Grady Bryant ZL1 #29

[JoeC]

I saw Grady Bryant posted on FB that he had a new 1969 ZL1.
Was curious so did some research on it.

It shows up on the CRG ZL1 list as Hugger Orange #29 selling dealer Bill McKay Chevrolet Fort Worth, TX.

It went through Fred Gibb Chevrolet then sent to the Dick Harrell shop.

Grady Bryant and Dick Harrell were friends from early 60's drag racing

From what I can tell, Grady raced it in Pro Stock with McKay Chevrolet sponsorship for one year then returned it to the dealer. The car was then sold and may have been stolen or may have been buried in the ground on some sort of insurance fraud?

BTW Grady is an interesting guy ! FC drag racer, actor, book author , producer, etc , here is his web site https://www.gradybryant.com/

here is some other stuff from my search

[Carleen]

x

[JoeC]

cool pic , I'm guessing that is Grady in the McKay Chevy showroom

paint by opp on the lower quarter

[x33rs]

Cool history.

So does this car exist today? If so, I would love to hear more of that backstory.
If still missing and being buried is true that might start a treasure hunt somewhere in Texas :grin:

[Bill Pritchard]

That wouldn't be the Camaro that Charley found down in TX, would it?

[Carleen]

https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?t=111980&highlight=grady+bryant

[x33rs]

Well shucks, that was more than 10 years ago and no good explanation.

Nothing has come to light since?

[JoeC]

in the drag racing forum, from about 10 yrs ago, they were asking Grady what happened to the car and a guy said he heard it was wrecked. Grady replied it was never wrecked but may have been stolen or maybe buried. Does anyone have a LiDAR ? :)

[x33rs]

in the drag racing forum, from about 10 yrs ago, they were asking Grady what happened to the car and a guy said he heard it was wrecked. Grady replied it was never wrecked but may have been stolen or maybe buried. Does anyone have a LiDAR ? :)

I read that too Joe, and makes me wonder if there was any truth to it being buried for an insurance claim since the car apparently hasn't come to light since.

I say we go on a treasure hunt :grin:

[William]

Since the VINs became known in 1981, 19 ZL1 Camaros remain in the wind. 7 of their engines still exist.

Six are known to have been raced and could still exist as cut up tube frame race cars. Generally, never titled or registered. Most famous of the bunch would be Shay Nichols car, supposedly #5. However, vintage photos of it show a white standard interior. None of the 69 had a white standard interior. #42 was Malcom Durham’s race car. There was a For Sale ad in National Dragster 1973 for a 1969 Camaro race car “ex-Malcom Durham Pro Stocker” located in Washington DC. However, Durham had more than one 1969 Camaro. Engine still exists.

Six are known to have been stolen, five from Merollis Chev in Detroit. At the time, they were still on MSO, not titled. It is likely all were recovered [less engine/trans] and the remains disposed of by GMAC at auction. #11 exists, now fully restored. #24 was reported as junked 1973. The remaining three have not shown registration, may have been reconstructed or parted out. #43 was stolen from Hauser Chev 1972. It was there for warranty work due to chronic engine problems. Still titled to an insurance company. May exist at the bottom of the Lehigh River.

Two others were still registered in the ‘80s. May or not mean something; salvage yards did not have to report scrapped cars in those days.

No longer easy or even possible to obtain registration info. All the VINs have been run many times over the past 40 years.

So, go treasure hunting! Here’s a lead: the block for ZL1 #21 N609651 was found in AZ about 15 years ago.

[Lynn]

Didn't someone in Canada "air" register five of the cars? Like maybe 10 to 12 years ago? I believe at the time (maybe still) you could just present a VIN in some places in Canada and "register" the car without any one inspecting it.

[William]

I heard the Merollis cars are registered in Canada,

[EZ Nova]

Didn't someone in Canada "air" register five of the cars? Like maybe 10 to 12 years ago? I believe at the time (maybe still) you could just present a VIN in some places in Canada and "register" the car without any one inspecting it.

I recall hearing something like that a while back. Recall people saying how "fishy" it smelt since ALL 5 VINs were registered at the same time, same place to the same person??????

