1970 Plymouth Superbird, as raced by Ramo Stott. Photo courtesy Douglas Schellinger.
Given the popularity of stock car racing in the United States and the relative affordability of retired stock cars, we’re surprised that vintage NASCAR racers aren’t seen at more concours events on these shores. Later this month, the Concours d’Elegance of America at St. John’s will look to right this wrong by featuring a Vintage NASCAR class.
Eight cars are confirmed for the class thus far, ranging in vintage from a 1952 Hudson Hornet to a 1972 Dodge Charger. While some are better known than others, each has a story to tell, and each played a significant role in the evolution of stock car racing as America’s most popular form of motorsports.
The 1952 Hudson Hornet to be shown, owned by Jack C. Miller of Ypsilanti, Michigan, can trace its ownership back to 1951, when owner (and former NASCAR treasurer) Marshall Teague hired driver Herb Thomas away from Plymouth. With Thomas at the wheel, the Hudson would go on to achieve 15 wins from 1951-1953, enabling Teague’s “Fabulous Hudson Hornet” team to finish second in the 1952 points race.
Perhaps the most famous car to be shown is the 1963 Chevrolet Impala of Robert Glenn “Junior” Johnson, currently owned by Robert Kauffmann of Charlotte, North Carolina. Campaigned by Johnson during the 1963 NASCAR season, the car recorded seven victories and set a speed record at Daytona, thanks in part to the 427-cu.in. “Mystery Motor” V-8 built by Chevrolet and supplied to a handful of factory-supported teams just before GM ended its formal involvement in motorsports. As delivered to Johnson, the RPO Z33 MkII V-8 was believed to produce over 600 horsepower, but it was disallowed by NASCAR following the introduction of a new V-8 from Chevrolet in 1964.
1969 Ford Talladega. Photo courtesy Barry Miller.
By the late 1960s, aerodynamics had begun to play an important role in NASCAR’s top tiers, meaning that the 1969 Pontiac Grand Prix once campaigned by “The Flying Indian” Roy Tyner (and currently owned by Keith Vrabec of Bear Township, Pennsylvania) was limited in its competitiveness as soon as it was built. Cars like the 1969 Ford Talladega, with its lowered ride height, fastback design and custom nose proved unbeatable on high-speed tracks, and the Concours d’Elegance of America will feature a 1969 Ford Talladega once campaigned by Benny Parsons (and later, Wendell Scott) and currently owned by Barry Miller of Portland, Indiana.
A second example of NASCAR’s “aero period” to be shown is the 1970 Plymouth Superbird owned by Douglas Schellinger of New Berlin, Wisconsin, and formerly raced by Ramo Stott. Based on the proven design of the Dodge Charger Daytona, the Plymouth Superbird was used by Chrysler to lure Richard Petty back to Plymouth after Petty Motorsports switched to the Ford Talladega for a season. The Ray Nichols Engineering-built Superbird on display is known to have recorded the model’s very first win, with Stott achieving victory in the 1970 ARCA 300 at Daytona, before going on to win the 1970 ARCA 500 at Talladega and at the 1972 USAC Michigan Twin 200.
1972 Dodge Challenger “Kit Car,” developed with Petty Enterprises. Image courtesy of Bryan Skanes.
In the early 1970s, manufacturers sought ways to increase the popularity of stock car racing, and Chrysler even marketed a “build it yourself” kit car for that purpose. On display will be a 1972 Dodge Challenger kit car prototype, owned by Edward Bryan Skanes of Lexington, Kentucky, but originally developed by Petty Enterprises as a low-cost way for Mopar owners to go racing. For $8,800, aspiring racers could build a circle-track racer capable of turning competitive lap times right out of the box, and Chrysler even bragged that its package had “taken the mystery out of building a stock car.”
Skanes’s car is particularly notable, as he has reason to believe it was the very car tested by a young, down-on-his-luck Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 1973. As the story goes, Earnhardt was having a difficult time making a living behind the wheel of a race car, and was seriously considering a switch to farming full time to support his family. When Chrysler’s manager of stock car programs, Larry Rathgeb, needed a dirt track driver familiar with North Carolina’s Concord Speedway to test the new Challenger kit car, Earnhardt was recommended. Paid $800 for two days’ worth of driving (far more than Earnhardt was winning at the time), the young driver impressed Rathgeb. Though Chrysler could not offer Earnhardt a ride (or even sponsorship), Rathgeb suggested that Earnhardt stick with racing, ultimately reshaping the face of NASCAR.
When Skanes discovered the historic Challenger, it was hardly in pristine condition. First rebodied as a Dart and later rebodied as a Mirada, the car had seen decades’ worth of abuse as a dirt track car. Still, there were clues that the car was worth far more than the $500 asking price, like its unique suspension, Petty rear end and “Saturday Night Special” dash markings. A quick call to Buddy Crouch in Kentucky revealed that this was the same car he’d owned from 1975 to 1980, and it was believed to be the same car tested by Earnhardt at Concord Speedway. Now restored (but with some retained “patina,” in Skanes’s words), the car is making its debut at the Concours d’Elegance of America.
Other vintage NASCAR racers to be displayed include a 1953 Oldsmobile Deluxe 88, owned by William Adcock of Lansing, Michigan, and a 1972 Dodge Charger owned by Milton Wood of Chelsea, Michigan.
The Concours d’Elegance of America will take place on Sunday, July 28, at The Inn at St. Johns in Plymouth, Michigan. For more information, visit ConcoursUSA.org.
