Div 7, Mike Manning's 64 Belevdere pics??

[cudadoug]

In 1988, through a counterman at Vic Hubbard's in Hayward I was able to buy the ex-SS/EA and FA 64 Plymouth of Mike Manning for a whopping $1500! COMPLETE roller! It was pretty much as raced last, with a leaf/link rear, 4 point roll bar, shifter, gauges...complete!! Don't know what Mike sold to my seller for, but it wasn't that cheap!

At one point (1976?) it held the (FA?) record at (I think) 10.78...??

Anywhoooo, I had barely a bracket racer's budget so I never did reach my dream of Div 7 S/S champ...HAHA!!

Around spring of 1990 I sold it to a UPS driver in So Cal ($3000. Man...if I could do this for a living!) He also bought a 440 shortblock from me that was intened for that car as a bracket/10.90 deal. Lost track of it after that and always wondered what happened to it.

Does anyone have any pics from when Mike ran the car?? Attached it the only pic I have in all white paint. When Mike had the car it had red and blue side stripes over the white.

No it wasn't a real maxie car...

In fact, anyone know what happened to Mike? He ran Manning Automotive in Hayward until the mid 90's (again, I think) and he sold out and retired. Said he was taking up his new career of fly fishing! Super nice guy...hope he is well.

[Hemi Moose]

I'm not sure where you lived during the time you owned the car but if it was on the west coast I bet Bob Mazzolni from Riverside California would know what happened to it...curious what size motor was the car originally, and do you know anymore history on it.

[Bob Rice]

[Hemi Moose]

...so I'm guessing the '64 Plymouth was repainted all white after it's former red white & blue colors it had that Bob posted...was it always a west coast car, because I seen another picture of one that looks very similar to this one but that car was from the north east / division 1.

[Chuck Norton]

Driver # 7310! I never knew who was assigned that number. Division 7 assigned the original Super Stock permanent numbers in a consecutive sequence beginning with 7300 back in 1974. Several of us continue to use those original numbers today. I've had 7311 since that time, George Stassi has 7312 and I believe that Richard Salcido is 7307.

The original Stock numbers began with 7900. I don't know how long it took them to assign the entire sequence and eventually abandon the system but that really dates the picture. These days, a real Division 7 veteran is anyone with a 4-digit number.

c

[cudadoug]

Glad I could help, Mr. Norton!

Moose, I don't remeber who painted it all white, Mike or the guy I bought it from. I did ask Mazz in the late 90's if he had seen it or knew of it, which he did not at that point.

I'm also not 100% sure of it's history, other than it was an original 318 poly car that Mike dug up somewhere. Even in 88 when I got it, the turquoise bench seat interior was really clean, there was no rust anywhere, nor could I find any evidence of a crash or other abuse.

GREAT PIC! Looks like Irwindale circa the mid-70's. (What year did a SS/EA require a roll bar?)

I'd sure like to see a qualifying sheet and/or class eliminations from the Winternationals during that era...

[Hemi Moose]

Notice the front license plate is the same in both pics...have you tried the California DMV since it seems the tags say with the car when it's sold.

[Duster 7695]

I was good friends with Mike back in the late 60's and early 70's. He helped me a lot with my SS/I '69 Dart Swinger 340. When Mike raced the car it had a stage 3 426 Max Wedge. He set the national record in the very early 70's. The last time I raced with him was at the '74 Winternationals.

I moved to Rhode Island and I returned to the Bay Area in 1981. When I saw Mike he said he sold the car to a gentelman in Europe who paid the exact amount Mike was asking.

Mike quit working at Cooper Motors Plymouth and openned his own shop in Hayward. He spent time selling Darts and Dart boards on the side. He divorced and remarried. He finally got tired of working and decided to take a chance and retire and spend more time fly fishing. He even went to New Zeland to fish.

Last I heard a couple of years ago his son died of cancer. The Obituary said Mike moved to northern New Mexico.

He was a great guy and a great friend to me.

Raul

[cudadoug]

Due to the "privacy act" DMV won't give the public any info any longer.

Raul, you're right about the Europen guy. THAT was a the guy I bought the car from. He worked for an airline and was living in Europe when they made the deal. He bought the car and stored it at his brother's house in Danville. He had a really NICE white on red 67 GTX and a t-bucket with a BLOWN 429 Ford Hemi...with a 4-speed no less at that same location. Everything he had was for sale, if I recall due to a messy divorce. Hence the low price on the '64. He sold the other 2 rides pretty cheap as well.

In fact, we missed our first connection to do the deal, as he missed a connecting flight and had to reschedule for the next day. I remember not being able to sleep, thinking my great deal was going to escape me.

Any pics of your Dart?

You must remember Carl Hawkins' SS/IA and sometimes JA 340 Dart? This pic was from 1979-ish at Fremont.

[Duster 7695]

I have a photo of my Dart, but I don't know how to post it. I think that green Dart was in Cecil Yothers shop when I had him do some work on my Dart. I sure miss Fremont Drag Strip, I had a lot of great times there.

Raul