1967/1968 Dick Harrell funny cars

[YENKO DEUCE REGISTRY]

Hardly

[Belair62]

Found this quote from Dave...I would think he would not forget about a door when he saw Toms car. If Dave had a change of heart he should have discussed it with Tom...I still smell a Super Rat

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Good answer, Exactly why the "flip top" all fiberglass body came into being displacing the "door cars" (ie)Cars like Dick's 67

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[jg95z28]

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Well, after going back through that old thread I think it's explained pretty well by Dave. The Kirby car was the backup car for DH and they even had it painted the same(except for Jim Kirby on the front fenders, maybe his name was removed when Dick or Charley raced the car). There was only 1 68 Dick Harrell funny car along with the Jim Kirby and Burnansky(sp?) car. But Dick's car went through several different paint jobs throughout the season which is why it looks like 2 different cars. Dave thought Tom had the 1 and only Dick Harrell 68 funny car but without the opening door it appears he doesn't. From what I understand in reading through those posts there never were 4 cars and that DH only had 1 car. Case closed?

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I sorry but I just reread the whole thread and I thought he was talking about the 69 car when he said there was only one.

Here's the link btw:
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/showflat...6&fpart=all

[Charley Lillard]

There is no need to further muddy the issue by digging up the Lopata funny car.
Toms latest pics show the rear window area with the recessed lip to set the rear window into. Ratpack stated something about the rear windows on the harrell cars being glassed in. In that case after removing the rear glasss you would not have a clean lip like on Tom's car. If all the pics out there show glassed in rear windows it would be hard to believe Tom's car is a Harrell car. If there are pics or a rear window with removable glass then that proves nothing.
I'm still waiting for USA-funnycar to come out of the closet.

Bigger yet is Val Harrells application to trademark the Fred Gibb name. What do the Rabbits think of that ? When they are sending their dollars to help Val in her feud with the Halls are they telling her to not use the money to take the Fred Gibb name from Helen ? Val has sold T-shirts in the past with the Gred Gibb name on them without asking Helen and Helen did nothing to stop her so why think someone would stop her now ? The name belongs to Helen and nobody should ever try to take it.

[rpoz11]

TOM C & Charley:
Is it known exactly how many Camaro bodies were used in NHRA thru 67-69?
As I am reading all of this, couldnt it be possible to determine every Camaro body sanctioned to run thru NHRA, get that number narrowed down, and then get images of all that were in those years, and then put all the images of the known Camaros ran side by side to get a better way of comparisons?
There must be only X amount of Camaros ran in those years 67-69, maybe most of those body/chassis remains are gone but there must be more information than what is present to find some close relative answer...
Tom C, I will PM you with something that I have found...

I can't beleive I'm actually going to post again..maybe this thread is like crack...who knows..It is hilarious to me that throughout 21 or so pages hardly ayone has thought to ask some questions and look at this in a logical manner..


Here are FACTS..

1) DH had a 1967 FC that was a steel bodied car with 2 fiberglass doors..

2) DH had a 1968 car with a funtional drivers door

3) Both Bruce Larson and DH had suffered accidents in their respective cars, and both accidents involved fire

4) In 1969 DH ran a FC with no doors

Now let's examine some hard evidence..

We know both DH and Bruce Larson were at the top of the FC orld in 1967 and both ran cars in which they had accidents and fire was involved..There are pics of the 1967 DH car in this thread take during the accident. We know both guys were switching to the then new all glass flip top cars for 1968. We know as professionals neither driver installed equipment that was frivilous and or a safety hazard. We know nitromethane was and still is a very dangerous propellant in regards to fire. So with all of that out of the way..I think I can show through a logical process why TC car IMO isn't the DH car..

1) DH drove a 1967 FC with a steel body and 2 TWO fiberglass doors in 1967. This car was supponsed by either "Yenko" or "Courtsey" at various times that year. The car started out wearing a paint scheme of red with balck top and later a yellow with balck top..I think the color scheme was a direct result of DH having a working relationship with gibb, as keep in mind Gibb's Lil Hoss also ran the same red blk top scheme. Now when looking at the 1967 car..we notice a few things..

1) the car has 2 fiberglass doors
2) the driving position is on the drivers side
3) the car has a SINGLE door handle on the drivers side...this is the side DH entered and existed (even a photo showing the door open after the fire
4) When looking at the passengers side..there ISN'T a door handle, since it would have served novalue..all entering and existing was done via the drivers side..

Now we have to think logically..DH wouldn't have added something to this car that wasn't needed or could have fell off trackside..and he wasn't trying to completely relicate a 1967 Camaro..or he would have added a passengers side handle

Move to the 1968 car..

Know DH had a 1968 car with a door and that Bruce Larson also had a door..now for the million dollar questions:

What is the purpose of a door handle???

Go research the web and look at pics of FC that are know to have a drivers door..

