History Origins: Jon Thorne Racing Enterprises, The Jayhawker 63 plymouth awb car and others.

In the mid eighties my dad drug the Jayhawker 63 plymouth out of a barn near LaCrosse, Wisconsin. As i remember he gave $400 for it. He was and still is a tough negotiator. One thing that wasn't included was the front fenders and hood because this gentleman was infacuated with 64 plymouths. The car was a fixtue in my garage throughout my schoolyears. We searched for years asking around at car shows, national events, mopar nats ect. but at that time nobody gave a shit about any alterds except the factory 11. In 92 or 93 he decided to move on and sold it to Fred Englehart, but that's another story. What i would like to do with this thread is get as much info and as many photos as possible of Jon Thorne Racing Enterprise and their various racecars, preferably vintage shots as opposed to newer ones. I will be with my folks over the holidays and i will try to scan as many as found pics as possible. Also interested in any info/ stories on Jon himself or any of the other cars, drag or nascar/ ford, chevy, or mopar. He seems like an interesting guy. Thanks.

 

Im not sure how to tag people for posts but i have read in the past that both raceartist and texoutsider (hamb names) have inside info on these cars. I believe texasoutsider had a hand in its construcion and may have driven the car. If someone can highlight these names maybe we can get them to chime in. I've looked at every page in the drag in motion post(which is #1 in my book) and studied george klasses pages with not so much as a backround photo in the pits. I will scan my dads pics this weekend and hopefully others will chime in. Thanks again, from me and especially my father.

 

I am looking forward to this thread and wish that I had some information for you.

 

Bump

 

This is the earliest pictue we've been able to find of the car. Notice the rear wheels are still in the stock location. i believe this picture was dated early 65. Notice the blower. The Jayhawker was one of the first blown full bodied matchracers, although mostly confined to the southeast circuit. Car was equipped with an early hemi and I've read both a LaSalle trans and ive also read that it was an early direct drive car. I haven't had confirmation but I'd like to hope they were running fuel. I have no idea of the times they were turning either. Once again we'd love to get more information so feel free to share any stories about the early days of the car. Thanks again. Jose

 

This is the next known pic of the car. Guessing mid-late 65. Looks freshly altered wearing the same paint job as when it was found. The fenders with the "it's a wedge" moniker were still on the car in the 80's. I believe "texoutsider" stated that the car later ran a hemi and a 65 front end but i haven't seen any photos of that yet. Someone has to have something. There were some other oddities i'll point out when we get into the as found pictues. Hopefully some guys will check out this page and offer some insight. Thanks. Jose

 

Glued to these pages, Jose'. Thanks...

 

Actually it's a 63 with a 64 front clip. Look a little closer bud.

 

Here's a picture taken in the early 80s. My dad got this pic with the car so i assume it's when the previous owner bought it. One thing that always annoyed me with the restored version was the location of the front wheels. They're too far back in the wheel opening. It always looked goofy to me and you'd think it would be easy to fix. If you look at the 1st picture you'll see the wheels are located where they should be(centered, or even a bit forward is ok). In the 2nd pic the front wheels sit 3 or 4" to the back of the opening. As i post more pics this will become more obvious. Somebody screwed up with the wheel placement but otherwise i think it's a really nice car.

 

I saw the car in mid to late 90's at the Super Stock reunion in Petersburg Va. Made a couple of match race passes with a red Dodge but can't remember the other cars name. I think I have a signed post card from the driver laying around somewhere. I assume the car in the last picture you posted is in the same
condition/restoration as the one I have.

 

Bump

 

Looking at the pictures posted so far, and not considering the front clip, how would you determine if this is a '63 or '64? I know the tail lights and dash panel are a "tell" but neither can seen in these shots. And I'm guessing that it's probably a Savoy.

 

My father owned the car for almost 10 years so i was all over it when i was younger. What was left of the interior was 63. The easiest way to tell from the outside is the 2dr post cars have a little kickout at the top of the back window. The 64 and 65 cars transition smoothly from the back of the c pillar to the top.

In this pic you can see the little kickout at the top. Best pic i could find. You are correct that the car is a Savoy. Since Savoys have no trim the roof kickout and the taillights are pretty much the only way to tell from the outside.

