Dick Harrell's '62 Z-11

[mark johnson]

Well, my mind is reeling now with historically significant 409's now! Tom Jabobson's '62 Biscayne which was raced for several years after everybody else moved on to bigger and better things, the Old Reliable IV '63 Z-11 Impala which survived amazingly intact to this day, the Goldenrod '62 Super Sport, the Ronnie Sox '62 Bel Air and the aluminum equipped '62 Impala called Mr. 409 that he drove for the owner (I had great pictures of both that crashed on my last computer....UGGH!), how the Sox & Martin '63 Z-11 (the only Chevrolet that drag racing's most famous "door car" team raced for one season), I know I'm leaving out A LOT of famous cars but when it comes to '62 409's and '63 Z-11's, the number of racers that got their names of the map with these machines is one of the reasons, at least I've always believed, that the 409 has had such a cult following. The list of names is just incredible.

 

[oil4kids]

You can thank Bill Jenkins for preserving his 63 Z11. He ran it down the track in the mid 80s at a Super Chevy Event. Shifting only at 7000rpm he was worried because of lack of Z11 parts back then. It has been restored since then, why i do not know, it was pretty clean as it was.

 

[region rat]

I got a call from Mr. Zintsmaster in the 80's and he told me about the car. I was going to take a shot at buying it but I thought $50 K was a bit salty at the time. Didn't have enough anyway. I specifically asked him about the heads and intake and he told me it was a regular 690 top half.
He told me how they got it through Chevrolet because the 09 car they were running wasn't fast enough for him.
The car was sold to a dealer near Rustie's shop who cleaned it up and turned it. I thought John would have known if it had the Z-11 parts.
It sat since 63 in a heated warehouse with plain water in the block. I heard it took a great deal of chiseling to get the rust out but the motor was still in good shape.
He asked if I'd do the motor for him if his original deal fell through. Never got to see it while he owned it. We went to see it in Indy at the warehouse but it was Sunday and it was locked up. Region Rat

 

[troublemaker427]

I'd have to venture to say that Dick's black aluminum '62 Super Sport is probably one of the most important 'race history' 409's to survive. The only car that would stand a chance of being more important and surviving to this day, in actual historical signifigance, would the Dave Strickler/Bill Jenkins Old Reliable II '62 Bel Air Aport Coupe that is currently owned by Larry Davis. Now that could possibly be a million dollar car after watching Ray Allens's 70 Chevelle LS-6 convertible on "that" auction a couple of years ago. This takes into account the driver's fame, races won, magazine coverage, and currently still being in existence, etc. The Dyno Don white-on-red '62 Bel Air could have made the list if it would have survived. Now that's a sad one lost to the world. I know every region and state had fast, well-known cars, but these 3 that I mention were famous nationwide. Oh yeah, one more....Hayden Proffit's red-on-red '62 Bel Air would be definitly be on the list. I heard after being raced as Sad Sack, it crossed over into Mexico, never to be seen again. Well, cars don't rust out in Mexico so maybe there's a chance of it surfacing again someday. Could you imagine Hayden's car being discovered in a tiny Mexican village transformed into a lowrider by an un-suspecting owner many years ago? Stranger things have happened!

Larry Brinkley (sp?) owns the O.R.II, not Larry Davis. I've heard they are very good friends though. Mr.Brinkley had it at the York US30 show as he always does. He also asked Mike Strickler to drive it out of the building to the trailer. It really means alot to Mike to be behind the same wheel that his father was.

 

[Speed]

It sure does Jody (Mike)
Actually it's quite moving to me.
Larry Brinkley has been very close to Susan & Mike (and the whole Strickler family)
Larry Davis & Larry Brinkley are life long friends....
The '62 is absolutely perfect......

 

[mark johnson]

That's right, I'm sorry, my mistake. I just got the two Larry's mixed up. It sounds like Old Reliable II is in good hands and still close to its' original home apparently. That's good to know. That's a car that I'd really like to see in person someday!