Richie Zul's Z-11????

[Verne_Frantz]

At the '67 or '68 Rod & Custom show at the (then) N.Y.C. Coliseum, I saw a '63 Impala Sport Coupe on display with a sign in front of it stating it was Richie Zul's Z-11. There's also a photo of it in one of the early magazines. The car was part of a display of Motion Performance cars. I've been trying to track down information on this car for Rusty Symmes and myself to determine if it was really a factory Z-11 car. I've contacted Joel and he says the car was not sponsored by Motion, nor was it a Z-11. Joel gave me some old numbers to try to get in touch with Richie, but neither Rusty nor myself have been successful.
Since I see a few members here were in that area back then (well, maybe not that far back, since the year of inquiry is not the mainstream of this site), I thought I'd ask if anyone can shed some light on or about this car. (it was black on black)
Rusty has been helping Mark with the definitive book on the Z-11s, and it would be nice to have this car included, if in fact it was factory built.
We have absolutely no information on this car what-so-ever, other than it's presence in the Motion display at that show. Any help would be most appreciated.
thanks,
Verne.

[SS427]

Verne,
If it is (Mark) Ascher you speak of then never mind but if not, you may try getting ahold of him as his has done a ton of research on these cars. Let me know if you need his contact information.
Rick

[Verne_Frantz]

Yes Rick, That is the Mark I referred to. I already know how to contact him, but thanks. It's information on Zul's car that I'm trying to uncover in order to forward it to him and Rusty.
Verne.

[SS427]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif

[tom406]

That's the "ASSASSIN", right? I've got the same picture in one of Marty Schorr's (Former editor of Hi Performance CARS) old books. Marty is still around and started writing more lately, plus he keeps extensive archives, so it might be worth dropping an e-mail to him for info on the car or the people involved. He's a contributing editor to VETTE magazine - or at least freelanced to them in the last year for the article on that cool '67 Vette sponsored by Motion.

[Verne_Frantz]

Yes Tom, that's the car. Thanks for the lead to Marty. I also just did a search on Richie and it looks like he has a business in NY building race engines for boats!
/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggthumpup.gif
Verne.

[COPO]

FYI, Marty Schorr will be at the Supercar Reunion in a couple of weeks.

[Verne_Frantz]

Thanks for the FYI, COPO, but there just isn't a chance I could make it. I sure will miss the drags!
Verne

[JoeC]

Joel told me the ASSASSIN was not a Z-11. It was a 283 Impala that was very quick and set many records. It was owned by a good friend of Joel's and is supposed to be coming out soon as an Ertl diecast.

[Verne_Frantz]

If we assume all that is true, (and I'm not doubting it) then what is the explanation for the sign at the NYC show which said "Richie Zul's Z-11"?
Wishful thinking??
I'll have to dig out the old magazine with the photo of it in the display with a caption.
I was hoping someone on this board might have actually been close to this car back then, in a touchy, feeley kind of way. The car may have originally been a 283 car, but I have to wonder what was under the hood when it was raced. If my memory is correct, I believe the car was lettered as a Modified Production.

Verne.

[tom406]

Looking at the close up picture in Marty Shorr's "CHEVROLET-The Performance Years" I'll relay the following:

1. Car is lettered with "(unreadable)/MP" on the C-pillar, "Prepared by MOTION" on the quarter panel, and "The ASSASSIN" on the front fender. all done in vaguely far eastern style script using straight hash marks to make the letters.

2. The sign next to the car says "RICHIE BROWN'S ASSASSIN, 1963 Z 11 CHEVY, MEMBER MOTION SUPERCAR CLUB, 1967 AHRA NATIONALS CLASS WINNER D/HR"

3. The caption under the photo says "There were very few light-weight-bodied Z-11 Impala drag cars built in 1963 and Richie Brown's Modified/Production racer kept the mystique going into the Seventies. Aluminum fendered car was fitted with a hot small-block for MP and D/HR competition".

