Now, if you ever pictured yourself fixin’ to do some high bankin’, pulling a pass in the grass, or you just want to be Darrell Waltrip for a day, here’s your opportunity with this 1981 Buick Regal Winson Cup car. It’s not real, just a tribute but it’s still a noteworthy find thanks to Paul S. Located in Lavergne, Tennessee, this stocker look-alike is available, here on Classic Cars for $25,995.
Finished off to look like “Jaws”1981 Winston Cup championship entry, no one is going to get fooled into thinking that this is the actual Junior Johnson prepared car, but the visuals on it aren’t bad. The seller states, “This tribute looks quite authentic because it comes from a person known to take time specifically recreating Darrell Waltrip racers“. I’ll admit, at first glimpse it does, it’s a faithful attempt – there’s even a driver’s side window net. Of course, if you are really familiar with Cup car specifics, you’ll immediately notice the more obvious differences – especially inside – more on that to follow.
Under the pinned hood is, what else, a small block Chevrolet V8 engine, displacing 350 CIs (the VIN indicates that a carbureted 3.8 liter V6 originally powered this steed). Little is said about the motor other than it’s equipped with, “(an) Edelbrock four-barrel carburetor, an Edelbrock aluminum intake, and headers that add even more power as they connect with the race-style side exhaust”. Also mentioned is the inclusion of a 700R4 four-speed automatic transmission in place of the NASCAR-specified Jerico four-speed manual crash box. We’re told that this Regal is “really a fine all-around cruiser“.
The interior is where the largest divergence from a Cup car is noted – it looks mostly like a stock Regal. There are aftermarket engine gauges, a tachometer, a custom steering wheel, and a driver’s side harness, beyond that, it looks like a vinyl or leather-clad Buick Regal, leather upholstery having been a Regal option according to Buick’s ’81 sales brochure. The listing mentions a rollbar and on about the third review of the interior, I did notice it. We’re told that its presence does not preclude the use of the back seat. A/C equipped this Regal is, however, it will require servicing to work properly.
The seller suggests, “Just imagine what people will think when you pull up to stoplights next to them. This is a fun tribute with a cool look, great sound, and a nice practical side“. OK, not exactly my cup of tea, but if it’s attention that you want, this Buck Regal will deliver. Practical end use? It would be a great conversation piece at a car show, or an infield on race day…or?
YeeeeHAW, just think, the advertising royalties alone. So, what is this, really? Something to wheel around the county courthouse with? Someone went to great lengths to create, what, half a race car? You know, peripheral vision is strictly limited with a bag over your head,,you’ll get attention, alright, from the cops, and why do I have a hankerin’ for a Mountain Dew right now?
Never seen a NASCAR racer with power windows,arm rests,
or an automatic transmission before.
Actually, early stock cars were really just gussied up “stock” cars. I read, Dick Trickle had arm rests and a cigarette lighter. I saw’r a video where Joey Logano, my favorite, drove a ’63 Ford stock car, and even he said, he didn’t feel safe. His biggest gripe was sliding around on the bench seat.
Any Nascar car in 1963 would not have a bench seat, it would likely had a modified seat from a van or a homemade bucket seat. Of course it wouldn’t hold him anywhere near as tight as what they use now .
However, the new NASCAR racers are automatics, so maybe this builder was forward thinking. If you are a super confident person who does not care what anybody thinks, then go for it, but at least drop in a V8 and a 4 speed first.
They’re not automatics. They’re five-speed, sequential shift transaxle arrangements.
https://www.rookieroad.com/nascar/are-nascar-cars-manual-or-automatic/
JO
No 4 speed at least? And some “racy” seats? More of a Duh, not a Dew…
https://diecastmotorsports.files.wordpress.com/2016/09/81-buick-regal-01-hw-select-nascar-r1-600pxotd.jpg?w=640
A smaller version and also an Impersonator. ;)
.. is that Chic Hicks from “Cars”?
Did he get a new sponsor from the ‘Hostile Takeover Bank’ livery that he wore in that film?
There was a similar car in Racine WI back in the day
The pretend roll bar with no braces or padding curves in towards the drivers head instead of following the body. I suspect it’s exhaust tubing.
This dealer has a lot of other nice cars listed but I look at the price and think you want how much for that? I’m pretty sure I can find one just as nice for less
Without the paint job this is not anything special.
My sister’s Regal (same year I believe) needed that paint job.
To warn all traffic and deers to …….clear the way !!!
Thank god hers had a pretty weak motor. lol
Dew was used to cut the Shine. Cause that stuff alone will put a hole in the stomach, lol
Now-a-days they make a weakened strain of White Lightening. Goes with the times. Yea right Peach brandy.
Yuck.
Imagine you pull up to a stop light, and no one even knows what the heck this car is about. Unless you pull up to a retirement community in the south.
Dog it what you want, it’s a tribute and isn’t being represented as anything different. There a Facebook group dedicated to Street-legal Stock Cars. They’re fun to tool around in.
I built a 64 Galaxie tribute car of Fireball Roberts’ last season of racing from a theft/arson recovery. With the interior burned out already, I cleaned everything up and installed a 6-point roll cage, single seat with a side bolster, and a vintage set of Stewart-Warner gauges. No speedometer. Got familiar with the tach equalling mph. Driving it on the streets for 12 years, I wasn’t ever pulled over.
Headlight covers (removable) Kelsey-Hayes steelies, and graphics reproduced by an eBay seller who sold custom-cut graphics for Sprint cars. Side-exit exhausts. At many shows I was asked more than a few times if it was the real deal. Of course, I never claimed it to be anything but a tribute.
http://racersreunion.com/fireball22-don-falloon/gallery/21363/fireball22-don-falloon
It only had a 302 backed by a C-4, but I installed a floor shifter and fake clutch pedal. Why no FE? I built it for… $4,000.
How about a vehicle wrap the same as this for THOUSANDS less!!??
Darrell Waltrip had cruise control?….. If you’re not first you’re last.
And 2nd place means you are the first loser.
I guess I’m in the minority here, but I’d drive this thing every single day. Definitely not at this price point, though. It’s just stupid enough to be fun. Plus I remember having this exact die cast car when I was a kid. Nostalgia, I guess.