You Can't Make This Stuff Up!

[Lee Stewart]

Originally Posted by earntaz

Is that the one that was five inches narrower and back of roof had a "spoiler" on it??

If there were an Oscars for motorsports cheating, the statuette would be cast wearing a cut-down cowboy hat and smoking a pipe. The flat-hat-wearing, pipe-smoking Smokey Yunick is nothing short of a folk hero to motorsports tinkerers and fans of general impishness. Stories of Yunick’s rule-bending are legion. And some of them are even true. But even by his stratospheric standards, Yunick’s NASCAR Chevrolet Chevelles of the late 1960s were something special. So shrouded in folklore are these black-and-gold Chevys that people believed they were 7/8th scale models. They weren’t. Instead, they were full-size vehicles with a multitude of subtle and clever modifications, some of which were not exactly by the book.

The chassis used in 1967 had been custom-built by Chevrolet, which was then providing back-door support to certain racers, including Yunick. It had a reworked suspension and a roll cage that, tied to the stiff frame, made it effectively a tube-frame racer. Chevy also undertook an exhaustive aerodynamic study of the Chevelle’s body on behalf of Yunick’s car. It easily took pole position for the 1967 Daytona 500 against well-funded factory teams from Ford and Chrysler. But engine problems cut its race short, and it was heavily damaged in a severe crash shortly thereafter. But in 1968, Smokey came back with another Chevelle much like the 1967 car, although he built this one himself. The chassis was similar to the earlier car, with the body set back a couple of inches on the frame for better weight distribution. And the aero trickery was impressive. The chrome front bumper was deepened to act as an air dam. Rain gutters and glass trim were made flush with the body. The roof’s trailing edge was upswept like a spoiler. The underbody was smoother than stock with a modified floorpan for clean airflow. This time NASCAR called foul and banned the Chevelle from the ’68 Daytona 500 unless Yunick changed nine offending aspects of the car. The story goes that NASCAR officials even removed the fuel tank for inspection only to see Yunick start the car sans gas tank and drive it back to the pits, saying, “better make it 10.” Yunick noticed that the rule book specified a maximum volume for the fuel tank, but it didn’t say anything at all about fuel lines.

So, depending on which re-telling you believe (even Smokey had multiple versions), he replaced the normal fuel line with 11-foot-long, one- or two-inch-wide fuel line that added either two or five gallons to the car’s total fuel capacity. It’s such great story, it barely matters which version is true. As Yunick wrote in his autobiography: “Was this car a ‘cheater’ Smokey? You’re goddam right it was.”

https://www.roadandtrack.com/motorsp...ts-in-history/

[William]

Smokey Yunick built 3 #13 1966 Chevelles.

#1 was built up from a pre-production car, not even a pilot build. Not his finest build: "Car had power to spare but the chassis was so !@@$# up God couldn't have drove it." Mario Andretti drove it in the '66 Daytona 500, engine blew. Sold intact, may still exist.

#2 was the car basically designed & built by Chevrolet Engineering. Curtis Turner demolished it in practice at Atlanta. Was squashed into a cube and sat in his shop for many years.

#3 This one had all the tricks learned from the others. Nascar banned it outright, wouldn't even allow it on a track for tire testing. Yunick sold it, got it back in the '70s' restored it in the '80s. Still exists. He never raced it anywhere.

His book "Best Damn Garage in Town" is a must read for any Chevy guy.

[Lee Stewart]

A full restoration and dual top make this '62 'Vette the perfect addition for any collection, but this car is equipped with one of the rarest options available for the C1's final model year making it even more collectible.

Of the 14,531 Corvettes built in 1962, only 1,532 were equipped with the Powerglide two-speed automatic transmission like this one is.

[Lee Stewart]

[Lynn]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

I don't get it. Chevy got it right. Grill should be silver, grill surround should be body color, and stripes should continue over the upper valance and the cowl panel.

Its not that hard.

[Lynn]

Originally Posted by Lee Stewart

Is this Smokey Yunick's old Chevelle? I remember reading about it back in the day. The template use to make sure no one was cheating didn't fit it. But then they put the template on a stock Chevelle, and it didn't fit that car either.

Some claimed Smokeys car was a 15/16 version of the Chevelle. Regardless, knowing Smokey, I am certain that there was some rule bending going on. "Just gettin competitive" is what he said; I think it was in regard to the fuel tank size rule. He DID run the correct size, but then snaked a 1/2 inch fuel line all around the underside of the car, so he would in effect have an extra gallon of gas.


EDIT: OK, so I am a little late to the party. I had not read all the other posts about this car when I posted. I always go back to the last post I viewed on this thread and read forward.

[Lee Stewart]

Ah . . . the Aston Martin DB5. It is one of a dozen DB models: from the DB1 to the DB11 and another six with the last DB being the DBX. So what exactly does DB stand for? DB are the initials of David Brown, the man who bought Aston Martin in the 1940s. And, of course, he decided that some of the products should bear his name as proof of his ownership.

[Lee Stewart]

[Lee Stewart]

Ever seen one of these? 1970 Hemi 'Cuda with Fury 15" Sport Wheel Covers. It's . . . unique. Not available from the factory on a 'Cuda but you could have bought them through the Parts Dept. Not sure it's a real Hemi 'Cuda. Should not have that Barracuda emblem on the fender. Also the rocker panel molding isn't correct

[Lee Stewart]

They definitely look better where they belong