REAL racer on ebay
07-28-2017, 04:35 PM
#21
Race Director
I know something about the European German Wetzel racer. I don't have the Wetzel car coming back to our shores back in the day, to race measly SCCA. The story doesn't mesh, that with all of the platforms and how cheap, and the modernization of body styles happening in the racing organizations and such that some local guys would become the customers of a racer being sold out of Germany. Heck the transportation costs alone would not have made that a good deal! Ya right I say (not being disrespectful)
Curt Wetzel was a Pan-Am pilot, they shipped the car over in the belly of a Pan-Am jet and after the 72 season the Porsche factory cried so loud the ADAC increased the weight of the Corvette, add to that the trouble Wetzel told me he was having getting parts so he had enough and brought the car back to the US in a Pan-Am jet where it sat in a flooded airplane hangar near Buffalo NY (Curts father & brother were test pilots for Piper) and was sold to Cam Champion (Canadian Porsche dealer) who I might add still owes Wetzel $5000.00
07-28-2017, 04:37 PM
#22
Race Director
07-28-2017, 04:43 PM
#23
Race Director
Or is the Curt Wetzel racer this car? 
07-28-2017, 09:07 PM
#25
Team Owner
Curt Wetzel was a Pan-Am pilot, they shipped the car over in the belly of a Pan-Am jet and after the 72 season the Porsche factory cried so loud the ADAC increased the weight of the Corvette, add to that the trouble Wetzel told me he was having getting parts so he had enough and brought the car back to the US in a Pan-Am jet where it sat in a flooded airplane hangar near Buffalo NY (Curts father & brother were test pilots for Piper) and was sold to Cam Champion (Canadian Porsche dealer) who I might add still owes Wetzel $5000.00
Then Wetzels is buying more cars than anyone! The Psychodelic paint job looks like the pinched down units, I will have to get out better pictures! More to what got put in the trunk, if the Corvette had a trunk! The OC cars had different side pipes, used the Kustoms! ! So I would say Tony's builds would be using the similar proven race parts? A minor mystery! I have a million projects on back log to get into more extensive research, but we are seeing everyone loves a Wetzel connection! $hit he probably was becoming "The Most Interesting Man in the World"" Get him a commercial! I have a whole German in German article somewhere on him and I think one more on him somewhere in English! I also know some more about the guys car addiction!
All interesting stuff!
Last edited by TCracingCA; 07-29-2017 at 09:14 PM.
07-28-2017, 09:12 PM
#26
Team Owner
07-29-2017, 08:38 AM
#27
Race Director
I just read a story from Tony`s brother Peter who typed about the O-C trans-am effort, in it he talked about how Chaparral was the #1 T/A team and how the O-C team could not get the very special front spindles GM cast special for Chaparral, until Tony asked his father for help, they were then able to buy some spindles from GM.
07-29-2017, 10:41 AM
#28
Safety Car
Member Since: Apr 2007
Location: PHOENIX AZ. WHAT A MAN WON"T SPEND TO GIVE HIS ASS A RIDE
Posts: 3,680
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THANKS guys. This is great info. Love hearing the real deal stories not some restorers BS to hype the price of a home made racer.
07-29-2017, 07:04 PM
#29
Team Owner
Generally I like a lot of these cars! What I hate is that you have a notable and interesting historical Car, but some of these Investors have to stretch the truth too far, and make connection that are ridiculous or unsubstantiated! They have enough to be proud of, but they in their attempt to impress everyone, they enhance the Ownership chains and story with a bunch of bull$hit!
My favorite to date was the Pedro Rodriquez sold to him directly from GM claim and it being a rare Factory 1966 M22 Racer! That was the funniest so far!
My second favorite was the Greenwood Racer buildup, and then the guy with the actual car came forward after all of the endorsements and accolades were poured all over the phony one! Then they scramble to create a cover story of a racer customer build by John, etc.
Funny how these old guys stories (Wetzel in this case) are sketchy for documenting stuff like histories:
Wetzel obtained the Car prior to the start of the 1970 season and first race entry was in a DARM race Round One Race 12 ADAC Nurburgring 300 km on April 19th. He did not get it ready in time for the race! So if it was a Tony Delorenzo prepped car, it wasn't even capable of being raced!!!!
The first actual race and win was DARM Kaufbeuren GT Over 2 Liter Round 2 Race 4 the ADAC Flugplatzrennen, May 3rd, 1970!
The guy forgot a whole entire year in his modern story telling!
Anyone wondering what the heck DARM means- Deutsche Automobil Rundstrecken Meisterschaft Series.
After entering as as an individual, he started to call his team the Swiss-o-Pass Racing Team.
Wetzel still had the car in Europe as late as June 1973, as he used it at Zolder!
Most of of my information and probably where I have those good pictures is with my Porsche stuff as he was racing Porsche 911s and 914/6 GTs.
PS I have the car as a GM Export European shipped L88!!!!
Thus I can see old and getting senile people similar to myself getting contacted! It probably went like this-- Mr Wetzel we are calling you because we found your old race car!
Reply- Which one?
The Corvette!
Reply-Oh really!
We would like to review some of the cars history and your racing it! If you have time?
Reply- Yes yes yes, but sonny you have to speak up!
It looks like you might have gotten it from Tony Delorenzo, by way of Yenko!
Reply oh oh that car was a bastard!
We also think it was a parts assembled LT-1 wreck!
Reply- Oh that car ran like the dickens!
We would like to get it authenticated! Can we fly out and take you to lunch and talk to you about it?
Reply- I love lunch, but I can't eat like in the old days, because of my constitution!
Forward lunch- here is the car, can you authenticated it?
Reply- Heck that sure looks like it! (Naturally car all painted pretty like in the old picture). She sure is a beauty!
High fives around the table, while Wetzel sips his soup! Another Race Registry validation is complete!
Last edited by TCracingCA; 07-30-2017 at 03:58 AM.
08-17-2017, 08:11 PM
#30
Race Director
that would be an expensive bowl of soup, Curt Wetzel lives in Berlin as in Germany, it was actually Delorenzo who told me where I might find Wetzel, he sort of chuckled as he said "Berlin Germany" but what Tony didn`t know is that my mother-in-law was born in Munich, one phone call and we had Wetzel`s address and phone number. the car Wetzel raced in 1970 was not my car it was Tony`s black/black 69 L-88, he sold that to the Porsche factory, they were thinking they had gotten rid of him...