Thumper
09-10-2015, 12:03 PM
Man-o-man, I've really been dwelling on something all morning, and I'm really choked up right now. Today I've probably been missing my dad more than any time since he passed away a few years ago. I guess I just need to walk away from my computer and take a little break, but then, sometimes writing about something can sometimes be soothing. I'll try ....
Some of my favorite memories as a kid was the time I spent with my dad around the racing circles. Normally, he built cars and/or engines for other racers. He also pitted for some (what would be considered a Crew Chief today). He had his "regular job", but had his own shop where the racing stuff was done. Generally, I'd go to school, get my chores/homework done, Dad would get off work, come home, eat supper, then the two of us would head to the shop. I could not tell you how many race engines I watched him build or how many hours I spent in the race car shop observing the building of cars from the ground up. Many weekend nights, I slept on a stack of tires while he and his "crew" prepared the race car.
Every Friday night we'd run the local circle track. Every Saturday night we'd run a circle track out of town ... usually on the east coast. Every Sunday was spent at the drag strip. We'd also run a limited NASCAR circuit (Daytona, Darlington, Atlanta, etc). In between, we'd run SCCA races with a Corvette (Sebring, Atlanta, etc). All of those cars, although built and maintained by my dad, were owned by someone else.
In 1957, Ford came out with a Ford Fairlane 500 with a Paxton blown 312 cid engine ... an extremely rare combination. '57 was the year Ford decided to kick Chevrolet's butt, and this is the car that did it. Ford sales in '57 were higher than Chevrolet for the first time since 1934! The way this car came about was Ford decided to kick ass in NASCAR racing. Only production cars could run in NASCAR, so to qualify, a manufacturer had to produce a minimum of 100 cars by the first of January, then produce x-amount (2000?) during the model year. This car did what they set out to do. Ford won 26 NASCAR races compared to Chevy's 21. (these were the days of the fuel injected '57 Chevy and others running 2x4bbl carbs, etc) The "blown" '57 Ford was the dominant car of the day. BUT ... it was so dominant, NASCAR changed the rules that year and mandated single carburetors ONLY. So it was a 1-year wonder. What made this car even more rare, since NASCAR banned it from racing, the projected model run was never completed and only 975 of these cars were ever built!
Well, besides all the racing mentioned above, we spent every Sunday at the drag strip. Dad managed to get his hands on one of these Fairlanes and learned how to "tweak" that blower for even more power (Ok, technically, it was cheating ... but that was part of the game in those days) Nobody else really knew much about this new engine/blower combination and he became an expert. So, as stated above, we spent every Sunday at the drag races ... racing the only race car my dad ever actually owned. It was a top runner and the tracks would actually pay him show money and advertise on the radio that he'd be racing on a certain weekend in order to draw a larger crowd. Even if he had the car torn down, they'd pay him just to bring it to the track whether he ran it or not! He was VERY good at what he did and I was always with him (I was the ONLY kid out of 6 in the family who had any interest in cars or racing).
Ok, all that has led up to this ... when I was about 13-14 years old, my mom gave dad an ultimatum ... the race car or her! I remember it like it was just yesterday, dad walked out and started polishing that Ford while he "thought it over"! Needless to say, he decided to sell the car and we got out of the drag racing business. :(
Later in life, my dad's dream was to own another '57 Ford ... not to race, just for old-time's sake. He never expected a blown model as they are as rare as hen's teeth, but he wanted to have one, painted like his old one (Silver/Navy Blue two-tone) and ... well, he just WANTED one. But, life was always in the way and he never obtained that dream.
Now, what put me in a blue funk today is, I just started making plans to hit tomorrow's estate sales and my jaw hit the floor when I looked at a local sale and spotted a 1957 Ford Fairlane with a Paxton blown 312!! The serial number is an "F" series, which means it's authentic. Heck, who knows? It could possibly be HIS old car. I know the chances are slim to none, but stranger things have happened. They're extremely rare and this is the same area where he sold his so many years ago. This one was stored in a barn here locally and will be part of the estate sale. I swear, if my dad were still alive, I'd mortgage my house to buy it for him! I can't believe I'll actually be able to touch this thing and run my hands over it. It's supposedly in great shape, but not restored. DAMN I wish I could share this with my dad right now. :(
http://pictures.estatesales.net/967038/22882871/1.jpg
http://pictures.estatesales.net/967038/22882873/1.jpg
http://pictures.estatesales.net/967038/22882872/1.jpg
http://pictures.estatesales.net/967038/22882870/1.jpg
Some of my favorite memories as a kid was the time I spent with my dad around the racing circles. Normally, he built cars and/or engines for other racers. He also pitted for some (what would be considered a Crew Chief today). He had his "regular job", but had his own shop where the racing stuff was done. Generally, I'd go to school, get my chores/homework done, Dad would get off work, come home, eat supper, then the two of us would head to the shop. I could not tell you how many race engines I watched him build or how many hours I spent in the race car shop observing the building of cars from the ground up. Many weekend nights, I slept on a stack of tires while he and his "crew" prepared the race car.
