So this weird 64 or 65 Mustang was running off from a race with the broken nose section of a GT 40 because Bob McLean crashed and died... just looking at the weird spoiler on the trunk, the weird stripes over the spoiler... and you quickly get to wondering just what oddball was driving this car.
but Marc noticed a small strange detail... the license plate!
It's not an ordinary registration plate, it's some thing used for delivery of cars, not on a transporter.
Automotive business plates, 1954-1970
Transporters are either in the business of moving or delivering vehicles, or in a business where moving or delivering vehicles is incidental to the primary activity. These plates allowed them to drive otherwise unregistered vehicles on the street rather than have to load them onto a truck or trailer. A typical application would be for driving freshly-imported vehicles from the docks to a storage lot a short distance away. https://www.ricksplates.com/maryland/mddealer.htm
This morbid sicko taking off from the race with the nose pieces of a dead guys GT 40 was probably borrowing a car from a car dealership where he worked, maybe it was on the used car lot, and that is why it's got decals on it calling it a SS GT. There is a short haired male passenger in the front seat too
https://revslib.stanford.edu/catalog/ss617jt2419
the series of photos is in the bottom half on the page https://revslib.stanford.edu/?f%5Bphotographer_ssi%5D%5B%5D=Stanley+Rosenthall&omit_keys%5B%5D=q&omit_keys%5B%5D=search_field&omit_keys%5B%5D=qt&omit_keys%5B%5D=page&page=7&per_page=100&q=12+hours+sebring+1966
Its an old used car practice. By adding a cheap spoiler, some lights and stripes you end up with a SS GT. A young dude can now buy a car that 'looks' more expensive than it is.
ReplyDeleteWe had fleets of Holdens at the end of their lease and this practice would always work. Keep the best ones and flick the others. Wheels, a wing and some cheap tat, we have a 'Dealer Special'. They sold well.
The practice of souveniring wreckage is not new either. Bent parts make great wall hangers. So, I'm going to cut this dude some slack and offer the benefit of doubt. Mr Rosenthal may not have realized it at the time but the piece in question separated from the car on impact and was thrown well clear of the wreck landing in the car park. Had it been pilfered from the wreck, that would be a different story.
Dont forget, the race did not stop either. Both the extraction of BOB and the removal of the burnt wreck was done in full view of both drivers and public. This may have added to his disgust.
I hate to admit it, but I probably would have picked that nose up too.
true, boring cars get moved off the lot with a bit of extra visual appeal... you think that is why this mustang had the oddball wing? Stripes, and foglights? Do you agree with my theory about the transporter plates adding to the notion that it's a used car lot employee?
DeleteYup.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard the old saying of 'Turning Mutton into Lamb'?
That Mustang is no SS GT.
The whole thing screams of used car lot though. But,
I can't help wondering why tie it to the trunk lid like that?
Why not put it in the trunk?
Have they already stuffed it full of the accompanying spare wheel?
Should I just stop making them sound like vultures?