1960 Pontiac Catalina Daytona 500 Winner - Inside Marvin Panch's 1960 Racecar

1960 Pontiac Catalina Daytona 500 Winner - Inside Marvin Panch's 1960 Racecar
http://images.highperformancepontiac...lina+front.jpgMarvin Panch's '60 Catalina represents a highlight of Pontiac's history in NASCAR, as this race car (recreated with many original parts) won for Pontiac its very first Daytona 500.
Panch's nearly impossible project began in early 2001 when he contacted Smokey Yunick and asked him the whereabouts of the original '60 Pontiac Catalina that he drove in the Daytona 500. Yunick shared the horrible story of how, just as Panch had received the '60 Catalina as a hand-me-down after Fireball Roberts ran it during the '60 season, Yunick had campaigned the Catalina sometime after the 1961 Daytona 500 with a different driver. Panch was shocked to hear that his Pontiac race car was severely damaged in a wreck during an Atlanta race in the early 1960s and had been sent to a salvage yard.
But Yunick was as smart as the gold he painted on his race cars. Before sending the Catalina to the junkyard, he stripped it of many of its valuable racing parts and stored them away in a back room at the same garage that he made famous with the name "The Best Damn Garage in Town."
According to Kevin Bagwell, Panch's son-in-law, "Marvin located another '60 Catalina chassis, and Smokey gave Marvin the original race parts to use on the recreated race car." Panch went to work on a two-year project, enlisting the expert knowledge and help of Doug Bendle and many members of The Sixty Owners Society-a group of likeminded and spirited Pontiac owners who specialize in the one-year-only characteristics of the '60 Pontiac.
Robert Connell of RC Restorations in Kentucky took on the task of restoring the body of a '60 2-door hardtop Pontiac Catalina built at the Pontiac, Michigan, plant. The sheetmetal restoration was completed in 2002, and the race car was transported directly to Panch so that he could oversee the installation of the original race components saved by Yunick.
Panch called upon the help of his old friend, Karl Stairs, one of the four race mechanics who helped build the Daytona 500 winner. Stairs and his son used the original parts and the restored Catalina body to accurately recreate the car.
It is difficult to tell the difference between the original '60 Catalina and its faithful recreation. According to Bagwell, the only difference the public can see is the handpainted "In Memory of Smokey Yunick" lettered by Buz McKim.
Bagwell noted, "This is the only Smokey Yunick-prepared race car that had a four blown tire symbol painted on the front left fender. In its first year of racing action in 1960, Fireball Roberts drove it as the Number 22 car. During that year, Fireball crashed the car four different times due to a blown tire. Sitting idle in Smokey's garage after the last wreck, four of Smokey's mechanics volunteered to rebuild the car so that Smokey could run two cars in the Daytona 500. As a reminder of the past year's tire issues, they painted four blown-out tires on the front fender with the addition of one word ... POW!"
Marvin drove the year-old car in the 1961 Daytona 500 and made history.
Marvin Panch '60 Catalina SpecsThis is how the Catalina is outfitted today.Style2-door hardtop 2137DrivetrainEngine389 ciBlock Casting No.536387CarburetorCarter 4 barrel 625 cfm (est)(Carter did not publish cfm ratings on their '60 Pontiac carburetors)IntakeCast-iron, single four-barrel #536518DistributorStock Delco points-typeHeads Casting No.536109Valves1.88/1.60CamUnknownRockersGM stamped steel 1.5:1-ratioPistonsUnknownRodsUnknownCrankUnknownCompress ion Ratio11:1ExhaustPontiac cast-iron manifolds feeding dual 3-inch exhaust pipes exiting under each doorTransmissionBorg Warner T-85ShifterThree-speed columnRear EndStock 3.23:1 geared open rearChassisWheelsDouble-centered 15-inch steel 5 lug patternTires8.00x15 Firestone Racing TiresDriveshaftStockBrakesAluminum drum with Grey-Rock shoesSteeringVariable-ratio power designed by SmokeySpindlesPontiac reinforced Police carSpringsSmokey Yunick used different springs on different wheels depending upon each track. The actual spring rates are unknownStabilizer BarsStandard front/heavy-duty rearShocksMonroe Racing, two per wheelHorsepowerEstimated 333
Smokey's Innovations On The '60 Pontiac
As an exclusive for HPP readers, we will disclose a few of Smokey Yunick's secret inventions used on Marvin Panch's '60 Pontiac Catalina. In the days before computer modeling, sophisticated NASCAR race car wind tunnel testing, computer data analysis, and modern racing tire rubber compounds, Smokey Yunick modified a stock Pontiac chassis, sheetmetal, and 389ci engine to turn 165-170 mph and up to 6,800-7,100 rpm for 500 miles. Here's some of the ways that he did it.

Photo Gallery: 1960 Pontiac Catalina Daytona 500 Winner - High Performance Pontiac Magazine

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