The Forward Look Network
The Forward Look Network
Search | Statistics | User Listing Forums | Chat | eBay | Calendars | Albums | Skins | Language
You are logged in as a guest. ( logon | register )

racing Astrodome dash
Jump to page : 1
Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page]
View previous thread :: View next thread
   Forward Look NON-Technical Discussions -> 1955-1961 Forward Look MoPar General DiscussionMessage format
 
hemidenis
Posted 2017-12-29 9:36 PM (#555221)
Subject: racing Astrodome dash



Expert

Posts: 3887
20001000500100100100252525
Location: Northen Virginia
gauges will fit.



(26113815_10215061068866649_2811801495759694384_n.jpg)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments 26113815_10215061068866649_2811801495759694384_n.jpg (94KB - 166 downloads)
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Paul Hettick
Posted 2017-12-31 10:42 AM (#555294 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash


Elite Veteran

Posts: 705
500100100
Location: California
Good god why?
Top of the page Bottom of the page
1960fury
Posted 2017-12-31 10:57 AM (#555295 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash



Expert 5K+

Posts: 7385
50002000100100100252525
Location: northern germany
just terrible. look at the pedals, low mileage car. rip
Top of the page Bottom of the page
BigBlockMopar
Posted 2017-12-31 11:15 AM (#555299 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash



Expert

Posts: 3575
20001000500252525
Location: Netherlands
The redneckery in that pic knows no bounds...
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Doctor DeSoto
Posted 2017-12-31 11:21 AM (#555301 - in reply to #555299)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash



5000500050005000200050025
Location: Parts Unknown
SFB ... a chronic and disabling condition that affect many.





(SFB.jpg)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments SFB.jpg (8KB - 133 downloads)
Top of the page Bottom of the page
LostDeere59
Posted 2017-12-31 11:57 AM (#555307 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: RE: racing Astrodome dash



Extreme Veteran

Posts: 406
100100100100
Location: Hilltown, PA

Shame on all of you - while I realize this forum is primarily populated by restoration enthusiasts I am disappointed by how close-minded many of you are - especially those of you who in many other threads claim to be "open-minded" because you own something other than a Forward Look.

Yes, there is plenty in this photo that isn't elegant, and even more that will send most restoration enthusiasts into a tailspin about "rare and valuable parts". But based on what I can see this is a vehicle intended for competition of a different type, and before casting aspersions on the owners methodology or lack of cohesive design I'd want to see the rest of the car, and know something about how successful it is at it's intended mission - is it fast?

I know that purpose built race cars are usually much cleaner and well organized. Frankly this kind of dash arrangement is a huge liability - with modification on top of modification on top of factory components it is both wastefully heavy and likely prone to intermittent failures. Removing the factory dash (and wiring harness) and replacing it with a simple sheetmetal panel and minimalist wiring would remove weight and complexity - and style.

The truth is this is a photo of a race car that is "evolving" - a state that most non-professional racers live with. Why? Because it is rare that someone on their first (or even second) car knows at the beginning where they're going to end up. So the car evolves as the owner makes increasingly more aggressive improvements in the vehicle's performance. The unfortunate side effect of this is aptly demonstrated in this photograph.

Perhaps at some point the owner will have the time/funds/motivation to re-do the dash and interior in a way more befitting it's intended mission, at which time I suspect he will make those discarded parts available here to those of you who have a "better" home for them.

Personally I applaud the choice to go racing in something with this kind of style, especially knowing ahead of time the uphill road he's facing. He could have chosen a Dart, Barracuda, or Road Runner. Or even a Camaro or Chevelle. Any of those would have been easier to use - but none would have anywhere near the style.

A couple of decades ago when the Mopar event at ATCO in NJ was still new, among the dozens of more mundane Chrysler products making 1/4 mile runs, there was a bright red 1960 Chrysler, probably a 300. Other than a flat black hood with a 6-Pack style scoop and what seemed to be a lot of tire stuffed in the rear wheelhouses the car appeared stock. Believe me - when this guy did a romping burn-out, staged, and then ripped off a wailing high 10-second pass the crowd was impressed. Unfortunately he must have hurt the car because he never cycled back for another run, and I never got to see the car up close.

