[Sirrotica]

Any of you guys look at Keith Vrabecs pictures of when Roy Tyner first built his GP and all the changes along the way the car went through? These cars change colors all the time and after the car is wrecked, they're not going to pay a sign painter and a painter every time they have to change sheet metal. Back then the numbers were put on in a pinch with masking tape when they were in a hurry to get to the next race. Cars got painted with whatever paint they had lying around, sometimes it was brushed on house paint.

Sheet metal on oval track cars would probably be changed at a minimum of twice a year, lots of patching and straightening in between too. If you made a full year you were damn lucky, or the car sat more than it was raced. If you made it through the full year without changing sheet metal you were going to change it over the winter for sure. Original parts on this type of a car mean nothing. This is a full contact sport, it's not like drag racing where sheet metal never gets changed.

Probably the reason the chrome louvers were removed from the 2+2 fenders is because they require no chrome trim on the cars because during contact these pieces fall onto the track and puncture tires. My guess rather than loosen all the nuts it was quicker to burn that section out with a torch and patch it. Or it was a take off with slight damage from a body shop, or a junkyard someone had already cut the chrome off of it. Body shops and wrecking yards are the main source for sheet metal for these cars because if there was slight damage it couldn't be used and many times they were given away for free. Free is just the right price for a privateer.

When I was running and building oval track cars a wrecking yard sponsor was almost a necessity to get sheet metal plus keeping an eye out for dead cars that looked like their next stop was going to be the crusher. Buying a car for a few bucks to get the good body parts and scrap the rest meant the body parts were free. I can't even count how many fenders, quarters, bumpers, door skins, etc. I've changed on oval track cars. The amount of oxygen and acetylene used and the piles of coat hangers I've used to weld bodies back together would be a good amount.

Chances are the roof is the only original sheet metal part on that car and the
VIN is probably long gone too. It would be unusual if there is a title for the car either. The only way to know if it's the car, is to believe whoever has been entrusted with the car all these years, most likely a family member. This wasn't a Petty car or an Allison car, it was some guy that filled the field that had a dream of being a big time race car driver and make some money along the way. There's no payoff to lie about the history of the car because it will never be really valuable.