Numerous responses came my way following last week’s column regarding Indianapolis 500 races of the past, and, in particular, Indy Pace Cars. In recalling the race of 50 years ago, I wondered if anyone remembered the Indy pace car for that year. It was a 1963 Chrysler 300 Convertible, and the question brought this interesting bit from Bruce Baskette of Denver:
“Recall the 1963 Indy Pace Car, you asked? Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. My parents bought it, or a copy of it, from the dealership that backed Lloyd Ruby at Indy out of Wichita Falls, Texas, where we lived. It had a 413-cubic-inch engine, pushbutton automatic transmission on the left side of the dash, white interior. That thing accelerated like a bat out of hell on the local street drag, but it took a long time for the pushbutton shift into 2nd sometimes (when the parents’ two teenagers would get to take it out). It survived until the back-country oil field roads around Hobbs, N.M., some years later when my brother either burned up the engine or wiped out the transmission, don’t remember which. I didn’t watch the 500 race that year, with high school graduation and all that stuff going on, including attendance by Lady Bird and Luci Johnson.”
Car shows continue
Sunday (today) – 23rd annual Automezzi and Friends Italian Car Show, at Season’s Bliss Event Center across from FlatIron Crossing in Broomfield, for benefit of Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. To expand the show, spots have been set aside for British cars and motorcycles. For more information, check AutomezziColorado.com.
Sunday (today) – Opening this weekend and continuing through Aug. 31 at the Forney Museum of Transportation, 4303 Brighton Blvd., is “Fabulous Finned Cadillacs of the 1960s.” Among the exhibits are a 1960 Eldorado Biarritz Convertible, ’63 Six-Window Sedan de Ville, ’65 Fleetwood Custom Tow Truck and ’66 Hess & Eisenhardt-bodied Fleetwood Station Wagon. More information at ForneyMuseum.org.
Friday – Running Friday through Sunday, June 9, at the Ranch Events Complex at Loveland is the Goodguys 16th Colorado Nationals. Gates are open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday. More information at Good-guys.com or (925) 838-9876.
Bud Wells can be reached via e-mail at bwells@denverpost.com.
