[Chrysler300] Re: Where Petty's Clone /Tribute /Recreation /Rebodied 4Speed car came from

["James" <jdelrae1@xxxxxxx>]

I appreciate your passion and enthusiasm on this topic, but also know 
Don Petty's knowledge and eagerness to help me here in AZ has been 
priceless.
Jim
300E
--- In Chrysler300@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Wayne Graefen" <wgraefen@...> 
wrote:
>
> Don Petty first registered a black TORQUEFLITE 300F convertible 
with the same VIN of the current said-to-be 4Speed car with our club 
about 1985.   Many club members including yours truly saw the 
unrestored TORQUEFLITE car sitting in a shed at his salvage yard year 
after year when visiting Don.   Because Don has owned a real 300F 
Special GT hardtop for many years prior, he had picked up two 
complete Pont-a-Mousson 4Speed transmissions from Facel Vega 
automobiles.  This was not hard to do years ago.   I have two Facel 
spares for my car myself.   I also recall Don showing me a pair of 
correct for '60-62 cast iron headers that he claimed he had 
literally "tripped over" in some collector's back yard somewhere 
south of Phoenix.   At one time I had a set of extra '60-62 short ram 
intakes but sold them; these parts can be found   
> 
> So if you recall my article some ten(?) years ago in the Club New 
about "How to Build an F 4 Speed", you can see that Don had the 
beginnings of the makings to do so.
> 
> How does one differentiate a REAL 300F Special GT car from a BOGUS 
car?   This can be a problem because the factory took torqueflite 
cars off the end of the production line and ran them over to a 
building called "Header House" where the engines and transmissions 
were pulled out and the engines totally gone through, short rams and 
cams added, everything blue printed, headers added, the transmission 
tunnel altered, the Pont-a-Mousson added, the 2.5" Arvin exhaust 
system added and the cars turned out.   But we know those cars from 
their historical record from day one.   We know that ONE convertible 
was built and it was white and we know where it is.   Also there is a 
hand written engineering notebook.  It is in Jim Bartuska's hands.  
Cars and engines and owners are noted.  At least one VIN is listed in 
there.   
> 
> Any claim in any manner that intends to associate Don Petty's black 
300F convertible as a real 300F Special GT is known to be BOGUS and 
can be proven.
> 
> Wayne Graefen 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>



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