ChevyTaylor

[chevytaylor]

Hi all from down under (Australia).

This is a great site and I have been a fan for a long time. The information that fellow 409ers have shared has proven to be very helpful and informative. Hopefully by joining this site I might be able to contribute and assist other members in some way as they have me in the past.

The cars in my family include some rare Chevys and they all run the famous 409. My father has a 1962 two door post 380hp 409 Belair. Also Dan Gurney’s 1961 409 bubbletop race car. My brother has a 1962 two door post 409 Biscayne and I have a 1962 409 Belair bubbletop.

 

[cheap1]

Welcome to the site ChevyTaylor. I think I can speak for everyone when I say that you have got to post some pics. Sounds like you guys from down under really know how to ridebang There are alot of very knowledgable guys here There are also some guys like myself that just shut up and listen. Once again, welcome

 

[Ronnie Russell]

Welcome chevytaylor, Very impressive car collection. we are looking forward to hearing and seeing more.

 

[UK Racer]

The Gurney '61 Impala!!

The cars in my family include some rare Chevys and they all run the famous 409. My father has a 1962 two door post 380hp 409 Belair. Also Dan Gurney’s 1961 409 bubbletop race car. My brother has a 1962 two door post 409 Biscayne and I have a 1962 409 Belair bubbletop.

Wow, you have the '61 car Gurney raced in the UK?! :eek:
I second the request for pictures and info.
I'm building a '64 to race in historic events like Goodwood Revival but the original '61 Gurney car would trump that! What condition is it in?

 

[chevytaylor]

Gurney car

Wow, you have the '61 car Gurney raced in the UK?! :eek:
I second the request for pictures and info.
I'm building a '64 to race in historic events like Goodwood Revival but the original '61 Gurney car would trump that! What condition is it in?

My father has owned the Dan Gurney 409 race car for more than 22 years. He used to drop me and my friends off to school way back when. Man, what a ride! No wonder I couldn't concentrate on my school work. I’ll never forget the sound that thing made being worked through the gears. At the time the bubbletop had a crate NOS QC 1964 3844422 block under the hood. From that time on I was HOOKED and severely struck down with 409 fever.

The car is in great condition and currently is in storage awaiting a complete restoration with the original 1961 3795623 409 block, aluminium T10 and P case posi intact.

The first Australian owner purchased it directly from Dan Gurney at the Silverstone race track in England, bringing it to Australia with the intention to race it here down under. It wasn't to be: it had two doors not four, and the 409 Impala saw a lot of street duty towing other race cars.

In the seventies the original 623 1961 409 engine was replaced with a 283 small block. In the early eighties the 283 was replaced with an NOS still in the crate QC 1964 422 409. Up until recently it was thought that the original 623 409 engine was lost in a ski boat at the bottom of a deep harbor. The boat part was true but it was not at the bottom of any harbor. With the help of some die hard 409 friends here in Australia we have FOUND the original 1961 623 409 with the car’s VIN # stamped into the front of the block. At this stage we are gathering all the relevant information we can, to preserve the Gurney 409’s place in Chevrolet’s colorful racing history.

What’s also interesting is that back in January 1961, Dan Gurney had both Bill Thomas and Bill Fowler involved with this car’s race setup. In testing, Dan broke the Riverside raceway lap record held by Dave McDonald’s Corvette with the mighty 409. Bill Fowler who was at the time on his honeymoon DROVE the car from LA to New York where it was put on a ship bound for England to compete at the Silverstone May 6, 1961 race.

As you can see, the car has a very interesting past and is believed to actually be the very first factory 409 car to roll out of the LA assembly plant. I’ll try and dig up some more pix.

 

[rstreet]

Great story on a piece of history. I'm sure someone will want to write a story on the finding of the motor. Please let us know how things work out.
rstreet

 

[jim_ss409]

My father has owned the Dan Gurney 409 race car for more than 22 years. He used to drop me and my friends off to school way back when. Man, what a ride! No wonder I couldn't concentrate on my school work. I’ll never forget the sound that thing made being worked through the gears. At the time the bubbletop had a crate NOS QC 1964 3844422 block under the hood. From that time on I was HOOKED and severely struck down with 409 fever.

The car is in great condition and currently is in storage awaiting a complete restoration with the original 1961 3795623 409 block, aluminium T10 and P case posi intact.

The first Australian owner purchased it directly from Dan Gurney at the Silverstone race track in England, bringing it to Australia with the intention to race it here down under. It wasn't to be: it had two doors not four, and the 409 Impala saw a lot of street duty towing other race cars.

In the seventies the original 623 1961 409 engine was replaced with a 283 small block. In the early eighties the 283 was replaced with an NOS still in the crate QC 1964 422 409. Up until recently it was thought that the original 623 409 engine was lost in a ski boat at the bottom of a deep harbor. The boat part was true but it was not at the bottom of any harbor. With the help of some die hard 409 friends here in Australia we have FOUND the original 1961 623 409 with the car’s VIN # stamped into the front of the block. At this stage we are gathering all the relevant information we can, to preserve the Gurney 409’s place in Chevrolet’s colorful racing history.

