Corvette "Modified" race cars

[dustymojave]

In response to Chris Hale's post in the thread about the 69 Corvette Owens Corning A/Production race car, I was inspired to pull out a couple of old Corvettes that I had on my workbench in 1971 when an earthquake hit my hometown. They were not hurt, unlike many of my other then built and on display models. They were in a box then and didn't come back out until the mid 1990s. But I still haven't done anything with them. Maybe I will now.

Chris posted pics of his 1963 Corvette Coupe which I had seen sat an IPMS show in Lancaster, CA. In some ways I liked the model, and in other ways I disliked it, as I said in the Owens Corning thread. Probably the one thing that bugged me was that he put decals on the side indicating it as an SCCA "B/Production" Corvette. But it didn't fit the rules for that class. As I had been an SCCA Tech Inspector for many years, that inconsistency bugged me then and apparently still does now. It's Chris' model and I'm not saying that HE was wrong to do that. I'm just saying that it bugs ME. Other than that one issue, I thought the model was pretty cool and I liked it in a number of ways.

I felt in the mid 60s when SCCA changed the name of the Modified Category into the Sports Racing category that it would have been cool for SCCA to have retained the "Modified" category with rules to go along with the name, and put all of the purpose-built cars like McLarens and Lolas into Sports Racing category. This car would have been a "Modified". Like a pair of Vettes I built (but still haven't finished) in the late 60s. Such a rule and race car category might have increased the total number of entries. Maybe not. But would have allowed all sorts of cool race cars then.

So, I pulled them out and took a couple of pics to post them.








Crappy pics with my phone.

Like yours, Chris, they are AMT kits. Both '67s. Both built as "Modifieds".

The roadster is on an MPC Vette chassis. Not sure which year model, maybe a '68. The plan for the Coupe was to get the same chassis. It was vastly better than AMT's and Revell-o-Gram was decades from introducing their C3 Vette models of the 80s and even farther from introducing their '67 Vette kits of the early 2000s.

Both have big block engines. The Roadster has the Weber carbs from the AMT '67 kit. The 427 hood cut out to clear the Webers. I was considering raising the top of the hood scoop to clear and opening the front for intake. The coupe still has no intake and I was planning to see how things went with the roadster intake and hood. I preferred the idea of fuel injection, such as used on the McLaren Can Am cars. So that was in my mind as a possibility.

For the Roadster, I had thoughts of a dragster-type roll bar with door bars and under-cowl structure extending to the front suspension mounts.

For the coupe, It was planned to get a full roll cage in the cabin, also extending to the front suspension.

Both were to get fuel cells and side exhaust pipes.

The coupe has most of its body mods done other than the hood. I had 3-bar Halogen headlights from some AMT 60s Custom parts mounted to panels for the coupe, but I've lost them. A race (not quick flip) fuel filler under the rear window, removing the windwings and closing the side windows were most of what remained to be done to the body before paint. It has MPC tires as provided for the Ford GT Mark 4/J car kits.

The roadster still needed a rear spoiler or wing, a front spoiler like on the coupe, and possibly headlights in the grille like the coupe. A windscreen was on the list too, along with a similar fuel filler in the rear deck.

I had thoughts of metallic blue with white paint scheme. Maybe scallops. Team mates. I don't want to copy Mecom's cars. But I need to cross that bridge after the rest of the fabrication work is done.

Same tires as used on the MPC Eagle Indy car kits. All body work on both was done with 3M Acryl Green Spot Putty (exact same stuff as Squadron Green). No shrinkage.

