Yeah, I'm that old. Yeah, I raced, every Sunday I could make it across the river to the Carolina Dragway, which is still in operation after opening in 1957. The owner was Junior Steed, and he started letting teenagers run for free on Sunday afternoons. I watched Huston Platt there in his Dixie Twister the weekend before he crashed at Yellow River Dragstrip in Atlanta, where 12 people were killed. No fault of his own. In those days the track would allow spectators to park their cars all along the side of the quarter-mile, almost all the way down to the end. When Platt popped his drag chute at about 190-200 mph some idiot had dropped his beer and walked up near the edge of the strip to retrieve it. The chute caught him and Platt lost control.
Sorry you came along after the really fast muscle cars were in their heyday. It was a really fun time. There were also a lot of 440s, and a couple Shelbys in this area, too. Racing all the time. Still a lot of street racing out here in the country, but it's all changed. Drug money fuels the cars, now. Nitrous, racing for really big money. You can't go to the drags anymore and enjoy an afternoon for all the filthy language yelled out at the top of their lungs. Sad, sad. One interesting side note about fast stuff. My neighbor bought a new Duramax 4WD a few years back and began to research how to make it go fast . He had that thing running in the mid-11s, (in 4WD in order to get it to hook up). The engine didn't last long, it couldn't. I saw several of the time slips. Unbelievably fast.
You've really got a nice looking restoration there, Ted. Didn't say so earlier, but it is sharp. My '69 SS was a similar color. Yours looks like Cashmere Beige, they called mine Aztec Gold. I'd like to see a pic of the one you sold, if you still have one around.
We may not agree on your statement about the W31s outrunning most of the big blocks of the era, but that's what makes championing a particular model great, owner loyalty. Blind or not.
All my best, SRH