And of ALL the cars there that day - fast or slow, stock or modified - THAT"S the car I remember.



Gregg
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Powerflite
Posted 2018-01-01 3:56 AM (#555345 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash



Expert 5K+

Posts: 9604
500020002000500100
Location: So. Cal
Yes, but there comes a time when it is foolish to do these kinds of things to an original hemi barracuda or hemi charger. And the time for doing it to a 300F has long passed. It just destroys the car. That's all we see now because very few people care how fast it is able to go in the quarter. Destroy the best dash ever made by mankind and you aren't going to get praises from anyone. That doesn't mean that you have to build a slow car, but leave the best parts of it alone. I see it as equal to cutting the fins off the back of it and expecting people to praise you for the great custom job you did to it.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
StillOutThere
Posted 2018-01-01 8:04 AM (#555350 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: RE: racing Astrodome dash



2000100010010025
Location: Under the X in Texas

Then there was Andy Granatelli's 300F Gran Turismo which ran 189.99 mph on the Bonnevile salt.    The car is missing still today.   If you find it, show it and no one will say a thing about the dashboard.





(d003.jpg)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments d003.jpg (9KB - 146 downloads)
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Powerflite
Posted 2018-01-01 10:39 AM (#555360 - in reply to #555350)
Subject: RE: racing Astrodome dash



Expert 5K+

Posts: 9604
500020002000500100
Location: So. Cal
Exactly, because it has significant history associated with it. The same goes for a Sox & Ronnie's SS Barracuda. But take a restored Hemi cuda and do that and you might as well be burning money and creating many enemies. That's why I said that time has passed.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Doctor DeSoto
Posted 2018-01-01 10:58 AM (#555362 - in reply to #555360)
Subject: RE: racing Astrodome dash



5000500050005000200050025
Location: Parts Unknown
Ever seen a really whacked out junkie ? Yeah, ... he/she has the same basic
bodyshell as anyone else. They just decided to "go racing", .... do "something
different" with it than most people. Why should anyone have a problem or make
negative comments about it, right ?

It's all perspective ....

I am all about freedom. There is no drug problem. It is a natural thinning of the
herd. And all in the name of freedom of choice, too ! Same thing for old cars, I
suppose. I may shake my head and think someone is an idiot. But by golly, I
would never want to deprive anyone of the same freedoms I consider basic.

Top of the page Bottom of the page
hemidenis
Posted 2018-01-01 12:00 PM (#555367 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash



Expert

Posts: 3887
20001000500100100100252525
Location: Northen Virginia
Here it is the pinnacle of owner's freedom using a Ferrari 250 GTO with a asking price of $57 million for go and racing, and make a fool of yourself with bad driving, thinking that the asking price of your ride will dictate your skills. Is the guy an idiot with more money than brains, or is just doing what he likes with his money?

Vote: idiot with money

Top of the page Bottom of the page
hemidenis
Posted 2018-01-01 12:07 PM (#555368 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash



Expert

Posts: 3887
20001000500100100100252525
Location: Northen Virginia
Wayne, I agree he did nothing wrong with that 300F, it was virtually new back then. He was only trying to set speed records with the best car he could find.

Now he did this to a Duesenberg 1936 back in the 60's, that would be a different matter.

















Edited by hemidenis 2018-01-01 12:13 PM
Top of the page Bottom of the page
LostDeere59
Posted 2018-01-01 12:12 PM (#555369 - in reply to #555360)
Subject: RE: racing Astrodome dash



Extreme Veteran

Posts: 406
100100100100
Location: Hilltown, PA
Powerflite - 2018-01-01 10:39 AM

Exactly, because it has significant history associated with it. The same goes for a Sox & Ronnie's SS Barracuda. But take a restored Hemi cuda and do that and you might as well be burning money and creating many enemies. That's why I said that time has passed.


