Features Vintage Stock Cars for the street...

Tell that to the picture in gwhite's post a few above! That's probably why you qualified your comment with MOST.

 

NASCAR ran two-doors, however I did see an independent running around Riverside in a four-door Oldsmobile of all things, like a 1967 Cutlass. Goofy then, goofy now.

 

Did you even look at the picture in post #206?!

 

Yes I did, NASCAR ran mostly two-doors. If out of 1000 NASCAR racecars 999 were two-doors, leave it to a more-door guy to build a four-door NASCAR tribute...

It's like the Gapp & Roush Maverick, a one-off. Pro Stocks were two-doors. So next we'll see a Nova four-door with Harwood scoop and fake wheelie bars "tribute car" just like the good ol' days.

 

Great Thread!

 

at the local Wed nite cruise

 

Historically, that statement is inaccurate...at least in the early days of the sport.

I know of at least six 4-doors that ran on the Grand National circuit from 1949-1951, and many more prior to this. In the early days, guys raced whatever they could get their hands on...

Enjoy;


Ed Eng's 4-Door Hudson, 1937 Daytona Beach race



Bill France and his Graham, 1941 Daytona Beach race..."Big" Bill qualified first with a speed of 77.838 mph, but failed to finish the race.



National Championship Stock Car Circuit (NASCAR predecessor) action at Bowman Gray Stadium, June 1947. Two 4-doors in 1 frame!



August 13, 1950; Glenn Dunnaway's #49 Plymouth 4-door and an unidentified 4-door Mercury pass as Sterling Long rolls his 1950 Hudson at Occoneechee Speedway.



Dick Linder of Pittsburgh, PA wheels his #25 4-door Olds to his first of three victories during the 1950 season. Photo taken Aug 24, 1950 at Dayton.



Ebenezer "Slick" Smith driving Bill France & Curtis Turner's Mexican Road Race Nash at the Sept 24 1950 North Wilkesboro race.



Two more 4-doors in a single frame; Bud Erb wheels his Mercury 4-door inside of Jim Paschal while Tim Flock's 4-door olds nips on their heels. June 10, 1951 @ Columbus, GA.

 

more fuel for the four door fire

 

this is what I have been draming about building for a while now! Right down to the hidden headlights behind the grille.

 

A streetable car with "Fabulous Hudson Hornet" emblazoned down the side and a lumpy 308 under the hood would be unbelievable. Hell, even little kids would know what you were all about and would beg for a ride in "Doc". R.I.P. Paul Newman.

I`d like to do this too. I`d also like a real 55 Chev former stock car, and think a 70 Monte cup replica would be pretty cool too. You never know what might turn up.
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Can't argue with that...I'm not a 4-door guy, just wanted to point out that in 5 min. I found 10 photos of 4-door stock cars, and after a closer look thru the 1951 and 1952 NASCAR Yearbooks there were many more...so from a historical standpoint, they weren't unheard of.

As the sport evolved in the mid-1950's (with larger payouts and more sponsorship $) it became a more 'professional' modified-stock series and the cars began to be more intentionally built as racers. Nonetheless, the first half-decade of NASCAR was all about runnin' what you brung, number of doors notwithstanding...photographic evidence bears this out.

 

A Fabulous Hudson Hornet would be sweet, although the 'real' racing Hornets were far from 'lumpy'. NASCAR rules (at least through 1954) mandated stock factory-cataloged parts for all entries. IIRC, stock valvetrain components were mandated up to at least 1955...Daytona winner Fireball Roberts was disqualified that year for the unpardonable sin of running pushrods 1/16" shorter than factory-spec Buick parts...just something to keep in mind.

 

I realize this isn't much of a picture, but iit was all I could find. I built this model a few decades ago, always thought the "little" Fairlanes made very cool looking stockers. I'd definitely make a street-legal version of this!

 

Here are mine. The Mexican rules require working lights, registration etc.

 

I found this in another HAMB thread...this has the oval-track flavor and has bitchin' presence. I'd do something (minus some of the custom touches) like this in a heartbeat! Man, I'm gonna build a stock car for the street!

 

Hell.. just a bout ready to say screw it and go "Gasser".. found a stock set of front fenders cut out the rear flairs... But went back and Photochoped out the flairs and bumped the rear tires a bit.... Crap... and may have found a source for larger tires....#&*@!!!$*&% what ta Dooo....

That '64 Galaxy and the '49 shoe box are way cool ... heck every car posed are slick ...

 

A little late to the party...

Back in '75...at the ripe old age of 15...I was a subscriber to Car & Driver. An small side-bar article in one issue caught my eye...and has remained as one of the 'things' that someday I would look into and maybe even build for myself...see attached scanned image...

