1967/1968 Dick Harrell funny cars

[sYc]

As most of you know, the thread concerning my funnycar was locked yesterday, to try and let things settle down a bit. I know several of you want to believe what I am saying is true, but would like to see some concrete evidence refuting what was being said on the other site. The only problem was, until last night, I was unable to access the pictures on the site, so was really in the dark.
Well, lo and behold, being the fine gentleman he is, Dave Libby called Mo to discuss what was being said about my car, and to see what our thoughts were. Once Mo explained to Dave the situation to him, that neither of us could view the pictures, Dave agreed to allow Mo access.
After viewing everything, I must say someone(s) went to a lot of trouble to piece the thing together. But, except for the one color picture of the Red/Black colored car that was taken from this site, there were ZERO pictures of what we believe was Dick’s first fliptop funnycar. The reason for this is simple. In the whole time I have owned my car, I have only seen 3 quality color pictures of the R/B car. Why? I would love to know.
For the moment, we are going forget about Larsen and Platt’s cars, and only concentrate on 1967/1968 Dick Harrell flip top, 1 piece body funnycars. And for reference purposes, I am going to call the what I feel is Dick’s first car (my car), CAR-1, and the second car, the burgundy car with the vanes on the rear deck and the opening door, CAR-2. Car-1 started life as red a car, with the black top added shortly after, most likely a 1967, not like Car-2 and the Kirby, which are out of a later mold, thus ‘68s.

[sYc]

The first picture I am posting, IMO, is the missing link, and ironically, has been posted on this site on numerous occasions. I would love to know who has the original and get a copy of it. Why this picture is so important? IMO, this proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Dick did indeed have a FC with real taillights and that the spoiler, at least on Car-1, was added on, not from the mold. Also, notice the funky parachute attachment, no doubt temporary.

[sYc]

Now to the two car theory. Compare the rear end of this car to the red one on the transporter. Molded in taillights, vanes and spoiler. The tail light section of this car matches the same section on the Kirby.

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Next, comparing the door area of the two cars. Car-2, "the opening door car", noticed the gaps near the front pillar and above the door handle.

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Now lets look at the same area on the Car-1. Notice no gaps near the front piller post or above the door handle. Judging by the gaps, or lack of them, no signs pointing to this car every having an opening door.

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Another shot of the door on Car-1. Does not appear to be a door gap, just the indention from the mold.

Take note of the fit, or lack of it, of the door with the rocker. Car-2 and the Kirby car have a better fit.

[sYc]

This picture shows part of the door gap, the poor fit of the door to the rocker and also the bottom of the rocker area. I bring the bottom of the rocker area up because this has been become a point of emphasis. Well, we knew how the rockers were supposed to look, but when we got my car, there were two layers of tin work and at least 3 layers of fiberglass, complete with rivets. Not knowing that in future years that this would become such an important issue, rather then risk damaging the area by trying to remove everything, we simply took a jig saw and began cutting. Next time you see my car, take note of the this area. You will see that I can not follow a straight line, and this area still appears rough, do to the build up of finberglass.

[sYc]

Do to the fact that no other pictures exist on Car-1, only lots of pictures of Car-2 and the Kirby car, which most are on the other site, I will end the picture show there. Now I will do my best to piece this whole thing together, addressing some of the issues being raised.

Beginning at the rear. The taillight section of Car-1 matches the taillight section of my car.

In the first picture, Car-1, it is obvious not a molded spoiler, and hard to tell if there is even a spoiler there, which explains why the spoiler on my car appears to have been added.

The parachute attachment looks funky on the Car-1, not resembling anything Dick used. Makes me believe quickly changed. When I got my car, there was no parachute nor attachment piece. Like the aluminum blower scoop, Mo fabricated the piece, and knowing Mo, no telling where the idea for it came from.

Car-1 does not have a working door, nor does mine. Car-2, as seen in the picture and on a video several of us have, does.

The fit of the door to rocker panel on Car-1 is poor, same as with mine. The same area on Car-2 and the Kirby appears flush.

The lower portion of my car in the rocker section is wider then Car-1, but as explained earlier, do the multiple layers of tinwork/fiberglass.

The glass areas. When I got my car, there was no glass in the car, and the area around the frames was in very poor condition. These needed a lot of rebuilding. When we went to install the glass, we went with what looked best, the windshield on the inside and the back glass on the outside. As we did with the tin work, we bolted the glass in, as rivets and or fiberglass will not stand up to the rigors of racing.

To the front end. Once again, thanks to what Dave Libby told Mo last night, we now understand why there are some discrepancies with the front end. According to Dave, the front end “was clipped”. This I believe, and the area where the clip was attached can be seen on my car today.

We know the tinwork on our car does not match Car-1. We had no good pictures of how it was, plus Mo and I are not tinsmiths, thus we did it the simplest way possible.

The bulkheads in my car are different as well, for safety issues. We used heavy gage aluminum versus what appears to be a piece of wood sandwiched between two pieces of tin metal on Car-1.

Last but not least, why everything on my car is bolted in, not glassed or riveted like Car-1. On a funny car, the body attaches to the body at only two places, the rear pivot point. Thus, when the car is launched, the chassis is moving very quickly, while the body wants to remain where it was. Repetition of this process takes its toll on the body, especially parts glassed and/or riveted in. When flexed, glass separates and/or breaks, rivets become loose, with the only fix replacing them. Mo and I did not want to be bothered with these kinds of problems, thus 100s of allen head bolts with lock nuts.

[sYc]

The top photo is the best photo of Car-1 I have, taken sometime in 1968 at KCIR. In the picture is Dave Libby.

The bottom photo is of my car, as it appears today. As I have been saying for some time, I feel the two cars are the one and the same, but I will continue my research on the car. If anyone has a photo(s) of Car-1, I would love to see it.

[sYc]

My car, today.