Aero Warrior ReunionVintage Racing
The Aero Cars arrive at Daytona; 1969
If you are too young to have seen the 1969 Ford Talladega, Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II or Dodge Charger 500 show up for the Daytona 500 or if your are too old to remember then this video is for you!
You will see all the familiar faces and some great old race cars. This is when you went into a new car dealership, purchased the car you wanted and took it back to the race shop and made a race car out of it. The drivers actually drove the cars and had to know how to make them handle. There was none of that put the accelerator to the floor and steer it stuff. These cars were on the edge; they were on biased ply race tires, not radials.
The cars weren’t as safe as today but they were faster and you could tell a Ford from a Dodge or a Chevy. Fans were just as likely to root for the car brand as a particular driver.
I remember those days. I actually remember the cars at a local track now owned in part by NASCAR driver Johnny Benson, Berlin Raceway in Marne, Michigan. In the 50’s my dad and I used to go. I remember the smell of hot oil, dirty hot oil. What a wonderful smell. They had a figure 8 track the first couple of years I attended, followed by an oval. All dirt. I remember a wreckem derby where a guy had a model A Ford in excellent condition he wanted to drive. Some people tried to buy it from him right there to save it from total destruction. They lost. So did he. I remember feeling sorry for the car. I also remember a terrible crash where a driver was killed. It went over the back bank and down into a field, rolling many times. We were at the track the night a tornado was spotted. It ended up coming right near the track and taking out many houses. Quite a few people were killed. That would have been in 1956. Just things I remember. Mustang Mike from http://www.mikes-show-n-shine.com