Any body know what kind of car this was before being turned into a modified

[MarkJ]

This car and others very similar were driven at Meyer Speedway in Houston back in 1966. Can any one tell what kind of car it started life as.

[TarheelRick]

It looks a bit like a narrowed 37/38 Chevy coupe.  I have never seen a coupe modified with the driver in the center and the sidewalls that close to him.  Then again I may be totally wrong.

[MarkJ]

Thanks, Rick. Maybe we can get a discussion going, and get some more input into why everyone thinks their choice is correct, and get some kind of consensus. Hopefully, there is a kit I can use to do this car. Another problem will be the tires. They look taller and skinnier than anything P.P.P. sells. the left front tire and wheel looks like a passenger car tire and wheel from back then. Also I have no idea what kind of carb setup this car had, but I know by listening to the you tube video, that I got these pictures from, that it is a 327 chevy engine. If you guys would like to see the video click on the link below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrJHV5O_NIo

[MarkJ]

I just watched the video again and the announcer said it has 3 2 barrel carbs. I guess I missed it the first time.

[Olderndirt]

 The images are about as fuzzy as they can get. The previous guess is as good as any. The wheels and tire may be available from Big Donkey. I can’t tell if this is a Chevy five window coupe, with the “B” pillar cut out, or a rare 3 window coupe, with the window hogged out.

  Olderndirt

[Lefturns75]

I watched the vid and they mentioned the car used 3 carbs.  The sponsor is Frizzell Pontiac and in a blog I read about the #7 and Bill Blumrick it was mentioned a number of times it had a Pontiac engine.  The grill and nose of the hood looks like a 37-38 Pontiac to me.  As for the body, it is so hacked up it could be anything or a combination of a number of cars.  The top kinda looks like a 36 Pontiac Coupe.  I found this image-----
 

I will stick with my Pontiac  THEORY but who knows?   Just cut something up that looks close, I doubt there are any around that will know any different, it been 53 years ago.    And as someone mentioned, Big Donkey resin has those pie crust slicks you need. 

[Lefturns75]

As I look between the bobbed fender and front tire, I call the engine in the car in this photo a Poncho.  This was tagged as the 1963 Press photo.  By 1966 when the vid was shot, it could be running anything. 

[Lefturns75]

I think you found the key here David.  The grill does look like a 38 chevy.    Poncho's headlights mounted on the fenders, not the side of the hood.   Now look the engine over well in the photo, I still think that is a Poncho head I see. 

[Olderndirt]

Well, since everybody has an opinion, I believe I’ll have two. Pontiac made more three window coupes in the late thirties than Chevrolet, or Oldsmobile, so, considering the top length, I would believe it’s a Pontiac body, possibly with a little forward sheet metal from Chevrolet.

  Olderndirt

[Lefturns75]

That is a pretty darn good theory.  Those cars back then were pieced together with what ya could find anyway so that is very possible.  Just from its basic shape I'll stick with a Poncho roof, even with those hogged out side windows.  That body has been hacked up so much it is really hard to tell what all the pieces are from.   

[Rich Sipos]

Mark you picked a very interesting build, good looking rig. Here in the northeast we had what was called Cut Downs from the mid 50s to the mid 60s. Big engines with many carbs, fast and light which was their demise. There were a lot of bad wrecks because of the multi carb linkage sticking wide open. Have fun building this piece of history.
 Rich

[TarheelRick]

OK, we have pretty much decided it is a 38 Chevy coupe.  Now my question is has it been narrowed?  That cabin area looks to be really narrow.

[Olderndirt]

If you narrowed the body, you would have to also narrow the hood, but the grill looks stock, so I would say it hasn’t been narrowed. It does look shorter than the red car, so maybe it was shortened. But then again it might have been a three window coupe.

  Olderndirt

[Lefturns75]

I agree on what the body is but on the rest, I agree to disagree.  That aint no six.

[Lefturns75]

While looking around on this subject, I ran across a few threads on Lonestarspeedzone.com, JalopyJournal and The H.A.M.B. about Meyer Speedway, the Modifieds and the #7 Blumrick car in question.  Since I never visited that track, what I can gather from the posters information is the cubic inch limit was for the Pony class just under the Modifieds.  As far back as 1963 there was talk of 427's , 406's and 428's being used in the mods.  One poster mentioned a couple of times about the #7 car using a pontiac engine.  In the video MarkJ posted the announcers tell you the car chasing Blumrick is running a big 427 and the 7 car has a 327 with 3 2bbl carbs.  I have no idea what types of engines the #7 car may have used during its life but in the 1963 press photo I am convinced what I see is a poncho head.  In the second photo the valve cover above the second man from the lefts head is too long to be a SBC to my eye but photos can fool you.   So, what you have started MarkJ is a history mystery.  You are in Texas old son so do some detective work and find some answers for us.  If I found this much, you should be able to find more.