January 1, 2009
By Brian Watkins
Brian Watkins
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A few different times over the past season, readers have sent in photos of their cars to illustrate their support for a particular driver. The latest were a couple of Monte Carlo’s that had a special trim package added to reflect their love of Jimmie Johnson.
All of the cars photos I received were nice, clean cut American machines with subtle touches to make them reflect a specific driver or team. What I didn’t receive pictures of however, was something I’d wanted to do for a long time, but never had the funds or the time or the facilities; a street legal NASCAR racer.
I don’t mean an actual NASCAR race car converted to be legal to drive on the roads, but rather the reverse. A stock car painted and tweaked to be an unmistakable version of a race car. I know that turning a stock car into a race car is something unheard of in the modern era of NASCAR, but to me it would be a very interesting endeavor.
For modern machines, I think the easiest car to convert would be a 2001-2004 Chevy Impala LS. I purchased one back in 2001 and drove it for years. It was as sporty a family sedan as was available, and with a 3600 V6, it was quick. What was suspiring at the time, and even more so now, is that even cruising the highway at 80 MPH, it averaged an impressive 32 MPG. Even after turning 100k miles, the car never got less than 30 on the highway. Fuel economy aside, there are several other factors that to me make the Impala the perfect candidate for conversion.
The first and most important is the lines. Looking at the side of an Impala, its lines follow fairly closely to that of a modern NASCAR racer. Obviously the second set of doors, lights and interior trim package do not coincide with the “look”, but these can be overcome by a truly detailed exterior conversion. Besides, we’re looking for a drivable tribute car. Something you can run to the store in or cruise the Wal-Mart parking lot with.
Of course if you’d rather skip the look of a COT or a Twisted Sister, you could pick a car from a previous era. While that may prove to be just as expensive in some ways as it would be to get a used late model, it would prove MUCH easier in my opinion to convert an ’85 Monte Carlo into the Darrell Waltrip #11 Budweiser than it would be to make a modern car look like a believable version of the current Earnhardt 88.
As I’m writing this, I’m convinced that this has to have already been done. Now before I start getting pictures of Bobby down the road’s old Pontiac that he covered in baby blue house exterior latex and spray painted STP on the hood, let me say that I’m talking about a tad more detail. I mean I’m certain someone, or many someone’s have taken the time and effort and the attention to detail to reproduce a race car in the form of a daily driver.
With the number of die-hard fans out there and the amount of money some of them spend (at least until the economy tanked) one would think that someone with the wherewithal and the resources could make a pretty penny converting regular cars into rolling tributes to the sport. Of course, if someone did attempt this, my guess is that they would be met with either an injunction filled by NASCAR, or they would be crushed with licensing fees imposed on them by the powers that be.
To test my “it’s already been done” theory, here is an open call for my Best and Worst of racing tribute cars column. Email me your pictures of good bad and ugly paint and sticker jobs that have turned (or attempted to turn) regular driveway stock into something more glorious. This call for entries applies to truck fans as well.
Please include any names or information that will help tell the story of the car and/or the owner. You can also have names withheld if you so desire.
The photos and stories will run in a future off-season column.
So get out there and snap some shots of your Petty Blue SuperBird or your spray painted S-10 and send ‘em in!
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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