Most of are not old enough to remember when NASCAR had a class JUST for convertibles. The golden era of stock car racing with convertibles dates roughly from 1955 to 1962. Things got rolling late in 1955 when NASCAR boss Big Bill France, looking to expand his sanctioning body across the country, took over the SAFE (Society of Auto Sports, Fellowship, and Education) association, which operated and promoted an all-convertible stock car circuit. Repackaged as the NASCAR Convertible Division, the series ran in parallel and in combination with the top-tier Grand National Series (now Sprint Cup) from 1956 to 1959. A big hit with the fans because they could see the exposed drivers at work, especially on the short tracks, the convertibles packed the houses at Soldier Field in Chicago and Bowman Gray Stadium (photo above) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The Convertible Division also reflected the production vehicles the fans of the period owned or aspired to, a bit like the NASCAR truck series today. In the years before air conditioning became common, the convertible was a highly popular body style, particularly in the South. Grand National stars who also raced the ragtops included Lee Petty, Curtis Turner, Fireball Roberts, Glen Wood, and Joe Weatherly. Some teams ran so-called “zipper top” cars, which could be run either the Grand National or the Convertible Division by removing a bolt-on sheet-metal top. The 1959 Holman Moody Thunderbird racers were designed as zipper tops. In some events, including the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959, the convertibles and Grand National cars ran together, though the topless cars suffered a significant penalty in aerodynamic drag over the coupes and hardtops. From here:https://macsmotorcitygarage.com/the-great-age-of-convertible-racing-in-nascar/ So now you know (me too) and I will be posted photos from this series. If anybody has any phottosd to add feel free to post them up. 1959 Thunderbird at Daytona racing or practicing with hardtops. Bill Lang 56 Ford Kansas Fairgrounds Bob Wellborn 57 Chevrolet Car and driver Bowman Gray Stadium Glen Wold 56 Ford Buck Baker 58 Chevrolet "Zipper Top" Convertibles at Daytona 1956 Cotton Owens 58 Pontiac Darlington Daytona Beach 1956 Fireball Roberts 58 Ford at Daytona Front Row Darlington 1957
Damn I thought that they raced rag tops at one time. I was actually arguing with a guy a while back about this. Seems like I have seen a '57 Bird with no top that ran at daytona.
...and they always ran convertibles in the Rebel 500 thru 1962, ..I believe. ...this reply isn't intended to start an argument, ...it's just my opinion.
My mistake, ...it was the Rebel 500 ( but still at Darlington) .....the teams would cut the tops off of the cars just for that race
I find it interesting that the convertible series used the most expensive models. Where as the "hardtops" could be the cheapest.
Ford won the NASCAR convertable championship and Chrysler won the non-convert with Kechaufer (sp) 300 Chryslers. He quit after 56, one of reasons was they won so often and was continuously booed. Plus cans and bottles were thrown at his cars at every track. There is a clone of the Joe Weatherly 56 Ford in orange and white at one of the museums.
Parnelli Jones at Gardena Stadium in 1957 in one of his first NASCAR stock car races, which was the convertible division.
59 Ford Thunderbird zipper top 62 Rebel 300 Ford and Pontiac Bob Welborn 49 57 Chevrolet, Elmo Langley 8 56 Chevrolet at Bowman Gray Stadium Bob Welborn 60 Chevrolet at Daytona Curtis turner 1956 Daytona winner
1962 Galaxy Convertible with removeable top. Ford made 500 of the tops for homologation but NASCAR only allowed it in one race and then banned it. It was made to use on convertibles.
There is more on this top on the HAMB somewhere I think maybe the vintage thread or nascar thread but it was awhile ago.
1962 Galaxy Convertible with removeable top. Ford made 500 of the tops for homologation but NASCAR only allowed it in one race and then banned it.<br /><br />It was made to use on convertibles.<br /><br /><br /> This car is a clone but well presented. Almost bought it in Daytona 6-7 years ago. ...this reply isn't intended to start an argument, ...it's just my opinion.
God damn 62 Bel Airs. Took the Ford boys to school that year at the super speedways but took it back in 63 with the fastback and Chev was hung out to dry without the 61 Impala top. Aerodynamics really cam into play starting back then. Can you guys imagine if there were 63-64 "61 Impala top" cars now and what would be their $$$$ value.
Curtis turner 56 Ford on dirt Curtis Turner 57 Ford Curtis turner #26 Fireball Roberts #22 in 56 Fords Curtis turner #26 Joe Weatherly #12 at Daytona 57 Chevrolet and 56 Mercury on dirt track
I watched those cars run on dirt at the old 1 mile Lakewood Speedway dirt track in Atlanta, and at what is now Atlanta Motor Speedway. There was also a regional sanctioning body that ran other area tracks with convertibles such as Central City Park in Macon, GA with a half mile dirt track. For awhile the "late models" of today, the wedge shaped missiles that have no resemblance to a "stock" car ran a topless class in just the last few years. Since the hardtops on these were serving as sort of a downforce "wing" the topless ones were a bit slower.
As I understand , convertibles weighed in much heaver than the C dans, sooo out came the torchs to create the race convertibles. Oldmics
Fireball Roberts Fireball in 57 Chevy at Darlington, Cottom Owens in Pontiac on the far left Ford and Mercury on dirt. Wow look at the size of that crowd Fords Pete Depaolo racing team Ford
Glen Wood #22 56 ford Jim Massey #33 1956 Kansas Fairgrounds turn one Joe Lee Johnson 57 Chevrolet victory lane Nashville Joe Weatherly #12 56 Ford Joe Weatherly #12 56 Ford Soldier field
Yep, the infamous 'Starlift' lift-off top option. Ford quickly figured out that the 'boxtop' roof on the '62 was a disaster on the super speedways, so fabricated these fiberglass replicas of the '60-61 Starliner tops for fitting to the converts. Banned after one race because of protests, Ford had to go back to the drawing board (and wind tunnel) which resulted in the 63.5 'fastbacks'. Ford didn't build 500 of them either; in those days the part simply had to be available as either a option or as an across-the-counter-part available to the 'general public', but dropped the idea after the ban. Only a handful were ever built, with none sold to the public... The '500 minimum' came along a few years later, when the factories started bringing race-only motors in; the Chevy 'mystery motor' of '63 raised eyebrows, but with the hemi and cammer in '64 NASCAR finally said you have to sell 500 as regular production cars. That killed the cammer as it's cost to build was too high (about double the total cost of a new ford) and delayed the hemi from legal racing for two years.
Joe Weatherly 58 Ford Joe Weatherly 56 Ford at Daytona Larry Frank # 76 58 Ford Nelson Stacy #29 1962 Ford Rex White #4 1961 Chevrolet
That lift off top is a new one to me. As a kid in the 70s you still saw a vert late model or two on the dirt tracks of the Mid West. rock rapids, Black Hills Speedway etc.
The Jalopy Journal