[Chris K. Hale]

Richard, I remember having a conversation with you about the SCCA markings on the 63 Corvette way back when, I never had the opportunity or shall we say the "Guts" to change it to the correct class, I think of the thousands of people who had viewed this car, you were the only one who caught my error.. This car has some special memories for me, it was the first car I built after the massive 6.9 earthquake in 1994 when my Northridge apartment and 90% of my built ups were destroyed, I sat on the floor in my new Woodland Hills apartment and massaged the body for hours, I made many changes to the kit body mostly opening up everything, and making new front and rear marker light openings. I had sprayed it with the #6 blue NASCAR paint from Testors and spent a bunch of time polishing it. As normal I spent a lot of time building this car , I had just read the Corvette book about SCCA Corvette racing in So Cal during 1960 through 1969 I think it is called "Corvette Summer". This was a very enjoyable build and I really didnt anticipate showing it but decided to anyway.. It has won so many awards, been it many Globally produced magazines I couldnt have anticipated the response about it from all over the world. I guess after disaster it brought me back to what I enjoyed most ...Building Model Cars..
Some great builds Richard, and Thank You for your input on my 63.. Chris

[dustymojave]

There really WASN'T a category for cars such as your '63 Vette Chris, until SCCA changed the Trans Am and created GT-1 through 4, and IMSA created their AA/GT rules, to allow FIA Group 5 cars to run. Then those were mostly tune frame purpose built race cars with a little factory body metal and the rest of the body in thin race car fiberglass. Most Corvettes raced in early days of Group 5 rules were still on Corvette frames, such as the John Greenwood cars.

But "Modified" cars such as yours Chris, and mine, never really had any place to play other than with the all-out race cars. GS Vettes were always the red-headed step children in their day. They were tube-frame thin race car fiberglass body and no parts in common with a production Vette. They ran against Ferrari Prototype Le Mans cars and Chaparrals and such most of the time.

Curt Raitz did a Mustang GT500 many years ago with Group 5 fenders on it. I did one myself using the GT500 that came in a set with a 1970 Galaxy and a trailer. I was building it it at the same time as these Vettes. It was getting very large fenders for tires like on my '67 Vette Roadster above. I was also working on an MPC '71 Vette coupe that was getting a fastback rear window and big fenders. Both of those are stashed deep in my inventory and haven't seen daylight for a long time. But neither was anywhere near as far along as the Vettes above.

So providing a place to race for such cars was the idea for this thread.

[dustymojave]

During the 1960s there was a car that raced in Cal Club in C/Mod. It was called "The Pink Elephant". It was a Devin body on a C1 Vette frame. Often reported as a "Devin-Healey". But the owner, Jim Chaffee said it originally started as an MG-A. Kinda morphed gradually into what it became. But it fit into "Modified" category way better than it fit into Sports Racing class with Bill Cuddy's McLaren M8D, Scooter Patrick in Vasek's amazingly fast Alfa T33, and Steve McQueen's also very fast Porsche 910.

[dustymojave]

Oh, and Chris...I never felt that you "HAD TO" or even that you SHOULD change the markings. To make the model totally "correct"...they should get changed. but it's your model, so mark it how you want it. Keep it how you want it. As you said, nobody else ever had a clue that anything about it was in any way "incorrect". Few people other than an experienced Tech inspector or former competitor in the B/Production race class would know or care.

It was at an IPMS show though, and competitors were marked down in other categories like military vehicles and aircraft for technical inaccuracies.



Lotta talk in this thread about Corvettes and the shaky Valley, huh? It's overdue now...

[Chris K. Hale]

The book I read covered the early years of the Cal Club and early SCCA Corvettes. It was really a good read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.. Yeah IPMS..well I think someone totally accurate but Candy Apple Red F-16 should have been a winner..but what do I know about aircraft... I respect what they do and they wanted me to have the Valley Model Car club I ran for 25 years to join them, I didnt feel their judging and rivet counting appropriate for the club interests.. I was the Head judge at 5 of Herb Deeks shows and I know it is a Thankless job.. but having Military Modelers Judge Model cars is unacceptable, such was the case at the Pasadena show for years, I signed up to help them one year and it blew my mind. When I started putting on the Judged shows in the Valley I used , A Engine Builder for 1 to 1 cars, a Real Car Painter, a Former Mold Maker for a major Model company and a Builder of Real Race cars. I had to explain the complexities of Model Car building, but I have to say as did many others it was the fairest judging anyone had ever seen and it was not up for debate as to winners.. One of Herbs shows a guy who took a dozen NASCAR diecasts and race weathered the couldnt understand why a scratchbuilt NASCAR beat his stuff.. that was why I went to People Choice for Awards at the So Cal NNL and the voting was open to the Automotive entrants in the Chevy Car Show outside.. never had a complaint in 13 years..

