Felix Chevrolet / 1959 Bel Air

[Verne_Frantz]

Well, we're digressing from the '59 F.I. topic, but yes, I am very familiar with that car. It is a very legit "real" hi-po (335hp, late production) 348 4-spd car. Believe it or not, that car came out of the same garage where the Jenkins/Strickler '63 Z-11 Ol' Reliable IV was stored for many years. The second owner of the Z-11 (who re-lettered it with his own name) also owned the '59 convt. (The '59 was also raced and had 14Kmi on it). While he was racing that car, Jenkins was racing a black '59 convt. The two cars were parked side by side in his shop in Pitman, NJ. Jenkins bought the Z-11 back in '84 (I believe) and had it repainted and re-lettered as it was when he and Dave raced it, but left everything else untouched, including the engine and peeling white paint on the frame. He brought the car to the Super Chevy meet at Maple Grove in '85 and ran it. (I was also running my '62 convertible at that meet and somewhere lost is a photo of my car next to the Z-11 in the pits). Anyway, back to the '59. Sometime in the late '80s, Chip Gerst (who lived in NJ at the time, but later moved to CA to broker cars for Boyd) bought the car, then sold it to Joe Carfagna of Franklin Lakes. Joe was just a young kid at the time, but with access to plenty of family money, and supplementing his income by "turning over" cars. He had a "restoration" shop set up behind a friend's house in Hope, NJ (up near Island Dragway) where they re-did the car. I hate to say it, but it was a terrible restoration. Just a quickie job with tons of problems and poor workmanship. The car was in the car corral at Carlisle, offered at $85K, with a sign indicating it came out of the same garage as the Z-11 (somehow thinking that would add value to the convertible). Less than a year later, the car went to the Netherlands for $80K. I have the car completely documented, with good photos of it "un-restored". In my opinion, the car deserved better........

Verne.

[Belair62]

Yep...that be the one !!! And I remember Joe too....last off-topic question....there was a 62 red/red 409/409 Belair or Biscayne wagon for sale years ago that was nice...know where it is ???

[Verne_Frantz]

Nope, I'm not familiar with that one. And by the way, Joe also had a hand in that red/white F.I. Belair I mentioned. He supplied some parts.

Pantera,
Those old memories are very precious. As for Dickie Harrell, I'm not aware of him ever having a mystery motor. I think they all went South. But apparently, Chevy had plans for dragstrip use for that engine, since a very few dual quad intakes were made for it. There's a fellow in WA putting one together now for a '63 Impala to see what it will do on the 1320.

Verne

[Belair62]

Posting this for Verne/Pantera

Pantera,
I believe these are the only 2 '63s affiliated with Dickie Harrell. I
believe he owned the Bill Allen car, but just tuned the white one (both
Z-11s). Also, both he and Sox adopted the name "Mr. 427" in '63.
Verne.

[Belair62]

One more....maybr someone from the Harrell site will chime in on this...

[Pantera]

Vern,

Gawd it has been so many years ago now. For some reason I can still remember a maroon/white top ragtop that could almost pull the wheels off running with a mysterymotor? Dam it why didn't I have the money back then to buy a decent camera and document those moments. Cushing was a old airforce runway and not a huge event.

I sure will be glad when someone comes up with a device that can reproduce a photo I have in my mind of some of the cars that I watched run back then. Damm pissed off that I didn't take pictures back then.

I could be wrong about the driver of the convertable. The Texas guys seldom came up this way because they had so much better facilitys to race on down close to home.

I think I will contact the widow of the guy I was with that had the red 63 bisketcan 409. She bought a Twin turbo Calaway 85 vette after he died with the insurance money and I will never forget her calling me to come drive it because she could not get it to run under 300 deg. I told her the gauges must be messed up because it would blow the head gaskets at that temp if you drove he for long.

So she asked me to come over and drive it for her and give her my opinion. Dam straight I would love to come drive your red Calloway Vette.... BEEEeeeeee Rightttttt There.......!!!!!!

Well she was right..! It would get up to 300 deg.
I left her house with her in the pass seat and it ran dam fast and didn't run too hot for me. She said take out on this back road and run it a little harder up to 4th gear. Well I did and the damm thing was a rocket ship I want to tell you. It felt like my 70 motion when it got un into 3 and 4 th gears.

When you did crank it up it started to get up around 250deg. and I told her that would be ok it would cool back down just driving slower. I asked her how she got it to be so hot and she said you are not running it hard enought!! I asked her how she ran it then and she replied she would take it up to 120 two or three times in a row just as fast as she got up there she would stop and turn around and go back the other was just as fast as she could and she just couldn't figure out why the dam thing would run so "HOT".. ????

[Verne_Frantz]

Pantera,
I know how you feel..... Several trips to Motion on L.I. to buy speed parts for my '62, surrounded by all those cars we'd all die for today, and no camera. Never even thought of saving those scenes on film. I think we were all so spoiled back then and thought tomorrow, next week or next year there would be something even better to drool over, we never stopped and realized just how much we should have savored every moment.
Then when I was 16 or 17 and was at E-Town every weekend, I still remember a metalflake purple '63 Impala owned and raced by a black guy (who's name I forget). I have a strong hunch it was a Z-11 car, but never took a picture, and have never been able to turn up a lead about the car.
Soooooo, about the time they invent the technology to extract your memories and print them, I'll find that "Way-Back" machine I misplaced......

Verne.

[Mr70]

Growing up,I was under the impression we'd all be riding in cars that fly in the Air,or owning jetpacks by now.
Looking back,it's No Wonder we were all looking so far ahead,and not at the World around us then.

[olredalert]

------If you guys want to get back on the 59 it was around Bloomington Gold this weekend. The blue car is not original. Emblems are repro along with several other problems, notably wrong injector tag. There was, however, a beautiful, red, paperworked 59 Impala fuelie/4spd convert on display owned by a friend of mine. Wish I had time to take pics for ya'll!..........Bill S