The Evolution of the Race Car

                 

The  Modified

          Stock car racing seems to have started in cow pastures, sand pits, and occasionally inside previous-built stadiums like minor league ballparks. In all of these cases, the surface available was dirt of some sort. This is why I choose dirt as my first look at the way stick cars have developed from the late 1940's through the l980's [the furthest extent of my website].


Courtesy of Ken Paulsen
Johnny Gammell's 1st
car was an engineering
jewel. Typical of late '40's/
early '50's jalopies.
 

Source Unknown
Howie Westervelt's
83 was a typical '50's
car.

Schenectady Collection
Otto Graham Site
Ken Delong's 18
had a little more
technology.

Courtesy of Bill Fifield
The Trinkhaus 62
represented the
height of tech for the
upright dirt coupe.

Courtesy of Mike Watts
Lowslung pavement-
style coupes like
Czepiel's 888 began to
dominate dirt coupe racing.

Courtesy of Arnie Ainsworth
Dirt mods began to have
later model bodies by the
1970's. This is Jack
Farquhar.
 

Denis LaChance Photo
The last coupes,
like Punky Caron's,
were basically new
cars with a coupe shell.

 

Jakes Site Photo
The Troyer falcon-
bodied mod was as
close to the modern
cassis as could be.
 

Arnie Ainsworth Photo
Donnie Wetmore's
Troyer Mud Buss.
 

Outlaw Photod
Today's dirt mod.
 

Race Dog Photo
The modern day
pavement modified.
 

Courtesy of Paul Belfeuille
The old ones were more
interesting, by far.
 

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