Road & Track article on Wellborns K&K Insurance Daytona

[cudavic]

An interesting article from Road & Track on the Wellborn K&K Insurance Daytona.

Enjoy I hope it is not a repost. Sincerely Vic

http://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsports/a11648444/the-dodge-charger-daytona-that-set-the-flying-mile-record-was-once-a-dollar25000-pile-of-parts/

The Dodge Charger Daytona That Set the Flying Mile Record Was Once a $25,000 Pile of Parts
The world's most famous Daytona was just thought of as a tax write off at one time.

In 1971, Bobby Isaac and his K&K crew took their #71 Dodge Charger Daytona and set a couple dozen land speed records at Bonneville. A few years later, that very car was sold for a mere $25,000. Perhaps even more interesting, the story of how it went from a pile of parts sitting outdoors to a museum-quality restoration is preserved for posterity in an obscure IRS tax court ruling.
More From
Lehto's Law
Up Close With an Authentic Plymouth Superbird
Chrysler Taught Lazy Turbine Car Drivers a Lesson
Why the 1967 Corvette Is So Desirable

The "K&K" of the racing team was K&K Insurance, a company owned by Nord and Teddy Krauskopf. The Krauskopfs made a name for themselves insuring racetracks around the country and then by fielding a very successful Grand National NASCAR team. With Bobby Isaac at the wheel in 1970, K&K won the national championship. And one of the cars he drove that year was the winged Charger Daytona. In 1971, NASCAR came out with new rules which basically did away with the wings but the K&K guys weren't content to just park their car. The Daytona had already set the closed course record for a NASCAR-legal car at 201.104 MPH. They decided to take it to Bonneville and see what it would do on the Salt Flats. There, they set a couple of dozen records including one that is still awe-inspiring: The car covered a flying mile at an average speed of 216.945 MPH.

After the record runs, the car returned home and was taken on a publicity tour. It did not race again, however. Eventually, the car appears to have been dismantled and simply left in a pile. Winged car fans know that the car resides currently in the Wellborn Musclecar Museum in Alexander City, Alabama, and it has been faithfully restored. But how did it get from the pile of parts to the museum?

Greg Kwiatkowski is a winged car enthusiast (he is currently restoring the Chrysler "Engineering" Daytona – the first car to run a 200+ MPH lap on a NASCAR track) and he recently reminded me of the court case Nord Krauskopf had with the IRS. I ran across it years ago but had forgotten the trove of details it contained.

Krauskopf sold his insurance business and as he was dividing up some of the assets with the new owner, they decided Krauskopf could keep "Number 71" as the court called it. At that point – five years after Bonneville – the car was in rough shape and the parties agreed it was only worth $25,000. Krauskopf then paid Robert Gee $10,000 to restore the car. Significantly, Gee had been a K&K crewmember and had particular expertise on this car as he had worked on it when it was raced. He discounted his fee because of his love of the car and friendship with Krauskopf.

After it was restored, Krauskopf donated the car to the nonprofit International Motorsports Hall of Fame Museum at Talladega and took a deduction on his taxes of $165,000. The IRS squawked and said the deduction was too large. After the parties fought over this issue (and one other arcane tax issue that I can't even pretend to understand or care about) a tax court judge was forced to make a ruling. Exactly how much was the "Number 71" worth at the moment Krauskopf donated it? The IRS had said it was a simple issue: Just add the agreed on value of $25,000 for the pile of parts and then Gee's $10,000 fee. They were willing to concede a value of $35,000 for the fully restored car as it was donated.

Krauskopf argued that the car had more value than that. And the judge agreed. The Fair Market Value of something is not simply the sum of the cost of the parts and their assembly. The court wrote: A car with the history of Number 71 would obviously be worth a great deal more when completely restored to its former racing condition, than the value of a pile of partially disassembled parts covered with rust and imbedded with salt plus the discounted cost of reassembling.

The court granted Krauskopf a deduction of $100,000 for his donation to the museum. Those are 1984 dollars so I'll leave that to the economists in the audience to figure out what that would be worth today. Beyond that theoretical argument, I'm just happy someone thought to save those salty and rusty parts before they decayed completely.

Steve Lehto is a writer and attorney from Michigan. He specializes in Lemon Law and frequently writes about cars and the law. His most recent books include Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow, and Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbird: Design, Development, Production and Competition. He also has a podcast where he talks about these things.

