Dick Harrell Monte Carlo???

[sgf3845]

Hi all,long time lurker here. I'm curious about a car I heard about the other day. A guy I've known for a long time told me about a 1970 Monte Carlo that was supposedly belonged to Dick Harrell's wife. It had an LS6 and was grey with a black vinyl top.Can anybody enlighten me on this car, or does it even exist. I've searched the board but no luck. Thanks.

[camarojoe]

It exists, and was actually at SCR2. I haven't seen it since.

http://www.yenko.net/reunion/tpmonte.jpg

http://www.yenko.net/dealers/dhmonte.jpg

[sgf3845]

Wow,that's pretty cool. The guy that told me about the Monte, sold me those wheels back in the early 80's. Ran them on my Formula 400 Firebird for a time. I sold them to a guy who said he had the Monte. Story goes he in turn sold it to a guy in Emporia Ks who put hand controls in it and drove it. Just talked to the guy I bought the wheels from and he said he could of bought the car in the late 70's for $1800 and passed. Said when he looked at the car,the title was still in Dick's wifes name. I sure would like to know more about that car.

[SS427]

I talked to the owner a few years ago when I put on the LS6 Showcase at VetteFest. Nice guy but rather quiet and liked his privacy.

[sgf3845]

Thanks,I can respect that.

[PeteLeathersac]

I remember reading a cool article about this car once somewhere online?.
Google around and you may be able to still find it?.

Welcome aboard sgf!.
<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif
~ Pete

[PeteLeathersac]

Here it is...

<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif
~ Pete

--------------------------------------

Dick Harrell’s 1970 Monte Carlo

By Peter McLearen

On Monday December 10, 2001 I was able to interview Mr. Tim Pestinger. For those of you who do not know who Tim is, he is the present owner of the one of a kind 1970 Dick Harrell Chevrolet Monte Carlo. This Monte Carlo is the only known example of a Monte Carlo that was built as a super car from that era. It is a member of an elite group of fine muscle cars, super cars such as those put out by Yenko, Baldwin-motion, and also Harrell himself. The order for this Monte Carlo was so odd for it’s time because most people only viewed it as a luxury car….not a muscle car. Fortunately one man had a vision of what he wanted Dick Harrell to build, and that man was James Stewart of Kansas. He wanted a Monte Carlo that would be unique.
The 1970 Monte Carlo SS started out at the Don Hatten Chevrolet dealership of Wichita Kansas. It was nicely equipped with the standard LS5 454, TH400 transmission, power windows, AM/FM Delco stereo, a full set of factory installed gauges including a 7,000 RPM tach, and a set of Rally wheels. One thing you thought would of been on this car, but was not….this nicely special ordered Monte Carlo SS did not come with air conditioning. This was a hint as to what it would shortly become.
The Monte Carlo was dropped shipped directly to the Dick Harrell Performance Center in Kansas City Missouri. This is where the transformation began.

The stock LS5 454 was quickly replaced with a Central engine order LS6 454 equipped with a special 1,000cfm Carter Thermo Quad carburetor, with a manual choke assembly on a low-rise intake manifold. The TH400 transmission was given a larger sprang, and the rear end was upgraded to a posi 4.10:1. A Stewart Warner oil pressure gauge was added on the underside of the dashboard, right next to the ashtray, and manual choke lever. The cost back in 1970 of the Harrell Monte Carlo came in at just under $7,000.00, only about $2,000 of it went toward the Dick Harrell modifications. The power house in this Monte Carlo was strong enough to throw off the original rings from the Rally wheels, so the first owner had a set of Appliance 5 spoke rims installed and are wrapped in 225/70/15 tires.

The special Dick Harrell badges consisted of the Dick Harrell badges located on the lower rear of each front fender, and also one just below the trunk lid on the left hand side. Under the hood it has Dick Harrell stickers adoring the chrome valve covers. The ’Chevrolet special equipment” sticker shown in the 1992 Super Chevy article is not actually on this Monte Carlo, and as far as Tim knows it never was. That was a little something extra that Super Chevy added to the article.

