I don't know if this has been posted, before, but there is some great Corvette footage. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oClxxtt5sMo
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Re: Nassau '56
GM photographic was not sent to this event ( maybe just maybe because it was a playground event for the great and the near great ). However this film footage that surfaced in the last year is really spectacular. You can imagine my appreciation seeing my car being offloaded from the ship. A film historian friend of mine in California believes this film footage may have been taken by a Howard Hughes film crew who did these type films for RKO.
All the key players are there. Harley Earl, Bill Mitchell, Zora, Shelby, Dick Thompson, Paul Goldsmith, The Marquise De Portago who was killed a few months later and so much more. Up until this race where the Corvettes introduced Rochester Fuel Injection it was all European cars. A very important debut event for Corvette on the heels of Sebring earlier that year.
The Corvettes were loaded back on the ship after the event and sent to Smokey Yunick in preparation for the Feb. 1957 Daytona Speed Weeks.
My Nassau car is the only known survivor of the 3 production cars. Of Course the Bill Mitchell SR2 is owned by Bill Tower in Florida.
Considering my car VIN #775 was built on Nov. 12th then sent to Engineering in Warren, Mi. for prepping with big brakes, big tank, roll bar, Dyned FI engine etc..then shipped to Sebring to be driven and sorted by Dick Thompson then shipped for the Nassau, Bahamas Governors Trophy race on Dec. 7th. Time was short.
Ed cole wanted to capture some important PR for his new Fuel Injection. My car went on to set the speed record on the beach at Daytona driven by Paul Goldsmith. Featured in Corvette News Vol.1 #1.
The car remains intact and unrestored with the original Prototype fuel injection, engineering engine, roll bar, original interior etc..
Fun Stuff..real Corvette history!
Joe -
Re: Nassau '56
I've never seen that, it looks like it was a magnificent event!Comment
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Re: Nassau '56
George, Thanks for that link. Enjoyed it!
Joe, great story. How about posting several photos of your car here, or a link to them. I'd love to see them.
RichComment
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Re: Nassau '56
At Daytona / New Smyrna...1st ever NASCAR Sports Car Race...middle weekend during the Daytona Speeweeks!! Very important event..because the Ford battlebirds were present!!
In the main race..Shelby 1st (Ferrari ), Reventlo 2nd ( Maserati ), Panch 3rd ( Battlebird ), Goldsmith 4th ( My Corvette )..all 4 were 1st in class..( engine size ).
This is the event where a former 56 Sebring car then in private hands was entered but crashed and rolled. The car was trailered home then stolen that night. The car or what is presumed to be the car has a very interesting ownership dilemma. It is believed the 56 Sebring car that Bosley purchased in 56, removed the Sebring body and used the chassis for his custom built Bosley Interstate sports car is part of the mystery!!
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Re: Nassau '56
Rich, you're welcome. I love this stuff!Comment
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Re: Nassau '56
Bosley built two custom handmade cars..the first appeared at Sebring in 1955 as shown below. Actually way ahead of anything being made in the USA.
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Then he bought one of the 1956 Corvette Sebring factory race cars...removed the body and built the Bosley Interstate on that race car chassis.
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The Bosley interstate ( 2nd Bosley car ) was discovered to have the 1956 Sebring chassis by one of our long time NCRS members..and the story gets better from there.
Later on that part...gets skind of sticky.
The body of the Bosley Interstate last I heard was in a barn in Illinois...owned by a long time car builder.
This is not TV...this is the real deal.
JoeComment
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Re: Nassau '56
were they putting dry ice on the 117 car?Comment
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Re: Nassau '56
Joe, Great pics, but I thought you still own it. Is that right? Recent pics available?
Was that Bosley interstate ( 2nd Bosley car ) chassis from the #1 car? BTW, it looked like a E-Type at first glance in the small pic in the thread, then I went wow when I saw the nose. Interesting design feature.
I thought Frank Burell(sp?) was the guy who owned it. But maybe I got my cars mixed up. Or are you talking about the "other" car that's in a controvery presently?
RichComment
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Re: Nassau '56
Rich
I still own the Nassau car and will post current day pictures tomorrow. Yes Frank Burrell had the 1956 Sebring car #1.But the car numbered one at New Smyrna was not the same #1 car at Sebring albeit one of the other 56 Sebring cars. Dave Bartush got all the Burrell Sebring stuff including the #1 car and he also had the Bosley interstate!
