Barn find .. TWO cars ..once in a lifetime

didnt that phoney injection just come out a few years ago

 

Did he find them in the Ft. Worth area?

 

I'm not 100% sure .. He is tossing around some big numbers
Until he puts it in writing , I can only guess ..

 

Answered that eariler ..Yes

 

You can read the details on the picture of info
says "Gartlits built in the 60's"
It has a swamp rat insignia
and it says "Gartlits' on it

This story is 100% true ..The cars were both built 15 to 20 years ago ..

If you choose to not believe, that is your right.

 

Hi everyone! New to this board and I just happened across this thread. Neat stories and cars! The Nova is in no way an original Harrell car or even "the" Harrell car as someone else accurately stated it wasn't. Excluding the obvious modern rear suspension set up, there are numerous other issues that tell you the car is a clone.

Bill Thomas, when he built the original car,did not move the entire rear wheelwells forward, he only lengthened them towards the front of the car as he still used the stock rear lower moldings behind the wheels. Also the front suspension was hung differently than on the car shown. The front clip was a one-piece fiberglass unit that tilted forward and used a fiberglass front bumper, not a stock chrome one. As for the front strut bars that run from the cowl to the front frame rails, they were mounted diagonally from the firewall down to the top of the frame rails. It appears the ones on this car mount to the core support. Even the radiator is mounted wrong. I dug through some other old photos I have of other 66 Chevy II's that were altered wheelbase cars and came up with nothing that had the rear wheels moved that far forward.

It may possibly be someones old drag car, but none of the ones that were famous during the day that I can find. Still a neat piece................

Do you remember which car she had a problem with her Dad's name being on it? Was it the restored 68 Camaro?......................RatPack......................................

 

Your buddy might want to contact Delamar McAffie in Odessa. He owns several high profile cars and was a personal friend of Dicky Harrel. Harrels wife gave Delmar his 67 0r 68 427 pikes peek hill climber. Delmar has the jingle to buy the car. If it's real he'll want it. If it's a clone he may still want it. Be prepared he is a strange duck himself.

 

I'll tell him but .. He listens to me about like a 2 yr old


and .. No I said early on that it most likely NOT the real car
and it didn't matter much cause it was changed so much anyway

It is /was a old race car , that got fixed up ..and it looks nice

It is what it is

 

"Terry" here on the board is a good friend of Delmer McAfee. You might want to PM him if you want to talk to Delmer. I have seen Delmer's collection - very impressive.

 

Wow!!!!

 

I'll tell my friend ..He is one of those guys that does things

"his way"

 

That injector stack looks like one of those carb covers that Garlits sells. I'd bet there's a carb under there. Still looks pretty cool though.

 

I will say sorry for the long post ahead of time. I would like to address a few parts here on the Nova. It has been established that it is not the real car. I spoke to the owner of the original a month ago and he is restoring it very slowly. If this was built as a tribute car for Dick Harrell. Why is it that the family has no knowledge of it. It is unfair of Ryan talking about Valerie Harrell as if she were a monster. It may help Ryan to either tell the whole story or at least to learn it how it really is. Mr Clary built a 68 Camaro funny car. Claiming it was Dicks original chassis and body. As Valerie kept asking for documentation it got very ugly. In the meantime Mr. Clary is going all over showing the car getting in the magazines and promoting his car group using the Harrell name to open the doors. Not only is he pulling this off he is now testifying in a law suit against Valerie to stop the Harrell trademark. Claiming to be an expert historian on the Dick Harrell cars. A guy with a phony car claiming to be an expert. Just so its known. Valerie won the suit and it cost her the money she had to restore the REAL 68-69 Funny car and to go to more shows, this ruined it for anyone to use the Dick Harrell name.You may want to check out the Dick Harrell website on the 68 Courtesy funny car
12-27-07. www.dickharrell.com
Also some may want to give thought to the guy in Tennesse doing the burn out and killing bystanders. Who gets sued?
EVERY Name on the car! Its not all just that simple as just having someones name on your car .Sitting in my shop I have the only funny car chassis that John Force ever sold since becoming a champion. I can not legaly put on a Camaro body like it had, Paint it and sell it with Johns name. Its tradmarked. So is Dick Harrell.
thank You all for your time. Dale Pulde

 

this was the owner/builder & heres some pics of the way it used to be.


this was when it was in a mag.

