Courtesy of Dan Ody
The first stock cars
were little more than
a chassis with a motor
and seat, as seen in this
Rudd's Beach, Colonie, NY
photo.
|
Courtesy of Dan Ody
In some areas, including
New York, there were
pre-stock racers called
roadsters. This one is
Leo Wells, at the old
Champlain Speedway,
Ticonderoga, NY.
|
Courtesy of Ken Paulsen
Johnny Gammell's 1st
car was an engineering
jewel. Typical of late '40's/
early '50's jalopies. |
Ridin'Dirty Photo
The cutdown stock
car of southern
New England was a
speed advancement - but
a step back in safety.
|
Courtesy of R.A. Silvia
The Frank Smith 311
driven by Sonny Rabideau
was one of the safer and
more refined cutdowns. It
was used into the late '60's.
|
Source Unknown
Howie Westervelt's
83 was a typical '50's
quality car. |
Schenectady Collection
Otto Graham Site
Lynn Delong's 18
had a little more
technology. |
Courtesy of Bill Fifield
The Trinkhaus 62
represented the
height of tech for the
upright dirt coupe. |
Courtesy of Mike Watts
Lowslung pavement-
style coupes like
Czepiel's 888 began to
dominate dirt coupe racing. |
Ed Bitiig Collection
via the Fonda Book.
The Dave Buanno
tubular chassis coupe
[and others like it]
was the beginning of
big changes in modifieds.
|
Courtesy of John Grady
Lowslung pavement-
coupe of Ken Canestrari
was about as advanced
as the coupes were
going to get.
|
Denis LaChance Photo
The last coupes,
like Punky Caron's,
were basically new
cars with a coupe shell. |
Courtesy of Dave Dykes
Probably Russ Bergh photo
Pete Corey did a lot
to bring along the use
of post - 1940's bodies
with his famous Falcon
and this wild Studebaker.
|
Courtesy of Arnie Ainsworth
Dirt mods began to have
later model bodies by the
1970's. This is Jack
Farquhar.
|
Courtesy of Dave Dykes
This became the
era of the Pinto [more on
pavement] and the
Gremlin [more on
dirt].
|
Lebanon Valley Classics
Barry Tripp, with
a typical Gremlin.
|
Jakes Site Photo
The Troyer falcon-
bodied mod was as
close to the modern
chassis as could be. |
Courtesy of Ron Wetzler
The Kenny Weld /
Gary Balough Batmobile
changed modifieds
forever in 1980 at
Syracuse.
|
Photo from Race NY . Com
Maynard Troyer came
out with a modern dirt
chassis called The Mud
Buss, like Alan Johnson's. |
Arnie Ainsworth Photo
Donnie Wetmore's
car is a more
advanced
Troyer
Mud Buss.
|
Courtesy of Otto Graham
Other modified builders
came along in this era.
Eddie Marshall's 98
was an Olsen Eagle. |
Fred Voorhees Photo
Alan also debuted Tico
Conley's Show Car in
the early 1980's. |
Courtesy of Otto Graham
Dave Lape even
began building his
own "Champ Cars"
for a while. Here,
Lew Boyd loads
one up from Lape's
shop.
|
Internet Source Unidentified
:Later, some of these early
car builders faded out and new
ones, like Bicknell came in. |
Outlaw Photo
Today's dirt mod. |
|
|
Race Dog Photo
The modern day
pavement modified. |
Courtesy of Dan Ody
The first stock cars
were little more than
a chassis with a motor
and seat, as seen in this
Rudd's Beach, Colonie, NY
photo.
|
Courtesy of Pascale Cote
The first "stock cars"
were pretty much
that: cars
from stock. This
shot of Pappy Hough and
Frankie Schneider in NASCAR's
short track
division shows cars
that are not very far off from the
showroom.
|
Michael Jacques Photo
Courtesy of Jean Sirois
via Pascale Cote
The man in his Sunday suit,
ready
to drive the family car at
Autodrome Ste-Monique in
Quebec
was not a completely
unusual sight in those days. |
Race Restorations Photo
Eventually, the stock automobile
became more refined on the NASCAR Grand National scene.
|
Courtesy of Jackie Peterson
Meanwhile, there were
always small
circuit
programs that featured
late model - bodied cars,
as well. |
Ladabouche Photo
Some tracks used late
model
cars for a hobby
division - like Charlie
Towslee's Ford at
Fairmont Speedway.
|
Courtesy of Rich Palmer
Tracks like Catamount Stadium
had such support classes. This
is Tom Tiller's Flying Tiger car. |
Courtesy of MVRCA Site
This Tiger White charger at
Oxford Plains was a six cylinder
version of Catamount's Flying
Tiger
[V-8] class. |
Source Unknown
Southerners like Bobby Allison
toyed with the late model in the
1960's, and became almost
totally focused on them by"the '70's
|
Courtesy of Arnie Ainsworth
There were some cars built -
particualrly for Lebanon Valley,
Fonda and the like. These had
late
model bodies but were really just
modifieds in disguise. Pete Corey's
beautiful Chevy. |
Courtesy of Rich Palmer
Tracks like Catamount, Norwood,
and
Oxford began to upgrade
their support classes. This is
Winston
Machia's limited
sportsman at Catamount. |
Ladabouche Photo
By 1972, these same tracks
were running
actual late
model sportsman cars - albeit, quite
far behind the South
in
technology. Beaver
Dragon's
Chevelle.
|
Ladabouche Photo
The Southern - built chassis
hit
Catamount when Richie
Panch brought in this Bobby
Allison Chevelle. |
Courtesy of Rich Palmer
The gulf between the Southeast
and the
Northeast began to narrow. Canadian
champ Jean-Paul Cabana displays a
beautiful Monte Carlo LMS.
|
Courtesy of the LaFond Family
Dirt late models moved
to fiberglass
much earlier
than their pavement
counterparts. This is Jay Brown's
Devil's Bowl car. |
Ladabouche Photo
The metal - bodied late model
sportsman
in the Northeastat
reached a peak in the 1980's.
This is Jamie Aube's
car at Catamount, 1985. |
Ladabouche Photo
The six cylinder sportsman
was perhaps
the high mark
in steel body tech. Robbie
Crouch's Buick Somerset
gets service. |
Bob Appleget Photo
TMeanwhile, out in the Midwest,
lightweight, fiberglass pony cars
like Mark Martin's ASA Camaro
were
becoming the fastest pavement
late models. |
Courtesy of Mike Cain
TIn 1987, having split from NASCAR,
Tom
Curley's ACT went with that
ASA - style car. |
Racing Graphics.Com
Dirt late models has also gone
with the
plastic. |
Lief Tillotson Photo
Most late models today -
especially in
the Northeast,
look like these. |
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