Random car pictures

[C5HM]

Any info on the Dick Trickle car? Who built it? Is it gone too?

IIRC Trickle had two Mustangs. Both were home built cars and NOT H&M.  At least one survives and has been restored.  There was some underhanded stuff involving the car after it was found. But I have forgotten the details.

[C5HM]

Re skinning modern stock car chassis with old tin is getting to be a thing it appears. I think it is way cool. But I have no idea what one would do with one once done...besides open track.

[1109RWHP]

I am dumb enough to make one into a street car.

[1109RWHP]

Can you post more pictures of your Torino build?

[C5HM]

Sure. Thanks for asking.  First four: What it was:  The car was built as one of the first half chassis Fairlanes by H&M in late 1966.  It's original HM VIN was C7HM-10111 (for reference, Andretti's 67 D500 winner was C7HM-10098).
It was first assigned to Bondy Long's team. Dick Hutcherson was the driver. It was used as the speedway car. In that role Hutch drove the car to victory at Atlanta that year. Bondy's other Fairlane was the short track car (two car teams were the norm back in the late 60s).  At the end of the season,the car was returned (as all H&M cars were required to be) to H&M. It was up bodied into a 1968 Torino and sent back to Bondy for use in the 68 season.  The last two shots were taken at H&M in late 67. The naked car in the middle is the Fairlane waiting to pick up new 68 Toroino sheetmetal. Details visible on the chassis in those photos match witness marks/features still in evidence on the chassis today.

[C5HM]

Early in 1968, just before the D500 Bondy signed a standard "dollar" contract with H&M giving him use of the car for the next season. Note that the chassis had now picked up an all new H&M VIN (HM8-033S).  Sadly, John Holman had begin to cook the books in his dealing with Ford by the end of the 60s and it appears he was not above double billing Ford for building the same race car twice (hence the new VIN number).  Once the chassis was back in Camden, SC Bondy prepped it for Bobby Allison's use in the 68 D500.  Bobby took over driving chores for Bondy in 68 after Hutch retired from driving...and after Holman made it clear he didn't want BA driving directly for H&M as he had in the last part of 67. While Ralph Moody was very fond of Allison...Holman was not. Bobby came third in the 500 completing a 1-2-3 Fomoco sweep (Yarborough/Yarbrough and Allison). That race was really the first shot of what came to be called the "Aero Wars".

[C5HM]

Bobby while a great wheelman, was mercurial in temperament to say the least and by mid season ,he had jumped ship to drive his own car leaving Bondy behind. AJ drove the chassis in a reverse color scheme in the Firecracker; Swede Savage drove it at Rockingham and Little Bud Moore finished the season  in the car.

[1109RWHP]

I did not know it started out as a 67. Looks good in red though.

[C5HM]

When Bondy's step Dad (a DuPont) died, his race budget took a major cut. He stepped back from NASCAR. Interestingly, he kept HM8-033S. Not sure how that happened and he dose not recall the details. His last race with the car was the 71 Permatex race at Daytona where Tiny drove the car.  after that, it went to a Johnson City, TN local racer and went down hill...FAST. It wound up in a scrap yard there.

[propayne]

That Chevelle pic posted in reply 2641 reminded me of the remains of a Chevelle race car that was in a junkyard near Richmond International Raceway.

The junkyard and car are long gone now.

- Phillip

[propayne]

Looks to be a '67 or '68 Cougar in the scrapyard in front of the Torino.

Do you have any info on it?

- Phillip

[C5HM]

The stripped hulk passed through a number of hands ultimately coming to earth in Dale Sale's shop outside of B'ham. I saw it there 20 years ago. The car was in bad shape but still had its original H&M (2nd) VIN tag.  I was busy with other H&M projects and was not interested in it at first..but I never forgot the car.  In 2008 or 9 Dale decided to sell (I'd been nagging him). Luckily I had just about all of the unobtanium H&M bits and pieces in hand to restore the car back to 68 D500 trim. The deal included a 68 Torino donor body car.

[C5HM]

Looks to be a '67 or '68 Cougar in the scrapyard in front of the Torino.

Do you have any info on it?

- Phillip

Nope, those shots are from the 70s and I did not take them.

[1109RWHP]

Awesome pictures!

[C5HM]

Restoration: It's been slow going on the resto front. First I had another H&M car to finish before getting started on the Torino. And I do all of my own work (save for final bondo and point). Plus, I am old and slow. I also was a wage slave when I first got the car and could only work on weekends. Then came Hurricane Harvey and a big last capital case I had to litigate before retirement. The Hurricane flooded my hose (lost the house shop seven cars to motorcycles and four fresh engines I had just built).   Had to live in a hotel and then an apartment with no shop for more than a year. Got my verdict and turned in my retirement papers and then moved back to Florida. So...the car has taken longer than planned. It is nearing completion. Here are some posts of the resto to date.