I posted these unrestored pictures at the 3widespicturevault.com message board and a member there provided this picture of the poor old car in better days...Larry Burtis was the driver at Flemington, NJ.
Yes Frank...still have two Malibu Street Stocks. One 1978 and one 1980. Neither has seen the track in a few years, but are kept inside and are really just in need of engines and minor stuff to be raceable again. Every now and then I say to my brother "I can just picture two old stock framed Modified coupes sitting in a shop collecting dust back in the 70's when they became obsolete"...just like our Malibus have become recently. Except we plan to keep them and eventually they'll be vintage cars too. The Oldsmobile actually still gets raced now and then, but the body work is nothing like it was in that picture from 17 years ago. Here's a more recent shot: We have 2 parts cars for new body skins...but if we make it nice again, we won't want to race it at bull-rings like Accord, or Enduro events. Someday we'll fix it like new and it too will be relegated to vintage events. But, how many vintage cars can we get to one event?
I was the ASA Series BFGoodrich Tire Rep. 2000-03.Me and my tire mounting crew were at every ASA Series event and test session during my tenure in that position. If ya' see "BIG Vic", please tell'em that Frank, the BFG man, says hello. BIG Vic never missed a thing. He watched us at the tire truck like a hawk. He had some neat friends. One was a guy that had an interest in the past with Butch Miller. He made some racing parts. Think his name was Nickalas. Can't remember his companies name. He talked with a small foreign accent and was a musician. Think he turned the company over to his kids and started traveling with his girl friend.
OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!! But, then again, it's a race car. I forgot there was two Malibus. I remember the one at Syracuse. Wasn't that the race where the sportsman driver was killed?
Yes Frank, unfortunately a young Sportsman driver was killed on the backstretch at Syracuse that night in 1997...they shot off the fireworks while they removed the poor soul's body. We had two Malibu Street Stocks at Syracuse that day, but one got loaded early due to the pinion gear loosening up in the heat race, haven't been back since. That was the day we made the deal to perform some BFG testing for your R-1's at Middletown and Lebanon Valley. We had fun the day you got the track at LV for some testing! Still have a bunch of those R-1's....can't bring myself to get rid of them, cuz even though they have about 1000 laps on em, they still work on pavement. Here's a shot of the 1978 Malibu at Accord a couple years ago. This shot illustrates the "real steel" bodied STOCK car compared to the big pillow-case looking Pro-Stock...which I happened to beat regularly that year, LOL. (sorry, guys...I know this car probably isn't old enough to be popular with many of you)
maybe not,but it still looks more like a race car than the one beside it. ^ i can't stand the looks of those things.jmho
Car X11, Larry Burtis, I read the history of that car on 3Wides. The body of that car was originally owned by Red Coffin. Sure wish we could bring back Flemington, Readiing, Nazareth, Windsor. The cars and stars.
John56h, I have to agree with B.A. King. I'd much rather watch a field of those Malibus, or even stock bodied Camaros, than look at those wedgies.
Jerry Wimblish and Gober Sosebee in cars on the running board is Gene Hester who later became a very good race car driver. and on the fender is little John. The garage was demolished for the olmpic park. It was on West Peachtree Place in Atlanta.
Couldn't agree more with both of you guys. We've held out ten years now...with the stock steel bodies. We refuse to buy a $1,500 aluminum/fiberglass skin that ends up in shreds after a minor tangle. 95% of the "Pro-Stocks" we race against have those Nascar inspired abominations for bodies. It's sad....no more variety or creativety in the stocker classes anymore either.
Keep 'em coming, guys. I'm pretty busy with getting things ready for the year at our short track down here, and I need this break now and then to see more of the old stuff.
Kool pics!! I met a guy in St. Petes, FL that has one of the doors off the 43jr and had it authenticated. Marty
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