. genuine jack
    Joined: Mar 6, 2011
    Posts: 268

    genuine jack
    Member

    in addition to the talladega prototype given to bill france [above] , there were at least 3 others that survived the crusher : pictured below is the black one that was given to ralph moody ; the red one that was given to banjo mathews [ which he reportedly drove into the ground ] , and the yellow one that then ford pres. bunky knudson kept . as most may or may not know , ralph had a lot o do with the design of the talladega .
    does anyone know if any of these cars survived ? i seem to remember that the yellow one is sometimes seen at car shows .
    edit : it looks like the yellow one is in / at a car show in the pic below .


    talladega proto given to r.moody-black.jpg

    talladega proto given to banjo mathews-red.jpg

    talladega-bunky's.jpg
     
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  9. fordloverracing
    Joined: Mar 19, 2011
    Posts: 84

    fordloverracing
    Member

    Jack,
    Banjo bought 2 prototype Talladegas from FoMoCo, a red one & a white one. Both cars are currently owned by Jason & Clarence Thompson of Rutledge, TN. The red car was in very baaad shape when they got it.
    [​IMG]
    The father-son dueo busted butt to get the car ready for the Talladega reunion show in Kingsport, TN last Oct. They did all the body, paint, interior, etc.. work themselves & I was hired to build the original engine & rear end. They did a REMARKABLE job & in a very short time, the car was the feature car at the show & was then taken to be displayed at the Floyd Garrett Muscle Car Museum in Sevierville, TN. They also took it to Carlisle a few weeks ago & will be taking it to the Ford show at Indy in July.
    [​IMG]
    The white car was given a very through cleanup & they have decided to leave it original & show it as such.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    Richard & Katrina Fleenor of Murfreesboro, TN have a site dedicated to the Talladegas & Spoilers (and any other muscle cars) & there is a ton of pics & info there about all the cars you mentioned plus a registry for all Tallys & Spoilers. Great reading !!!!
    http://www.legendarycollectorcars.com/
    Rick
     

    Attached Files:

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  10. genuine jack
    Joined: Mar 6, 2011
    Posts: 268

    genuine jack
    Member

    neat stuff ! i didn't know banjo had two "Ts" . the red one is beautiful .

    incidentally , those red , yellow , and black "Ts" were all painted non-stock colors . production "Ts" were only available in three : "presidential blue" , "wimbledon white" , and burgundy [ can't remember the actual name ] .

    thanx for sharing .
     
  11. tommy
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 14,757

    tommy
    Member Emeritus

    I used to see one of these every day in the early 70s. The kid worked in a local gas station and it was parked there daily. I think I remember his dad was a local stock car racer at Beltsville but the details are fuzzy now but the car can't be forgotten. Halfheimers:D
     
  12. Ray1969
    Joined: Feb 26, 2010
    Posts: 12

    Ray1969
    Member


    At the time of Ralph Moody passing away. His car was still sitting in his drive way. I could be wrong. Dr. Craft may know.
     
  13. genuine jack
    Joined: Mar 6, 2011
    Posts: 268

    genuine jack
    Member

    i guess i'll reveal the identity of the mystery driver , as no one seems to be very interested . my idea of a quiz went over like a pregnant pole vaulter . only 2 guys guessed , and you were both right . it is ralph moody at milwaukee .
    i was going to tell a story about ralph's adventures in USAC , but i'm calling it on account of rain . suffice to say , ralph was very successful .


    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz18.jpg
     
    Last edited: Jun 24, 2011
  14. frank spittle
    Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    Posts: 1,672

    frank spittle
    Member

    I was interested Jack but after searching my feeble mind I could not think of anybody other than Ralph and one of the guesses was already him. Oh well, I guess most will skip a quiz and go to the next post since there is so much to look at.
     
  15. Pops1532
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 544

    Pops1532
    Member
    from Illinois

    Jack, By all means post the story about Mr. Moody's USAC adventures! I'm sure I'm not the only one that's interested in reading about it.
     
  16. ecode ragtop
    Joined: Apr 28, 2009
    Posts: 125

    ecode ragtop
    Member
    from illinois

    Jack,We are leaving to run a nostaligic super stock race in Indiana( 63 1/2 galaxie with h/m decals. But when I get back I will share a story that Ralph told me about his first trip to milwaukee in 57. Tom
     
  17. CDXXVII
    Joined: Nov 5, 2010
    Posts: 144

    CDXXVII
    Member
    from Vermont

  18. frank spittle
    Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    Posts: 1,672

    frank spittle
    Member

    H&M Reunion4.jpg Another picture of Fred Lorenzen at the H&M Reunion. Wherever he was at...that is where everyone else was.
     