Bruce Larson's "USA-1"
DH car called "Car 2" by Tom
Mike Burkhardt

What do all three cars have in common beside a working door?

Answer a single door handle on the drivers side only..

Why..Well in the case of DH and Larson it would have been as a safety measure and in Burkhardt's case because he was too damn big!!

Look at all the pics of DH 1968 car (or cars if you belive TC)..they all show a single drivers side door handle only...No passengers side handle....This is the most amazing thing to me..NOBODY has asked TC why his car has a damn door lock cylinder?? Why would a race car, with no door need first a door handle and then a door lock cylinder??? If you assume TC has the DH car..who put in a door lock cylinder and why wasn't it glased over when restored..It certainly wasn't to replicate a real car..then you need hanldes and cylinders on both sides and all the DH cars do not show a cylinder..

Ok..let's examine some other cars..cars we know do not have doors..first the Kirby car..It was 1 of the 3 original cars built and yet doesn't have a door..or more importanly a door handle...After all why would a drag racer, install a door handle only on 1 side of a car onto a non-fuctioning door??? What is the purpose of that??? Can't be to replicate a stock car, can't be as a means to get in and out..hell you'd crack the 'glass applying weight to it..

Kirby's car was a DH "stable" car and yet no door..Why..Well IMO the cars were all built originally without the door being cutout..then the doors were cut and a door handle installed but ONLY on the 2 cars that had doors..DH car and Burkhardts..Ther are plenty of pics showing Kirby's car, and even to this day there isn't a door handle..Also the tailights of both Kiby's car and Burkhardts car are molded in..as was DH car..same mold..this is shown in photos..Yet TC car has bolt in lights...

Ok now let's look at EVERY other 1968 FC I can find on the 'web...no door handles..Platt's, the cars pictured here by various people, hell even looking just at other well known drag racers..Jungle Jim for instance..no door handles on cars..I honestly could not find any other cars, whether Chevy, Ford or Dodge that looked like they had door handles on them that didn't have what appeared to be a working door..

Now we look at DH and Kirby's cars for 1969..different body and different molds..yet BOTH cars actually have what appears to be fake (painted over) door handle on both sides yet we know these cars didn't have doors..Why??..IMO simply that is how the cars were molded..

People are saying they can't see a "door" in the pic Dave Libby posted and was replicated here..Look at the pic..there is a definite break in the tin work, multiple pieces of tin being used, and a vertical break appears to follow the "A" pillar would be..The angle of the pic and the fact the body is up will obviously distort to some degree this, but still somesort of break in the approxiamte area of where a door would be..

Now let's discuss the color of the car (or again cars if you are TC)..First the 1967 car was red with black..DH had a red balck 1968 car, that I thinkwas the first scheme for the car..Secondly he went to an all red car, and finally the more burgundy car "Gibbish" paint scheme..This all makes sense..DH and Gibb had a working relationship and they would have wanted the cars to be simialar in color..Look at Kirby's car..he even had "DH" on his quarters and a DH color scheme..they were stablemates..Also the idea that in the Libby pic the car appears red, vs burgundy makes no sense..look at the car and where the pic is taken..it is in a garage with flourescent lights, very close to it..flourerscent lights LIGHTEN up colors..also the pic would have required a flash...notice the tin work appears brighter on the lower half of the car..the brighter pieces are exposed to a flash more..hence the car can look more of a red vs a burgundy..

Ok..know let's discuss this "2 car" issue,..

We know DH had a 1967 car..one which it is assumed he stopped driving once his new FC became available..yet there is at least 1 pic of the car being ran against Burkhardt's car and Burkardt's car is a 1968 car..IMO the 2nd car everyone is reading about it really DH 1967 car..a car he still campaigned...a car still wearing a red paint scheme..so when comapred to the 1968 car in it's burgundy scheme (later scheme) any reference to it is "the red 2nd car"

I think i have laid out a logical idea as to why DH only had 1 1968 car..Ask yourselves a few questions:

1) Why would a drag racer on a professional level have a door handle on a car that doesn't have a door...especailly when that door handle is a GM handle and might fall off, cause someone to lean on it and crack the body,

2) IF DH put a door handle on car without a door why not put on the passenger side as well..both in 1967 and 1968???

3) If it was for looks or something else..why didn't any other racer without a door follow suit??

The door handle being on a car without a door makes no sense...

[Mr70]

I JUST WON $100.00!

[Belair62]

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2) DH had a 1968 car with a funtional drivers door

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If this is actually a fact you would think Dave Libby would have remembered that...agree ? Follow the link above to all the old posts...

[Kim_Howie]

Greg, Funny thing yesterday when you called me.I show you Dale P 68 funny car had a door handle. ps the picture we both looked at.

[rpoz11]

Greg2001LS6
What is your invested interest in the outcome of all of this?