The Project Pad

A little history.
In the late 50s and early 60s, my folks raced sports cars. Gary Pickens was my stepfather, during this time frame. This is how I grew up. I got to spend my weekends at sport car races. It was wonderful.

My Mom's TR3, motor by Kas Kastner, we are the red one pictured here, with Kas Kastner in the lead and Lew Spencer's Morgan in 2nd. This was at Pomona raceway.



A Modified TR2 for Nick Pastor imports.

A 57 Corvette

And last was a 63 Corvette in 63. This car was also featured in the movie Viva Las Vegas. I had tried to keep track of this car over the years, but lost track of it about 20 years ago. A company in Anaheim, call Corvette Mikes, found the car about a year ago, and restored it.

These are some pictures from when it raced in 63. The first two were a race at Dodger stadium, yes the Dodgers stadium.

This first picture is of our corvette and a 63 Porsche Carraera twin cam.



Next is still at Dodger stadium, with Ken Miles in the Cobra.



The next two pictures were taken at Del Mar. Look at some of the cars parked in the background.





The next set of pictures is of the car in its restored state. There are a few things not quite correct on the car, but basically it is restored to the way it was in 63.
The last picture is a picture of my mom next to the car. She is the one who came up with idea for the numbers shaped like dice. It was nice to see the car restored. Brought back a lot of memories for me.











This last is a video that Corvette Mikes put together after restoring the car.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEocPWndwlc

This a video of the car running.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDrhWz-xP94

Greg W.

That's really cool Greg, what a great story!

So awesome! I love vintage racecars and especially muscle era racecars. The rochester fuel injection is so cool. I cant remember, but is that the 375 hp version?

40v4kq wrote:So awesome! I love vintage racecars and especially muscle era racecars. The rochester fuel injection is so cool. I cant remember, but is that the 375 hp version?

The 63s were the 360HP version. By 65, they were 375.

These aren't vintage to me.

Greg W.

awesome! thx for sharing

Nice post Greg!! It's pretty bad when, like you, I look at the cars and they all seem to come out of the era of my teens. What was run of the mill everyday cars, now looks like money. The vette looks like it turned out nice. Does the dealership own it now or what?

That's a beautiful car! Great story!

quattro87 wrote:Nice post Greg!! It's pretty bad when, like you, I look at the cars and they all seem to come out of the era of my teens. What was run of the mill everyday cars, now looks like money. The vette looks like it turned out nice. Does the dealership own it now or what?

Yea, Corvette Mikes, owns it for now. I believe they are going to sell it. They mentioned 500k. I personally don't think it is worth it, but what do I know.

Yes, all these cars that are worth money these days, were all over the place. Got to drive a few, own a few in my youth, so I am satisfied. It was a fun time. Not the pro stuff like it is now. It was like a picnic at the tracks. Everyone knew everyone else, people helped each with their cars. You could talk to anyone. They were just in the pits, not in airconditioned trailers. They always would talk to me, if they weren't busy, and not treat me like a little kid.

You would go to the Mission Inn in Riverside, and in the lounge they would just be sitting around yakking. Penske, Graham Hill, Ken Miles, Davy MacDonald, Bondurant, Sterling Moss, Shelby, to just name a few..

Greg W.

Thanks for sharing Greg. It was great hearing some of these stories while sharing one heck of a cheeseburger at the Cafe in Long Beach. It would have been such a great time to be around cars.

Quattro v1.0 wrote:Thanks for sharing Greg. It was great hearing some of these stories while sharing one heck of a cheeseburger at the Cafe in Long Beach. It would have been such a great time to be around cars.

When you get down this way again, Sean, we will have dinner again. Just let me know. I am available most all the time.

Goes for anyone who comes to the LA area.

Greg W.