The 1957 Daytona Beach Race was one of the truly classic early NASCAR events, the cars had to be showroom stock with only some minor safety additions. I think this sort of racing series would be incredible to see nowadays, totally stock sedans racing on circuits around the world would draw a lot of attention. Hell, I’d watch it.
The Oldsmobile Rocket 88 was produced from 1949 till 1999, it is widely credited with launching Oldsmobile out of it’s staid reputation in the 1940s into a new, NASCAR dominating behemoth, often pointed to as the pre-cursor to the muscle cars that began appearing in the 1960s.
In 1958 the first Daytona Beach Convertible race was held, this 25 minute film (split into 3 segments) covers the whole event from start to finish and provides a fascinating glimpse into the history of motor racing in the USA. This was the final NASCAR race held on the Daytona Beach shoreline with future races…
The 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona is an iconic car, that swooping front end and skyscraper spoiler have adorned pajamas, bedlinen and bedroom walls since the cars initial release in 1968.
So far as vintage crashes go this one’s a doozy (to use period appropriate phraseology). Daytona International Speedway in early 1960 saw the single largest NASCAR accident in history, 37 cars out of a field of 68 were wrecked and yet amazingly, there were no serious injuries. Switch on your volume to enjoy vintage narration and…
