Any NASCAR buffs in here?

[Topher]

I'm actually looking for some color pictures of this 1971 Charger R/T Pace car. It, along with it's twin, was a Pace Car for the World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway in May of 1971. Oneof the owner's nephew bought the car shortly after it was used and ha had it ever since. Some friends of mine are working on the car to make it road worthy after sitting since 1985. The guy wants to duplicate the original decals, but he and my frinds are having a hard time finding good color photos of the car to make sure the colors are right. Anybody have any?

Here is the car with its twin.



As it was a couple weeks ago.



Here's the decal installed by the speedway after it was de identified.

[tan top]

intresting stuff     think i have that on tape     will have a look see if it shows any of the pace car ,  

[myaerocars]

I would try this  site: http://www.randyayersmodeling.com/modelingforum/ . This site has so much nascar info and history it is amazing. You cn post a question and see if the old timers there have the photos you need ( I bet they do).

Good luck and Godspeed,
JON 

[Topher]

  Thanks!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[tan top]

I would try this  site: http://www.randyayersmodeling.com/modelingforum/ . This site has so much nascar info and history it is amazing. You cn post a question and see if the old timers there have the photos you need ( I bet they do).

Good luck and Godspeed,
JON 

intrsetng site !! lot of good stuff , thanks for posting

[RTDaddy]

I have the program from that race, I 'll see if I can find it and see if there is snything to scan in.  The lettering was red if I recall.

"IF YOU'RE UNDER CONTROL, YOU AIN'T GOING FAST ENOUGH."

[mikesbbody]

I have never seen those cars before! thanks for posting  btw, if you have one, what happened to the other one?

[Topher]

The other one was wrecked during some shenannigans at the track one day, and totalled.

There's tons of stories that go along with the owner and the car. The local police knew him, and where he lived, but that didn't stop him from driving like a maniac.....pretty much how we all used to(used to?)do. One evening he was letting it all hang out and one of the cops started chasing him and radioed for backup to go stake this guys house and wait on him. He beat he cops to his house and watched them wait for him from inside!

[1969chargerrtse]

Awesome car for sure.  Wow. 

[71dodgechargerrt]

A sunroof car with hideaways, how rarre is that??

[Topher]

With headlight washers 

[hemi68charger]

Man, that is a cool picture !!!!   Reminds me of my former '71.       Thanks for finding and sharing......

[charger500440]

You may have tried this already but I'd contact Charlotte Motor Speedway. I would be surprised if they weren't eager to assist you if they could. Let's face it, they'd be crazy not to. Many of the folks at the "old" Nascar tracks have a great appreciation for the past. Even if the track doesn't keep an archive of photos (etc.) they may know someone who does. Also, I would consider contacting Humpy Wheeler. He is no longer affiliated with this track (after an ugly divorce) but was instrumental in running the track and putting on the races there for decades. Including the early 70's. I've never actually met him but I'd bet you anything he would remember this Charger. Lastly, there is an old car museum just up the street from the track. The folks who run it would get a huge kick out of your car and may be able to assist you. I can't remember the name of it but we used to park in there lot for the races (before Nascar ruined itself). Good luck...

[Topher]

Thanks. Are you local? I'm not far from the track. Tim Welborne(sp?) has got a copy of the program from the race and is supposed to send over a scan of it. One thing we're learning is that alot of people took pictures of the race cars, but didn't pay too much attention to the pace cars. I saw thecar today and it's looking real good. Hopefully they'll have the decals made up in short order and installed. I'll get some pictures of it then.

[charger500440]

Thanks. Are you local? I'm not far from the track. Tim Welborne(sp?) has got a copy of the program from the race and is supposed to send over a scan of it. One thing we're learning is that alot of people took pictures of the race cars, but didn't pay too much attention to the pace cars. I saw thecar today and it's looking real good. Hopefully they'll have the decals made up in short order and installed. I'll get some pictures of it then.

No, I actually live up in Connecticut. My wife and I used to go to 5-7 races every year, for a "long" time. Of course that was prior to Brian France (and his cronies) destroying the integrity of the sport. I won't get into that now. I've been a huge Nascar and NHRA fan since the late 70's. It's also one of the reasons I've loved Chargers all my life and why I own a '69 500.

As for your car, one other thing you can try is to write to some of the local newspaper guys. Monte Dutton and guys like that have been covering Nascar forever and are really attached to the history of racing. Even if they are not memorabilia people themselves, they'll know guys who took photos of the races back then. That's probably you're best bet for finding something really good. Now, more than ever, I sense that this is the right time for doing a project like this. I really believe that one of the biggest obstacles hurting today's racing is that Nascar (and others as well) have moved too far away from their roots. This Charger goes back to when Nascar was what it is stereotypically considered to be, and that's a good thing. I wish you guys the best and would love to see it when completed...

[WINGR]

I too am a Nascar/Racing fanatic

Awesome car and story, thanks for sharing.

WINGR/Steve

[RallyeMike]

I can't help at all, but very interesting information. I was never aware of these cars before now. Good luck to those working on the resto!

[Dans 68]

Christopher,

Thanks for sharing the project. That is some good stuff. 

Dan

[Topher]

Sorry if I mis conveyed some information, they're not restoring the car, they're cleaning it up and making it road worthy. The decals are going to be reproduced and installed like in the picture, but the guy that owns it really loves this car and wants to drive it. I'll try to get over there this weekend and take a couple pictures.

[UH60L]

That's a pretty cool piece of history your friend has there.  I hope you post some pictures when he gets all the decalls back on it.

Restored or not, it would be fun to drive that around town, or maybe to a race at that track!

Thanks for posting that picture.  Always nice to see a survivor.

[Topher]

Got to go by the shop today and look at the car. It's coming along rather nicely. The original wheels are back on and they just receivedsome scanned pix from the program from the race. Does anyone have one for sale? Or know where t find one?



On the lift.


Headlight washer.