The Bosley Interstate was later separated from its Sebring chassis. I have a picture of the Bosley Interstate body sitting on blocks as of a few years ago.
joeComment
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Re: Nassau '56
Joe, do you have Frank's info from John B? I just went through all of the info looking for any of Frank's references to the Nassau Trophy race but found none. The last date shown is Nov '56.
Who headed up the Nassau racing program?
Rich
p.s. anxiously waiting for your pictures too!
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Re: Nassau '56
RichJoe, do you have Frank's info from John B? I just went through all of the info looking for any of Frank's references to the Nassau Trophy race but found none. The last date shown is Nov '56.
Who headed up the Nassau racing program?
Rich
p.s. anxiously waiting for your pictures too!
( Harley Earl / Ed Cole / Bill Mitchell / Zora / Lou Cuitita sp? ( FI specialist ) / other engineers..
You pose an interesting question. I don't connect Frank Burrell with the Nassau event. However it is well documented that Frank was instrumental in the Sebring program. Ed Cole was instrumental in the Nassau program as he wanted his new baby ( Fuel Injection ) to get some PR. In February when he found out about the newly organized Pops Whiteman ( orchestra leader & racing fan ) New Smyrna NASCAR Sports Car event..Ed Cole sent the former Nassau cars to compete. Ford had entered their supercharged Battlebirds and a number of private Corvette racers were entered as well including a young Don Yenko. Paul Goldsmith was hired to drive the Nassau car. He was connected to GM ( lived in the Detroit area ) and GM had been providing him special light weight racing motorcylcle parts for his Harley in the 50's which helped make Goldsmith with his balls of steel driving style very competitive..plus Paul was working with Smokey at this time. Goldsmith was leading the Daytona beach race in 57 when his 57 fuel injected chevy blew up. He came back in 58 and won the last race on the Daytona beach course.
Dave Bartush was friends with Frank Burrell in the Detroit area and when Frank died Dave ended up with Franks collection. In a previous restorer article, Dave shows a hand drawn note from Burrell designing the quick steer adaptor and other contributions.
In the early days of 56/57 the Corvette factory race cars were entered in races under private individuals like Dick Doane who owned Dick Doane Chevrolet Raceway Enterprises and the name escapes me now but a friend of Earl and Cole who was the #2 share holder at Coca Cola and owned a vacation home in Nassau.
If you study Nassau it is very interesting. This is where the Duke and *****ss of Windsor were exiled. Think about it. All the best Ferrari's, Maserati's, Mercedes, Porsche's etc..were sent for the last official FIA race of the year and it was a major social event. There was even a famous murder that took place during that time frame on the island.
The Nassau cars were ordered by GM engineering under Work Order 17792 specifically for the Nassau event. Later new cars were ordered for Sebring 57. There was a handful of names that were involved in the racing program that essentially had the power to issue Work Orders ( like purchase orders ) to deliver cars and parts around the country. NCRS long time members Art Armstrong and Loren Lundberg have additional details.
Terry O'Neil in England wrote and published an excellant book covering all the Nassau races.
There was a nice article on my Nassau car in the Restorer about 5 years ago as well as in all the major Corvette magazines. I will look them up. The car was retired in 1958 and sold on consignment at Dick Doane Chevrolet. It was painted white over the original white w/blue stripes to disguise the car ( albeit the roll bar was left ) and then the 1st owner who bought it from GM had it painted gold in 1961 ( over the white ). The bluestripes and the blue coves although painted over are clearly present. The original red interior is in the car including the seats which were modified for the tall Paul Goldsmith. The red interior was stained black when the car was prepped for sale by Doane Chevrolet.
Irwin Rohrer in the Chicago area got a call from a millionaire friend in Florida saying 2 race cars were being sold and that he should buy one. He did #775 and it sat in his Garage from 1958 until 2004 ( 46 years ). The other car for sale is a mystery as to its location and existance. There is a chance that it is resurrected and dressed in different clothes. However I have studied a couple candidates.. if by any chance they are a sister car..they no longer have the birthmarks that would help with identification. The Nassau cars have unique items only to those cars.
Legend has it that the last 4 digits of the 56/57 VIN #'s were handwritten on the manufacturer label on the underside of the hardtop before the hardtop lining was installed. One day, I will remove the headliner from #775 to see what it reveals. Maybe the hardtop got swapped with one of the other Nassau cars and will lead to the finding one of the sister cars and another multi $million car.
Joe
Nassau starting line.
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Battlebird at New Smyrna
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