As luck would have it, I was looking at some pics from Cuba tonight. I was watching this video, when all of a sudden I spotted this pic - look at the tailfin!
...and this in while I was away, from Bernie. I snagged the article and pix, which I present further below:
Bernie Brouillet wrote:
Dan,
Saw your finding of the fender emblem on a Cuba-mobile '59 Plymouth (What a roof line that one has, too.) and by chance today saw another -and likely the OEM- use for that same emblem. Tailfin of a 1960 Savoy!
Today's mail brought the November 2018 Hot Rod Magazine. Let me guess that I read it more regularly than you might, so certain things catch my eye. If you spot one on a news stand and have a few seconds, thumb away.
On page 10 is a short article about first female winner Carol Cox, Pontiac driver back in 1961 and 62 - The photo is from the 1962 US Nationals in Indiana, and the runner up car is the interest, a 1960 Savoy lettered up as "Big Mo" - but mis-identified in this article as belonging to Ray Christian (he had a similar car but a different color, have seen B&W pics only.) The emblem is plain as day in the picture.
I've seen this same picture, and a couple others of the same run from different angles, showing that this white Plymouth, driven by Terry Yeazel (always correctly identified in previous pics) is competing in the Super Stock/ Automatic class "S/SA or SS/A markings it would be back then, AND that car shows a Golden Commando fender emblem, not the Sonoramic emblem.
The winning 368 hp Pontiac was quick running low 13 second times at 107 mph in the quarter, and no 305 hp Golden Commando would even fit that classification. In my mind it has to be the 383 GC engine, with the optional DUAL QUADS for a rating of 330 hp. Even so, that Pontiac blew it away, No numbers were given for the Plymouth.'s losing run, but in the photo I can see he has "1961 A/SA winner" painted on the fender above the emblem, and something might be written on the hood, not clear in this shot, quite likely the HP rating as was very common back then. Maybe I even mentioned this before, senioritis-excuse me please.
In a different picture showing Ray Christian's 1960 Savoy running the year before, at the 1961 Nationals, I can see his car also has a normal Golden Commando badge, not Sono, AND I can see, in shoe-polish writing, "330 HP" written on the fender, very faintly but I am sure of what I see. So I suspect the same inline dual quads were on that car too. Sometimes that photo has been used in the past twenty years I've seen someone add the word "Sonoramic" to describe Ray Christian's engine combo, but I say 2 x 4 on a "runner manifold" (Plymouth's own words in an ad describing that engine package) was more likely - and called out as either optional or special equipment, just off top of my head.
I know I have a book with a close up of Yeazel's car, will take another look someday. Both he and Christian were from Ohio, ran other MoPars for some years beyond this time, and both have departed this earth.
Here's a couple more tidbits about that article, and I hope I don't stray too far from identifying the part's application on a 1960 Plymouth, but the drag racing aspect hooked me in pretty bad. I have seen that same emblem stacked three-high on other 1960 Plymouths but didn't verify if that was an original design or owner added.
Back to these photos, which I recall first seeing back in 1962 when I got into buying lots of car magazines and fostering the appreciation of MoPars as my father had bought a new 1962 Dart that summer (Slant six, standard, bare bones but the body was showing up in the magazines and I was hooked.)
Any finned Plymouth caught my attention back then so this white '60 stood out for several reasons, Our much more recent dual quad discussions poured fuel on the fire so I thought it was worth mentioning again in this instance.
The degree to which Carol Cox's Pontiac outran that white 1960 Plymouth had always been attention getting - and a chance finding of another article since I sent you the first comments brings me back today. Yes, the Cox family were long time Pontiac racers, and that car was well set-up, not a daily driver as some would suggest. Coming from California they towed it East along with some other cars for Mickey Thompson, that year per a recent article. Her husband Lloyd Cox worked for MT at that time, and obviously knew his stuff. The news here is that in 1961 NHRA awarded that year's Stock Eliminator champion, Bruce Morgan of California, a complete new 1968 Pontiac with that same 368 hp Super Duty engine! Heck of a prize! And the article goes on to show Bruce Morgan racing said new Pontiac and turning elapsed times of about 14 seconds even, at about 104 mph, slower at both ends of the track than the Cox cars, showing again how well set up and quick they were, and how easily it seemed to embarrass the Plymouth. I've not been able to find what times that Plymouth or any other similar cars were capable of running back then but that one Pontiac was exceptional to say the least.
So from a small part ID'ing mission to one more trip down reminisce dragway, I thank you for the opportunity to remember and make a slight tie-in to our '59's. And to defend Plymouth's honor any way we can - of any year or engine!