Back in 1983 Tim traded his 1955 Chevy 4 speed, plus a small amount of cash to seal the deal with his friend who owned the Monte Carlo. Tim knew of Dick Harrell, and his accomplishments both on and off of the track. He saw this as a chance to get a rare piece of automotive history, and to join that elite group of super car owners. Tim first fell in love with the first generation Monte Carlo when he owned a 1972 back in his high school years. When he took ownership the Harrell Monte Carlo was in exceptional condition, the body had never been wrecked, and was straight as an arrow. The interior was also in pristine condition, in fact since owning the Monte Carlo the only thing he has had to replace on the interior was the carpet due to some fading.

Two years before Tim acquired the Monte Carlo it received it’s very first repaint to it’s present color of Shadow Gray. Tim stated that with 20 years on that paint job it is in need of yet a second repainting, and he wants to make sure when he does it that it is done correctly. His plans are to remove the door’s, front clip, and just about anything possible to make sure that his Monte Carlo turns out just perfect.

Tim contacted the original owner through a series of title searches, and found it registered through Global Construction in Kansas under the name James Stewart. When Tim finally caught up to Mr. Stewart he was residing in Florida. Mr. Stewart was very shocked to hear from Tim with the news that not only had the Dick Harrell Monte Carlo survived the years, but still remained in such excellent condition. Mr. Stewart was kind enough to send Tim a letter stating that he was the original owner of the Dick Harrell Monte Carlo, and to verify it’s history during the time that he had owned it.
Mr. Stewart attempted to make Tim an offer on it, but needless to say Tim declined it. Since then Tim has received many offers from people who would like to buy it, but every time Tim turns it down stating that he has absolutely no plans on ever getting rid of this piece of Harrell, and automotive history.

I had to ask Tim the big question that is on so many of our minds, and that is were there any other Harrell Monte Carlo’s made, and he stated to the best of his knowledge that his is the only one ever made. After Dick Harrell’s death in 1971 his wife disposed of almost all of the records so this will forever remain a mystery.

The Appliance 5 spoke rims were removed by the third owner and sold to a friend of his. Tim loved the way the era correct rims looked so much that he hunted them down and purchased them for twice what the gentleman had paid for them. Tim did not mind though because these were the wheels that really set off this Shadow Gray Dick Harrell Monte Carlo super car.

Originally the Dick Harrell Monte Carlo came equipped with a 1,000 cfm Carter Thermo Quad carburetor with a manual choke, but due to the beer can sized secondaries a more streetable 780 cfm Holley was installed, along with a factory high rise intake manifold. Tim still has the Thermo Quad which only a very limited number were produced, and then really only for racing applications. Tim decided that he wanted to rebuild the Carter, but he found finding the right rebuild kit to be very difficult. First he took the numbers off of the tag on the Carter to his local auto parts store in search on a kit, only to find that it was never even listed in any of the books. Next Tim contacted Carter directly, and was fortunate enough to speak with a tech who has been around since the famed Super Car era. The tech also was amazed the Carter had survived without it being modified in any way. Unfortunately Carter did not have any rebuild kits available for the Thermo Quad either, but the tech person directed Tim to a gentleman in St. Louis who possibly would have the desired parts he was looking for. This is where Tim lucked out, because not only did this gentleman have a kit, but he also had two of them and shipped them both to Tim who then rebuilt the Carter.
The Thermo Quad is not installed on the Monte Carlo at this time, but instead Tim shows it with his car very proudly, after all this is a limited build carburetor and quite the collectors item in it’s unmolested condition.

At this time the Dick Harrell Monte Carlo does not even have 80,000 miles on the body. When Tim received the Monte Carlo one of the first things he did was refreshed the famed LS6 which has had a best quarter mile time of 12.70. The refreshing of the 454 called for a .030 over boar running 11.0:1 compression with a crossed drilled steel crank, high volume oil pump, a Crane Cams blueprinted LS6 camshaft with solid lifters, a double roller timing chain, forged steel connecting rods, and factory pushrods. The heads are May 1970 castings aluminum rectangular port heads with 2.19” intake, and 1.88” exhaust valves with double valve springs, steel retainers, and Comp Cams Magnum roller tip rocker arms. The heads were really only spruced up a bit, and still even has the original soft exhaust seals. Since Tim refreshed the motor after first getting it in 1983 the odometer has only clocked 1,000 miles. This baby is rarely driven as you can guess, it goes to some local shows, and some mild cruising, most long distance travel requires it to be loaded onto the trailer. Tim runs the highest octane available, with a mixture of BP racing fuel to give it an overall octane rating of 102-103 octane.