Holman-Moody built a '74-'75 Ford Torino (complete with vinyl Landau Roof and windows!) for a Swiss businessman (Swiss? Really?) that was as close to a race-capable street-driven stock car as humanly possible. I fell in love with this car back then (and still do), and would love to build one myself. For me, it remains the standard by which I would measure my street-driven stock car.

I know the picture is a little fuzzy (I did a microfiche search at the Reno City Library in 2002 and printed it from there...and then scanned it in) but the car apparently runs a Boss 429 stroked to 460, and the reference to DOHC is obviously a mistake by Mr. Jeanes, the author. You can even see the squirrel cage blower for the rear diff fluid cooler there behind the driver's seat.

The car also used the 'proper' H-M heavy duty steel NASCAR wheels (see my next posting...) and apparently some Goodyear Blue Streak race tires.

I have never been able to track down Mr. Schmidlin to see what happened to this car, but I have spoken to Mr. Lee Holman (about 9 years ago) over the phone. He did not remember this car at all, as said so many cars passed through his shop in those days, he just couldn't keep track of everything.

I've also e-mailed and/or spoken to Kim Haynes (www.racetorations.com) and Gene Felton (www.genefeltonrestorations.com) and others, and found the prices to replicate such a vehicle to be astronomical ($45,000 in '75 converts to, oh...~$190,000 today?)

So, if I were to do this today, I'd tap into the modern Pro-Touring scene (do my research first), and start a project with a Torino...either a '72 Sport (with the fish-mouth grill) or a '73 Sport...and give it the look and feel of the Bobby Unser '72 Pepsi Torino...with a little more hospitable interior, a 351 Cleveland with all of the early 70s NASCAR goodies on the outside (and some street-able internal features like a mild hydraulic roller cam, lower compression, etc.) along with a 5-speed Tremec, and 4-wheel disk brakes.

And of course, some replica 15" x 9" H-M steel early 70's NASCAR wheels!

Your mileage may vary...

 

Some pics of the 'proper' H-M wheels that should be considered for any late 60's or early 70's Vintage Street Stock Car:

1. The grey wheel is a Coker replica...not sure of the lineage, but it looks pretty close to the next picture, an original H-M steel NASCAR wheel
2. An original H-M NASCAR steel wheel in blue...note the extra welds between the center and the rim
3. White H-M wheels on a replica (or restoration?) of Ned Jarrett's Ford
4. A fuzzy picture of a chrome Stockton Wheel replica, what they call the "Henry Series 36" which is still available in all sizes and bolt circles. I visited Stockton Wheel in 2007 and they said they can replicate the H-M wheel now, and alluded to the fact that they have already done so, "...for someone who restores stock cars back East."

 

Check Bring-a-Trailer today Mr Original Poster - your request has been granted!

 

Thanks Dr. John! That is a nice '65 Chevy Impala there at bringatrailer.com! That car all cleaned up with a hot 427 BBC would be a fun ride. Too bad the 409 isn't available, but the 427 would be what it raced with anyway (check the hood paint.)

But I guess I am a Ford guy, and the '72-'73 Torino's shape is just too nice. For example, attached are some shots of a very nice '72 Torino built for SEMA 2007 by the folks at Pure Vision Design (http://www.purevisiondesign.com/rides_its_72torino.asp)

Also, if any more inspiration is needed for this topic, please check out the awesome shots here at Historic Grand National Stock Cars website (www.historicgrandnational.com)

 

here's the auction, for you lazy farts...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e...0481774056&viewitem=&sspagename=STRK:MEWAX:IT

 

really cool, has anyone a pic of a shoebox ford dirt car, would look similar to this, not channeled though.

 

this is the pic i should have posted, imagine this as a dirt car, not channeld, anyone have a pic of one like this?

 

...here's one that was for sale at the Turkey Run last November.

 

Been awhile since anyone posted her:

Anyway, this is what's been goin' on.

 

I scrapped about 20 of these HM wheels from my brother's cars. He ran at the old Fairgrounds Motor Speedway in Louisville Ky in the 70's. He had a 66 fairlane body on a homebuilt chassis with a 351 c and boss 302 heads. Those wheels were heavy!

 

Here is my 53 Super Wasp Coupe. Love the old NASCAR history and reading as much as I can about it. Mine is a tribute to Marshall and Smokey Yunick.

 

Some more pics with a friends 300D 58 Chrysler also street driven.

 

Heres my 41 Nash coupe. Based loosly on the early dirt trackers and shine runners of the day. Rhino lined floors, no back seats, roll bar with 4 point harnesses. Nothing on it that doesnt make it go faster.