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Brass Wars Era----Period Paint jobs....

In this era, almost every race had a concours judging...with prizes. Here are examples and commentary from back in the day:

AJ Hoyt comments: run what ya brung....

At WHORA, we would rotate Trans-am, GT, NASCAR, and CanAm. Occasionally, on a 5 week month, we would run "Thingies", which were bodies that did not fit in the other classes. I recall VW buses, Funny Cars, dune buggies and that Cougar that Bob Leider made with a Dodge Daytona style trunk wing on it (he did it in spite because we wouldn't let it run in Trans-am or NASCAR). I remember Bogus Bob (or Ricky Gilliam) making a "wedge" body out of the rectangular clear plastic packaging that surrounded the Aurora T-jets when you purchased them as single cars.

I also remember sneaking into the Thayer Pro Racing Shells inner sanctum, placing my scratch-built car on the vacuum surface plate and sucking down a body molded from the completed chassis. I, then, painted it from the inside (brass chassis, grey lead, silver motor can, green pinion, black crown gear, white endbell, wires, black tires, etc.) and mounted it down to the chassis with the pin tubes. I successfully argued that it "did not fit in the other classes" and was allowed to run it but it did not handle very well, so I chucked it.

Once in a blue moon we would run open wheel cars - I still have one or two of the scratch-built chassis for that class. The challenge was fitting iso-fulcrum, plumber and bat pans in a narrow package. My conclusion: it couldn't be done, but it was fun trying. I would like to take another run at that now.

I concur, when Raisin put his mind to something, it was a sterling effort. His chassis workmanship was on par with ANYBODY and he was always seaching the kitchen for logos to copy. Back then, it was HILARIOUS to see a Tide body or a Dr. Pepper paint job; then we saw the whole world get silly to the point that we had to endure a Power Puff Girls NASCAR stock car. (I still don't think I have seen a Kotex Maxi-Pads car yet - again, it seems funny now but, just wait...)

Pat McGee and I reminisced about trodding through the Mayberry Sanitarium that night - with Mike Kramer running on ahead to jump out of trees and buildings to startle us. (Keith, I'll bet that is another name that hasn't surfaced in a while!)

Bill Thayer was a saint to let such a motley crew invade his basement (even on weeks when he couldn't be there) virtually every Saturday to race! I am sure I thanked him when most of the WHORA group hooked up at the HOPRA Nats in Jackson, MI (1992?).

Keep it in the slot (and drink your Faygo Orange Soda),

AJ
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1976 Concours National Champion 7 Up Greenwood Corvette by David Pratt