Found: The Last Wing Car

[Moonlight Hunter]

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/found-last-wing-car/

On New Year’s Eve 1983, Mario Rossi vanished off the face of the Earth. Not long after his disappearance, Mario’s son, Bill, went on a quest to locate and purchase one of his father’s race cars. After 33 years, he found what he was looking for.

From 1968–1971 Rossi’s Automotive Engineering maintained and operated a highly successful NASCAR race team. During the team’s five-year existence, four drivers piloted Rossi race cars, including Donnie Allison (1967), Darel Dieringer (1968), Bobby Allison (1969–1970), and Dick Brooks (1971).

In 1970 Rossi came up with the idea to de-stroke a Chrysler 340 TA engine to meet the new 305ci engine displacement mandate for the 1971 NASCAR season. To keep the wing or aero cars from showing up at the 1971 Daytona 500, this rule was mandated to eliminate wing cars from competition without banning them, as it was believed no one would take the risk of running a 305ci engine in a Super Bird or Daytona.

With the help of Chrysler Cooperation and legendary engine builder Keith Black, Rossi reengineered the Daytona for the small-block 340 engine. He did not enter the Rossi 305 Daytona to compete. Rossi’s Automotive Engineering built it to win!

With Dick Brooks behind the wheel, the Daytona competed and did well, considering it was involved in a serious crash. Brooks was clipped in the driver-side quarter-panel by the Plymouth Road Runner driven by Pete Hamilton and owned by Cotton Owens. After being two laps down, Brooks came back into the mix with a respectful Seventh Place finish.

This Daytona is the last wing car to compete in a NASCAR-sanctioned Grand National race and the last race car built by Mario Rossi at his shop in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Fast-forward to New Year’s Eve 1983, with Mario Rossi vanishing and leaving behind two children: Bill, 21, and Tina, 18. This moment in time is when Bill began his quest to locate and purchase one of his father’s cars

It wasn’t until 2001 that Bill came across a listing for a Rossi Dodge race car. It was owned by West Coast race-car driver Jack McCoy. The two discussed a possible sale, but the asking price was more than Bill could afford. Dejected at the time, he never gave up hope to one day own one of his father’s race cars.

In 2005, nearly 25 years into his search, Cotton Owens informed Bill of a Dodge Daytona sitting idle for years in Spartanburg. Owens told Bill it was the real deal and one of the race cars from the Hylton Engineering race team. Bill contacted the seller and made the purchase, with plans to one day restore it back to NASCAR racing standards. It wasn’t one of his dad’s race cars, but it was a real racing Daytona.

Bill then received a phone call from Harold Tarter in 2013 about the Rossi Dodge he’d just purchased. Tarter said, “You and your family should be the owners of this car. I’m going to let it go, and I’d like you to be the one who owns it.” The deal they came up with was to exchange race cars. Bill Rossi received the Rossi Dodge, while Tarter got the Hylton Daytona. Rossi is still blown away by how Tarter went out of his way to make Rossi the rightful owner. Not only will the Daytona be restored but plans are also underway to resurrect Rossi’s Automotive Engineering explicitly to restore the iconic Rossi 305 Daytona.

During the 2015 Aero Car Reunion in Alabama, Rossi met builder Stephen Sigel, who was restoring the Hylton Daytona. After discussing some details, Rossi has arranged for Sigel to restore the Rossi Daytona, too, reuniting the two cars in restoration. Not long after receiving the Rossi Dodge, Sigel reached out to Doug Dempsey, who has done extensive research validating the origin of race cars, including the Bettenhausen Daytona, Robbins Daytona, and others. He confirmed what was already assumed—this was the Rossi Daytona.

A key component to the restoration will be the one-of-a-kind, small-block, 305ci engine built by Daniel Boshears, owner of Red Rocket Engine Company in Flintstone, Georgia. Boshears is also the chief mechanic for the Wellborn Muscle Car Museum. The Rossi Daytona restoration is scheduled to be completed in October 2017. It will be unveiled during a special event at the Wellborn Muscle Car Museum in Alexander City, Alabama, on Friday, October 13.

[Bad Habit]

cool deal