Great video santa barbara racing 1965

[James G.]

Re: Great video santa barbara racing 1965

George,
I'm very sure when Wedge drove the car it had a carburetor on it, I never saw it with FI, this would have been in the very late 1960's. I do remember clearly the car was orange and it had a flat black painted nose because I touch it up the nose with with a brush. The headlight buckets were removed and replaced with fillers that had tape over gaps, the paint would flake off and look really nasty and thats why I was touching it up. I'm pretty sure single headlamps were relocated down in the grill area too for night time 24 hour racing.

Mike

Chris Wickersham from Pasadena would know. He restored the car in 1988 back to ''original'' as raced configuration. I know he researched the car with mid west owners at that time.

[James G.]

Re: Great video santa barbara racing 1965

Doug Hooper's '57. I can't remember where I got it, possibly from one of Jim's web postings.

THIS IS THE CAR IN THE MOVIE. Originally solid black with red, it was born a standard fuel injection 283/283, 3 speed. Early vin number in the 1700 area. Cal Bailey was the original owner. He was a very colorful guy who loved to party and have fun, so as a driver he was a regular, but not a winner. He loaned the car to Dan Gurney, and this was #4 car he drove at RIVERSIDE at the first race Labor Day weekend September 1957 and won the class. It was Dan's only Corvette race. Arciero Bros. saw him that day, and as they say the rest is history.

Bailey bought a new 58 Corvette and over the winter 58-59 this car appeared on a used car lot known for ''hot rods'' and fast cars. Doug passed the lot daily on the way to work at the phone company and bought it, including all the heavy duty brake parts that had been removed and were in the back shed. Over the winter, he restored the car back to race, changing the paint to white with silver insert. Pete Brock, Carroll Shelby and Ken Miles were his driving instructors over the winter and Doug began racing in the spring of 1959. Inducted into the CORVETTE MUSEUM HALL OF FAME in 2007, more of his records are here. He is a really neat guy retired in Oakhurst, California. http://www.corvettemuseum.org/librar...f/hooper.shtml

[Mike E.]

Re: Great video santa barbara racing 1965

Chris Wickersham from Pasadena would know. He restored the car in 1988 back to ''original'' as raced configuration. I know he researched the car with mid west owners at that time.

Thanks Jim for the photo, I think that's the same roll cage I remember it having but I can't be 100% sure. He worked on the car in my grandmother's garage which was just a few hundred feet from where I grew up and my mother still lives. Occasionally he would take it out on the street for a test drive, we lived out in the country. Even then it would cause quite a stir in the neighborhood, because it was extremely loud.

Mike

[James G.]

Re: Great video santa barbara racing 1965

This HISTORY ON THE ''ALLIGATOR SPECIAL'' was just posted today.

http://www.tamsoldracecarsite.net/HooperAlligator.html

[James G.]

Re: Great video santa barbara racing 1965

TRIVIA POST FROM RICH MASON,

''I looked up in the cobra registry and yes Ozzie did purchase a cobra CSX 2129 which was a neat race car. Raced greatly by Ken Miles and others until Ozzie purchased it in 1966 for $3380 dollars including the trailer and he had Doug Hooper drive it. The car was called the ''TROUSER SNAKE'' t He owned the car just 1 year.''

[Michael H.]

Re: Great video santa barbara racing 1965

Dig out the movies Mike. RIVERSIDE RACEWAY MUSEUM and the PETERSEN MUSEUM want copies to save the history. This is the RED 1964 CHEEATH you were taling about


It is owned by FED YEAKEL, 5th from the left.

L/R Doug Hooper, Brian Hill, Doug's grandson, Howard Goerhring, FRED, Joe Reno, Davey Jorden, Dick Guldstrand, and me Jim Gessner. Taken at the JERRY GRANT TRIBUTE October 17, 2012.

Jim,

I don't recall the car number I'll have to look at the movies an see if I can read it but more than likely that is the one, I don't recall if there was another Cheetah that ran the circuits back in the day or not. I remember dad buying a new 64 Impala from Baher Chevrolet as we lived in Manhattan Beach back then. Dad was into racing and the saleman took us to the back of the garage area where we meet Dick Guldstrand and saw his 64 race corvette, I remember seeing the roller skate taped to his roll bar upside down as Dick rolled a corvette or two over the years and one of his fellow racers put the roller skate on his car as a joke.

Mike