Jim Vandiver's 74 Charger race car on the bay

[Akron_Charger]

kinda neat! http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1974-DODGE-CHARGER-ORIGINAL-NASCAR-JIM-VANDIVER-31-/180509850348?cmd=ViewItem&pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2a0739baec

[moparstuart]

may be a hard sell at that price  ?     cool car   

[rav440]

  he wants a 100K and is to cheap to post more than 4 pics 

[Cooter]

OH no, he wants way more than $100K, as that hasn't hit the reserve yet....

[b5blue]

Well I like it, I invited him to check out our forum and asked him to add more photos! To me the car was raced at a turning point, the end of big blocks, and if it was preserved properly it is part of our heritage, am I wrong?  (I have no clue to the value of such type cars but that is up to any seller) 

[Aero426]

There has been a Vandiver Charger kicking around in the vintage Grand National car scene for a while    I'm sure this is it.   It may have a nice earlier history which may or may not be able to be proven.   There's not enough detail in the photos to say much, but it looks like the real deal.     I'd say as a running car, it has to be worth at least the opening bid. 

[79express]

Hi , b5blue !  I'm the girl with the Jim Vandiver #31 Charger  listed on ebay.  for all you guys ( or gals) that may be interested,  this car IS the real deal.  It has been in storage since it left the track, professionally maintained ,  will start right up & drive anywhere (altho the tires are the originals !   .  I am sorry that I don't have more pics, but I can put interested parties  in touch with the owner, who is a gentleman that is well known in racing circles, I don't want to post his name for privacy reasons, but I will be happy to put serious inquiries  in touch with him.  Reserve set on Ebay is $150.K.  Well below the value, in my opinion.  Not only is this an historical auto,  but was also driven in the last race sequence in the movie "Greased Lightning",   and has a plate on it signed by a number of other race drivers from that era.   Definately a car worth preserving !
Thanks again for pointing me to your forum, blue,  I'm a mopar gal, but mines a 79 Lil Red !  (which was restored by the "HEMI GUY" who owns the charger)
Any interest can contact me at hotred79@gmail.com
Pat

[b5blue]

Welcome to the forum Pat! We love the Red Expresses here too!  It's not often a race car survives unchanged from that long ago! 

[BROCK]

I'm nowhere near up to offering opinions here.  I like it!

Old lore has it that Jim left the car on foot after a race to avoid arrest from
the police.  So there is a case for the car sitting up as raced

Hope someone in the know can elaborate

[79express]

Yes,  Here's the story of Jim "jumping the wall" in turn 3 :



One of the more colorful tales of Jim's career involves a "family matter" as well. Tom Vandiver explains: "In 1973 Jim was in the middle of a custody case at the time of the Darlington race. His lawyer got a continuance from the South Carolina court until after the race - or so he thought. Before our second pit stop, I noticed two uniformed officers standing at the back of our pits. During the pit stop I yelled to Jim "The police are going to arrest you after the race for contempt of court!" Not sure if he heard me. I later held up a pit board with the message "LAW" on it. As the race wore on, we got in a wreck that made the car run slower and slower. Normally Jim would have pulled the car in and parked/but he was determined to avoid the bad publicity of being arrested. Around the mid-point of the race, he came down the frontstretch with his safety net down and waved "bye-bye" to us. He intentionally spun the car in turn three to bring out a caution flag. Then he scrambled out of his car, ran up the banking and jumped over the wall! The crew split up and looked for Jim all over the parking lots, campgrounds and infield with no luck. After several hours of searching in the 100 degree heat, I was called to a pay phone in the garage area. There was Jim on the other end, laughing! He told me that he had hitch-hiked in his driving uniform and was already safe back at home in North Carolina - sitting in the air conditioning and drinking iced tea!"

IT IS A TRUE STORY !

[b5blue]

  Gotta love THAT!

[RD]

that is absolutely hilarious!!!! man.. someone should pay 150K just for the "real" history behind the driver lol

[79express]

Geez,  the great original stories that will acccompany the puchase of this classic racecar are PRICELESS !!!

[RallyeMike]

smilielol he wants a 100K and is to cheap to post more than 4 pics  smilielol

Anyone who is going to buy that car doesnt need any more pictures. I'm about 110k short. Anyone want to spot me?

[79express]

To the Rav440 , sorry I have no other pics , but I couldn't fit my size 6 A$$ in between the other 14 Hemicars that were packed around it to get the pics  .. PATTI 

[tan top]

  what a machine !  remember reading all about that car in one of the mopar mags years ago !! it said they would swap over to duel quads , when running another race series forget the sanctioning body name ! as they would allow two four barrels !! but the car would run a full 10 mile an hour faster  

[Aero426]

C5HM tells me there is another Vandiver car that is restored running out west.   

http://www.historicgrandnational.com/31.htm

[79express]

Yes,  that car is a duplicate clone that he built to look like the real one.

[tan top]

C5HM tells me there is another Vandiver car that is restored running out west.   

http://www.historicgrandnational.com/31.htm

thats a good link  , thanks for posting

[wingman(22)]

Is the car that is out west the 01 car that was in a movie? I saw a car at Kim Haynes shop years ago and it was complete but dust covered. He wanted way too much money for me at the time. The car was orange and had a General Lee flag on top. I have some pics of the car but they would have to be copied.

[C5HM]

If the car spent even just one night in Gastonia, it could become anything you want it to be. There's something about the air in that little hamlet that makes just about every car that spends any time at all on Robinwood Lane very , ahem....special.

[Aero426]

We pulled the trailer with a race car through Gastonia in March and it instantly became a Daytona 500 winner!  

[Aero426]

Remember the old Petty "Made in Level Cross" decals?     This one should have "Made in Gastonia".