Junior Johnson had a way with words. When someone asked about the costs of racing, Johnson found a way to sum it up by saying “The best way to make a small fortune in racing is to start with a big one.” Racers, from shifter carts to Formula One, can all agree on this. However, reader AMXBrian has found us a racecar that might be affordable enough to enjoy without forcing you to be first in line at the plasma place Monday morning. Take a look at this 1966 Chevelle short track race car for sale on craigslist in Waldoboro, Maine. You can strap into this beautiful vintage race car for just $5,200. Just be sure to bring your helmet and fire suit!
The ad gives us a laundry list of modifications and parts to the car, but it doesn’t make it clear if this is a tribute car. Thanks is given to a couple for donating an original car to the project. However, we just don’t know if the car was an original Stan Meserve racecar or not. Meserve is best known for being a tough as nails racer in Maine who went on to try a year on the NASCAR circuit as an independent. Meserve’s 1968 campaign didn’t go very well for him, with mechanical failures and wrecks knocking him out of contention numerous times. He went on to be a chassis builder, race official, crew chief, and an employee of Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. He also raced from time to time, and is in the New England Auto Racing Hall of Fame.
At any rate, the car has what appears to be a hand built chassis made mainly out of square tubing. The chassis has a truck arm rear suspension, Dana 60 rear axle, and jacking bolts to make wedge adjustments to the suspension. Wilwood disc brakes have been installed, and there are a host of other racing modifications. While the car looks somewhat stock, the underpinnings are anything but.
This purpose built theme carries over into the interior. The plastic GM steering wheel is the only thing that detracts from the vintage race car cockpit. In the dash, we see a vintage RPM gauge almost directly in front of the driver, with a set of four modern gauges to the right. The shift lever is attached to a Saginaw three speed transmission. Rivets and welds hold the rest of the cockpit together, and a substantial roll bar with padding provides the driver with some protection. I do believe I would rig up a more robust fire suppression system though.
As we look to the back of the cockpit, it looks like a lot of attention was paid to making a very robust roll cage. The rough but substantial welds look about right for the period. Most home built race cars were constructed using Lincoln 225 “Tombstone” stick welders. While notoriously hard for an amateur welder to make a beautiful weld with, these welders were cheap and could be plugged into the dryer outlet in your garage. While modern TIG and MIG welds look better, the rough welds on this car lend a lot of authenticity to the build.
The first thing that catches your eye under the hood is the unique header arrangement. Likely built to provide a less restrictive exhaust than what would be possible if routed below, extra touches like this were what often helped put a driver in the winner’s circle. The seller tells us that the engine is a seventies era small block Chevrolet 350 that has been bored .030 over. While they look like Vortec cylinder heads, the seller tells us that they are, in fact, simply early nineties Chevy heads. Regardless, the center bolt valve covers detract from the vintage look of the car though.
Out back we see a modern fuel cell and the rest of the hand built chassis. Looking closer, there are two separate mounting points for the shocks, and a rubber hose going into the rear end. Maybe leading to a cooler of some sort, but I am not sure. While the Wilwood discs are a great safety touch, I would spend some time finding a way to secure the fuel hoses with something more period correct. The zip ties distract from the vintage look. A lot of work went into this car, and a little more effort would go a long way to making it look more authentic.
So, other than for satisfying your Ricky Bobby fantasies, why would you want such a car? There are vintage racing series throughout America that will sanction races with cars such as this. While the racing is more of an exhibition than an all out fistfight on wheels, the drivers still seem to have a lot of fun. How could you lose at this entry price? Cart racing is more expensive. I’d still like to know if this is a replica, the real deal, or some sort of mixture of the two. I also know that I’d love to get behind the wheel of it at my local track.
Nice build….that header is a work of art.
Sure is. Is a 3 speed the typical setup for these dirt track rides?
This was an asphalt car that raced at Maine tracks.It is a reproduction. The body was found in shambles,a whole new car was built and they used the old body parts to replicate the placement of decals etc. I believe it has been raced in the Wicked Good Racing series, which is a touring group of old race cars in Maine. They actually race these cars hard and do wreck occasionally!
That is .030 over not .30 over.
I’d plate it and run it on the street!
If you want to race with those welds, you go right ahead. Your significant other will make the most of the insurance money.
I would make sure everything worked properly then put plates on it and take it to shows. You would most likely be the only one there with a car like this.
Not so familiar with this type of racer but does the right front wheel typically stick out that much further than the left? Is that tire or actual steering changes?
NASCAR only turns left, except for a couple of road-course tracks.
It’s a ’65, not a ’66.
Junior Johnson, the Last American Hero!
rod444 – Right front is bigger and offset to help get through the turns on an oval track. Looks like this would be a great buy!
Pete is right that is a 1964 or 1965.
Yeah – it’s a ’65. I had a ’65 2DR HT in High School. The ’64 was basically the same but had a flat front end.
“However, we just don’t know if the car was an original Stan Meserve racecar or not.
