They say you can find anything on eBay, and I guess that's true; I was alerted to two recent posts on the auction Web site.
The first is for one of the most controversial Funny Car bodies of the modern era, the infamous and notorious "Batmobile" Buick LeSabre of Kenny Bernstein.
Crew chief Dale Armstrong drove the body through every loophole and space between the lines of the NHRA Rulebook for a car that, though it certainly was within the letter of the rules, was so far outside the spirit that it's amazing it ever made it to competition, let alone carried the Bud King to his third straight championship. NHRA moved quickly to close those loopholes, but, despite quite a clamor from fans and his fellow competitors, the car was allowed to run that season. Others, including Ed McCulloch with Larry Minor's Miller team and Jim Head, quickly made their own wild versions.
I interviewed Bernstein about this car in 2002, during his (first) retirement season, and he noted, "Looking back, this car was really ahead of its time. It looks like the cars of today. And look at that rear spoiler: There's hardly anything there because we had so much downforce everywhere else. That car was just a superior car, and Dale was really on his game."
According to the seller, "Bernstein gave this car to David Taylor's museum in Texas where it was made into a display. It was sold to a local car collector in South Florida in 1988-89," and apparently sat in a Florida storage yard for years before being rescued. The paint is in pretty rough shape, but I can't imagine someone not wanting to pick it up. It's the body only; no chassis. Hurry -- the sale ends in less than a day!
Check it out!
The second, sent by Angel Nieves (who, by the way, has been receiving quite a few photos of the Hedman Headers Maverick Pro Stocker after I asked for them in this column a couple of weeks ago), is a show-car version of "Wild Bill" Shrewsberry's Knott's Berry Farm wheelstander. It's a total nonworking piece and, as the seller notes, was never an actual wheelstander but a replica built to display in the theme park's Roaring '20s airfield area. I found the photo above left of the car on display on the DragList site. Pretty cool!
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth painted, lettered, and pinstriped the '28 Ford truck, whose chassis was built by Warren Brogie. The car comes with many promotional extras as well as stands to position the car in the wheelstanding position.
Most of us West Coast fans remember seeing the truck – the successor to Shrewsberry's long line of L.A. Darts -- do its thing at national events and match races. It won’t ever replace the Dart in my heart (it rhymes!) but might make a nice display item for someone. Hurry, the auction ends Thursday.
Check it out!