I fear you contradict your own argument here . . .

Clearly, this car is not a restored Hemi Cuda - or a restored anything for that matter. As to someone's reference to it being a 300, well excuse my newbie ignorance but I don't see any indication of that. Even if it is (obviously there are folks here familiar with the car) that alone doesn't make it significant enough to be "unmodifiablanium".

Honestly my first reaction to the original photo in this thread was the same as many of you - Why? Or "cringe". Or some other negative comment. I'm not an idiot (mostly) and I too understand the sense of loss associated with seeing something I perceive as rare and valuable being modified in a way that may prevent it from being returned to it's original condition. After all - there won't be any new ones.

But let's be realistic here - even if you had the financial and physical wherewithal to travel the country (or world) and gather together ALL the Forward Look cars regardless of condition in order to "preserve them for historical purposes" the truly significant cars would be a small percentage of the entirety. So what of the rest? How many parts cars do you need enslaved to the "welfare" of the few? And how many cars can you "recreate" from parts before you've dangerously diluted the "gene pool" as it were?

I admire the skill and tenacity of folks who can restore a junkyard hulk to as new condition. I admire the luck, good grace, and caring owners who have preserved the truly rare and important "survivor" cars. But I also admire - and respect - someone who is willing to follow their own path, especially when that path may not be popular, easy, or even successful.

And frankly ANYONE who choses to be a Chrysler product enthusiast ought to understand that.

Before I jump down off my long-winded soap box let me pass on two stories that have helped shape my sense of "car-vana":

About 20 years ago one of my father's work friends (engineers with Honeywell) restored an early Dodge sedan, something from the early '30's I believe. The car was apparently gorgeous, and took both Junior and Senior AACA awards after it's completion. A few years later the owner (after looking for another similar car with no success) made the decision to turn it into a street rod. And so, one beautifully restored early Dodge went under the blade. The resulting rod was also gorgeous, and well awarded in it own venues. Initially when I heard this from my father I was aghast - the loss, the horror, the women and children!! But over the years as I've chewed on that story I've come to understand some of his reasons, and more importantly understand that it was his journey to make, his experience to have and enjoy. Good on him!

The other, somewhat more recently, involved a virtually priceless historical sports car - probably a Ferrari - that has racing history out the wazoo. The car in question was owned at the time by an individual who chose to use it in competitive events. Not the nicey-nice parade races where folks drive in circles and wave each other by, but the nasty kind where sheetmetal sometimes gets dinged, and the drivers - and cars - are out to win. In an interview for a magazine article the gentleman was asked how he could put such a priceless piece of history at risk - what if he should wreck the car beyond repair? He had two responses - the first was simply that he felt that if you couldn't afford the potential cost of repairing the car, you shouldn't own it in the first place (a simple but oft overlooked truth). The second was far more eloquent and meaningful - he explained that "this is a race car. It was designed, built, and proven for that one purpose. To leave it in a museum, static, silent, is to deprive it of it's very essence, to take from it the most important aspects of what it is, and leave it's shell on display like an interesting insect. On the track it is in it's element, alive. And no one who has ever experienced the thrill of seeing it in a 4 wheel drift, clawing for position exiting a turn, would want it any other way".

How can you argue with that?

Cars are not display pieces, meant to be seen from a distance or inside the confines of velvet ropes. They are alive with purpose, motion, and the memories of deeds and duties past.


Gregg
Top of the page Bottom of the page
hemidenis
Posted 2018-01-01 12:32 PM (#555370 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash



Expert

Posts: 3887
20001000500100100100252525
Location: Northen Virginia
Gregg
I can definitely disagree with the Ferrari owner. Even Ferrari (FCA), which is the factory itself, never raced their vintage car collection and it is a reason for that, and I can certainly say that the factory has the resources to fix any damage.

Thanks good this rich dude is not in charge of the Smithsonian, or the B-29 Enola gay would be flying drooping atomic bombs with those unreliable Wright R-3350 engines, the declaration of independence will be for everybody to hold it and use it as napkin and George Washington's Revolutionary War Bedstead will be a free testing in the local Motel 8 to name a few.












