Butch leal's number 2 car

OLD GUY · 02-14-2012, 02:32 AM

Butch's number 2 car is a real A-990 car. It was sold new by Periott Chrysler Plymouth in San Mateo California. The car was originally black and was driven on the street for 1900 miles. The owner bought it for his kid and the kid did a 180 on a main street, got arrested and the car was impounded. The next day the car was returned to the dealership. The dealer called Melrose Motors (Melrose Missle) and asked them to find a buyer. Gary Sutton purchased the car. He and his partner at the time ran the car for a couple of years and then I bought it. I ran the car for about a year. It was real scary on 7 inch wide tires. I sold the car to Rich Ghizzely. 2 years later Gary bought it back. We got the thing to run under the national record with some help from Cecil Yother. Then had complete brain fade and made it a 4 speed car. We broke drive shafts , ripped the rt subframe out of the floor, buckled the roof and quarter panels. It was way more car than we could handle To be honest we didn't know what we were doing with that animal.
One day we were running at Fremont Race way and Butch was there. He came over and told us he was looking for a car that wasn't all cut up to have for the Chrysler clinic and would we be interested in selling It took about 2 seconds for Gary to say yes. I can't remember whether that was August of 1973 or 1974. We sold the car as a roller
Butch picked up the car the following week and it went straight to Butler. The next time I saw the car was at the Winternationals. It was a work of art. The beat up floor had been replaced, it had a new roll cage, and a whole lot of good things done to it..The car was really fast even after NHRA made Butch take the wheelie bars off. I remember Butch bringing the car to Fremont about a month after the Winternationals and if my old memory serves me correctly he ran a 9.44 at over 140 mph.
Steve Bagwell bought the car and changed the car back to an automatic. The car was still plenty fast. The last I heard about the car was a blurb in the National Dragster after Steve sold it, that the tech people in what ever division it went to should be watching for it.
And there you have it

Dave Schmitz

Geerhead55 · 02-14-2012, 04:31 PM

You're right,,it was a work of art, and pretty advanced for its time. I saw the car at Ontario for the Supernationals/World Finals in '74,,it was very impressive.
On another note, I saw Cecil Yother and his wife, and dog, walking around the swap meet in Puyallup this past weekend,,, still getting around just fine.
Danny Durham

Hemi Moose · 02-14-2012, 06:00 PM

One of Butch Leals '65 A990 Plymouth Belvedere as it looks today...these photos were taken in the late 90's.

Hemi Moose · 02-14-2012, 06:12 PM

Here's another shot '65 A990 from the old days...

Hemi Moose · 02-14-2012, 06:22 PM

Another one of the '65 A990 on a the back of their hauler...

Hemi Moose · 02-25-2012, 12:50 PM

One more of Butch Leal's '65 A990 Belvedere...

Robert Simpson · 03-09-2012, 11:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hemi Moose

Here's another shot '65 A990 from the old days...

Did Bud Speirs from Starke Florida own this car for many many years? I know he had a car that looked just like that one for years, it had been there so long that a small tree had grown up around the K'member..Was told it was the old Butch Leal car and it had the same Red and White paint..Crazy...It is a great looking car.

Joe Pinkston · 03-09-2012, 11:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert Simpson

Did Bud Speirs from Starke Florida own this car for many many years? I know he had a car that looked just like that one for years, it had been there so long that a small tree had grown up around the K'member..Was told it was the old Butch Leal car and it had the same Red and White paint..Crazy...It is a great looking car.

Robert, I was told that Bud Spears' car was a former Butch Leal car also. I was just waiting for someone to bring that up.

I saw the car also 25 or so years ago with the small tree growing up through the engine bay sitting infront of Bud's house. It was sad to see.

The story I was told about the car by the late WB Hutto was he believed the car though a '65, was built through connections at Chrysler for Butch in 1973. I don't know what is true about that story and what isn't.

Hey Dan Moore, you're #1.

RIP Mark Graham & WB Hutto

02-14-2012, 04:31 PM	#2
Geerhead55 VIP Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Tacoma, Washington Posts: 1,632 Likes: 0 Liked 5 Times in 5 Posts	Re: Butch leal's number 2 car You're right,,it was a work of art, and pretty advanced for its time. I saw the car at Ontario for the Supernationals/World Finals in '74,,it was very impressive. On another note, I saw Cecil Yother and his wife, and dog, walking around the swap meet in Puyallup this past weekend,,, still getting around just fine. Danny Durham

02-14-2012, 06:00 PM	#3
Hemi Moose VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,824 Likes: 0 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Butch leal's number 2 car One of Butch Leals '65 A990 Plymouth Belvedere as it looks today...these photos were taken in the late 90's.

02-14-2012, 06:12 PM	#4
Hemi Moose VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,824 Likes: 0 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Butch leal's number 2 car Here's another shot '65 A990 from the old days... Last edited by Hemi Moose; 12-29-2012 at 09:34 PM.

02-14-2012, 06:22 PM	#5
Hemi Moose VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,824 Likes: 0 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Butch leal's number 2 car Another one of the '65 A990 on a the back of their hauler...

02-25-2012, 12:50 PM	#6
Hemi Moose VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,824 Likes: 0 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Butch leal's number 2 car One more of Butch Leal's '65 A990 Belvedere...

02-14-2012, 02:32 AM	#1
OLD GUY Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 68 Likes: 9 Liked 9 Times in 2 Posts	Butch leal's number 2 car Butch's number 2 car is a real A-990 car. It was sold new by Periott Chrysler Plymouth in San Mateo California. The car was originally black and was driven on the street for 1900 miles. The owner bought it for his kid and the kid did a 180 on a main street, got arrested and the car was impounded. The next day the car was returned to the dealership. The dealer called Melrose Motors (Melrose Missle) and asked them to find a buyer. Gary Sutton purchased the car. He and his partner at the time ran the car for a couple of years and then I bought it. I ran the car for about a year. It was real scary on 7 inch wide tires. I sold the car to Rich Ghizzely. 2 years later Gary bought it back. We got the thing to run under the national record with some help from Cecil Yother. Then had complete brain fade and made it a 4 speed car. We broke drive shafts , ripped the rt subframe out of the floor, buckled the roof and quarter panels. It was way more car than we could handle To be honest we didn't know what we were doing with that animal. One day we were running at Fremont Race way and Butch was there. He came over and told us he was looking for a car that wasn't all cut up to have for the Chrysler clinic and would we be interested in selling It took about 2 seconds for Gary to say yes. I can't remember whether that was August of 1973 or 1974. We sold the car as a roller Butch picked up the car the following week and it went straight to Butler. The next time I saw the car was at the Winternationals. It was a work of art. The beat up floor had been replaced, it had a new roll cage, and a whole lot of good things done to it..The car was really fast even after NHRA made Butch take the wheelie bars off. I remember Butch bringing the car to Fremont about a month after the Winternationals and if my old memory serves me correctly he ran a 9.44 at over 140 mph. Steve Bagwell bought the car and changed the car back to an automatic. The car was still plenty fast. The last I heard about the car was a blurb in the National Dragster after Steve sold it, that the tech people in what ever division it went to should be watching for it. And there you have it Dave Schmitz Last edited by OLD GUY; 02-29-2012 at 05:17 PM.