Quote:
Originally Posted by Liteweight
You will also note the wheel well trim on all corners. Dick first put trim on these cars because when he went to install slicks on one of them, the rough wheel well surgery done by Hurst cut the back of his hand.
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If I may, I'll add a little more about the wheelwell trim on the Landy cars.
I was in the teardown barn at Indy sometime in the later 70's tearing down a SS/AA car that I maintained. We did not win class, but had qualified for the eliminator, earning a teardown. The SS/AA winner and runner up arrived, one of them was Max Hurley. There was a significant commotion around Max's car even before they started getting the engine apart. Very shortly a Chrysler representative shows up at our car with a West Coast tech man in tow. Tech man is told to ask me what the wheelbase is on a SS Dart. He does, and I answer 111 inches. Tech man argues with me about that, says the factory super stockers were 108 like the Barracudas. He knows that because back in 1968 Dick Landy told him so, and all of Landy's Darts were 108. My reply was Max had owned his car all of these years and pretty much every other Dart was 111 inches why did you let Landy decide your specs.
They wanted to throw Max out for too long wheelbase.
It was common knowledge at the time that the rear wheelwell trim on Dick Landy's Darts (and other Landy cars also) were to cover his modified wheelbase.
The line about cut hands, and keeping the cars looking sharp for sponsors was just the smokescreen.