My most recent acquistion!

[TimG]

What a shame, once a car is sold it should be taken off the road. Race cars should be raced, every summer I watch Grand Sport Corvette #1 run at Road America. This car is worth well over one million. Many valuable cars participate in wheel to wheel vintage races.

[whitetop]

SS427
I guess I'm alone on this. Your point about the warbirds is good. However while flying them to shows is o.k. with me, the owners are not flying sorties over Iraq dodging SAMS which is akin to taking ZL-1 #1 and Red Alert down the drag strip proceeded by a 3 ft. wheelstand.

SYC
I don't equate Yenko 427 Camaro's with the 2 cars mentioned above. Many more Yenko's were made and survive. If one get totalled there are many more that look identical to take it's place. Like I said above these cars are "one of one" with a grand history. Also, if an identical clone is made how is it going to look/sound differently than the original going down the strip? How can anyone really compare these cars to the originals anyway. In my mind the aura is faded somewhat-they are a caricature almost(Red Alert is more close to the original). Why? tubbed out, modified rear ends with new fangled aluminum cover plates, modern tachs and gauges, modern intakes/fuel systems, paint schemes changed (Bill P. put his name on the front fender, modern style decals) etc.

Olredalert
Yes these cars can be destroyed in a myriad of ways other than drag racing but as you increase your goal for increased speeds/elapsed times you are increasing the odds something will happen. These cars are much faster than they were when originally run.

I've noticed other famous race cars that are restored to like how they were way back and for some reason the owner has to go faster and faster and parts start geting updated/changed. Why can't anyone be satisfied with the times these cars originally ran?

[sYc]

Maybe the clone looks and sounds the same, but IMO, there is NO comparsion, which is why I go to great lengths to get these cars to perform in public. I get goosebumps just watching the video from from SCR5. To see some of these cars on the cruise and at the track, well, hard to put into words. To be there as Charley airs out ZL-1 #3 in the hotel parking lot, standing only a few feet away as Barnhart launched his ZL-1 at MAR or watching Joe S. dropped the hammer on his low mileage, ALL original Harrell Chevelle, I will never forget.

If it gets down to just clones participating, I will stay at home and play with the grand kids.

[whitetop]

Tom
Doing a burnout or dropping the hammer in a hotel parking lot is a lot whole different than what Zl-1 #1 and Red Alert are subjected to. I don't have a problem with running the cars and getting on them on occasion but someday the *alls to the wall, all out runs these cars do is going to catch up with them.

[Kim_Howie]

Kevin, what a sad loss. The car was sold should not been driven period. I in turn will race my 70 camaro. It is NOT a yard ornament. Kim [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/[/img]

[Jeff H]

I will say I can appreciate seeing a musclecar or supercar driven. It's great to see. But I have to wonder what kind of insurance you guys have to be able to run your high dollar supercars down the quarter mile? Every insurance company I have spoken to will not cover your car(new or old) if it is raced. That being said, I know that I can't afford to restore my car twice(I can barely afford it now) so there's no way you will ever find me racing my JL8 anywhere. I thought the same thing about the vintage racing. Do those guys actually have insurance on those cars that are being raced?

[TimG]

I really don't know what most vintage racers have, my vintage race Corvette (beat Don Yenko in 67 & 68 June Sprints) is raced by me without physical damage coverage. I break it, I pay for it. GS #1 had an incident at Road America a few years ago. It was during the practice session on Thursday if I heard the story correctly. The car lost a wheel and hit a guard rail or concrete wall. It may cost $20,000 to repair but you still have a valuable car. Most of the cars have been hit before.

[SmallHurst]

Excuse me while I am sick! Do everyone a favor, grab the car, advertise for a '68 cutlass parts car and put that bad boy back together. It may look hidious, but sheet metal, frames, and motors can either be replaced or rebuilt. I know that some of the value of originality may be lost, but it is a legend in the Olds community and does not deserve to die a death such as that! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif[/img] [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/[/img]

[68TopStock]

Wow! I'll stay out of this one. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/burnout.gif[/img]

[olredalert]

-----Any insurance on a race car I ever heard of will only cover the car when its not being raced.Have often thought of the ramifications,but it was always more important to race,than worry.I went to great lengths to race safe and never had a problem.Do I think I was pressing my luck?...No...Loads of Drag racers have gone thier entire careers without a problem.Others have not been so lucky,but you do your best to take the problems out of the equation.There is something intrinsicly exciting about seeing the actual original car race.
-----Yes,"Red Alert" is faster than it was when it held the world record,but it is in every racers nature to go faster.Had Bob Hamilton kept racing he surely would have wanted to go faster as well.The only reason I never ran in the nines was because I would have had to change the nature of the car to meet new NHRA rules beyond what I felt was acceptable to me and "Red Alert" fans everywhere.I just didnt want to cut the car up any further.........Bill S