Long before life and NASCAR got very complicated for Richard Petty, he was living the dream. Racking up wins and earning sums of money that few if any other drivers in the world of motorsports could match. Petty was a pitch man for STP and starting in the early 1970s he was working for Lowe’s, decades before they became a national chain. This ad from 1972 features the “Petty Special” riding lawn mower that the chain sold.

What was so special about it? Not a whole lot other than the Petty blue paint job, spiffy 43 decals and “By Petty” lettering on the sides of the hood. For the princely sum of $188.00 you could have driven this off the lot and onto your lawn. There’s lots of neat stuff in this ad, especially all that fuel sloshing out of Petty’s Mopar as he speeds out of the pits!

PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE THIS CLASSIC AD STARRING RICHARD PETTY –