I was just reading the post about the car craft dream rod. That got me to thinking about Tex Smith's Xr-7. Does anybody know if it still exists. Dennis
I think it was the xr6 If you look at the post of the petersen museum ba*****t you will see it there, they own it. I seem to remember seeing it listed on ebay a few years back
For many years it belonged to a guy up in New England someplace. I think he took pretty good care of it. It turned up once in a while in a magazine article from a NE rod run. Glad it has survived intact and has a permanent home, sad that home is not on the streets and in car shows. It would knock 'em dead today. Maybe Petersen Museum could figure a way to display some of the "cl***ics" at car shows around the country, I'm sure they would be a draw and the show promoters would pay some good bucks.
It is the XR-6. All the great kustomizers of the day had a hand in building it, Tex, Steve Swadja, Winfield and Barris. It won the AMBR trophy in 1963. The firm I worked for owned it for a couple of years. We bought it from the owner in New England and the Petersen got it from us. It is currently residing in the ba*****t of the Petersen in LA awaiting a grand display...someday.... I used to sit in it everyday and listen to my phone messages and make return calls. It is VERY cramped if you are over 4 ft tall. Here are a few pics I took in the Petersen ba*****t a couple months back to hold you over until I dig out the good stuff! And the kustom key
Malcom Barlow owned it here in Connecticut for many years. Really nice guy who designed and owned Stafford Springs Race way, later had a very nice race car collection. He and his wife ran a Hudson in the Great Race many times, great couple, they took good care of the XR-6.
I wanna work where this is my office!!!.gotta be more fun than sellin houses.Any good shots of the seats and steering wheel around?? I would love to see Petersons do a show rods display..and yeah maybe a touring version for big events...
wanna see something kool along these lines to to the peterson musseum website and in archives go to the bruce meyer collection.really nice
At the CHRR this year I met Steve Swaja who designed the body for the XR-6 a**** other great cars. Super nice guy who now lives in Arkansas if I remember correctly. He also designed Tony Nancy's Wedge and Mopar powered 22Jr dragsters, Holly Hedrich's Modern Rod project roadster and this car a**** others. I used to look forward to his sketches which sometimes accompained race reports in Hot Rod and other Petersen magazines Roo
Didn't Ed Eaton, early NHRA official and right hand man to 60's Detroit Dragway and New York National owner Gil Kohn, once own this car in the late 60's and early 70's? I remember seeing the car all the time going into NYNS when it was just a washed up old, tired, unfashionable hot rod? -85% jimmy
The Jalopy Journal