Read more at https://barnfinds.com/making-a-small-fortune-1965-chevelle/#yy0kLATzYyXwAEpR.99”
look at the shot of the steering wheel. The text on the firewall next to it identified this car as a Meserve original
It is a replica of the real car which was destroyed in a wreck at Wiscasset Speedway in 1972. A 65′ chevelle body was placed on a later GM frame
Worth the $5K just to park it in the driveway..
0h that’s nice
I’ve converted rougher dirt cars to road racers than this one, and I’d like to see this at Sebring or even Daytona
I ran better welds than this when drunk.Wonder what else is carppy on this thing
“Carppy” ?? don’t type or weld when there are lagers involved.
Looks like Steve Wonder was welding it!
We called those 360 degree headers. Two cylinders from each bank dumped into separate collectors. Thats why they go over and behind the engine. They split the firing order. Said it scavenged the cylinders better. Unique sound! Outlawed them around for some reason. That was years ago. Sad, they really perked my street stock up. Oh the days gone by.
I think those headers are called 180 degree headers.
RPM gauge?
Reminds me a bit of some of the race cars I used to watch at my local stock car track which was closed down a few years back. Wonder if any one out there remembers El Cajon Speedway, “the fastest three eights mile of the west!” Really miss that place, it was a very well liked form of family entertainment, hardly any race tracks left of any kind in so cal anymore.
Used to drive the 543 Chevelle out there. This set-up looks pretty familiar. Only a vintage build would assemble the main roll bar hoop out of pieces that way.
That steering wheel is the same as my 1974 Vega GT. Probably the only thing on a Vega worth saving!
Used to circle track against loads of these amateurs built cars. Those welds are F’n sloppy even for back then, and would of failed tech inspection at some tracks.
Non fishmouth cut tubings, lack of gusset at junctore of welds, rubbing with less diameter connections, yet many a sort
took hell of rollovers and Side and rear bumpings.
This is pretty, how mine looked for first couple races, pretty extensive chassis work, we set up looser for dirt than paved.
Fun days for many who could not afford ready built chassis.
Circle, once rolling one gear, Chevy HD three speeds common with internal gear changes, and even powerglides.
Rear gear changes easy with Ford pumpkins for different lengthy tracks, or for quick change damage.
Yes an outfit in Seattle Headershop built such headers for chevs MOPARS and Stangs, also ran chassis lower. Used to cook my feet and lose 15-20 #’ S on race weekends.
Wish grandkids had of caught racing bug, they did but only computer games, too damn lazy to work in real world.
The Chevy truck 3 speeds were the way to go. If you could use the Ford nine inch pumpkin, you could get gear sets in the 6s or 7s to one, and use top gear for a straight-through box. Pull first gear out and make a high-low box out of it.
Cool car…we need more like it ! Finally brought this D-500 home after 30 or so years looking at it in a junk yard…hope to run it like this….with the factory Hemi.
check out this roll cage….
right way and wrong way to build a cage, and this is not it. The main bar should never be segmented like that, not cobbled together with different pieces butt welded. Main bars should be a continuous loop, braces and cross bars THEN welded to main loops and properly fishmouthed.
Old welders like that ARE easy to get nice welds if you use clean metal, good rod and LEARN how to weld properly, overhead and vertical welding takes time and skill, but this is cobbled up junk, which detracts from a cool car. But the problem is what to do with it. Not many tracks would let it run, so static display only???
BTW, the comment about small fortune from a big one is generally attributed to Bud Ekins who started out as a Los Angeles Triumph dealer. He said it in regards to Motorcycles and added Bikes dont pay, Real estate does as he was able to retire based on his real estate dealings and rising property values in LA. I believe however it was a common phrase and adapted by many so probably a long list of people who have co-opted it.
Bud Ekins jumped the barbed wire fence in “The Great Escape” …
That is true, Bud Ekins and Mcqueen rode together often, and competed together in events. Bud called his old friend Cliff “The Sandy Bandit” for advice before the jump, Cliff used to perform in Joey Chitwoods thrill shows and taught Evel Kneivel some of his tricks including the wall of fire. So Cliff used to share a house with Bud Ekins and his wife (Bud had a brother named Dave as well) and Cliff claimed he was the best cook and made all the meals. But when it came to stunts thats why Bud called uncle Cliff. Here is a picture of McQueen and see if you recognize them other Hollywood fellers.
Great detail on what REALLY happened and where, See:
http://www.thegreatescapelocations.com/jump_and_the_fence.htm
My father and brother restored this car. They dug it out of the trees and restored it as original as they could in our garage at home. It’s purpose was for the vintage star tour club. I spun it around our house a time or two and lost control of it once. We had fun with it but my dad and brother didn’t want to drag it up and down the state anymore so I listed it for them and sold it.
I owned that chassie. Sold it to the people who restored it for the Stan Meserve replica. That was built up in Northern Maine and raced at Spud Speedway by Dick Boisvert.