Gary Gove, who drove the 66 Alan Green Corvette is reunited with the car after 52 years.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2SIcDn...ature=youtu.be

This Car was raced most of 66 with the HD427, M22 and 36gal fuel tank. Gary was North West points Leader and raced in the End of Season Run Off at Riverside.

It was fun exchanging emails with you on this car! I still am looking through the SCCA mags, Kind of am stuck at 1965 on my project, but 1966 is next! Too many holes in the records to chase down in all of this racing stuff. I just didn’t make it to 1966 yet, from our last conversations. But Congrats on the two car Magazine article!

I was kind of thrown on the car color, as I know that dealership used some light lime metallics and such, many greens especially on their drag sponsored cars! They didn’t have just one signature look livery!

So do you guys feel the HD 427 was assembled and shipped whole? Cool! That would be more in line with what and how they also were working with Traco, Bill Thomas, etc. I found an even earlier story of Blair’s Drag Team (Steve Bovan) out of Pasadena got a 396 HD (early evolution of the L88, aluminum heads etc) one also directly from Chevrolet Engineering for their Nova Altered Match racer Funny Car and then was on the preferred customer list with the F/C Camaros! Doug Thorley was hooked up sort of with Bill Thomas, so another top line outfit! The Corvair Funny took apart the Mopar crowd early on and set the national record!

Back to Corvettes, you guys were in the same level with like Rex Ramsey, Dave Heinz, Yenko and Whims, etc. (not Rodriguez- bull story), and others like the In Team out of Utah, Al Joehnck in Santa Barbara and stuff with like Bondurant at Washburn Chevrolet (did early race development of the 350 For Chevrolet Engineering too which included some of the small and big block stuff on the Dry Lakes and Salt Flats too, that we have all seen bits of in Corvette folklore), etc etc etc. got engines all loose bolted together, no final torque. Just all of the crucial parts there! So kind of a kit, with the Ignitions, M22s, etc, but not quite a kit! I believe these were complete long blocks, just not torqued together when shipped. The same units going to Chaparral & McLaren (the cutting edge stuff, Chaparral more working inside Chevrolet and McLaren more as a consultant to engineer and test working like side by side and independent in the Traco shop and then with Al Bartz, but finally out of their own shop Livonia, Michigan), Berger & Nickey (Dick Harrell chapters and more), Briggs (Greenwood & Jungle Jim, the Polish Racing Team, and the Cannonball Run van guys, Gurney/Brock Ferrari Daytona gang, etc.), Nickey/Bill Thomas, Motion, Smokey, and others! I just got done going through Harrell’s history more, and the Mr Chevrolet came from his race travel, where they changed the livery to the sponsorship of the local noted Dealer in the area of the event.

The HD program actually was the Race Program as Piggins (I think he even dated Betty Skelton) and his group (Bill Howell, Pete Estes, Frank Winchell, Herb Fisher, Paul Prior, John Pierce, Paul King, Ernie Callard, Gene Malloy, etc etc all guys with historic chapters I have been developing in my research) knew not to call it Race! The real Race parts support was a lead up to supporting the Trans Am series, but NASCAR (like Rex White aka Grand Sport team front line stuff, and others I could get into) and Drag Racing (cant forgot the importance of Grumpy Jenkins the top guru for Chevrolet goods development, testing, etc) were to be supported (big blocks), and Zora was grabbing stuff, requisitioning stuff for our beloved Corvette. Piggins and them had Jim Hall and Bruce McLaren were the real Big Block programs for Chevrolet road racing, where the primary focus went. That is why Corvette was essentiallly a true really step child division and out the back door thing happening. The Chaparral support was about as hush as could be, Zora fought to keep the Corvette relevant, kept himself on the dinner party list!

The NASCAR guys blew it early, and didn’t get back up with Chevrolet supported Teams until basically the 70s. That was Junior Johnson at the World 600 May 1971 (Charlie Glotzbach). A few flash in the pan appearances here and there. But parts from late 1966, where getting out there at the junior ranks!

My Father’s Drag Car was in the stable of JD Corvettes (Bellflower) in their catalog too with a small block dual ram (they brokered the sale late 1967 to ???, they don’t remember exactly who it went to, but I have some guesses and we also befriended the Corvette Auto Parts Guys (Long Beach), but both of those operations were a jump up of Class, and then both went big time to Fuel Altered and Funny Car Class. We were Jr. or small block competitors. We stayed gas, never going to Fuel and exotic nitro mixes! My Dad tried it once and near caught the car on fire in our garage! My mother wasn’t having any part of having Nitro in our house, ever again! We put some in the Mini Bike even! I am pretty sure Our C1 Drag Car went to Ron Cassile ( the 1970s #92 1967 Blue L88 racer driver/Owner). But these were also outfits getting these kind of parts!

The Blair connection to try the special parts HD 396 (forefather of the L88 build directly from Chevrolet Engineering) was a cool find, leading me down a new path of research!

You Tube

I think Gary Gove said it all. It looks just like it did when he raced it in 66. Nice job!!!