Join our virtual car show with this week's theme: Race Cars.
Reply to this post and include:
- A few photos of your car
- The car's year, make, and model
- Your location
- (Optional) A short write-up about the car’s history or significance to you
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The reply with the most likes by next Thursday 20 August will win this week’s show - earning unlimited bragging rights and some Hagerty social media love.
I've been racing with the SCCA since 2001. I bought a 240Z race car from a guy in Florida and raced it until it was damaged beyond repair at a race in Birmingham at Barber Motorsports Park. I started building its replacement and finished it in 2013. The paint job is a variation on the BRE team cars that won the National Championship back in 1970 and 1971, same design with different colors (original cars were red, white and blue). It's first event was at Road Atlanta, and I got 3rd place in its first race. Been racing it ever since.
I was fortunate enough to paddock with John Morton, the BRE driver who won the National Championship races in '70 and '71 at the Goblins Go event at VIR in 2016. He was driving a tribute car for that event, built by Steve Bonk and Sam Neave to resemble the original winning car. This is a photo of John signing my dash.
And here we are with our cars that weekend.
Here I am at VIR again this last March, just before the world shut down due to the pandemic. This is the start of the Sunday race. Placed 1st in class and 1st overall.
This was the car I raced in 2010-2011 at Marshfield Motor Speedway (Wisconsin). The car was a 1996 Chevrolet Cavalier modified for circle track pavement racing. My son originally purchased the former dirt track car to use as a backup for his pavement car, then decided to ask if I wanted to get back behind the wheel of a race car. (I had raced stock cars on dirt and pavement from 1986-1990, and driven in demolition derbies from 1979-2010)
This is how the car looked the first night we raced it, at this point the only thing changed from the previous owner was add a lexan windshield, and change the car number.
This is how the car looked after we redid the body, along with some suspension work.
Ended up being the Marshfield Motor Speedway track champion in 2010 and finished 2nd in points in 2011. 7 fast times, 7 heat wins and 4 Feature wins.
1973 DeTomaso Pantera L
2015 Silver State Classic Challenge
First Place - 120 MPH Class Winner
Photos taken in 2015 near Spokane, WA
I was the second owner of this fine example of an original Pantera L purchased from the estate of the original owner. For many years I kept it as original as possible, only performing maintenance as needed to keep it on the road. My wife and I took it to many car shows, nights on the town and vacation trips.
After getting one or two trophies at car shows, I turned my head toward open road racing with other Pantera enthusiasts at the Silver State Classic Challenge held in Ely Nevada. To do this, I rebuilt the brakes and added new higher-grade race compound pads, replaced all the suspension bushings, updated the rear sway bar, new Koni coil-over shocks, a roll cage and safety equipment. I removed the numbers-matching original 351C 4V engine for future restoration and replaced it with a higher horsepower modified 351C 4V from my 1971 Mach I (another project in-progress).
After two prior races that left me topping out at about 130 MPH, I rebuild a donor carb from another Team Pantera Racing member. This got me to a top speed near 138 MPH (on the GPS) during the run with plenty of carb left over, and helped contribute to a smooth 120 MPH average, nailing it nearly perfectly.
With the SSCC win, I had done nearly everything a person could do with a car to enjoy it during my ownership. After over 15 years, I sold it to another racing enthusiast who is converting it to a DeTomaso factory Group 3 racer. He's already campaigned it at a handful of vintage open track events and had a blast.
All photos are copyright 2015 Steve Isaacs, my good friend who snapped the photos.
Asa Jay
1973 DeTomaso Pantera L, 5533
Near Spokane, WA
1963 Dodge 440 Wagon - Ramcharger drag car tribute
- 440 engine out of a '70 Roadrunner
- 4-speed with Hurst shifter, Mcleod clutch
- Webber carbs & 6-inch stacks
- Fuel cell in the rear replaces the stock gas tank that was located under the rear driver's fender
- NHRA-spec cage
- Runs mid-11s in the 1/4 mile
