OLDSMOBILE RACE CARS
General Discussion
these are incredible and again ty can you introduce yourself to everyone on the welcome section. The guys would love to hear your story
above is Dick Griffin with trophy. Dick Griffin purchased the wagon from Jack Troxell. Wagon later raced by Paul Mayo
Wagon below with rainbow paint scheme is same as above wagon.
Below: Troxell built/ Griffin/ and Mayo Wagon last seen here as late as 1985 after Mayo ownership. Rumored to still exist.
Above is earliest known shot of another Jack Troxell built wagon. Below are several paint schemes of the wagon presented out of correct chronological sequence. Wagon built by Troxell. Purchased by Dick Griffin (below)and raced by partner Al Seger. Car is fully restored today and owned by Keith Curry.
vistacruiser67 wrote:Above 71 SX convertible was painted white and converted to a 72 as seenbelow. The reason these cars were converted was if you did not have a current year car your points would not accumulate. For example the 70 Berejik car in post number 1 was not converted and their points did not accumulate for Oldsmobile. This convertible along with the gold Cooper car formerly a 70 w-31 and the white Waibel / Ingersoll car also a former 70 w-31 were converted to a 71 and then a 72.
Above to right of trophy is Al Seger and Dick Griffin. In background left to right is gold Cooper car, Troxell built Al Seger run SX convertible after 72 conversion, and Troxell built Vista Bruiser wagon.
Convertible was wrecked in the mid 80s resulting in the fatality of its driver.
Sad story about the SX driver and the wreck. Seeing those pictures makes me wish I still had the 1970 SX I used to own. It was the first Oldsmobile I picked up!
dnmfranco wrote:how come they took some of the 70 31's and did 71/72 make overs?
Instead of getting new 71's and 72's Oldsmobile sent the racers conversion kits to change them to 71's. This included radiator core supports! Of course the change from 71 to 72 was very minor. Oldsmobile evidently chose to do this instead of giving the racers new cars. I think I head someone say the cars had to be a current year for the points to accumulate for Oldsmobile. Maybe the rule changed after 72 I don't know. I think Oldsmobile made their racers use current year cars around the mid to late 70s because Paul Mayo started racing 77-79 Olds 98s along with Al Seger racing a 77-79 Olds 98 of which I will soon post here. . The 70 Berejik W-30 in post number one was example of a car that never converted and their points didn't count toward the Oldsmobile total yet Oldsmobile still won the manufacturer's cup for 1971 and 1972 thanks to Jim Waibel and Jack Troxell with help from Dick Griffin and Al Seger. The Woodland Andresen Berejik 70 W-30( see post number one)dropped out of racingin 71 or 72as a result of this I think. I heard these conversion stories from at least two racers over on classicoldsmobile.com. Jim Waibel's son was telling this story on classracer.com as his father evidently handed him down the stories. The white 70 Waibel W-31 with King Olds on the side was converted to a 71 and added a light blue fish scale paint scheme on the side. There are a couple of pictures of the car with a 71 grille but mostly its seen with the 72 grille. Then Buddy Ingersoll got the car and evidently did pretty good with it into the mid and late 70s. The gold Cooper 70 W-31was updated as well. There was a 70W-31 that was changed by chanceto a 70 442 in the Louisiana area by Dovers. So that's three 70 W-31s I know of that were altered.
Above : After building the Vista Bruiser wagon and the 72 flat top wagon that later became the Go Shop wagon, and the 71 SX convertible; (All of which passed through Dick Griffin's hands who was partners with Al Seger) Troxell built another Olds in this white coupe and seemed to settle down with this car. Yet below is a different SX convertible in the mid 70s. As if SX convertibles grew on trees.
everyone love the pics they are just wondering who you are. Could you introduce yourself in the welcome section Dean