In an era where competitive racing has gone commercial and you can only tell the different between a Chevy and a Ford by the stickers on the cookie cutter body, it’s always great to stumble upon a forgotten race car from another time.
While browsing on YouTube the other day, we spotted this awesome clip from Petrolicious, spotlighting Dan Gurney’s short lived ’61 Impala race car. Built to go toe-to-toe with the 3.8L Jags and other European cars of the time, Dan’s plan was to compete with the car at Silverstone and show the Brits that the big “Yank Tanks” can throw down… but a wheel failure kept Gurney from accomplishing that goal.
Unfortunately, some swindling and finagling of the official rule book kept Gurney and the Impala from competing a second time, and despite his efforts, Gurney’s Chevy was sidelined forever. Over the years, the car ended up in Australia for a time, being used as a tow rig, before ending up in Jersey. Ed Foster, the car’s current owner, caught up with the car several years back, bought it, restored it, and has elected to keep it as original to Dan Gurney’s vision from back in the day.
It’s currently living across the pond in England, and considering the car’s history, it makes perfect sense. That uncorked 409 sounds mean, and is a stark contrast to the small-displacement engines that rule the land. Check out the awesome video from Petrolicious above!
Rick Seitz is the owner and founder of AutoCentric Media, the parent company to Timeless Muscle Magazine, and has a true love and passion for all vehicles. When he isn’t tuning, testing, or competing with the magazine’s current crop of project vehicles, he’s busy tinkering and planning the next round modifications for his own cars.
