[Rat Patrol]

Steve Sasko - here lies the problem

O23 cars built 12 Feb 67 - 55 of each. Not March.

S&M had THREE 67 Belvederes - Not two.

1. The Belvedere RO23 is the obvious one.

They raced in SS/B in 67, one class slower than the 65 A990 Race Hemi cars. One anomaly…S&M ran their RO23 in SS/C at the Winter Nationals…a clear error by the NHRA techs.?

I have results lists showing Myl, Vanke, Sullivan/McCandless & Sox all running these cars in SS/B for the bulk of the season...so what happened at the Winters?

2. Flat hood car - The main flathood car is harder to pick…but a close inspection reveals Belvedere upper sill trim, a rear Belvedere trim panel and a bench seat. The car was a 440 and ran in SS/E in 67.

3. The 3rd car was purchased later…and ran as a ‘flat hood’ ‘GTX’ . Pictures show a Belvedere rear panel…but no Belvedere upper sill trim. Again it is believed to be a Belvedere and known to have run a Street Hemi…and with the flat hood ran in SS/D against genuine GTX’s in 67.

Its a tribute to S&M marketing that these cars are still believed to be ‘GTX’s’ today.


Moving on.....

There is a widely syndicated picture of the S&M ‘cold air’ car at the 68 Winters running in SS/D. (Attached)

The ‘same’ O23’ type car was run in SS/C (68) by Rudy Schings and Wiley Cossey.....,so why was the Sox RO run in a slower class at both the 67 Winters (SS/C) and the 68 Winters (SS/D)?

My only conclusion is S&M ran an air cleaner...conning NHRA into thinking it was the same engine as a factory GTX - which of course it wasn’t. (Blueprinted, bigger carbs, modded intake)

I guess we’ll never know....but its a heck of a curve ball!