4. Car is displayed at some indoor show surrounded by trophies. There's a MOTION SS427 SUPER CARS banner above and behind it, and there appears to be a '67 or '68 Camaro drag car to its left (probably the A/MP '67), with a medium color paint job and a black vinyl top.

That's all I've got, but yes, everything-including the placard in the picture-says BROWN, not ZUL. If this car wasn't a real Z 11, I'm guessing it had the lightweight body panels added to it and was referred to as a Z11 to homologate the lightweight mods for whatever classes it was running in. Just my guess.

TOM

[Verne_Frantz]

/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif Well, that was a daaaah! I should have looked up the feature you referred to before my post. Yes, definitely BROWN, not Zul. I knew that. Brain fart. At any rate, except for the name mix-up, the inquiry was still valid, and now I would tend to agree with your assessment that perhaps it only received the aluminum panels. They would have put the car in the MP class for sure.
Thanks very much for straightening that out.
It's strange that I've never seen any pics of that car on the track. I wonder what ever happened to the car? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/dunno.gif
Verne.

[Mr70]

Verne
Your 3 Star rating is now in Jeopardy....
Sorry,couldn't resist a good natured jab. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[RichSchmidt]

It is funny that you mention Richie Zul.I found this board by looking up his name on a search engine.I believe I have a line on Bill Jenkin's 1970 camaro,and was looking for pics of it when Zul owned it.It looks like the car is in Newark New Jersey,and that it is pretty much beyond restoration.A local racer who raced prostock back in the 70's knew where the car was all along.It seems that the car ended up in the hands of a guy who does a lot of money races,and he used it as a money maker{hence the reason why Zul claimed it dissapeared}.From what I have seen,it looks like the last of the real car was hacked off about 5 years ago when the racer added a tube front clip to the already backhalfed chassis.The funny part was that I was talking to this guy at the race track around that time,and he was telling me how he removed almost 100# of dead weight from his car when he cut out the entire 3 layer thick firewall and replaced it with aluminum when he front clipped the car.It looks like the only original metal on the car is the roof,quarter panels and door jambs,it has no vin tag or floor pan,and the entire subframe and firewall were also chucked.The owner didnt seem to care much since it was his race car to do with as he saw fit,and he had litle concern for the historical value of the car.The owner wont even talk about the history of the car,but everybody who knows it says it was Jenkin's car.The Pro stock racer I know also said that Jenkin's owner more then one of certain year camaros,but I dont think that is the case with the 70 car.I also have a pretty good source on his 67 smallblock car.A guy I race with has some old street racing photos of a very popular white camaro that ran the fastest"raw horsepower" smallblock in Long Island back in the early 80's,the car had all the trimmings of Jenkin's car right down to the cragar mags in the photos from the early 80's,and was also a bit rusty looking.we are looking into that car,and if anybody has any info on the camaro from New york that was raced by a guy named Andy Harris,I would like to hear about it.I think I will start a new tread about this matter.I dont doubt that some of the motion guys from new york might have followed the scene during that time frame.

[COPO]

Didn't sixities pick up Grumpy's toy recently? I thought it was on Ebay about 6 weeks ago??

[sixtiesmuscle]

Yep, and some of what our new friend has posted is true. The car has been modified over the years by its previous owners, namely, Bruce Larsen, Richie Zul, and Dennis Ferrara. The car has been verified by Jenkins as his #VIII "Toy". It is by no means beyond restoration. I would think that is up to the owner, and, how he chooses to restore the car. It could be done as the early subframe car, or, the very early chassis car that it is today. The car & chassis appear to be as raced at least 25 years ago. To go back to a subframe/frame rail car would be a major undertaking. I kind of like the early chassis style prostocks which came about very soon after the class started. Since this car is believed to be Jenkin's first "rent a racer", I am fairly sure he still owned it when it was converted, but, I am still researching all the facts.

