It was built by Ray Nichels, and there were 3 engines with it at Le Mans, and was the last ever Hemi that won a national championship in the United States, it was the 1977 USAC Grand National Champion.
The driver Hershel McGriff was a privateer but a veteran racer from the late 1940s.
He won the inaugural Carrera Panamerica in 1950 with a $2,000 Olds 88 he drove from home in Oregon to the race, and after winning, drove it home to Oregon where he ran a ran a lumber mill
In France, the engine was detuned for 93 octane, BUT they gas was not 93, it was 82 octane, and burned up pistons
the car's whereabouts and owner are unknown, it was part of the lumber mill’s liquidation in 1980, when McGriff moved to Arizona to run a copper mine
McGriff last raced at age 90, in 2018.
He won the Winston West Series' 1986 championship, and is also a four-time winner in Grand National competition in 1954
From 1954 until 2018, McGriff competed in 271 races in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series West (now ARCA Menards West Series), winning 34 races and posting 100 top-five finishes. He won the series championship in 1986 and finished second in points in both 1985 and ’87. He finished in the top five in points eight times.
Futuramic Styling must have made all the difference - plus the relatively high horsepower Rocket engine at 160 HP.
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