I was going thru some pictures and came across these. They are of Dave Pearson's T-Bird in the Nascar Cafe in Myrtle Beach. Thought you might be interested in a little piece of history.
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s17/blueovalford/MBVACATION04068.jpg)
(http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s17/blueovalford/MBVACATION04067.jpg)
NICE BIRD !! I remember those back in the day when I was a kid.Richard Petty and all the cool guys.Back when it was "get your hands dirty" racing.
That says "Mercury" on the quarter panel, so I'd guess it's a Cougar :hick:
Why does it say "Mercury" on the 1/4 panel?
:hick:
I think it's a COUGAR. Especially considering the Wood's Brothers Looooooooong history with Mercury...
;)
its not a cougar... its a 77-79 thunderbird. I own two 79 cougars and this looks nothing like them. it looks more like the heritage or diamond jubilee thunderbird of the late 70's
also I think there is a picture of this car in the 40 years of thunder book.
It Is Strange To See The Flip Up Head Lights In Pic One I Think The Tbird If Not For Sure The Ltd Came With Those
Why's it have a bunch of new decals like "Jesel" and "3M"? Maybe someone just started slapping stickers on there until it looked like a racer? Lol
Sure looks like one to me:
(http://www.stordahl.com/medlemsbilder5/vikan79cougar.jpg)
(http://farm1.static.flickr.com/32/45514604_3d7b777465.jpg?v=0)
"Neil and his late 1979 (season) Mercury Cougar. Once the Wood Brothers let loose Dave Pearson in mid '79, and signed Neil the team clicked with a few victory's and many top 5 and top 10 finishes. This was the last Mercury body style to run in NASCAR, as once the small cars came in 1981 all the FORD teams went with the T-Bird and passed by the almost identical Cougar."
http://public.fotki.com/RodM/nascar_picture_archive/1970s_nascar_gn/neilbonnett21purola.html
Better yet, why's there Bowtie on the bottom right decal on the front fender? :hick:
On second glance it does look more like a T-Bird than a Cougar, but why would a T-Bird have "Mercury" on the quarter panel?
Mercury dealer sponsor maybe????? The grill and the quarter glass is different than the cougars. Nice pic anyway.
What do you guys bet that it isn't a real race car. Just a homemade prop for there place.
Nice car, too bad the Wood Bros. always raced Mercurys, not Fords.:hick:
In the early 80's, the Wood Bros switched to Fords because Mercury quit the racing program. But ya, that is probably just a mockup. The bowtie sticker would be OK if it said "I just ate a Bowtie!"
It is a mock up. I went to that place when they first opened. They used to have the correct Mercury with the correct sponsor support decals. (I have pictures of it if I can find them) I guess it has deteriorated over the past 10+ years that place has been there. Considering most fans now a days wouldn't know the difference, they just painted up a T-bird and called it good.
Also to be "period correct" it would have white lettered goodyears and obviously all those support decals would be different.
David Pearson never drove a T-Bird for the Wood Brothers. By 1979, he was done with the Wood Brothers and driving a Chevy. He finished driving for them in a Mercury in 1978.
Here is the "correct" race car for David Pearson in that time frame.:D Bud Moore's team did race Tbirds of that style though.
Nice :D Those were the days....... D*#@ I'm getting old :(
Yep, those were the days, actually started with a "real" car, and made a race car. :burnout:
I've kinda kicked around the idea of doing this with my blue 79 400 car. not sure whats gonna happen with it though.
I had a 74 Ford Gran Torino that had a 69 429cid. 15X10 Chrome wheels on all 4 corners, exhaust dumped in front of rear tires, blacked out grill. It was fun running around the Vancouver Wa area with it. Man I miss that car :(
I was there 2 years ago and I remember being confused if it was a bird or a cougar. Like you all said most people don’t know and as for it being a real car it does kinda make sense being a mock up instead of a real car. What did they weigh race ready back then 4000 lbs that’s a lot of weight over peoples heads