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Going to Winter Storage
Moderators: Lancer Mike

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Lancer Mike
Posted 2006-10-10 12:49 PM (#66031)
Subject: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: The Mile High City
Hi, all:

Last Saturday, I put away my gold and white Lancer sedan for the winter. It was a beautiful day and I took a few photos before it rolled into storage. It is kind of sad when the seasons change and I have to put the cars away. There is no chance I am going to drive the cars after the chemicals, salt and sand go on the roads. However, there is a silver lining: I brought out my Lancer coupe. On nice days, I putter (thunder) the old racer around the neighborhood and it keeps my forwardlook passions up through the long winter months. I snapped a couple of photos of it as well...

Cheers,
Mike



(driver side front 1 reduced.jpg)



(driver side rear 1 reduced.jpg)



(passenger side 2 reduced.jpg)



(passenger side rear 1 reduced.jpg)



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Attachments driver side front 1 reduced.jpg (67KB - 378 downloads)
Attachments driver side rear 1 reduced.jpg (62KB - 409 downloads)
Attachments passenger side 2 reduced.jpg (94KB - 388 downloads)
Attachments passenger side rear 1 reduced.jpg (81KB - 384 downloads)
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MorePar
Posted 2006-10-11 1:24 AM (#66069 - in reply to #66031)
Subject: RE: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: Colorado, Pike's Peak

Arch and Marv'??  OK lets hear it..

 

Slim

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Lancer Mike
Posted 2006-10-11 6:17 PM (#66100 - in reply to #66069)
Subject: RE: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: The Mile High City
Howdy, Slim:

(remember, you asked!)

I don't know exactly who Arch and Marv are - they evidently ran a body shop somewhere in the Denver area. Sometime, I'll have to go through the old Denver phone books and find out where they were. The car has an interesting history from what I know.

I bought it from a guy named Frank in a package deal with a convertible. I really didn't want the car, but Frank wouldn't sell the convertible without it. It was listed on eBay, but never made Frank's reserve price. Frank got it from Don Smallwood, who is a ForwardLook.net member. Don bought it from a fellow named David Archer. Archer bought it from the relatives of a guy named Wilbur Huyett or "Willy Huyett" which is vaguely visible on both doors. I've talked with Archer about the history of the car. He found it at a storage yard in Westminster. It had sat there for years. Archer had done some research on the car and found out that it was a Class B Stock Car drag racing NATIONAL RECORD HOLDER in 1968! He bought it to restore it to it's former glory.

I have also heard from other sources that this was a NATIONAL RECORD HOLDER, although I have not found any evidence other than word of mouth. According to Archer, Huyett raced the car in 1967, 1968, and 1969. Huyett was a very heavy man (evidenced by the broken driver's butt rest that I had to replace). Huyett would disconnect the drive shaft and tow the car to various tracks around the region using an identical '58 Dodge. He had a pigtail from the tow Dodge that would attach to the front of the race car to operate the tail-lights of the race car when it was in tow. Indeed, there is a pigtail in the grill of the race car. Archer had compiled a history of the car that never made it to me through all the ownership changes. Archer said that he had seen the original trunk of the car which proclaimed that the car was a NATIONAL RECORD HOLDER. Unfortunately, the trunk was dented in by a tractor at the storage yard. Even worse, the trunk was lost along with all the research through all the ownership changes!

When I bought the car, it had no battery, no radiator, no carburator, and the drive shaft was suspended under the car, but not hooked up - like it had been towed back from the track. I tried to turn the engine, but it would not make a complete revolution of the crank. I took it to MorePower Masters and Tony Richards, to my amazement, was able to turn it all the way through! He fitted it with a carb, radiator, and battery and got it to fire! Eventually, he got it to take gas from it's own tank when the engine stopped and would not make a complete revolution again. He removed the head and found that it had ingested what appeared to be a wheel bearing! The mashed bearing rested on top of one of the pistons. When the bearing stood up, it stopped the crank; when the bearing lay on its side, the crank turned all the way over. Richards made the racer drive again and put a convertible exhaust system on the headers (it sounded like a freight train). The car still had quite a bit of steam left.