 

Hey good job on the investagation
But, the guy that owned the car when / where it was found that was not his name


I thought that car had to be in a magazine somewhere

 

I would not call Valerie Harrell a monster, just greedy. Just ask her latest victims, a couple of guys from Iowa, who recently purchased a Chevy wagon called “The Lead Sled”, which was part of the Dick Harrell team back in the day. The car is headed to the Mecum auction next week, and guess who wants a cut of the action? Yep..Valerie J. Harrell. Seems she had her attorney send them a “stop and desist order”, demanding a percentage of the sale price if the car is sold.
I guess the big question is this, and maybe Pulde has the answer, why is Valerie entitled to any proceeds for the sale of the car? The wagon has had DH on the side, with Dick’s permission, from back in the day, the car came with tons of documentation, needing none form the Harrell camp, and she was not involved in the purchase of it. The only connection Valerie has is being DH’s daughter and trade marking the DH mark a few years a go. It is one thing if the owner’s would like to donate part of the proceeds to the family, but to demand money. Give me break. <O</O
As far as lawsuits, once again about greed. Valerie demanded that her cousin Rick Hall give her money or rename his business, “The Dick Harrell Performance Center”, even though in the beginning it was a partnership between Rick’s mother and DH, who were brother and sister. <O</O
Another lawsuit occurred when Valerie tried to trademark the Fred Gibb mark, so not only could she profit from the Dick Harrell name, but the Fred Gibb name as well. Mrs. Fred “Helen” Gibb and the Yenko Sportscar Club, which I am the head of, protested this action. We prevailed, so needless to say that did not sit well with Valerie, thus the reason after two years of “my car being the real deal”, the attacks against me and the 1968 Dick Harrell funnycar I own, began. <O</O
What it boils down to, if you have a DH car, and do not compensate Valerie Harrell, your car will get trashed. Just ask Kim Howie who has a ’70 DH racecar, or Tommy K., who has a ’68 Gibb/Harrell magazine car. <O</O
Pulde is right about one thing though; “ this ruined it for anyone to use the Dick Harrell name”.

 

Some one mentioned Bill Thomas of Cheetah fame. . Here is our 1962 A/FX Nova, which was built by Bill Thomas Racing in 1965. It appeared in both Hot Rod and Popular Hot Rodding in 1966.

 

I even got to buy some of the vett stuff when they where selling it thanks to Big Dad!

 

Once again Mr Clary. You glorify your self with not sharing all that is involved. Odd you got involved in that suit and still to this day do not admit to starting it. Did you see anything papers on the Lead Sled ?and was it purchased this way? NO. There was and has been No cease and desist. It is also not restored as it was run by Tom Akin. Using others names to profit is what is greedy. you should know this.As far as the Gibb name. it was done with Connies blessing to protect it from people like you.Several even offered to pay Don Hardy's way to come and verify your car. You never would do it. Oddly enough I just spoke to one of the 2 owners of the Lead Sled. Yes he was contatced. No cease and desist. Seems again your stories are 2nd and 3rd hand. plus not very close.
YOU if anyone are the reason that Valerie has to protect her trademark rights. You should know You are the one to claims to have pushed her to trademark it. In Fact you claim to have paid for it but we also know what you were really trying to do. Let me know Tom and I will be at the SEMA show. We can debate this face to face.

 

Jeez ...

What happened to the day when someone could fly the flag of their
favorite driver , relive a old memory ..without being threatened
with legal action ?

Everyone settle down ..This old car is just a look back in time for those that did not live it ...A "tribute" if you will

If I was the offspring of a famous driver , I'd welcome the time when
36 years past his passing someone would remember him ?
I'll tell you right now, the next generation could give two shits

The letters are vinyl , suppose we can have a peeling party
To quote John Wayne
"re-god-damm- diculas"

 

Well put..
And personally, the Nova is cool but i'd take the 56 ALL day long..
The tub's on the Nova kill it for me no matter how cool it is overall.
BTW, Nice finds

 

ROFL!!! i mention a skirmish and i get you... and yenko.net here? sweet..