[odcics2]

Here is the link to the actual public record of the court case-


http://www.leagle.com/decision/198466848evtcm620_1517


A few excerpts from the case-

"In 1976, when Number 71 was distributed to petitioner it was badly rusted and partially diassembled. The rust was due in part to the salt which had been imbedded in the car while setting the world records on the salt flats at Bonneville and in part to the fact that the car had been exposed to the weather for about two years. Its front fenders and hood had been removed as well as its trunk lid and deck. One of the front wheels had also been removed and the entire front suspension had been open to the weather."


"Prior to trial Mr. Gould inspected the car at the museum and testified that the vehicle had undergone a ground-up restoration to complete racing condition and that nothing he observed changed his opinion of its value as of the date of the contribution to the Hall of Fame."


"A car with the history of Number 71 would obviously be worth a great deal more when completely restored to its former racing condition, than the value of a pile of partially disassembled parts covered with rust and imbedded with salt plus the discounted cost of reassembling. Using our best judgment on the record before us and giving substantial weight to the creditable and uncontradicted testimony of Mr. Gould, we conclude that the value of the car on the date of its donation to the Hall of Fame was $100,000."

[Simonic]

The author of this article Steve Lehto also wrote a most excellent book on the life of Bobby Isaac.
I can thoroughly recommend it.
It's no longer in print but can be got as a kindle download from Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Bobby-Isaac-NASCARs-Modern-Champion-ebook/dp/B004ZH3PWO/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1503283724&sr=8-15&keywords=steve+lehto

I hope this link will work ok

[Simonic]

This footage was taken by Steve Lehto at the Winged Warriors reunion at Atlanta Speedway in 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fbEh-PbFvs

[Simonic]

And here is some footage of myself riding around the Atlanta Speedway in the K+K with Tim Wellborn driving
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ybZm341MkE

[tan top]

And here is some footage of myself riding around the Atlanta Speedway in the K+K with Tim Wellborn driving
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ybZm341MkE

This footage was taken by Steve Lehto at the Winged Warriors reunion at Atlanta Speedway in 2015
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fbEh-PbFvs

I remember watching those videos , great stuff , crank up the sound to the max

[odcics2]

Wonder what the specs of the stroker engine are? 

[odcics2]

 
In the 90s, Chrysler donated an early crate engine for the K&K Daytona when it was found the engine
that was in the car when received by the Nascar Museum was hollow. (no pistons or rods)
The Nascar headers and intake/carb were swapped to the crate engine. Other parts probably swapped also.


Specs below are of a current engine. Not sure how they compare to the ones MoPar had made in the 90s.
 

*************************************************************************************
528 Hemi Crate Engine- 640 Horsepower
Bigger is truly better in high-performance engines. Mopar has developed a huge
528 Hemi Crate Engine that cranks out a whopping 640 horsepower and 612 ft.-
lbs. of torque! Mopar recommends that for maximum performance, an 850/900
cfm Holley carburetor and 2-1/4" exhaust headers be used (not available
through Mopar). Shown with available Cross Ram Intake (P5007534), Holley
Carburetors (P4452778 and P4452779), and Hemi Air Horns (P5007809). Refer
to the Hemi and Fuel Systems sections of this catalog for details. Assembled by
legendary Hemi engine builder Ray Barton for Mopar.
1 P5007630AE Crate Engine, 528 Hemi, 640 Horsepower, 612 ft.-lbs. Torque
Specifications:
· Built with All-New Components
· Heavy-Duty, Siamese-Bore Cast Iron Block with Cross-Bolted Mains
· Aluminum Cylinder Heads
· Black Cast Aluminum Valve Covers
· Breathers
· Stainless Steel 2.25" Intake and 1.94" Exhaust Valves
· Heavy-Duty Single Valve Springs
· Premium Material Valve Stem Seals
· Camshaft grind selected by Ray Barton for Mopar's 528 Hemi
· Forged Pistons - 4.50" Bore, 10.0:1 C.R.
· Aluminum Single Plane Four-barrel Intake Manifold
· Forged Steel Crankshaft - 4.15" Stroke
· Precision Double Roller Timing Chain and Sprockets
· Chrome Front Cover
· Six-quart Center Sump Oil Pan (1970-71 B- and E-Body Style)
· Spark Plug Wires
· High-Performance Electronic Distributor
· Heavy-Duty Engine Stand and Shipping Crate
Note: 10.0:1 compression ratio with aluminum heads allows the use of current
high-octane premium pump gasoline. Crate engines that change the emissions
performance of the vehicle may not be legal for use on vehicles regulated for
highway use in California and other states. Horsepower and torque ratings based
on test engine. Ratings may vary on individual engines.