About the only restoration Tim has done to this magnificent Monte Carlo besides the carpet, is that he has completely detailed the entire under carriage to where it looks as if it just came off of the showroom floor. By the sounds of it you could eat right off of the underside of the floor boards.

Inside the extremely clean trunk you will find the original spare tire that came from the factory. It has never been mounted on the Monte Carlo and also has never been on the pavement, and even still sports the rubber stubs. Tim has no plans of ever using it, he keeps it because it is original, and in very good condition for car shows.

Information on the Dick Harrell Monte Carlo has always been very limited. I know when preparing for this I did numerous searches online, and came up empty except for a brief mention of it, and only one picture. So the opportunity to actually speak with Tim was more of a pleasure than I can say. Tim is an extremely nice person, and was more than happy to answer any questions I had to ask. His knowledge on his Monte Carlo, and on Dick Harrell was just amazing to me. Apparently Tim has quite the scrapbook on not only his Monte Carlo, and it’s history, but also on Dick Harrell himself. If anyone has a question on his Monte Carlo, or Dick Harrell Tim is more than happy to answer your questions, or just tell you all about it.

I had asked Tim if he would be interested in joining the First Generation Monte Carlo Club, and he was very interested. He has yet to become a member of any Monte Carlo exclusive club. I am happy to say that by the time this article is published that Tim will have a copy of the membership form. At the time I interviewed Tim his computer was down for repairs, so I gladly mailed him a copy of the membership form. I believe that he will be a wonderful addition to our close knit family of First Generation Monte Carlo owners. Tim has also been kind enough to take some exclusive photographs of his Monte Carlo for us to post on the club web page. So keep an eye open for those in the future.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Kevin Wiles for offering the chance to conduct this interview, and I also must thank Tim Pestinger for allowing me his time to make this interview possible. Tim has helped us all learn yet another chapter in the First Generation Monte Carlo

[sgf3845]

Thanks Pete,that was a really good story and pretty much answers all my questions on the history of the car.

[PeteLeathersac]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: sgf3845</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Thanks Pete,that was a really good story and pretty much answers all my questions on the history of the car. </div></div>


So it's you in the story w/ the Appliance wheels?.
C<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/headbang.gif<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/headbang.gifL!!!

Still have the Formula?. <<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/naughty.gif


<<GRAEMLIN_URL>>/beers.gif
~ Pete

[markjohnson]

That a great story. There's always been rumors floating around about COPO LS-6 Monte Carlos, but until such a beast surfaces, this Harrell-built LS-6 Monte is probably as about as close as we'll ever see. I do like the idea of cruising to the drag strip in typical Monte Carlo air-conditioned style and then clicking off some 12.70's before heading home in a car that drives so well you just can't believe it. Anyone that's owned one of these early Montes can attest to what a nice driving car that they are! On another note, Hattan Chevrolet in Wichita, Kansas was one of the chosen few dealerships to receive one of the fifty Z-11 Impalas back in 1963 so they must have been a performance-oriented dealership.

[sgf3845]

Pete,I bought them from the friend of the 3rd owner in the mid 80's. He's the guy that told me about the Monte. I thought the would look better than the gold turbine wheels that came on the Formula,so he sold them to me. Still had the Goodyear tires on them,which I promptly destroyed doing burnouts every chance I got! I was a punk of 19 then and didn't know any better. A year or so later the 3rd owner called me wanting to buy the wheels. He also told me the story of the car. Even though I was young,I knew they needed to go back to the Monte,so he got them for $200. No,I don't have the Formula anymore,it went down the road not long after. I got into motorcycle roadracing and pretty much got out of the car scene. BTW,the guy that Kim Howie bought the DH Chevy II from lives here in the same town as me and is a friend of mine. All of us begged him not to cut it up,but of course he did. We still bust his chops on that one!

[JChlupsa]

Monte is still in good hands. Got to look at it today. very neat car as well as the owner Tim.. Going to have to work on him to bring it to SCR 15