If Richards hadn't been able to get it running, I was going to strip the car and junk it - without ever knowing about the history of the car! I'm very glad it never came to that! However, it was that close to being completely erased!

Quickly thereafter the brakes gave out and I rebuilt them myself. Still the interior was in ruins and it wasn't much fun to bumble around on a broken seat sporadically covered by wisps of original fabric and practically no cushion. I sent the car to Dick Richards who recovered the seats, fabricated kick panels, recovered the arm rests, tined the floor boards, and laid carpet down. The car originally had a rubber mat, long ago made brittle - cracked and half missing. Still, I fell victim to several break downs. After much head scratching and after exceeding my AAA tow limit, I installed a new coil and replaced some of the ancient wiring. Now it runs much steadier.

Both Richards remembered something of the history of the car. I have tried to contact the Denver Timing Association and B&F Tire (still at it's same location) to get more history on the car or to try to reassemble the information gathered by Archer. I've even tried to contact other Huyett's in the Denver area, all to no avail.

The dashboard of the racer is covered with plaques of former racing glory. It has plaques from Mountain View, Trinadad Jaycees, and other tracks in New Mexico and Wyoming. Another plaque proclaims "Skybolt Race Team". If anyone knows of a way to research this car's seemingly impressive history, I'm all ears!

-Mike
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MorePar
Posted 2006-10-15 1:59 AM (#66253 - in reply to #66100)
Subject: RE: Going to Winter Storage



50010010010025
Location: Colorado, Pike's Peak

You know quite a bit. Probably the record books from the old tracks where it ran are still around in someones junk someplace. Lots of those officials kept their record books even after the tracks closed.

 It would be worth an old phone booksearchto locate some of the tracks or even look up

"Arch and Marv" 

 

Slim 

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Lancer Mike
Posted 2006-10-17 2:41 PM (#66431 - in reply to #66253)
Subject: RE: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: The Mile High City
Yep, a little ol' trip to the ly-berry may just get me over the hump! I may have to look through the sports pages from the newspaper too.
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58 Ray
Posted 2006-10-29 8:38 PM (#67209 - in reply to #66031)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: Colorado
Nice car Mike! Gotta love those Dodges.
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2006-12-30 3:47 PM (#71126 - in reply to #67209)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: The Mile High City
Well, I was finally able to get to the Downtown Branch of the Denver Public Library. I searched the news records for W. Huyett and everything else I could think of, but no luck. You would think that would have made the paper. Oh, well, I'm not sure where to go from here...
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58 Ray
Posted 2006-12-30 8:00 PM (#71148 - in reply to #66031)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: Colorado
Would Colorado History Museum have anything?
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Sonoramic60
Posted 2007-01-01 3:10 PM (#71242 - in reply to #71148)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage


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Posts: 1287
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Mike --
Have you tried contacting Daniel Berner of "Colorado Racing Memories"? That is a web site, too.
Joe
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2007-01-02 12:19 PM (#71307 - in reply to #71242)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: The Mile High City
Thanks, guys. I will check those out. I sent an e-mail and photos to the Colorado racing memories people this morning (neat website). I'm not sure if it went to Berner or not. I'll let you know what happens. This search has been frustrating so far. Word of mouth, I get a lot of information - but getting the documents and old photos has been difficult so far! Hopefully, persistence will pay off eventually.

Happy new year,
Mike
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2007-01-02 4:47 PM (#71323 - in reply to #71307)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: The Mile High City
Thanks, Joe:

Dan is an awesome source of information! He replied right away with the following message:

" Good morning, Michael......you made my day with this one! I luv it! These old NHRA doorslammer's were so much fun. Rare car, must be a D500 HEMI.

I have a number of CDR track programs that list this car as a track record holder.

Wilbur Huyett (Westminster, Dodge) appears in 1967 as a G/SA 16.198 @ 84.58 (set on 6-26-66), 1968 L/SA 16.16 @ 84.82 (set 5-21-67), 1969 M/SA same record, 1970 N/SA same et record, lost mph record, 1971 N/SA same, 1972 does not appear although I think that NHRA got rid of "old cars" in the category some where in this era.

