Piece of history for sale, Smokey Yunick's 67 - Lateral-g Forums

65_LS1_T56 · #1 04-03-2016, 03:04 PM

Evidently he thought the '66 front was more aerodynamic than the '67 so he used the '66!
Some cool under car pictures.

http://www.canepacollection.com/deta...d-5117058.html

Che70velle · #2 04-03-2016, 04:52 PM

Man...I'd love to own that car. Wow.
Smokey really was a genius. I worked for a shop that built Cup engines in the 90's, back when race teams still farmed out work. The owner of that business, whom I am still great friends with today, relied on Smokeys intelligence to gather engine formulas early in his career. Formulas in the late 60's that most engine builders don't know today. They talked quite often. Smokey is one of the guys in this world that I'm truly sorry I did not get to meet. Perhaps one of a kind...

Build-It-Break-it · #3 04-03-2016, 06:11 PM

Wow, very cool. It be tough to be the new owner of that car and not thrash on it just a little. Just amazing.

my79f · #4 04-03-2016, 10:47 PM

I thought this article about smokey Yunick was great.

http://www.hotrod.com/features/1602-...-no-13-camaro/

**JKnight** · #5 04-03-2016, 11:31 PM

Interesting things I noticed from the pictures of the Chevelle that aren't discussed in the article (keep in mind I don't know ****):

Front shock mount moved closer to the ball joint
Diff pump, belt driven, cooler in the trunk?
Lots of rear shock travel with relocated upper mount

The body changes and floor pan tricks are neat too. What else do you guys see?

TheJDMan · #6 04-04-2016, 01:54 AM

I noticed in the pics that the Chevelle still has the stock rear wheel openings which reminded me of the following.

One story I read was that back in the day NASCAR allowed the teams to trim the rear fender wheel openings for tire clearance in order to be able to change tires. Smokey shows up at the track with the Chevelle and his stock rear quarter fenders are low covering the tires giving him an obvious aero advantage but all the other teams are laughing and wondering how he's going to change tires. So he goes out in qualifying and turns the fastest lap. Once qualifying ends he goes back to the pits and trims the fenders to clear the tires. When the other teams complained he simply pointed out that the rules allowed him to trim the fenders, but the rules didn't say anything about when he was allowed to trim them.

Che70velle · #7 04-04-2016, 07:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JKnight

Interesting things I noticed from the pictures of the Chevelle that aren't discussed in the article (keep in mind I don't know ****):

Front shock mount moved closer to the ball joint
Diff pump, belt driven, cooler in the trunk?
Lots of rear shock travel with relocated upper mount

The body changes and floor pan tricks are neat too. What else do you guys see?

Looks like the cooler is mounted flat, flush with floor pan extensions, under passenger side rear. He made a cutout in the sheet metal, and all you see is the cooling fins of the core.
Rear end is a three link, with offset upper.

65_LS1_T56 · #8 04-04-2016, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Che70velle

Looks like the cooler is mounted flat, flush with floor pan extensions, under passenger side rear. He made a cutout in the sheet metal, and all you see is the cooling fins of the core.
Rear end is a three link, with offset upper.

Yes, I noticed the third link (with truck arms) too and of course, the Watt's link.
Isn't the top link on the wrong side? Mr. Sutton needs to check this out and give us some insight!

I'm still looking at the front stuff. Definately not A-body GM there. The lowers look weird and the frame is definitely different.
Where are the front springs? It looks like two shocks (yellow) on each side

Crazy stuff.

**JKnight** · #9 04-04-2016, 12:31 PM

You're right Aaron, two shocks per corner in front, crazy.

I would venture that it doesn't matter which side the top link is on for a watts, since it's inherently symmetrical.

Che70velle · #10 04-04-2016, 06:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 65_LS1_T56

Yes, I noticed the third link (with truck arms) too and of course, the Watt's link.
Isn't the top link on the wrong side? Mr. Sutton needs to check this out and give us some insight!

I'm still looking at the front stuff. Definately not A-body GM there. The lowers look weird and the frame is definitely different.
Where are the front springs? It looks like two shocks (yellow) on each side

Crazy stuff.

Front coil springs are there. You can just see them in one photo.
The frame is custom built, as are the adjustable control arms...and this is 1968.
Smokey showed back up at Daytona the next year, with the ONLY Chevrolet in the field(different car). Sat on the pole and won the race. Pulled out of victory lane and drove the car back down the strip to his garage.