I'm not usually into cars like these, but I do enjoy their ostentatious liveries.
Photography courtesy Mecum
Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!
The hodrod scene of the ’60s wasn’t for the meek: heads-up wheelstanders, twin-engine dragsters and factory specials running for pink slips.
Then add in the look. So much metalflake, so much gold-leaf lettering. Big, bold lettering down the side of the car. The fatter the rear tires, the better.
How to relive those days without a time machine? How about one of these cars set to cross the Mecum auction block? Each one would look perfect cruising up and down Woodward Boulevard.
You could spot a car backed by Royal Pontiac at a hundred yards. Heck, you could spot one from outer space.
Drag racing was serious business–serious, factory-backed business. To help the whole “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” thing, Pontiac started a run of lightweight Super Duty 421 Catalinas for the 1963 season.
To save weight, Pontiac formed the hood, front fenders, inner fenders, bumpers and radiator core support in aluminum. Then it drilled some 120 holes in the frame. Power was conservatively rated at 405 horsepower.
Only 14 of these “Swiss Cheese” 421 Catalinas were built before the AMA ban on factory-backed motorsports programs quashed the effort in January of 1963. This one, delivered to Jim Wangers, the Pontiac ad man behind the GTO’s marketing blitz, was backed by the Michigan dealership known to gearheads across the U.S.
What’s it worth now? The estimate is $300,000 to $500,000.
1963 Pontiac Catalina Super Duty Swiss Cheese
Performance soon returned to the dealerships–and in a big way. The Automobile Manufacturers Association ban, which dated back to 1957, fizzled out later in 1963.
Crazy paint? Yup.
Gold-leaf lettering? Check.
Cool nickname on the doors? Present.
Ford built a hundred copies of its 1964 Thunderbolt, and each of the lightweight specials was tasked with a mission: Win drag races. Factory tricks included fiberglass front fenders and hood, aluminum front bumper and the iconic cold-air ducts. Under the hood? A high-riser 427.
This one, originally raced by Nate Cohen, comes with a documented history, including magazine features back in the day.
How do you know this one’s special? It says right there on the hood: “ALUMINUM KEEP OFF.”
This 1964 Dodge 330 Lightweight represents another factory-built special, complete with a raft of aluminum panels: hood, front bumpers, fenders and doors. Much of the factory glass–the rear and side windows–were replaced with lightweight alternatives.
Power came from a 426 Hemi often backed by a 727 TorqueFlite. About 55 examples are believed to have been built.
This one–sporting mismatched wheels and the all-important sponsor name across the doors–features something extra special: the four-speed manual box.
1964 Dodge 330 Lightweight Race Car
This 1968 Plymouth Barracuda B029 Prototype developed for the Super Stock package is one of the many drag specials quickly released by Detroit.
This car, known as The Mule, was originally built with a 340-cubic-inch V8 before getting reengineered for a Hemi. It was eventually raced by Tony Suppa and has, according to the listing, been restored to its 1968 Irwindale testing specs: cross-ram intake holding a pair of Holleys, TorqueFlite 727 automatic, and magnesium front wheels paired with chrome-plated rear steelies.
And then there’s the graphics.
1968 Plymouth Barracuda B029 Prototype
The look, the stance, the attitude: This Corvette has all three.
According to the listing, it was built and raced during the late ’60s in the Cleveland area: bigs and littles, ladder bars, spindle-mount front wheels, Hilborn injection, engine set back in the chassis.
The gauges don’t match. It’s a total period piece.
The estimate? Around $50,000.
1959 Chevrolet Corvette Convertible
I'm not usually into cars like these, but I do enjoy their ostentatious liveries.
The liveries are awesome.
There was a museum for these factory lightweight drag racers down in South Florida. Before they sent the cars to auction, I went down to photograph it.
So, a related question: Will mismatched wheels ever come back into vogue?
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