Under the car, we see a lot...
Under the car, we see a lot of aero work and here is evidence of the headers being positioned inside half tunnels built into the floor sections to get them out of the air flowing under the car.
The following week, again according to what Smokey told me, he got a letter from France apologizing and in the envelope was a check for, I think he said, $1,500 to cover his "expenses." Smokey said he, "took the check into the bathroom, soiled it, and sent it back." Such was the nature of Smokey.
The car ended up being "sold" to a dirt racer in Georgia. About 1987, a racer whom I talk to a lot these days, Richard Brashear, called Smokey and said he wanted to buy the car. Smokey told him that it had already been sold, but upon reflection realized it had not been paid for. So, he went about finding it, taking it back, and restoring it. Poor Brashear never heard from him again about it.
The refurbished car was eventually sold for $100,000 and is now on the market again for $950,000 residing at Canepa Design in Scotts Valley, California, as of this writing. I noticed the ad for the car had photos and contacted Robert Jordan who agreed to let us use the photos to explain how the car was built and highlight some of the innovations. So, without further ado . . .
Yunick preps the Chevelle...
Yunick preps the Chevelle prior to the 1967 Daytona 100 qualifying race. Curtis Turner would put the car on the pole for that year's 500, seriously embarassing Ford and Chyrsler.
When news that Smokey's legendary Chevelle had been restored to like-new condition hit our office, we naturally jumped on the story. But we also thought it would be fun to delve into the Circle Track archives and see if we could locate any period pictures of the car. As Bob mentioned at the top of the story, Smokey actually built more than one Chevelle. Here are some pictures of those cars. And for the story of this car in Smokey's own words pick up a copy of Best Damn Garage in Town and turn to page 319 in "All Right You Sons-a-Bitches, Let's Have a Race." It's available at
www.smokeyyunick.com.
We wish to thank Canepa Design for the use of the photos. We're sure now that we know more about how technically advanced and innovative this car is that there will be more interest in it. I think if NASCAR would have allowed it to compete, it could have changed the face of stock car racing long before custom frames were allowed and innovation was suppressed. Imagine for a moment if stock car racers were as free to design and build creatively, similar to the Smokey car, like they do in Formula 1, where the sport would be today. One can only guess. Is it too late? Not in my opinion.
Now we are getting to the...
Now we are getting to the suspension innovations. We already stated that the frame was completely custom made and here we see a unique three-link rear suspension setup. The square tubing trailing arms extend forward some 40 inches or so and transition into round tubing with large Heim joints at the ends. The rear portions of the arms are bolted to brackets welded to the rear axle tubes, which allow the rearend to move freely requiring a third link for rotational support, but where is it? This is not a truck arm design because a truck arm is bolted solidly to the axle tube and does not need a third link. And the truck arm is mounted closer together at the front ends verses the rear end and that causes rear steer as the rear end moves laterally when using a Panhard bar. Smokey's rear end did not rear steer and we're going to tell you why.
Here's a very good view of...
Here's a very good view of the Watts link, a very radical design for a stock car, even in today's world. With this design, as the car moves vertically and rolls, the rear end stays centrally located and does not move laterally. Therefore, the rear end does not steer and always stays pointed straight ahead. This was very important at a track like Daytona. The rear roll center appears to be at a height of around 12-13 inches off the ground, fairly high for that time period. The springs and shocks are mounted behind the rear axle tubes. Also in view is the bracket for the third link placed to the far left of the differential close to the left trailing arm bracket. This left side mounting of the third link would have provided increased loading of the left rear wheel and tire upon acceleration on a smaller track. This would have been a huge advantage over conventional designs of the day especially considering the narrow and hard tires combined with high torque and horsepower engines.
Circle Track Archives: This...
Circle Track Archives: This is it, the Chevelle that NASCAR outlawed before it ever turned a lap in competition.
Smokey under the hood of the...
Smokey under the hood of the 1966 Chevelle, the first of two Chevelles that came from the Best Damn Garage in Town.
Curtis Turner's early exit...
Curtis Turner's early exit from the American 500 at Rockingham Speedway in October of 1966.
With the springs mounted behind...
With the springs mounted behind the rearend and very close to the wheel, the car had a wide spring base. Normally, these cars had truck arms or Satchel four-link (the origin of the Metric four-link) suspensions and the springs were mounted closer together making for a narrow spring base. This made the other cars tight in handling and this car would have been more neutral with the wider spring base, much like we see today in late-model designs. The shock mount is also wide and vertical as opposed to the inboard and angled mount of conventional stock cars of that era. Note the Blue Streak Goodyear tires on the car, they are period correct. Those of us who are old enough to remember will appreciate the work that this tire company put into improving race tires in those days and continuing today.