Vintage NASCAR Models from Chuck Poi!!!

Petty Turbine Stock Car!!

Note From Chuck:
"Although I usually confine my building to actual historic stock cars, this is something I have pondered for along time.................

I wondered what would have happened if Chrysler had tried their turbine car in NASCAR and what would it have looked like. I used my narrow Firestone Darlington tires since the street version of this car appeared in 1963. I chose the most recognizable Mopar team of all time - the Pettys. I decided to paint it a metallic blue that was similar in shade to the standard Petty color of the time.

The roll cage was borrowed from the Lindberg Petty kit since it is an accurate period representation of the early '60's. The real cars were all equipped with the Torqueflight 3 speed automatic transmission. For this version I substituted a manual gearbox. I also modified the exhaust system to exit out the sides rather than the rear. The decals on the hood and quarter panels were computer generated on clear decal film.

I found a copy of the owner's manual for the real turbine car on line which provided some great detail pictures. The last question became: How successful could it have been? After reading the manual and additional articles, I came to the conclusion that possible success would have been limited. Chrysler advised drivers to avoid spinning the rear wheels on ice and snow as this could cause the turbine to overspeed. That fact would eliminate the car from any dirt track racing. The turbine was rated at 130 horsepower at the shaft, which converted to 200 brake horsepower.

By 1963, engines were around 500 in racing form. Maybe Chrysler could have boosted the output accordingly. On the plus side, the car did not need a radiator as the turbine was air-cooled. It also had a redline of 80,000 RPM and produced 425 foot pounds of torque, but that was produced at the high end of the RPM scale. Low end acceleration was the real car's weakness, so short track racing would not have been a strong point either. The Indianapolis turbine cars were powered by aircraft engines producing far more horsepower. It's all just fantasy anyway, but makes for an interesting "What if" model."

(Note from Mr NASCAR: - As with Mike Madlinger, Chuck Poi was an inspiration to me to get into NASCAR modelling after seeing his work in Toledo in the '80's and '90's. Chuck is an original DarkSider! Chuck was also a major contributor to Motor Racing Replica News Magazine in its heyday, as the resident NASCAR expert. Thanks for sharing these great models, Chuck!

Here is info on Chuck's line of vintage resin NASCAR - his was the first resin I ever tried, with great results!:
From Chuck: "I offer resin cast bodies, kits, and parts of stock cars from '55-'72 under the name of Nostalgia Race Models. My email is Chuksducks@yahoo.com. My phone is 317-356-6770." )

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