Z11- Hayden Proffitt Story

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Phil Reed

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Z-11Guy said:
Hayden was living in Long Beach at the time until 1994 when he moved to Texas.
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Raj.......Hayden moved to Lockeford, Ca from the Long Beach area. As I remember, he was living there when I met him in 1988. Lockeford is south of Sacramento and north of Modesto. I never had the chance to visit him out there. Believe he and June were there 4-6 years? June developed a real allergy to the pine trees and they had to move. Hayden said they drove all over trying to find a place to relocate. Ended up at Buchannon Lake in central Texas. But Hayden was from Texas originally so that made the move easier. June has been gone now maybe 10-12 years. Delmer still has the car.
 
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Phil Reed

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david montanbeau said:
I do not know what happen to it. Maybe somebody out there can chime in.
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Pat is right.....Delmer built a replica and had it at Indy in 1989 when Doug Marion inducted Hayden into the Super Chevy Hall of Fame. In 1990 we had Hayden and the car in my booth at Super Chevy Ennis (Dallas). Hayden was singing autographs for everyone.
 
Blk61409

Blk61409

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Actually, I was talking to Rusty Symmes the other day and he said there was a replica before those. Mike Zubal built one way back when. I believe Rusty said it was repainted and I believe he said it was still around.
 
wrench

wrench

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Supporting Member 15
Phil Reed said:
Pat is right.....Delmer built a replica and had it at Indy in 1989 when Doug Marion inducted Hayden into the Super Chevy Hall of Fame. In 1990 we had Hayden and the car in my booth at Super Chevy Ennis (Dallas). Hayden was singing autographs for everyone.
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I didn't know Hayden could sing????
 
Z-11Guy

Z-11Guy

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Any of you remember seeing Irvine Johns running his Z-11 Chevy out of Louisville KY back in '63? Palomer red car with black interior. It wasn't a famous car by any means, it sat on the showroom floor at Broadway Chevrolet in Louisville KY for 4 months before the dealer got tired of looking at it. John (Buddy) Ward ordered the car though wanted the dealer to sponsor for a stock car (not for drag racing) and the dealer refused due to Chevy pulling the pin on the racing program. It was finally unloaded for a discount price to Irvine who's mom bought it for him from what I told. Engine was prepared by VV Cook Chevrolet in Louisville KY as well. Car was junked in '65 after it was wrecked with a 283 in it. Irvine owns Suburban Towing in Lousville KY though doesn't really like talking about it so I gave up. The person that prepared it was Dexter Jones who still has a repair shop in Louisville KY as well, nice guy to talk to.
 
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Barry Taylor

Barry Taylor

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Raj, Pat or Phil, does the name Ken Hare ring a bell. He was a friend of my dads and I believe he may have bought one of Frank Sanders cars, maybe a 62 model.
 
Blk61409

Blk61409

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Supporting Member 9
Yes, I knew Ken, actually spoke to him about a year or so ago. Ken worked at the GM assembly plant in Arlington. He did in fact buy Frank Sanders 62, he ran it for several years and never really got it to run like Frank. Years later, Frank called me looking for his old car and no one knows where it went. Kind of like Haydens Z-11 car Clyde McKnight had, same way. I asked Ken about the car and he has no idea, nor did he keep any of the paper work. He said he threw everything away when he quit racing. When I was racing for Bill McKay Chevrolet, Ken had a funny car sponsored by McKay, about 1969 or so.
 
Z-11Guy

Z-11Guy

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Sorry, Barry, unfortunately I never heard too much about Frank Sander's '61 Red Biscayne or the '62 Bel air other than the Car Life test that was performed on it in '62. Frank's wife actually drove the '62 to and from college believe or not. Also the time when he ran at the '62 Detroit Nationals prior to Indy. The Bel Air had aluminum front end sheet metal. In order or him to run with the other stocker he had to conform to a steel front end. He rented a '62 Chevy Impala sedan from Budget rent a car and "borrowed" the front end for the Bel air temporarily so he could compete. Also another note, it's been mentioned Terry Prince and Frank Sanders ran in the final of L/P at the '63 Pomona Winternationals . In fact it was Butch (Larry Leal) in his '63 Z-11 that faced off Sander's in the final. Sander's beat Terry on the way up to the final (barely). Terry did outrun Hayden in L/P though due to something happened with the ignition on Hayden's Z-11 and it nose dived on the top end and Hayden had to coast to the return road and be tow roped to the pits.
 
david montanbeau

david montanbeau

Well Known Member
Blk61409 said:
Actually, I was talking to Rusty Symmes the other day and he said there was a replica before those. Mike Zubal built one way back when. I believe Rusty said it was repainted and I believe he said it was still around.
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We started building the 62 clone car in 1979-80 from spare parts when I was restoring the 409s back then. It was built from extra parts when Mike came up with the idea.
 
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