Big Willie Robinson & Wendell Scott Hanging around either of these guys back in the day would have been too cool. Anybody ever meet either one in person?
Last time I saw Big Willies Dodge was when Gary French of Kentucky had purchased it. Gary and his brother Mike have always been into Dodge and Plymouth cars. Marv.
The last of his Daytonas sold at B-J a few years ago: https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Events/Event/Details/1969-DODGE-DAYTONA-WING-RACE-CAR-181649
Saw him and his "posse" a few times at the street races out of Fullerton, Ca back in the 70's, every Sunday night in the wee hours of Mon. morning. The group of LA street racers that managed the gatherings were a bunch of idiots, punks and thugs, I went a lot and have some crazy stories....Big Willie did manage to get a drag strip opened on Terminal Island in San Pedro(early 90's) through the LA city council, if he had handled things differently it would have lasted a lot longer IMO....some magazine back when had advertisement for Big Willie "kill stickers" that you pasted to your door just like fighter pilots posted kills on their planes...lol
I saw Wendell Scott race up close in the late 50s at the long defunct Old Raleigh Speedway. He was such a nice guy that he made a living with used parts donated by other racers.
Jason, I almost added this awesome launch shot to my initial post. Thank you for bringing it to my attention.
And Rapid Ronnie Lyles who ran in the Brooklyn underground street races. They bought Sox and Martin cars to race on the streets of New York for money. I still see Eugene Coard who shows one of Lyles' cars.
If the internet had been around back then, they'd have either been busted or on TV. I'm a longtime member of the Grand Rapids Street Racers. We used to be well known and it was always a lot of fun. Now, very few of the originals even have cars and, of those that do, very few race anywhere. Nice looking back half cars cruising the streets with the owners telling everyone how fast they used to be. The ones doing the most talking never even raced. They do cruise and attend the Street Machine Nats and local shows. I am a grandfathered member, but I hang out with a loosely organized group who do race. Some are GRSR members and others are from other local clubs or no affiliation at all. We cruise, race and work together a lot on our cars. I'm sure many of you, that have been around, have very similar stories. Let's hear them.
Malcolm Durham, Leonard W. Miller, Wendell Scott, and Ronald Hines (l-r) of the Black American Racers Association
Lyles passed away but Eugene Coard lives on. I expect to see Eugene again in February. He tells some great stories about them buying the former year Sox and Martin cars for use in Brooklyn street racing. Their opponents were often retaliating by buying rides like former Nicholson cars. He told me they were lined up one night for a big money race in Brooklyn. The car made such a bite with slicks that the whole axle housing, including the rear wheels, came out and was ejected as the car launched leaving the car body sitting on the bottom of the quarter panels. That night they had to pay up.
There was some serious street racing all across the country, but it seems the east and west coast racers got the most coverage.
That black 68 Dart Hemi race car was owned by a guy named Rufus Boyd, aka Brooklyn Heavy. He bought it from Brian Higgins at SK Speed in Lindenhurst. He bought it, painted it black and had it on the street in Brooklyn literally before the paint was even dry.
