Another milestone in Rat's Nest journey. Took it to SCR25 and made a few passes. It's been roughly 50 years since Rat's Nest car 1718 made it's debut at the drag strip as a Super Stocker. It was my first time ever taking a car down the drag strip so I definitely didn't do the car justice but had a great time! For those that haven't followed along, I used vintage photos from 1971/72 to duplicate the paint scheme and each individual sticker on the car.

It was great having you there and seeing the car go down the track, Jim.
You do know this is additive and you just might get the itch do it again...soon...:biggthumpup:

What was the time? I dont see it on the slip. Looks like fun.

The car looked killer ....the track photo is awesome

Bet it was fun!!

Beech Bend is a nice facility.

First time I ever took any car down a track Jonesy, so it was slow reaction time, partial throttle and granny-shifting all the way. :3gears:Also had a carb problem which I believe I fixed tonight:grin:

Thanks Doug! And thanks again for all the work you & others put into making this event happen!

I had the opportunity to meet a drag racing legend at SCR25. Dickie Ogles won championships in 5 different decades in his racing career. Dickie told me that he remembered Rat's Nest from his days running SS/D in his "Silly Bear" 69 427 Camaro. Dickie was kind enough to pose for a pic in front of the car.

Full Circle
 

I had a great day today - brought the car back to the guy I bought it from. Last fall, I had sent him some pics of the car restored in stock trim before the Rats Nest conversion so he didn't know about that or the COPO status. One of the things he told me as a condition of sale was that I could never "turn it into a race car".:stupid:
So before I opened up the trailer, I handed him a sizable wad of cash and told him to take it. He refused and said that he was happy with the deal and never regretted selling the car to me. I then told him it was now verified to be a COPO. He said "really?" I said yes, really. He stuck to his guns and still refused to take the money saying that even if he knew what it was, he didn't have the money to restore it like I did. I persisted that I felt it was the right thing to do, so he finally accepted it.
Once we got that done, I told him he might feel better about taking the money, because I turned it into a race car. I got a confused look from him so I opened the trailer up. He loved it and understood why I did it after learning about all the car's history and vintage photos which I reviewed with him. He was thankful and happy the car will now likely be preserved for the long haul. Below are a few pics of the car in front of the garage where it laid in effective hibernation for 35 years while he owned it. Also took him for a spin in the car which he loved and took a few snaps of him in the car just like the day I bought it. He gave me a couple pics he had from a local show years ago and said he'll find more and get them to me. At the end he told me that I made his day. I told him that he made my day as well:biggthumpup:

Jim, that is so cool! :cool2:




Thanks for sharing your continuing story!