troublemaker427
Well Known Member
Thanks Mark!!
Very interesting! ! The 409 engine was not listed but the credit for the 300HP engine was.
Neat piece of history!!!!
Thank you for the Happy Birthday In 1962, I worked at the corner gas station working as a helper washing cars.A regular customer just bought a 62 340 Vette in 62 from Emmert Chev in Detriot MI and I would help him hand wash it and still has it today. I had just turned 10 at the time.Happy belated birthday David. Sorry we missed it a couple days ago.
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.
Raj, my dad never raced a 62 bubble top. Dad raced a red 62 SS. When he or Dan Dean found out they had aluminum fronts available someone located dad a red SS with the alum. front clip and they switched it out to the race car, then dad sold the new 409 car to someone else off the carlot he owned. I can't say he never owned a bubble top because he was in the used car bus. at this time. For 63 dad bought a brand new 6 cyl. beige Belair from Jackson Chevy and took delivery after midnight 2 days before they were shown to the public. The dealers would paper up the windows of the showroom until the unveiling of the new model year. The motor and trans. were removed from the red 62 car and put in to the 63 Bel Air so they could make the Labor Day race at Green Valley. I'm not sure but he could have already had a Z11 top end on the motor. Soon after that Dan secured the white 63 Z11 with the help of Bill Thomas and was ran thru. Friendly Chevrolet. At the time he owned a Fina station on Garland Ave. near downtown Garland and the carlot was next door on the same property as the station. Rafel and Gladys Shields lived in the house behind the station. Dan Deans shop Precision Automotive was 5 blocks north east of the station, and dad would just drive any of the race cars back and forth to Dans shop. Ray Travathans shop was a quarter mile east just off Garland Ave. Tom McCroans carlot was 3-4 miles west on Forest lane in Garland. Tom raced a white 62 SS called Casper. Dad bought this car from Tom because Tom didn't specialize in fast cars like dad did. This car was stolen of dads lot and wrecked. Tom got one of the first Thunderbolts in this area and was one of the few cars that could outrun dads 63. Tom later moved to the Chrysler camp with a Hemi car , then an altered wheelbase car that someone else drove for him. My dad bought the blue car in my avitar for me in 1969 from Coke Royal and was raced out of Don Hardy's shop. All of the people I've talked about in this rant were all great racers and pioneers of drag racing in the north and west Texas areas. These Men are My Heroes