Edited by hemidenis 2018-01-01 12:33 PM
Top of the page Bottom of the page
drosera88
Posted 2018-01-01 12:51 PM (#555374 - in reply to #555370)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash



Expert

Posts: 1267
10001001002525
Location: San Antonio TX
hemidenis - 2018-01-01 11:32 AM

Thanks good this rich dude is not in charge of the Smithsonian, or the B-29 Enola gay would be flying drooping atomic bombs with those unreliable Wright R-3350 engines



The scary part is that you basically just described North Korea's nuclear capabilities
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Powerflite
Posted 2018-01-01 12:51 PM (#555375 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: RE: racing Astrodome dash



Expert 5K+

Posts: 9604
500020002000500100
Location: So. Cal
Top of the page Bottom of the page
hemidenis
Posted 2018-01-01 1:05 PM (#555376 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash



Expert

Posts: 3887
20001000500100100100252525
Location: Northen Virginia
here it is another great video of racing vintage cars.

Taped back in 1978 this awesome footage it is showing 5 time F1 world champion Juan Manuel Fangio, aged 66, driving against Jack Brabham in his Repco Brabham, a car 12 years newer than Fangio's 186.411m/h top speed drum brakes wonder .

Fangio said at the time: "I do not do demonstration races, when i'm in a car a race for real"

Mercedes Benz will never allow something like this today, not even if Fangio was alive.





Edited by hemidenis 2018-01-01 9:15 PM
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Paul Hettick
Posted 2018-01-01 7:52 PM (#555399 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash


Elite Veteran

Posts: 705
500100100
Location: California
To complete the picture. I see radiuses rear wheel openings. Long rear leaf spring hangers to jack it way up high in back. Flat black rattle can exterior finish. And it needs a larger tach bolted to the top of the dash.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Powerflite
Posted 2018-01-01 11:27 PM (#555422 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: RE: racing Astrodome dash



Expert 5K+

Posts: 9604
500020002000500100
Location: So. Cal
I have seen the light. I NEED to create this custom beauty out of my '60 New Yorker. Should be really cool and aint nothing gonna dissuade me because I have lots of experience doing big high end stuff, and someone said that I kinda look like Chip Foose in a way too. I know it would be better to start with a real 300F convertible to create this masterpiece, but I'm a real artist with a sawsall and I'm also real good at sculpting emblems out of bondo so it shouldn't be an issue. Anyone not 100% behind me on this endeavor is obviously not as enlightened as I am.



(300F Project.jpg)



Attachments
----------------
Attachments 300F Project.jpg (370KB - 131 downloads)
Top of the page Bottom of the page
57plymouth
Posted 2018-01-02 11:19 AM (#555442 - in reply to #555221)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash



Expert

Posts: 3577
20001000500252525
Location: Blythewood, SC
I'd like to see the rest of the car, and find out what it is built to run in. Is it a serious racing league? LeMons? LSR?
Top of the page Bottom of the page
57burb
Posted 2018-01-02 12:38 PM (#555446 - in reply to #555442)
Subject: Re: racing Astrodome dash



Expert

Posts: 3966
200010005001001001001002525
Location: DFW, TX
I hate mismatched gauges, I hate unused holes in switch panels, and I really REALLY hate yellow crimp connectors and dangling wires. That is all just ugly.

But you know what's even uglier than that? The roughly 250,000 '60-62 Chrysler AstraDome dashes that have been crushed and destroyed in the last ~58 years.

1960
72,951

1961
87,352

1962
118,540

I think it's fair to write this one off the books. But at least someone is having fun with it. If it makes you feel better, go out and put an extra coat of polish on your own perfect AstraDome to make up for it.
Top of the page Bottom of the page
Jump to page : 1
Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page]
Jump to forum :
Search this forum
Printer friendly version
E-mail a link to this thread

* * * This site contains affiliate links for which we may be compensated * * *


(Delete all cookies set by this site)