I don't have any NHRA National Dragster issues that old, but that's where the National Records would be listed.

I don't recall this car, although I'm really sorry i never got to see it. As you know, these were called Junior Stockers back then. The time seems slow, although that would have been flying for the times, in that (heavy) car, and at 6,500 feet, as evidenced by no one beating the record for 5-years or so. Strong MPH for a stocker. Pure stock musclecars of the era weren't doing much better at CDR.

With your permission, I'd like to show this photo (that side shot is a nice one, that rear shot is a bit small) on the front page of CRM on the next issue as a Special Feature, and create a permanent CRM exhibit for Mr. Huyett using your comments and giving you full credit for the contribution. With some luck, we might be able to uncover some more details for you.

Thanks very much for taking the time to write. All the best with your magnificent find. Too kool! "

Dan also sent me some fantastic race programs. This one is from 1967. You can't see it in the picture, but Huyett is listed just as Dan writes in his reply. I think that, other than talking to Dave Archer, this is my first big break in this car's history.

Edited by Lancer Mike 2007-01-02 5:16 PM




(67 CDR record reduced.jpg)



(67 CDR reduced.jpg)



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Attachments 67 CDR record reduced.jpg (47KB - 387 downloads)
Attachments 67 CDR reduced.jpg (78KB - 466 downloads)
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58 Ray
Posted 2007-01-06 12:04 PM (#71659 - in reply to #66031)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: Colorado
Very cool Mike!
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2007-01-06 3:59 PM (#71673 - in reply to #71659)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: The Mile High City
This morning, I made a telephone call to Craig Huyett of Broomfield. I asked if he was related to Wilbur - and sure enough, Craig is Wilbur's nephew. That branch of Craig's family became a bit disconnected over the years, but Craig remembered riding in the race car! He is going to try to connect me with some of Wilbur's direct decendents - maybe I'll get an old photo of Wilbur or his car yet! So far, this little odessy has been a lot of fun for me - and not too expensive, all restoration efforts included.

It has been fun to learn a little more about Colorado racing history and junior stockers. It sounds like the Denver area had some really wonderful local tracks from the 1940's through the 1970's and a lot of people participated in the sports and fun of watching the cars.

The junior stockers were a particular interest because they weren't homogenized back then. Dodges and Oldsmobiles and Mercurys were all racing against one another. The different mix of body styles and engines must have been quite a thrill for racers and spectators!
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58 Ray
Posted 2007-01-06 6:27 PM (#71691 - in reply to #66031)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



500100100100100
Location: Colorado
That is quite a story Mike!
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2007-01-08 1:50 PM (#71787 - in reply to #71691)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: The Mile High City

For anyone interested, check out

www.coloradoracingmemories.com

Willy Huyett's 1958 Dodge is a featured special! Dan has been a tremendous help and so have you guys. If I can gather a little more information on this car, I will post a separate thread. So far, so fun!

-Mike



Edited by Lancer Mike 2007-01-08 2:02 PM
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58 Ray
Posted 2007-01-08 11:49 PM (#71832 - in reply to #66031)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



500100100100100
Location: Colorado
Very cool Mike! These cars are always fun but your Dodges history I bet makes it even better.

Ray
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Lancer Mike
Posted 2017-09-12 8:57 PM (#548254 - in reply to #71832)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



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Location: The Mile High City
I sold my 1958 Dodge Royal Lancer sedan to get my 1958 De Soto. It has been a long time ago - probably 2012.
I knew it was going to Sweden. I never heard nor saw it again, until Magnus posted this image in his thread...
my car!



(my car.jpg)



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Attachments my car.jpg (255KB - 302 downloads)
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mstrug
Posted 2017-09-13 6:49 AM (#548267 - in reply to #66031)
Subject: Re: Going to Winter Storage



Expert 5K+

Posts: 6487
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Location: Newark, Texas (Fort Worth)
What about 'Fall'? Some shots with the aspen turning would be spectacular! Gold and white together would be beautiful. Here in Texas it is still summer for another week or so. Marc.
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