One of my favorite race cars of all time: http://jdellis.smugmug.com/gallery/27579/1 Definatly thinking outside the box.
Just think of the size of the cajones it would take to drive it. You get sideways and some guy t-bones ya right in the capsule? You're bent, folded, spindled and mutilated while the motor keeps movin' you in a circle. Not one of Smokey's safer ideas.
Smokey is someone that I would have liked to have been able to meet. A visionary, a character, brilliant, and very much a hot rodder. When the car was featured in a color spread in Hot Rod, I spent a lot of time taking in its details and overall trickness. Once the decision had been made not to race it, rather than mothballing it, it would have done well on the car show circuit. Carl Casper would have choked. It's neat that it survived. Dave Mann (602) 233-8400 weekdays http://www.roadsters.com/
Ol' Smokey was definitley an innovator. A friend of mine here has a ton of stuff from Smokey's race shop, tools, parts, tires, one of the Indy car wings, even the door from the parts room. It's some very interesting stuff.
That is WILD! Where's the eject ****on? It looks like an escape pod. I don't think you'd ever get use to riding on the outside of your car, especially with a square steering wheel.... I love the magnesium American knock-offs.. Thanks for sharing!
The last time I saw that car it was sitting in the storage area of the Indy Musuem covered in dust. That is an awsome place, it is in the ba*****t of the Indy 500 Musuem. If you ever get the chance to see it don't p*** it up. They have every pace car that paced the race down there as well as many unrestored race cars and even some Duesenberg Model J's. We managed to talk our way into it by shmoozing the museum director about 10 years ago. They don't like to let people down there but sometimes if you have a group of about 10 or so and make arraingments well in advance you might get lucky. BB
Smoky was a driving force in auto racing and a visionary,,,allways trying to convience the powers in charge that the tracks need to be equiped with saffer barriers,,,,and it's finally happened,,HRP
When I was in High school and worked at the Speedway Museum I used to sit in this car, as a matter of fact I sat in a lot of cars, but this one was in my top 3 favorites, I took care of all the cars in the museum waxed em polished the wheels etc.
You need to look at some of the Super Modifieds that are running today. Smokey is one of those people I'm sorry I never got to meet. The box was nowhere in sight when he was on a roll.
I was at the Indy Museum last fall and the "sidecar" was on display in the main area. VERY cool! Also saw Smokey's all-winning Pontiac at the museum next to the track at Talledega. What an amazing guy. My favorite "Smokey car" is probably the 5/8ths scale Chevelle he built. Not sure if that's still around.
Smokey went to his grave insisting the 5/8 scale Chevelle was a figment of NASCAR's imagination and that he had the templates to prove it. He insisted the secret to that car was that he spent as much effort optimizing airflow under the car as over the top. Now that IS visionary since in those days it was almost unheard of for a race car to see the inside of a wind tunnel. Could it work? Consider the fact that today in NASCAR the radiator has to be mounted within a specified range from vertical to prevent the fins from providing downforce! Of course that same year they let the "Yellow Banana" Ford race, so called because the ends of the car were visibly bent from a stock configuration. That says something else about NASCAR, doesn't it? If I could pick one race car builder from any era to meet, it would have to be Smokey.
I snapped a pic of that car and was lucky enough to meet Smokey at Goodwood. He p***ed away not long after. Mart.
"Smokey went to his grave insisting the 5/8 scale Chevelle was a figment of NASCAR's imagination" jaybee - I don't for a minute doubt that Smokey had "tricks" on that, and other of his cars, which were never uncovered, but I distinctly recall seeing side-by-side (and end-by-end) comparison photos of that car and a stock Chevelle. It was tiny! Either way, his genius is undeniable.
Not to be picky, but wasn't it 7/8 scale? Either way Smokey had the thinking cap on when he built it. If you get a chance read the book "Chevrolet Racing?". It tells a lot about the secrets of Smokey. When Nascar complained about the angle of the windshield he said the car had been rolled over in an accident. That was the best he could straighten it. This may have been the car he "borrowed" the templates and modified them that no one elses cars fit but his. I think Curtis Turner disintigrated the Chevelle in practice at Daytona.
7/8 is what they called it. I collector in Alabama has it. I think "my collector car" did a show on the collector I remember the windshield being flush was it numbered 13,I think so? I have a old business card of his....somewhere...
If you want a truly rewarding reading experience, you've GOTTA get a copy of Smokey's autobiography. This book belongs on every automotive fan's shelf. I can't recommend it enough.
Guys - Smokey's "little" car was indeed closer to 7/8ths scale. Sorry for getting things started off wrong. Hey, Math was never a strong point with me - LOL. Interesting to know its still around. Seems like photos of the car would be easy to locate, but a Google search didn't turn up anything but stuff about his "sidecar" and his Trans-AM Camaro.
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