Amelia Island 2010 - THE CHARGER

[pmossberg]

I won't make you wait until Sunday Rick. Here is the Charger that was at Amelia.

Based on descriptions in The Cars of The King, I believe this is a 1976 or 1977 Charger. Mostly because of the over-sized STP logo on the hood. Earlier Chargers had a smaller oval. I know, I know, I should have been photographing the show placards.

This car is not a "recreation" like the Superbird and the 58 Olds. The car is on loan from the International Motorsports Hall of Fame at Talladega. The interior appears to be in "as raced" condition. And much of the day-glo red paint is fading and is actually worn away in some spots, particularly where the C pillars blend into the roof.

Enjoy the photos! And if anyone is able to narrow the car down to a specific year, let me know and I'll adjust this post.









Richard's View





Nose Art!

[ricklou]

This was a car that Petty ran in 1976. Some of Dega's museum pieces do have issues with being accurate but this is the real deal. Is the rear of this car lifted up because of being on a hill ?

There is almost a cult out there with period race cars and their accuracy. I learned of this at Randy Ayers forum. There are some people on that site that know more about race cars than I can ever think of.

I am surprised after all the years that Petty's 73 Charger is not out there as a restoration or an actual Petty car. In 1974 we went to the World of Wheels Custom Hot Rod show in Washington DC and Petty's 73 Charger was on display and it was the real thing. The hood was slightly open so you could get a peak. I think they ran a Wedge motor in "73" because of Nascar reg's aimed at choking the Hemi.

The Regal in your thread looks like the one in Petty's museum but you mentioned that Richard said that none of his stuff was there. They ran the Regal with white 8 hole rims, not the chrome school bus rims pictured.

Thanks again Paul

[pmossberg]

I think the stance looks odd because of the hill. That slope is steeper than it looks in the pictures.

[pmossberg]

Warbird recalls that the 58 Olds is a recreation owned the Petty Museum.
So I may have mis-understood.

[warbird7]

Mar 20, 2010 22:38:12 GMT -5 pmossberg said:

Warbird recalls that the 58 Olds is a recreation owned the Petty Museum.
So I may have mis-understood.

Yes, the '57 Olds, the Regal and the '67 Plymouth were from the RP Museum. All the others were privately owned.

[43magnum]

Paul, you mentioned seeing the Petty charger at The Washington DC World of Wheels. Well, I was there too. It was my first time as a kid ever getting to see the #43 in person and I begged my dad to take me there. It was 1973 and the car was the charger that they used to make the MPC 1/16th Petty Charger scale model.
Had to do some digging but found my pics that I took that day. Attached them here.
Enjoy

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[43magnum]

here is the other pic from DC World of Wheels

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[pmossberg]

Giving credit where it's due...that was Rick.