[PeteLeathersac]

'

To clarify, Grady's car may have nothing to do w/ the Canada registered ZL1 Vins but here's a thread from '06 on that subject...
https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?t=86055
:beers:
~ Pete

.

[KNAPPY]

I talked to Grady a few years back and he told me he does not know what happened to the car. He had a picture of an exploded aluminum motor that was blown to pieces. Not sure if it was from that car.

[mssl72]

I read that too Joe, and makes me wonder if there was any truth to it being buried for an insurance claim since the car apparently hasn't come to light since.

I say we go on a treasure hunt :grin:

I have a few metal detectors. Lets go!!

[1971ls6]

The merolis engines ended up in boats for the most part, they had no interest in the cars, just the motor and transmissions.

2 of the thief’s are still alive and still live in the metro Detroit area.this is first hand information.

[JoeC]

Bill Porterfield posted quote,
" When I drafted the ZL-1 information for John Hooper’s book in 1990 I assumed that cars #1 and #2 were the ones being tested. The article in May Super Stock magazine that “The Street ZL-1 was later set up for Shay Nichols”. That was actually ZL-1 car #5. Phil and Shay Nichols purchased it from Fred Gibb Chevrolet on 5/7/69. Car #2 was purchased by a person in Oklahoma on 3/6/69.


here is the car he was talking about. It has black interior in this photo. Shay must have changed it to white interior if this info is correct
both #2 and #5
were Dusk Blue TH400

[William]

Car moved on in the '70s, was raced as "Lemon Drop" with the paint mostly intact. Last I heard it was so trashed by the '80s it was stripped & junked. Last owner may have kept the tags.

[JoeC]

When searching for ZL1 info, I noticed that there were a lot more people drag racing them then I thought. Many of the factory built ones were raced and there were a bunch of home built ZL1 powered cars. The drag teams seem to be mostly running ZL1 blocks in 1969 and 1970 then seem to go more toward the iron block but a few such as Ken B ran the ZL1 engine for many years.

I found this ad for the Harrell Performance liquidation sale
Dick was killed in Sep 1971 so he had these parts at that time.

It lists "1 new ZL1 plus 60 short block"

also lists "1 396 plus 60 L88 short block"

[1stGenFan]

This must be the 1971 454 Camaro listed in the liquidation ad. Current owner relayed that it was in the shop at the time of its closure. An interesting tale ensued about the car when he showed it to me and its original DHPC paperwork.

[markinnaples]

Holy cow that's cool....

[Carleen]

Stole some better Pics from Grady Bryant

[Carleen]

x

[JoeC]

here is the Lemon Drop ex Shay Nichols

[JoeC]

I remember there was a long thread on a ZL1 ghost car with Canadian paper but couldn't remember which ZL1 then found this on #48


https://www.yenko.net/forum/showthread.php?t=120365

[Carleen]

x

[JoeC]

here is an early pic with the stock hood

[PeteLeathersac]

'
:beers:
~ Pete

.

[1stGenFan]

Grady had quite a bit of experience with Dick Harrell in the early 60's. Here is his Chevelle.

[1stGenFan]

An early article from 1963.

[JoeC]

Grady and Harrell bought 2 new cars in 1961 and raced together

http://www.superchevy.com/features/sucp-1303-dick-harrell-grady-bryant-1961-chevrolet-impala-348-409

[Stefano]

When searching for ZL1 info, I noticed that there were a lot more people drag racing them then I thought. Many of the factory built ones were raced and there were a bunch of home built ZL1 powered cars. The drag teams seem to be mostly running ZL1 blocks in 1969 and 1970 then seem to go more toward the iron block but a few such as Ken B ran the ZL1 engine for many years.

I found this ad for the Harrell Performance liquidation sale
Dick was killed in Sep 1971 so he had these parts at that time.

It lists "1 new ZL1 plus 60 short block"

also lists "1 396 plus 60 L88 short block"

I would believe that it is the same Camaro.

[Stihl]

This car looks wicked sitting still! Awesome

[1stGenFan]

Grady had at least one close call in his career!