Great save! I like this thread. It brings back so many good memories. As a kid I would go every sat night to the races at Winchester Va. My good friend's granddad would take us in his souped up 56 Chevy. So much fun. My favorite was a 32 #S-3 from B&M Chevrolet. Also A 34 of the Grubbs Chevrolet in Woodstock. Years later I,m now driving my coupe. I stopped by the dealership, and the 34 less engine was in the fence roll around back. I wish many times I would have ask to buy it. I sure it was eventually crushed when they did a clean up. The S-3 I did make a model of. Thanks again for sharing this with us. Here a few photos you may like that we took at the Eastern racing museum Ron...
I wondering if this was a hot rod before a dirt track because the rear frame has a bigger kick up than stocker and its been channeled
What a great surviving piece of history! It's really interesting to think that it may have been a channeled Hot Rod (or perhaps 1/4 mile Drag car?) before it hit the roundy round track. That would make it more legit to make it street worthy. You could do quick disconnect headlights/tailights so you could quickly remove them once at a show. I think the orange plexi windows would be more of a 60's Drag touch than early Stock Car though. Glad to see it was restored back as a racer. A lot of these have received SAR quarters, new door skins and stock cowls so they can be made back into a somewhat stock bodied Rod.
Once I get it in my possession (tue-wed) I will eye ball it and see what looks best for this old dog.... Mans best friend
Would it be sacrelidge to put a grill shell on it? I know that would not make a race car go faster, so it would be authentically incorrect. However, since race cars were constantly being repaired and improved, it wouldn't be inconceivable that it ran a heat or two with some experimental sheetmetal on it. A truck grill that would have come with a large capacity radiator seems right to me. Something like a '36 Ford truck. Or it could be an off brand that could be painted to match what's left of that beautiful curvaceous body.
That would not be bad. '33-'35 Ford truck would be good, too. Nice thing about a duece shell is that you can hack up a reproduction to fit it over that big radiator. Nothing says race car like destroying a perfectly beautiful piece of sheetmetal.
My guess would be '42-'52 Ford truck radiator. That would definitely be the wrong grill for you. I don't know the vintage of these Ford industrial shells. I've seen a couple around. They are big enough to cover just about anything. You'l have to be careful the rat rod police don't come down on you if it looks like it came off a tractor.
Please no grill shell. I realize its your car and you will do with it what you please but it seems you are asking for opinions here. The cars that had grill shells were few and far between when this car raced. They had a rad guard and or some sort of screen for the most part. This was not a hot rod at one time, this is exactly how the cars were built from about 1955ish till about 1962ish in California. They were called Hard Tops or even Modified Hard Tops. They ran at Clovis, San Jose, Kearney Bowl, Vallejo, Stockton and similar central California Speedways under Nascar for the most part. This car is the begining of the modifications from when they were just considered Jalopies. The cars were getting lower (hence the channeled body and higher frame kickups), the drivers were sitting in the center and the flatheads were getting more modified. I would take a guess that this car did not race too much past 1964 as by then most of the cars had gone to wide 5 aluminum racing safety hubs. Personally I would find an old truck and an old trailer and I would take it vintage exhibition racing. Just my .02$ PS....I am originally not far from Fresno, Ive seen photos of the car when it was still in Turners, its nice to see it put back together. Its actually a nice looking Hard Top.
Anderegg love your photos I might just keep it as is Yea I might not do a grill shell either just need too look at the proportions
I mean that piece of deck lid or whatever that is serving as a hood on the white coupe held in place with angel iron looks like crap. Authentic is cool, but sometimes its also ugly. Orange Peel is not ugly. Far from it.
AH, understood. I didnt realize you were referring to the white coupe. In my opinion "authentic dirt track style" is a very broad term. I am certain you understand that the vast majority of these cars (dare I say 99.9%) were built in the garages of the owners and or drivers. Which meant they all varied in looks and then add to that sanctioning body rules and regional differences and the looks of these cars were all over the place. Some in my opinion looked better than others, but that is based purely on my own personal preferences and how I would build one in my minds eye. The #7 '37 Sedan of Marshall Sargent and the #48 below it are perfect examples of what appeals to my eye. Several hot rods from the same period, to me, have very similar characteristics and proportions as some of these old racecars, so its obvious to me they crosspollinated styling cues. The Turner Hard Top has a somewhat similar look, though minus the huge rake, but it still has a very good look to me as well, so we are in complete agreement on that. This car, short of the mechanical restoration is a time capsule, and I would hesitate to change anything on it with exception of some new rubber if it was to hit the track. I speak from a bit of experience as I was in the process of restoring an old racecar that I considered a time capsule. It was great having it for the time that I did and to this day I regret selling it. This was the California racecar I was restoring as I found it and as I sold it after some restoration back to how it looked in its true heyday. Another thing to consider (and I cant speak to this car specifically) but these cars were "built" to turn left. Some had the frames deliberately twisted, rocker boxes on the spring perches, twisted front axles, heated springs and skewed rear ends, so getting it to go straight down the road may be futile. I still say, find a vintage racing group and go have some fun and experience the past in a way that few will get to. OH and the car I restored in its heyday....
Nice!!! Sorry about the semi Off-Topic photos, but "Technically" that racecar was originally built in 1965 out of a 1956 Chevy 2dr Sedan and the '69 Chevelle body was put on it in early 1970. I am very envious of you that you ended up with that, enjoy it and keep the Central California folks informed about it, its certainly a piece of history from there.
The radiator looks a little tall. Maybe you could put it in front of the spring or find a shorter period correct replacement. Caution I am no sprint car expert. Kelvin
An observation on the orange #65: The front nerf bar is a copy of the nerf bar used by Jim Roessler, the 1960, 61 & 62 driving champion of the California Jalopy Association in Los Angeles. The design was almost exclusive to Roessler but others begun to use it as well. It looks good on the front of any car.
Pombo and Sargent were legends back then (and still are). Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
The Jalopy Journal
