Editor's note - Heading into the new century, we felt compelled to take a look back at what will undoubtedly be one of the 20th century's biggest contributions to daily life-the automobile. Of course, Super Chevy looks at the history of the automobile through the eyes of the Chevrolet enthusiast. The following is the eleventh in a series that will run throughout the year 2000 and cover the highlights of Chevrolet-from the creation of a company at a time when 270 other companies were vying for buyers of new automobiles, to the present day, when the competition is limited to just a handful of serious automobile makers. Much of the information is taken straight from Chevrolet sources, and some will be from the pages of this magazine's more than 25 years as "The # 1 Chevrolet Enthusiast's Magazine."
Racing Through The Years
If it weren't for his enthusiasm for racing, Louis Chevrolet might never have been picked by William Durant to help start the company that bears the name Chevrolet. Louis, along with his brother Arthur, raced just about everything on wheels at the time. Therefore, it only seems natural that Chevy has a long and colorful history in automobile racing. The players had names like Coo Coo Marlin, Earnhardt, Rex White, Smokey Yunick, Jim Hall, Zora-Arkus Duntov, Mears, Pensky, Donohue, Grumpy, and even Force, to name just a few. As for the cars, well, let's just say that wheels were the only true requirement. The old saying that the first race occurred the day the second person in town bought a car is certainly accurate.
Chevrolet's racing history before the introduction of the 265-cid V-8 small-block in 1955 was for the most part small-time. The small-block was inexpensive and very easy to work with, making it highly popular with tuners and enthusiasts. It didn't take long at all before modified, high-performance versions hit the streets and the tracks. And it didn't take too long before it became a winner.
In June 1957, the Automobile Manufacturer's Association (AMA), in cooperation with GM management, banned automakers from direct participation in racing. The ban came at a time when the Chevy small-block was just beginning to reach impressive milestones. Zora Duntov and John Dolza added fuel injection to a bored-out 283 and promptly produced more than 290 horsepower. The package was advertised by Chevrolet as "one horsepower for every cubic inch" and was sold as a 283-horse engine in the '57 Corvette.
For a number of years Chevrolet, like many other manufacturers, stopped all official support for racing. But the rumors about back-door support have become legend. Many of the Chevy engineers were very enthused about the products they were developing and wanted to see what their inventions were capable of on the track. Covert support ranged from off-the-shelf parts to special, top-secret R&D components offered to select racers to validate the part's abilities.
Dealerships also exploited every loophole possible to support racers in ordering factory "race cars." Dealer-built performance machines were highly popular during the heyday of musclecars. Many of these were basically race cars that had a DMV street title.
Chevy Racing History Timeline
1909
Auto racing events conducted at the famous Indianapolis 21/2-mile oval originally took place over a bumpy surface of crushed rocks and tar.
1911
On May 30, 1911, Louis Chevrolet supervised the crew of his brother Arthur's racer, in what was the first Indianapolis 500 race. Arthur was one of 40 starters.
1926
A 21-year-old man drove a Chevrolet roadster 2,020 miles, from Los Angeles to Omaha, in 56 hours, 47 minutes. He set the record for automobile drive time between the two cities and beat the fastest train by approximately two hours.