Anyways How am i making her a monster? all i said..incase you forgot in your long winded post is " Make sure his daughter, V Harrell doesnt see that car or she will be complaining , since her dads name is on the car, read about a skirmish she had with a funny car her dad drove.."

...true i shouldnt have said she WILL, That was a low blow on my part, but i should have said MIGHT HAVE,.. after all theres many lawsuit attempts, so one can ONLY assume aye? ohwell its only a forum, regardless theres no need to ''tell the whole story'' i read what i did, on yenko.net, great place btw, awesome ppl, awesome cars

Sorry Big Dad for magically derailing your thread

 

Sorry Big Dad for magically derailing your thread[/quote]

You didn't whomever felt the need to get the car police invovled
did that

Me, I'm a casual observer ,I have NO stake in it

I still think is sad that this BS goes on ..What a great way to remember the man, a pioneer of real FUNNY CARS and drag racing in general ..

One has to wonder what he would say ?

 

You didn't whomever felt the need to get the car police invovled
did that

Me, I'm a casual observer ,I have NO stake in it

I still think is sad that this BS goes on ..What a great way to remember the man, a pioneer of real FUNNY CARS and drag racing in general ..

One has to wonder what he would say ?[/quote]


He'd Say. "line that POS up and lets who has the real one!

 

Big Dad, I too apoligize for derailing your thread, just wanted to tell the other side. And BTW..your earlier post about reliving the past was "right on".

Omega..glad you enjoy the Yenko site. And you are right, a lot of awesome cars there.

Here is a picture of the car in question, during the 2003 Funnycar Reunion at Englishtown. Needless to say this was pre-lawsuit days.

 

Tom
Can you post some pics of the car as you found it-before you restored it? It's great to see cars as they were "as found"

 

Some of you younger guys may not be familiar with Dale Pulde who posted above. Here is a short bio:

Dale Pulde - the funny car driver in IHRA history with the most wins; Steve Evans called him, "The finest driver to ever sit behind the wheel of a funny car."
"Dale Pulde&#8217;s racing career began when he was still a Southern California teenager, but unlike so many others who were enamored of all things automotive, Pulde began at the top, driving a Funny Car when he was only 17 years old. (article does not mention his national championship driving midgets at age 8) Now, as exotic as that may appear, Pulde would be the first to acknowledge that making the jump from Van Nuys Boulevard to Lions Dragstrip was a lot easier then than it would be today. Still, Pulde&#8217;s experience on the local tracks soon led to a successful career as a touring professional match racer, and from there it was but another short step into national event competition, where he quickly became one of the best.
Pulde&#8217;s string of colorful and very competitive War Eagle mounts ultimately won three IHRA World Championships while also becoming the second winningest competitor in the association&#8217;s history with 18 event titles. During the years that he also competed on the NHRA circuit Pulde made more than a dozen final round appearances while consistently earning Top 10 points status, with his best points finish being third in 1985.
As important as all of those victories were, what helped set Dale Pulde apart from the crowd was his early and very successful work with corporate sponsors. From his days driving for the late, legendary Mickey Thompson and Peter-Paul Candies to his introduction of Miller Brewing Company to drag racing in the Eighties, Dale has consistently "delivered" the kind of positive exposure the corporate world had been seeking through an involvement with drag racing"

 

I agree, neat to see the old cars the way they were built. That is why I enjoy the BT Nova so much.

Because the FC was so rough, we only took a couple (yes, now I realize that was a mistake), and as Omega posted, this was all played out on the Yenko site, so rather then bore everyone here with old news, anyone who wants to read the about the car can go there.

 

The BT Nova, as found.

Cheetah seats and all.

 

Can you post the pics of the F/C too? Was the original paint on it etc. How did you know it was Dick Harrells car?