John Beauchamp's 60 Chevy #73

[Maineboy]

Pictured below is Johnny Beauchamps's #73 1960 Chevrolet. It looks from the seemingly hand lettered name over the driver's door that someone else might have driven it before this photo. Not sure what track but think NASCAR.

60 chev30 by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

Been thinking about the body style on these 59 and 60 chevys. The Biscayne 2 dr post body was lighter and cheaper to buy. The 2 dr hardtop, "Sport Coupe" as Chevrolet called it had a roof that was 2 inches lower and shorter on the rear. Pretty sure car #73" pictured is an Impala 2 dr "sport coupe". I have seen quite a few Chevy race cars of this era pictured and there is a pretty good mix of 2 dr post and 2 dr hardtop.  For 1959 and 1960 The "sport coupe" roof was lower and shorter than the Biscayne sedans. On Nascar tracks by this time I think speeds were up in the 140 to 150 mph range and the "sport coupe" would definitely be faster and get more fuel mileage  both major advantages on the long tracks.

So I found some pics, just to satisfy myself of the difference and sized them to be as close as I could and at roughly the same angle so I could see the difference myself.

Biscayne 2 dr post sedan.

60chev20 by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

Impala 2 dr hardtop "sport coupe".

60chev10 by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

The difference is pretty obvious. Another give away is that for 1959 and 1960 they used a longer trunk lid to go with the shorter roof and that does not fit any other 59 or 60 Chevy. This same roof was used on some Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles, Buicks, and Pontiacs. The basic body shell is the same for all those makes. Looking at pictures of NASCAR races in 1959 and 1960 one can see that the top teams were running those "sport coupe" bodies. You can almost imagine the difference in airflow at high speed in those cars.

It has got "320" HP painted on the hood. According to my research that would indicate a 348 motor with 11.25:1 compression with solid lifters and high lift camshaft. 4 spd trannies were a factory option behind those 348's, the racers loved that I am sure. Wonder how good those "W" motors were on the roundy round tracks? Don't hear much about them.

Has anybody made a 1/24-1/25 scale model of the 1960 Chevy 2 dr hard top?

MB
 

[Tom Birky]

Not sure if you're asking if one was ever kitted, or if any of us have a built example? Revell made an excellent 60 Sport Coupe with a 348. Since they're not in their current catalog, they can be a little pricey, but if a guy is patient they can be found for a reasonable price. They were issued in 2 or 3 different versions. Lowrider and 2 in 1 maybe? I hope this helps.
Tom

[Maineboy]

Tom, 

Many thanks for the hint. I check ebay on a regular basis looking for parts now and then and looking for good buys on some stuff I could use eventually. Dont have room to accumulate a ton as storage is at a premium in this place. My friend who I built our 56 racer with came up with a 60 Biscayne 2 dr post for his street car after we made a racer out of his older one. I always liked the looks of them. Had a 283 with a 3 spd tranny and would go quite well, especially after we changed the camshaft and put a nice 4 bbl on it. His mother got mad at me for encouraging his street drag racing. I assured her it didn't really need any help from me.

It would be nice to be young and carefree again.

MB

[MarkJ]

Pictured below is Johnny Beauchamps's #73 1960 Chevrolet. It looks from the seemingly hand lettered name over the driver's door that someone else might have driven it before this photo. Not sure what track but think NASCAR.

60 chev30 by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

Been thinking about the body style on these 59 and 60 chevys. The Biscayne 2 dr post body was lighter and cheaper to buy. The 2 dr hardtop, "Sport Coupe" as Chevrolet called it had a roof that was 2 inches lower and shorter on the rear. Pretty sure car #73" pictured is an Impala 2 dr "sport coupe". I have seen quite a few Chevy race cars of this era pictured and there is a pretty good mix of 2 dr post and 2 dr hardtop.  For 1959 and 1960 The "sport coupe" roof was lower and shorter than the Biscayne sedans. On Nascar tracks by this time I think speeds were up in the 140 to 150 mph range and the "sport coupe" would definitely be faster and get more fuel mileage  both major advantages on the long tracks.

So I found some pics, just to satisfy myself of the difference and sized them to be as close as I could and at roughly the same angle so I could see the difference myself.

Biscayne 2 dr post sedan.

60chev20 by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

Impala 2 dr hardtop "sport coupe".

60chev10 by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

The difference is pretty obvious. Another give away is that for 1959 and 1960 they used a longer trunk lid to go with the shorter roof and that does not fit any other 59 or 60 Chevy. This same roof was used on some Cadillacs, Oldsmobiles, Buicks, and Pontiacs. The basic body shell is the same for all those makes. Looking at pictures of NASCAR races in 1959 and 1960 one can see that the top teams were running those "sport coupe" bodies. You can almost imagine the difference in airflow at high speed in those cars.

It has got "320" HP painted on the hood. According to my research that would indicate a 348 motor with 11.25:1 compression with solid lifters and high lift camshaft. 4 spd trannies were a factory option behind those 348's, the racers loved that I am sure. Wonder how good those "W" motors were on the roundy round tracks? Don't hear much about them.

Has anybody made a 1/24-1/25 scale model of the 1960 Chevy 2 dr hard top?

MB

I built a 1960 Rex White Chevy a while back but I don't remember what kit I used. I can p.m. you a picture of it if you would like. I don't want to hijack your thread.

[Maineboy]

Mark,

Please feel free to post it here. I think I remember it from a ways back but could not find it yesterday.  In my book my original post was put up as much to partly to show another John Beauchamp  car as it was to discuss the 59 and 60 Chevy body styles, and particularly what ones were used in circle track racing.

MB

[Brian Conn]

http://www.fredsmodelworldonline.com/new.htm#revell
 '60 Impala $19.00

[Maineboy]

Finally found the correct six lug wheels and tires for this build. These wheels and tires are available from "Bandit Resins" and are not resin but styrene. They are very good quality as the photo will show. My source says they were first used on the 57 Chevy "Black Widow" cars and were used into the very early 60's when the Holman and Moody wheels came out that were wider and took wider tires. These tires shown in my book are appropriate for a late 50's very early 60's type race car.

DSCF0001 (25) by Nathan Pitts, on Flickr

These are made by "Plastic Performance Parts"  (PPP) and are available from Bandit resins as well as sold on ebay by different vendors.

http://www.banditresins.com/performance-products.html

Bandit Resins has numerous other race car bodies and parts.

MB

[Michael F]

Those wheels will look great on your ´60 Chevy!

I used the same rims (from PPP), but with different tires on my ´59 Impala.

The detail on these rims is very nice.

[MarkJ]

Mark,

Please feel free to post it here. I think I remember it from a ways back but could not find it yesterday.  In my book my original post was put up as much to partly to show another John Beauchamp  car as it was to discuss the 59 and 60 Chevy body styles, and particularly what ones were used in circle track racing.

MB