    Last edited: May 23, 2019
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  19. genuine jack
    Joined: Mar 6, 2011
    Posts: 268

    genuine jack
    Member


    okay , pops . i'll get to it shortly . just not feeling up to snuff right now .

    jack
     
  20. Pops1532
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 544

    Pops1532
    Member
    from Illinois

    Hope you feel better soon Jack.
    Pops
     
  21. genuine jack
    Joined: Mar 6, 2011
    Posts: 268

    genuine jack
    Member

    thank you very much , pops . just feeling tired and kinda bummed out .
    let me see if i can start on this story . don't know if i'll finish it right now , as this blasted computer has been acting up , and keeps throwing me off . i changed the oil , cleaned and gapped the points and plugs , and adjusted the carb - we'll see if that helps .

    jack
     
  22. genuine jack
    Joined: Mar 6, 2011
    Posts: 268

    genuine jack
    Member

    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz3.jpg

    the above pic is an enlargement of the pic i posted earlier . it shows ralph moody at the 1957 milwaukee 150 on july 14 , 1957 .
    when dr. craft mentioned , a few pages back , that few people remember just how talented ralph was in a race car , i got the idea to post a photo or 2 , with a little info .
    ralph came from mass. , where he was a star in midgets , modifieds , and sportsman after the war . he came south early in '56 ,where depaolo hired him both as a driver and mechanic on the new ford team at daytona . thru '56 and the early part of '57 , he won 5 GN races - then ford pulled out of racing with the GM instigated AMA racing ban in june . ford sold off their cars and equipment , and with some fotuitous timing , and brilliant forethought by a few ford people who wanted to see fords continue to do well on the tracks , john holman and ralph moody were able to scrape enough money together to buy it .
    but HM's future was far from assured , as they had very little money left after buying all of this equipment . what to do ? ralph decided the best way to get some money fast was to win some races . ralph's strategy was a little different from most peoples' , however , as he decided to race where he could not only win some races , but also get the most publicity - or "bang" - for the buck....USAC !
    why USAC ? here's how ralph's thinking went . while USAC's stock car division was not as well established as nascar's , USAC got more national attention , as many indy drivers also ran in the stock division . and while these drivers were great in open wheel cars , moody knew he could beat them in a stock car . and one more thing - superchargers were still legal in USAC , and HM had a stockpile of them - and the expertise to tune them .
    HM hired troy ruttman , the 1952 indy winner , to drive a second ford , and on june 23 they traveled to the trenton , n.j. one mile oval , for HM's first race as a company and as car owners . this was a 300 mile / 300 lap race , and ralph found that his competition was going to be a bunch of ex-factory bill stroppe mercs , driven by jimmy bryan [who would win at indy the following year ] ; jim rathmann [ '60 winner] ; johnny parsons [ '50 winner ] ; marshall teague [ former hudson hornet star in both nascar and USAC] ; and johnny mantz [ midget great , and winner of the first southern 500 ] . also on the card , and also in a stroppe "BIG M " , was the "big name " of the race : sam hanks , who had just won the indy 500 24 days before .
    the HM team were late entries , so moody started in the middle of the pack . at 50 miles , moody was not only leading , but ruttman was second and together THEY HAD LAPPED THE ENTIRE FIELD !! 10 laps later a bolt broke on moody's supercharger and he lost 5 laps in the pits . hanks inherited the lead , but in the remaining 240 miles , ralph lapped him 4 times to finish 3rd . ruttman had retired .
    the next stop was milwaukee on july 14 - where the above pic was taken . this was a 150 mile race , and ralph and troy ran away with it - finishing 1-2 . after the race , all-time great jimmy bryan was quoted as saying " nobody is supposed to come flying out of the blue and beat everything in sight" !
    next stop : milwaukee again - for a 200 miler on august 22 . guess who won .
    back to milwaykee again for a 250 miler on september 15 . the winner was no surprise - yup , ralph again .
    the following month - october 15 to be exact - USAC held a 100 mile race at birmingham , alabama , where ralph won his final big league race .
    those successes brought HM some much needed money , and perhaps more than that , the well earned reputation that they maintained throughout the company's life .

    zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.jpg

    the above pic is from "FORD : THE DUST AND THE GLORY" . it is the best book i've ever read , and i have - and have read - a lot of books . i received this one as a Christmas gift when it was first published in 1968 . i'd been Christmas shopping in a small book store in my hometown . i saw the book on a shelf , and couldn't put it down . the cost was $12.50 , which sounds like nothing today , but was a lot of money in 1968 - especially for a guy in college who still had to buy presents for my family . needless to say , i had to leave without the book [ the owner probably had to pry it from my hands , saying they were closing ..."go home" ! i must've mentioned the book to my sister - perhaps hinting , but i don't remember . anyway , about 2 weeks before Christmas i somehow discovered the book , all wrapped and hidden , in a closet . i don't know how i did this , as i never looked for , or opened presents before Christmas , as it ruined Christmas morning for me . but this was an exception , and an extreme temptation , so i took the book to my room , unwrapped it , and began to read it . after a while i'd rewrap it and put it back in the closet . i did this everyday until Christmas . i think i'd almost finished it before i opened it on Christmas morning . i don't believe i ever told my sister . i've gone back to it many times over the years to reread certain parts or for a reference . it's that good !
    most of the above info came from this book . i've suggested this before , but i'll suggest it again . if you're a race fan - even if you're not a ford fan [ and shame on you if you're not ! ] , you really need to read this book . it's not only very well written , but it covers almost all forms of racing and discusses all of ford's competitors - individuals , teams , and cars . until about 10 years ago , when this book was reprinted , it was selling for over $200.00 ! but now you can get it dirt cheap on amazon.com . a "vol. II" was published around 2002 . this vol. covers the years 1968 thru about 2001 , picking up where vol. I left off . VOL. II is nowhere near as good as the first , and only necessary if you want or need an up to date record of ford's racing history . again , just my opinion , but if one stocks their library with vol. I ; all of greg fielden's nascar books ; and all of dr. craft's books [ except for that brand X book he wrote...i believe that was the year someone hit him in the head , and he wasn't himself for a while !! :)] , i believe they'll have almost all they'll ever need to know about nascar history - which , of course , includes a LOT of HM history .
    oh , and the pix , above , show john holman and ralph moody in their prime . the pic below shows ralph and ruttman at milwaukee on july 14 , 1957 where they ran 1-2 . ruttman's car was painted the same color as ralph's .
    as an aside , i'd always thought that ralph's '57 was one of fireball's cars that HM had gotten when they bought all of ford's equipment . after all , the number and paint are identical to what roberts ran earlier that year . i asked mr. moody , in a phone conversation in the late 1990's , if that had been fireball's car . he said no . but i have to wonder - what are the odds that they would number and paint their car the same as fireball's ? when ford got out , they gave at least one car to each of their drivers [ one report says both cars ] . but i'm thinking some of the cars must've been acquired by HM . i know that fireball continued to race his car for a while , and , in fact , HM entered him in the southern 500 that year . fireball may have been in his own car , or in a car that had been given back to HM - i don't know .

    and one last , funny story - at least i think it's kind of funny .
    i've built model cars since i was a kid - usually replicas of ford race cars . i'm always on the lookout for details , especially colors , as finding color photos was difficult until the 1990's , or so . i'd always been interested in jerry unser's '57 ford , which won the USAC stock championship and the pikes peak hill climb that year . jerry was the older brother of bobby and al unser , and jerry , along with his twin louie , campaigned the car - with louie serving as mechanic . as an aside , jerry died from injuries suffered at indianapolis in 1959 .
    louie later established an engine building business [in albuquerque , i believe] . anyway , along about the early 1980's , a fellow race fan/ford fan/model builder and i were wondering what color jerry unser's '57 ford was . after some searching , i located louie's shop and decided to give him a call . louie treated me as if he'd known me all of his life . we had a great conversation , and he was even happy to hear that i was a ford fan [ louie had worked on ford and mercury race teams many times , and building ford race engines was a staple of his business ] . i finally got around to asking about the colors of his '57 ford . there's a long pause . finally , he says " you know...i can't remember . but i can tell you what color ralph moody's car was , as we spent a lot of time chasing that car ! " i hadn't even mentioned ralph's car up to that point !
    louie finally said that he THOUGHT their car was tutone gray , which , i later learned , was correct . but i thought this , not to mention his "awe" at the thought of ralph moody's ford , was funny . he and jerry campaigned that car for 2 years . they'd no doubt been on it , in it , and under it... probably even slept in it - and he couldn't remember what color it was . a friend of mine later said that if i'd asked what color the valve springs were , he probably could have told me immediately !
     
    Last edited: Jun 26, 2011
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  23. frank spittle
    Joined: Jan 29, 2009
    Posts: 1,672

    frank spittle
    Member

    Great information Jack.
     
  24. genuine jack
    Joined: Mar 6, 2011
    Posts: 268

    genuine jack
    Member

    thank you , frank . that may be more than anyone wants to know , tho . :)
     
  25. Pops1532
    Joined: Jun 19, 2011
    Posts: 544

    Pops1532
    Member
    from Illinois

    Thanks Jack! I have Ford The Dust and The Glory. It's been packed away for may years. I'll have to dig it out and read it ......again. I'll also look into getting the other books you recommended.
    Pops
     
  26. Ray C's son
    Joined: Dec 27, 2009
    Posts: 410

    Ray C's son
    Member

    Definitely great info. These are the kinds of stories I'm here for, I can read them all night.

    Thanks,
    Kevin
     
  27. genuine jack
    Joined: Mar 6, 2011
    Posts: 268

    genuine jack
    Member

    thank you very much frank , pops , and ray . i really appreciate it . i never know if i'm posting too much , or writing too much when i do post . i don't want anyone to say "oh gee - here he is again" :rolleyes: .

    jack
     
  28. mammyjammer
    Joined: May 23, 2009
    Posts: 512

    mammyjammer
    Member
    from Area 51

    ..oh gee here he is again...with another great post!!!
     
  29. Carry on Jack, great info,,
     
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  30. A few posts back Pops asked about some of the old Talledga Torino's. There's a nice write up on 3 of those cars in the current( July) issue of Muscle Car Review.
     

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