[dustymojave]

Such Judging issues are not limited to model car shows. I had similar issues when my son was competing in Martial Arts. I understand that it IS "Judging" and is highly subjective. But a Judge should have knowledge of what they are judging and should be impartial. They should also be paying attention to what is being judged, not have their backs turned.

Working for over 50 years as a Technical and Safety Inspector for race cars has been quite frustrating too in very similar ways. Like when an Inspector rejects a 5,000lb 800hp race truck for having a roll cage that meets the rules for a 1,500lb VW powered Buggy...And then the race promoter over-rules that rejection with the comment "I need the entry fee." But doesn't give a damn that if the truck crashes and someone gets hurt, then he will never again be able to promote a race event of any sort. Let alone care if someone DOES get hurt due to foolishness.

On the issue of impartiality, the promoter of an event should not enter into his own competition. The father of a karate competitor should not judge the competition. A Tech Inspector should have his own race car inspected by another Inspector. A baseball (or any other such sport) game should not be umpired by a member or coach of one of the teams playing. When I raced motorcycle in the desert (see the movie "on Any Sunday"), there were nearly 50 rider clubs in the area. Each race was put on by a different club, for nearly 50 events per year. Not ALL competitors were members of those clubs, but the vast majority were. No practicing of the race course was allowed except for the start area. And members of the host club were not allowed to enter into the race. Good rules then and still.

[Patrick]

Dusty, What do you know about "The Alligator"? I have these photos and are labelled "The Animal".


It was a Vette that ran CMod. I think Doug Hooper drove it.

Patrick

[dustymojave]

Yup... I'm not sure if it was the same chassis, but Doug had previously driven Bill Campbell's Alligator C/Mod with a body that looked more like an E-Jag. This body was sure a blatant copy of a Corvette GS, but WAS NOT a GS. The chassis under the Jag-like body was a Kurtis road racer with a Chevy engine. The side exhaust even looks the same.

The Jag-bodied version and the Corvette both ran under variations of the number "91". Like 119, 9, etc. Typical numbers for Doug Hooper. I suspect the Jag body and Vette body both rode on the same Kurtis chassis.

Dave McDonald also ran a Corvette-bodied Modified with a '62 Vette body before the Alligator. That car was built by Ol' Yaller builder Max Balchowski and is generally considered to be Ol' Yaller Mk. 5.

I would share photos. But I don't own the copyrights to any of the ones I have saved copies of and sharing them with you would violate the rights of the various owners of them. Searching for them under "The Alligator Special race car" and "Dave McDonald" should work well.

These cars are 2 of my early inspirations for the whole "Modified" class concept. Both of them had readily identifiable relatively stock appearing body shells wrapped around tube race chassis.

The last time I spoke to Doug Hooper was in the early 90s when I was visiting my dad at his house in San Fernando. We were working in the driveway on then-dad's, now my Baja Bug. A police car pulled up at the curb in front and parked. When the cop got out, I was surprised to hear him say "Hi Jack!" to my dad, then he turned and said hi to me by name as well. When he took off his Police hat I knew then it was Doug. He worked as a Reserve Police Officer for a number of years, but I hadn't known he was doing so. In November of '92, at the Vintage Road Race at Palm Springs, which honored Roger Penske, I was there crewing on the Ex-Penske/Roy Woods 71 Javelin and a Boss 302. At the end of our row in the paddock was the pit where the Corvette GS Roadster that had been a Penske car was at. Doug Hooper had restored that car and was driving it for the guy who owned it then. I went by to say Hi, but Doug and the owner were away doing some function with Roger Penske. I didn't get to visit again that weekend and never ran across him again. Doug passed away in 2013.