'Ran across In The Beginning as regards Studebakers at The Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race today while looking for something else and thought SDC Forumistas might enjoy it.
Having read a short note about the event in the March or April 1998 Muscle Car Review magazine, I decided to investigate the Studebaker possibilities. I called the person and number listed (Co-Promoter Bob Boden) from my shop and began talking to him about the event.
Yipes! I couldn't find a notepad right off, so 'grabbed a piece of an old Ford parts box and jotted down notes from that initial conversation. So here it is: The first "document" concerning Studebaker participation at The Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race!
Of course, the only conceivable Studebaker Pilot was Ted Harbit, so when arrangements had been made for our inital outing in 1998, "cuz" George Krem and I put his R3 Challenger on my trailer and headed up to Ted's to pick him up for the first of what would be many trips to Stanton, Michigan's Mid-Michigan Motorplex.
Before we left, it was natural to photograph the most famous Studebaker Drag Race Car of all time, The Chicken Hawk, with what would become Studebaker's most famous Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race competitor...with the proud owners of both machines. Left is Ted with "Coffee." (Uh-oh: We would hope Coffee is not investigating the latrine potential of The Chicken Hawk's RF tire!):
At this point, George's R3 Challenger did not have it's famous name. That wouldn't happen until the May 1999 Muscle Car Review article on the car and its performance at the 1998 Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race. Writer Dale Amy christened the car The Plain Brown Wrapper in that article...and the rest, as they say, is history. BP
Having read a short note about the event in the March or April 1998 Muscle Car Review magazine, I decided to investigate the Studebaker possibilities. I called the person and number listed (Co-Promoter Bob Boden) from my shop and began talking to him about the event.
Yipes! I couldn't find a notepad right off, so 'grabbed a piece of an old Ford parts box and jotted down notes from that initial conversation. So here it is: The first "document" concerning Studebaker participation at The Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race!
Of course, the only conceivable Studebaker Pilot was Ted Harbit, so when arrangements had been made for our inital outing in 1998, "cuz" George Krem and I put his R3 Challenger on my trailer and headed up to Ted's to pick him up for the first of what would be many trips to Stanton, Michigan's Mid-Michigan Motorplex.
Before we left, it was natural to photograph the most famous Studebaker Drag Race Car of all time, The Chicken Hawk, with what would become Studebaker's most famous Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race competitor...with the proud owners of both machines. Left is Ted with "Coffee." (Uh-oh: We would hope Coffee is not investigating the latrine potential of The Chicken Hawk's RF tire!):
At this point, George's R3 Challenger did not have it's famous name. That wouldn't happen until the May 1999 Muscle Car Review article on the car and its performance at the 1998 Pure Stock Muscle Car Drag Race. Writer Dale Amy christened the car The Plain Brown Wrapper in that article...and the rest, as they say, is history. BP
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