[Kim_Howie]

Mike very cool car whith a lot of history. Jenkins the man /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/worship.gif

[Salvatore]

You are right about rent-a-racer Zul had it first. Ferrera ran the car in Competition eliminator or the old modified eliminator back then. What ever happened to Dave Stricklers 1970 Pro Stock camaro? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/3gears.gif

[Salvatore]

Rich, the small block car you are talking about, would you mean his A/S 67 nova? Thanks, sam

[RichSchmidt]

Nope,I was looking for a 1967 camaro that he raced as a stocker in 1968/69 with a 327 and a stick.I also beleive the car might have had a black vinyl top at one point.

[RichSchmidt]

O.K.,so it sems that sixtie has the real deal #VIII car.Well just to see if maybe there is still a link,was this car ever owned by a guy named Jesse from Newark,New Jersey?Is it a box tube car,or a backhalf with a tin floorpan?Did it look like it was box tube backhalfed and then later had a front clip with A arms added?I am really interested in what happened to this car.I have been racing 2nd gen Fbodies for almost 15 years,and this car was what inspired me to build a chassis that everybody siad didnt work.I still race a 1973 firebird,with an aluminum head bigblock in it and slaqpper bar suspention,that can be sumed up as a 1970 prostock combination with an automatic and a little nitrous.So keep us posted on the progess of old #VIII,and dont do anything with it that I wouldnt do!!!

[RichSchmidt]

BTW,if you are a 70's prostock buff,you might remember my buddy's car.He was the engine builder and tuner for a red white and blue 69 camaro that ran with the name "Born Free" on the side and the name "Neigborhood Garage on the rear 1/4,that is my friend's shop.He also raced his own 1967 bolero red Camaro in A/B/C MP with various engines including some of the prostock stuff and I believe he may have ran AHRA prostock a few times with it.I also know he fielded a MP ford Maverick with the guy who owned the 69 camaro,they ran it in the mid 70's with a smallblock boss motor in it.Believe it or not,he still has a lot of his old stuff including one of his prostock 427's complete with a set of heads and a tunnel ram that were ported by Air Flow research,back before they made their own heads,and a pair of centersquirters on it.He still owns his MP camaro and it still sports the paint it ran back in 1970,but now has an LS6 crate motor and automatic in it for better street cruising.Eventually he may put it back to C/MP specs with the old driveline in it.I was wondering if anybody remembers the cars of Spino and Marchetta{??? on that spelling}.Just a little more tivial to tickle the cobwebs.

[Salvatore]

Rich, I can't remember a small block 67 that Jenkins ran. (camaro) Maybe he did motors or tuned it for the owner, but under "Grumpy's Toy" your memory is better than mine. The 67 went to the Kimball brothers. I don't remember Jenkins running a small block car after the 67 nova till the Vega P/Stocker. Sam

[Salvatore]

I remember Patty Marchitto, We used to go down to the Pro Stock show just about every Sunday at Englishtown. Born Free was always a good runner, with really no sponsorship. The black guy Levi Holmes, Paul Blevins,Bob Ingles, Tony Feil, Pete LaFrantz, All those N.Y. guys. What a great time that was! 1970,71,72. Loved it! sam /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beers.gif

[John Vescuso]

For over 30 years, the name Richie Zul has been synonymous with winning.
Zul Racing Engines are famous for their quality, craftsmanship and reliability.
Watch for the "Zul Racing Engines" logo on race boats.

http://www.zulracing.com/index.htm

A DIVISION OF
R. ZUL ENTERPRISES INC.
80 Kean Street, Building 1, West Babylon, NY 11704
Tel: (631) 491-7268 Fax: (631) 491-4739

[scuncio kid]

According to the article written by Martyn Schorr in the Cars magazine Brown's Impala was an original 409 8v but in 65 a 339-inch 327 was installed along with a Z-11 front end.
.

[scuncio kid]

Assassin

[PeteLeathersac]

'

:beers:
~ Pete

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