 

No offense meant. Bud is short for buddy. I appreciate you bumping this thread along. The hamb moves pretty fast these days.

 

Since i started this thread with origins i figured I'd give a little backround on questions we had back then. The car was always assumed to be a max wedge car but we never had any numbers or paperwork to verify. One thing that was odd is the car had some firewall work done for what appeared to be a cowl induction(nascar style that dumped fresh air into an aircleaner) breathing system. Nothing was done to the hood. They just used the vents on the cowl. It was pretty slick. I haven't seen alot of 63 circle track cars so i don't really have anything to compare it to. I'm hoping when i go thru dads pics this weekend he has some shots of that. Valdosta,GA seemed to be a hotbed for all types of racing so i don't think it'd be unusual for a nascar style car to be converted to a drag car.

 

i have matched raced against that car many times. i was driving the jakes speed equipment 65 ply. your car was originally a 63 max wedge plymouth. it was updated with a 64 front end. chett gibbs from moresville indiana bought the car from engelhart. i have several pics and videos of the car. they are all from around 2000. denny guest from the dodge dealership with the same name will know where it is now. it was in the chicago area for several years.

 

^ That's the one I saw, Jake's Speed Equip. Sorry about the Dodge part it was about 20 years ago.

 

Racer X i was hoping you'd drop in and share some info. Does anyone know who campaigned the car before Thorne? Ive never seen any pics or have any info on the car before it was called The Jayhawker. I've been following your build closely and I'm glad your on the mend. Car is going to be sick. It looks really badass with the blackwalls in mockup. If you could put me in touch with anyone that could provide any early info on the car that'd be great. You've been around long enough to know how difficult it was trying to track down the history on these cars in the 80's. Looking thru 100's of magazines for a glimpse, and talking to anyone that'd listen. Made alot of contacts but it was a tough road. Theres gotta be some hambers that remember this car from back in the day. Share some stories for my pops and keep this thread going. Thanks for your time. Jose

 

I watched it at Race way Park Indy Don

 

WOW... That's subtle, but I do see the difference now. Considering Mopar's love of interchangeability in this era I'm surprised they went to the trouble to make the change, especially on a 2 door sedan roof. I've seen that style of back window before but was thinking it was only used on a 4 door model.

 

I would call fred and chett. The car pulled some great wheellies. Good luck on finding the info. I have nothing to offer other than the new stuff. Funny car seems to have alot of awb info.

 

Anyone have any info on the other cars campaigned by Jon Thorne Racing Enterprises, later known as J.E.T racing in the nascar years? I'm guessing on some of these if anyone wants to set me straight.
63 Z-11 chevy
63 or 64 ford fairlane- i believe this car was known as the Humpin Clyde but i could be wrong.
64 or 65 blown chevelle.
He also got into nascar in 66 and campaigned a 66 hemi charger and in late 66 or for the 67 season he switched to fords. More on the nascar later. I'm mostly interested in the drag cars, but if anyone has anything to contribute on either that'd be great. Lets keep this thread rollin. Thanks again. Jose

 

If you look closely you will notice a huge difference in the cowl, forward roof line and windshield between a 63 and a 64. Very easy to spot for anyone into these cars. I don't believe putting a 64 clip on a 63 is as simple as just bolting things together...

 

Can anyone show me how to highlight screen names or usernames so i can attempt to direct individuals to this thread. There are some hamb members with 1st hand knowledge of this operation from back in the day and it would be great to hear from them. Your help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Jose

 

@dearjose

 

Just do that and they get a message I believe

 

Christmas Bump

 

mopar bump.....

 

Since i haven't scanned any pics yet i thought I'd throw up some nascar pics that are out there on the net to try and keep this thread alive. The 1st is the 66 hemi charger that they campaigned for most of the 66 season.

This car won the charlotte(?) National 500 in 66 and was driven by Donnie Allison and/ or Lee Roy Yarbrough. I don't know who these two drivers are but it's my understanding that the car was competitive untill Jon decided to switch to ford for 67.

More on that later.

 

Couple more shots of the dodge before we move on to the fords for 67 and some of 68.

And i really like this shot for some reason.
That's it for now. As always i encourage you to add to this thread with any info or stories. Thanks. Jose