What’s also interesting is that back in January 1961, Dan Gurney had both Bill Thomas and Bill Fowler involved with this car’s race setup. In testing, Dan broke the Riverside raceway lap record held by Dave McDonald’s Corvette with the mighty 409. Bill Fowler who was at the time on his honeymoon DROVE the car from LA to New York where it was put on a ship bound for England to compete at the Silverstone May 6, 1961 race.

As you can see, the car has a very interesting past and is believed to actually be the very first factory 409 car to roll out of the LA assembly plant. I’ll try and dig up some more pix.

I was just wondering,,, is this original engine back in the car now?

 

[tripower]

Hey chevytaylor, Welcome to the site. Sounds like you have some neat stuff down there...

 

[Tom Kochtanek]

Jacques Cousteau?

Wow, what a great story, was really glad to hear about this. Like others, I had heard stories about this vehicle. Great news that it is still intact!

Quite a honeymoon ride, from LA to the East coast! I wonder how that might have affected his relationship with the new bride? I thought I did some things wrong on my honeymoon, but this one tops my chicanery .

So, what did go "down under" into the harbor? Just the boat? If it were the 623 engine I would have put a wet suit on and "raised the Titanic" to get it .

Thanks for sharing your story, great collection!

TomK

 

[chevytaylor]

Hi guys, thanks for your warm welcome.


Finding the Gurney block is an incredible story in it's self.

Luckily, the ski boat that the 61 409 race engine once resided in did not sink and was never at the bottom of the harbuor, it turned out to be a thirty year old urban myth.

The original 3795623 409 block dated K1660 is now back with the car. The crank # is 0-191561. The Dan Gurney 1961 409 Chevy race car is currently in storage awaiting restoration.

Chevy Taylor

 

[wrench]

The Dan Gurney 1961 409 Chevy race car is currently in storage awaiting restoration.

Welcome aboard!

Great information. Glad to hear the car will be restored!

 

[Z-11Guy]

Dan Gurney 1962 409 Biscayne sponsored by Don Steve's Chevy in La Habra California,

 

[Dr Richard Kimble]

What a way to bring back this thread
that car is just plain BAD

 

[DonSSDD]

Never saw this thread before, thanks Raj for brining it back. What's the story on that 62?

Any update on the 61 Carl?

Don

 

[Z-11Guy]

Your welcome, I just came across the '62 picture of Gurney and his '09. Strangely he didn't opt for the bubbletop with his racing connections through Bill Thomas. He mostly raced that car at Riverside and Monterey. He was inclined to receive a mystery motor '63 Impala to race through Bill Thomas in late 1962 though when GM pulled the pin on the racing program it was never to be. He then met up with Fran Hernandez with Ford/Mercury after the GM drama and the rest is history I guess.

 

[chevytaylor]

Old thread, thanks Raj, time gets away. There are some great photos in the book, Dan Gurney the ultimate racer. The 62 is a very cool car, looks like 38o single 4, check out the one piece Ca bumpers.Anyone out there know what happened to it?

The 61 is still in storage awaiting restoration. It could be happening in the US.

 

[Z-11Guy]

Isn't there another post from RSTREET on Dan Gurney's 61?

As an update here is what I noted in RACES FACES PLACES thus:
Dan Gurney and the Chevrolet Impala gave Jaguar a rude shock at the May International Trophy Silverstone meeting in 1961, seriously threatening the Coventry concern’s hegemony in British saloon car racing. Had he not lost a wheel Gurney, who started from pole, would have won the race, shown here being closely pursued by Graham Hill in one of the Equipe Endeavour Mk2 Jaguars who went on to win and set fastest lap. There was an unfortunate postscript when Gurney entered the Impala at the British Empire Trophy meeting in July only to discover just two days before the race that apparently the car was not homologated (even though Gurney was accepted at the May meeting and held the necessary acceptance papers from the F.I.A. committee in the US). The papers had been sent to the C.S.I. of the F.I.A. (bureaucracy it never fails to frustrate and deny) in Paris who admitted they had the documents but now claimed it was too late to act. This prompted Gurney to contact John Eason Gibson at the BRDC but Eason Gibson subsequently received a telegram from Paris one hour later saying “Chevorlet not homologated”. According to a letter from Dan Gurney published in Autosport magazine on 21 July 1961, the RAC knew 10 days beforehand about the homologation problem but failed to inform Gurney in time. Unsurprisingly Gurney was very upset and stated in print that “I will in time get over the fact that I had spent a lot of time and money in bringing the Impala to Great Britain, but I will not readily forget the suspicion that there may have been some behind-the-scenes sabotage to prevent the Chevorlet from running at Silverstone”. He ended the letter by stating “I say again that our car is very standard and that it does comply with the rules and regulations”. No official response appears to have graced the pages of Autosport and it was left to a Wim Hoeksma of Purley, Surrey who wrote in the following week to state that Mr. Gibson owed the paying public and Mr. Gurney an explanation.

 

[Z-11Guy]

Gurney in a Ford at Daytona 1962 , see Rex Whites '62 on the other side and Richard Petty's 62 Plymouth as well . I guess Gurney was racing both makes in '62. More of Beechman's '62 also.

 

[Phil Reed]

Norman Beechey Raj.

 

[region rat]

Mine would never make a turn like that. I'm sure it would be parked on it's roof.

I saw a T-shirt the other day. "If you can turn, you're not going fast enough"