Letter Of The Month: The Rest of the Story
I really enjoy being a subscriber to HMM. I was especially interested in the article by Eric English, “The Contender”, in the September 2023 issue. In the article, there were questions about the history of this rare ‘Cuda. I know much of the history before it was restored and wanted to share it with HMM so you could pass it along to Eric and current owner Bob Leenstra. I was with Chrysler Performance Parts and Direct Connection from 1972 to 1980 and knew many of the racers.
Thank you for remembering Dave Wren in the same story. He was an exceptional racer, able to build fast cars and engines as well as drive. The Chrysler Race Group was always interested in winning as many classes as possible, both stick and automatic. This was especially true for current-year cars. The Ray Allen Chevelle had been dominating the SS/EA class and doing very well in event eliminations. The Superbird was the only 1970 model to fit in that class and proved to be uncompetitive. For the October, 1970 World Finals in Dallas, it was determined that a 1971 ‘Cuda convertible fit in SS/EA. Dave Wren was running a ‘70 ‘Cuda hardtop and was qualified to run in Dallas. He was chosen to run the new car.
I don’t know the details of how the car got from Ken Brown Chrysler-Plymouth in Detroit to Dave, or where he prepared the car for competition, but it was a short build. The ‘71s had just been introduced and it made it to Dallas in just a few weeks.
Dave sold this ‘Cuda to Lou Pellegrinelli, owner of Mountain Garage Chrysler-Plymouth in Highland Falls, New York. Lou sponsored the Centolanza brothers, Anthony and Lou. They were one of the most successful teams in NHRA Division 1 at the time. A couple of the attached pictures were taken when Lou owned it. They converted it to a manual transmission and raced in Super Stock/E, also painting it brown and white. The team then decided to build a Super Stock/A 1968 Barracuda and sold the 1971 ‘Cuda to someone in New Jersey. This would have been in 1974 or 1975. I don’t know if it was raced by the new owner.
A few years later, probably 1979 or 1980, the car was purchased by John Livingston of Nashville, Tennessee and driven by Terry Earwood. John and Terry are legends in the Mopar Super Stock world and raced this ‘Cuda in Super Stock/E Automatic. I also attached a picture from when John and Terry raced it. Terry tells me the lead was still above the gas tank when they bought it. I don’t know how long John owned it, but as the article states, it was sold to Tom Lembeck by Mike Clayton in 1987.
By the way, before I joined Chrysler Performance Parts, I worked at the well-known Sunoco station on Woodward owned by Ted Spehar and later, Jimmy Addison. The Chrysler Race Group members were weekly visitors.
Thanks again for such a great magazine.
– Tom Cunningham, via email
Magneto Man
The September 2023 issue of HMM made me very happy. Why? Because the pictured Ford 351 Cleveland engine was using a Scintilla Vertex magneto for ignition. Personally, I love Scintilla Vertex Magnetos. Since the 1960s, I have used many of them. The Ronco brand was the most common one I used. I can’t see the nameplate on the 351’s magneto, so I can’t see the engine base manufacturer. Enclosed are some photos of two of my Ronco Vertex magnetos. The first was in the 455/468-cu.in. engine in my very modified 1964 Olds 4-4-2 (not shown). Another photo with Ronco Vertex magneto plainly visible. I have had her since the day after Thanksgiving, 1968. The third photo shows the Ronco Vertex magneto tucked in behind the homebuilt and modified tunnel ram on my early Chrysler Hemi in my ‘23 T Roadster, circa 1964 to 1974. The carbed tunnel ram was made from a RotoFaze blower tunnel-ram manifold for a Chrysler Hemi. I still use a Vertex magneto in my vehicles.
Milton Schick
Tucson, Arizona
More Engine Art
Love the September cover! Engine art is grossly underrated! I submit my Roush 402-cu.in. 351W in a Superformance MKII 427 Cobra as evidence.
Please consider the dual-quad Chevy 348-409 engines and Ford 427 SOHC for future covers
– Paul Palmer, via email
Seating Options
I read Jim McGowan’s column that mentions recovering seats for his GTO and it piqued my interest since we own a 1989 Camaro IROC. It’s not a show car but it’s not terrible. The worst of it is the driver seat. It’s a red-and-tan cloth seat with “Camaro” stitched in the center. I’d like to know where Jim found the seat covers to replace his with and maybe a few tips on doing the work. I put cheap generic red seat covers on mine to make the car look respectable for now, but I’d really like to fix it the right way.
– Al Sargent, via email
Jim McGowan has referenced the restoration of the seats in his ’65 GTO in a few of his columns, but he detailed the process in a tech story that ran back in the October 2013 issue of HMM . Jim used seat covers from Legendary Auto Interiors, and while that company does offer early Camaro seat cover kits, it does not yet have anything for the third-generation models. However, some other restoration suppliers do, including Classic Industries, which also appears to have the style of upholstery you reference.
More Restos, Please
I love your magazine, and I have been a subscriber since 2017. I have just a quick question for you: Among my favorite features are the Restoration Profiles that you do, and I look forward to that. But for some reason, you haven’t done one since you covered that slick 1970 Challenger R/T. Will you be doing one next month or have you discontinued them? I used to repair wrecked cars and restored a few cars many years ago but had to retire due to injuries and chronic pain. But I always enjoyed reading about other people’s experiences in restoring old cars.
I hope you haven’t stopped doing the Restoration Profiles – they are my favorite part of your magazine.
– Todd Jones, via email
Don’t worry – we haven’t discontinued the Restoration Profile articles, Todd; they just don’t appear in every issue. The best stories of that type must include a good assortment of images chronicling the process, and that’s what often presents the biggest challenge when we’re seeking material for them. The good news is that we have another one on the way, which will detail a decades-long ownership and eventual restoration of a very rare ZL-1 Camaro.
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