Every Friday night we'd run the local circle track. Every Saturday night we'd run a circle track out of town ... usually on the east coast. Every Sunday was spent at the drag strip. We'd also run a limited NASCAR circuit (Daytona, Darlington, Atlanta, etc). In between, we'd run SCCA races with a Corvette (Sebring, Atlanta, etc). All of those cars, although built and maintained by my dad, were owned by someone else.
In 1957, Ford came out with a Ford Fairlane 500 with a Paxton blown 312 cid engine ... an extremely rare combination. '57 was the year Ford decided to kick Chevrolet's butt, and this is the car that did it. Ford sales in '57 were higher than Chevrolet for the first time since 1934! The way this car came about was Ford decided to kick ass in NASCAR racing. Only production cars could run in NASCAR, so to qualify, a manufacturer had to produce a minimum of 100 cars by the first of January, then produce x-amount (2000?) during the model year. This car did what they set out to do. Ford won 26 NASCAR races compared to Chevy's 21. (these were the days of the fuel injected '57 Chevy and others running 2x4bbl carbs, etc) The "blown" '57 Ford was the dominant car of the day. BUT ... it was so dominant, NASCAR changed the rules that year and mandated single carburetors ONLY. So it was a 1-year wonder. What made this car even more rare, since NASCAR banned it from racing, the projected model run was never completed and only 975 of these cars were ever built!
Well, besides all the racing mentioned above, we spent every Sunday at the drag strip. Dad managed to get his hands on one of these Fairlanes and learned how to "tweak" that blower for even more power (Ok, technically, it was cheating ... but that was part of the game in those days) Nobody else really knew much about this new engine/blower combination and he became an expert. So, as stated above, we spent every Sunday at the drag races ... racing the only race car my dad ever actually owned. It was a top runner and the tracks would actually pay him show money and advertise on the radio that he'd be racing on a certain weekend in order to draw a larger crowd. Even if he had the car torn down, they'd pay him just to bring it to the track whether he ran it or not! He was VERY good at what he did and I was always with him (I was the ONLY kid out of 6 in the family who had any interest in cars or racing).
Ok, all that has led up to this ... when I was about 13-14 years old, my mom gave dad an ultimatum ... the race car or her! I remember it like it was just yesterday, dad walked out and started polishing that Ford while he "thought it over"! Needless to say, he decided to sell the car and we got out of the drag racing business. :(
Later in life, my dad's dream was to own another '57 Ford ... not to race, just for old-time's sake. He never expected a blown model as they are as rare as hen's teeth, but he wanted to have one, painted like his old one (Silver/Navy Blue two-tone) and ... well, he just WANTED one. But, life was always in the way and he never obtained that dream.
Now, what put me in a blue funk today is, I just started making plans to hit tomorrow's estate sales and my jaw hit the floor when I looked at a local sale and spotted a 1957 Ford Fairlane with a Paxton blown 312!! The serial number is an "F" series, which means it's authentic. Heck, who knows? It could possibly be HIS old car. I know the chances are slim to none, but stranger things have happened. They're extremely rare and this is the same area where he sold his so many years ago. This one was stored in a barn here locally and will be part of the estate sale. I swear, if my dad were still alive, I'd mortgage my house to buy it for him! I can't believe I'll actually be able to touch this thing and run my hands over it. It's supposedly in great shape, but not restored. DAMN I wish I could share this with my dad right now. :(
http://pictures.estatesales.net/967038/22882871/1.jpg
http://pictures.estatesales.net/967038/22882873/1.jpg
http://pictures.estatesales.net/967038/22882872/1.jpg
http://pictures.estatesales.net/967038/22882870/1.jpg