Once it turns a tire in anger, any race car worth it’s weight will show signs of it’s use. It’s just a fact…no race car should be a concours-restored, picture perfect machine. They should show the miles, should wear the scars with pride. We aren’t saying that they should be trashed…just honest about their history. Seeing a perfect Ford GT40 is one thing, but seeing one of the 1967 cars that still has some of it’s battle scars from France showing is something else, you understand? One is how everyone wants to remember it, the other is how it truly was…those cars pulled off of the circuit with scratches and pits in the paint, dirt, rubber, grease, brake dust and everything else coating everything. You can wash off the dirt and the bug guts, but you can’t remove the scars.
That’s why we have no trouble looking past the slightly worked over rear quarter on this 1961 Chrysler Newport. For a car that’s seen action in the United States and Mexico over the past twenty years, it’s got proof everywhere…stickers on the body and glass, parts that claim to be other cars (a Chrysler Windsor glovebox and the 3ooG trim), and the usual equipment like gauges, radios, a fire suppression kit and so on and so forth are testament to the big Mopar’s track history. The grimy bits are what you’d expect: a 440 and a 727 Torqueflite handle the power, an open 3.23 rear axle puts the power down, and a 32-gallon fuel cell keeps the thirsty RB motor fed.
Picture this thing screaming down a desert highway somewhere at speed. It’ll make sense. Go ahead…pull the trigger and place your bid.
St.Mary’s Trophy race at Goodwood Revival is calling!
I’d love to see some of the thinly disguised NASCAR Carrera Pan America cars squashing all those annoying those pesky little Austins as they race to victory from the back of the grid