Features Corvette hot rods - picture thread

Roo I thought the same and I am aware of the Mr Big Stuff etc and Randy Payne from Georgia I thought driving Fords. A while back I added this picture to my Wildabeast file as I thought with the hood scoop, 61 fuel injection emblem (not correct on a 62) and rear wheel well radius that this picture could be what happened to Wildabeast after Hess moved on. That is why I thought it surprising when LB posted his picture of Wildabeast in its more original Skip Hess livery, ***ociated with a Randy Payne. . It could be another Randy Payne which is why I was hoping LB had more info or a better lead.

 

Jim,
I did a bit more digging and it was Steve Hood and Ken Payne. It appears that they ran a 55 Chevy F/G prior to the Corvette and despite my conjecture that they were west coast guys they were from DeKalb county, north east of Atlanta, the same general area as Randy Payne.

Roo

 

Thanks Roo-duly noted. Now I can follow up more if I run across their names. On the picture LB posted it appears to have Payne's name on the door but when I blow it up it gets pretty fuzzy. Not sure why but for some reason I really like Wildabeast and am glad it continued to race. Hope it survives without white walls and lawn chairs in the trunk.

 

For anyone mildly bored here is a pretty cool video on the 1960 Corvettes at Lemans.
https://silodrome.com/1960-24-hours-le-mans-corvette-do***entary/

 

For whatever it is worth, all four Corvettes that raced in 1960 survive and collectively they make for a crazy story. The #1 car was the latest to be found. It was found on Craigslist in deplorable condition and weaved its way through the courts with a ridiculous story. Car will be restored or is being restored. Not sure of the actual owners today.

The #2 car was found in a California junkyard I have read and was restored by Bruce Meyer.
The #3 car was found by Chip Miller with some detective work and is presently owned by his son Lance. Recently made a return trip to Lemans.
The Camoradi Corvette raced more than all of them and survives as well. Briggs Cunningham who owned the #1,2 &3 Corvettes turned them back into street cars and sold them. Good that they all survived. The purple car is the #1 car-was drag raced for a while and was obviously put away wet.

 

I WOULD LOVE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT THAT ONE

 

From the web



From Bangkok Dean

 

I believe that is/was Roger Penske's silver number 67 race car.

 

Incredible!!!!


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Yes it is. Another one you can see in the background later.

 

posted by 1947knuck in the in motion thread

 

LB the Fred Cattaneo Vette we have featured before but I am not sure everything has been figured out on the car,IMO. I see this is at Fremont which was an AHRA track and the rules of AHRA may have been different than NHRA. I believe he ran the car at the 64 Wintrnationals (although I cannot confirm that, I seem to have read he ran it at the Winternats in small block form) which of course was NHRA. Although some guys skirted the rules the height of this car may have run afoul of the NHRA height requirements of the NHRA. I also believe he would be required to have the stock suspension. If so, he may have put a 4" I-beam to raise it but later when the car was purple he had a straight axle. That is when he switched to gas with the "new" 427, injected like others in the B/G ranks.

 

Orlando Speed Legend Bo Laws



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almost looks like the car from the movie "King of the Mountain" but it isn't

 

To follow up on my post above on Fred Cattaneo, here is another picture of him at the Winternationals (not sure of the year possible it is 65 and the Cobra in the near lane may answer that-may be 66). The car is still in small block form more than likely with the distinctive hood scoops. When the BBC debuted in 65 he switched although I am not sure of the month or even if he even switched in 65 or maybe 66. This car appears to have the stock lower control arms. When he switched to gas he put a straight axle under it and went with stack injection. I wonder if this is an eliminator run off with the Cobra.

 

Jim, isn't this Larson's Cobra Around the time it was Larson and Costello?

 

Cool old hot rod

 

Doug there are some real Cobra experts out there and sadly I am not one of them. As I understand this is the Costilow and L****n Dragonsnake after the car was purchased and driven by Ed Hedrick. Ed's name is under the Cobra lettering on the door. The number 933 is the number he ran under in 1966, I believe. The car was driven by Bruce L****n and owned by Jim Costilow in 64 so that is why I said the Cobra may answer the date, so the picture is most likely 65-at least. The thing that throws me is that Cattaneo changed over to BBC power in 65 I thought-maybe I am wrong on that and he changed over in 1966. If that is the case then this picture could be the 66 Winternationals when I know Hedrick owned and drove the car. Maybe there is a Cobra expert that could tell me that Costilow sold the car to Hedrick in early 65-so it is possible it is 65. I thought Hedrick drove the car in 66, 67 and 68 to a number of records. I am not sure how long it was owned by Castilow and driven by L****n-I know they ran it in 64-not sure about 65. I should have remembered that when I posted the picture but obviously I am not anywhere near certain on this car or date.

In any event I have read it is the winningest compe***ion Cobra in history. If that is correct I imagine the road racer types would not be as proud as they want to be.

Long story short I am at a loss of the date of the picture and I feel a Cobra expert could set me straight. In the meantime my guesses are not much better than using a ouija board. Still a cool picture I suppose.

 

Jim, I looked for pictures of Costilow and Larson Cobra and they used number 822 when Bruce drove it. But the car was pink for sure. Wish I had paid more attention back then but I was just a dumb kid. I remember the Cobra sitting on Derry St. in Harrisburg on an open trailer. And Bruce had his Chevelle Funny by 1966. Life was a lot easier then!!

 

Just for kicks I looked in Larry Davis' G***er Wars book on the 65 Winternationals and he states that Bruce L****n, AA/Sp Cobra won cl*** and in Street Eliminator L****n beat Jerry Harvey's B/FX, SOHC Galaxie, which set up a race between L****n in L****n/ Costilou (sp?)Cobra and Ernie Dutre in his B/MP Corvette. Dutre went on to win that race and street eliminator as well. Here is a picture of the Dutre Corvette. So the Cattaneo pic above may very well be 66 still running small block power early in 66.

 

Doug here is a picture of when Hedrick drove the car with the 933 number and a picture of the car when it carried the #822 when L****n drove it.

 

I saw it just before Bruce sold it. Never a Ford guy but I sure like Cobras. In Jan. 1974 I sat in a '65 427sc at an exotic car dealer in Reading, PA. , red with black interior, wheels and sidepipes. It had 5000 miles and was $9000, all the money is the world at that time.

 

Doug I have been a fan of Carrol Shelby from day one and always a fan of not only the Cobras but also the GT350s and GT500s. My neighbor across the street owned and raced a GT350 back in 67ish. I owned a couple of Fords before I owned Corvettes (and still own one-61 Starliner). I realize the superiority of the Cobra and appreciate the success on the race track. It may have been fun if the *****waisters at GM had allowed the Grand Sport to reach it's potential and allowed more than the 5 to have been built (and raced).

 

Amen to that. And we could have had some more Cheetahs too.