I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this as I have more-important things to tend to right now, but here's a few observations to consider:
1. My understanding of the Holman-Moody built '59s is that the bodies delivered to them were considered "rejects" due to damage during assembly, and that none of them were assigned a serial number. The running gear was also considered to be rejects or not fit for use on finished cars, and shipped to H-M in crates as part of a "deal" to buy scrap from the plant manager at Wixom. This, in part, allowed Ford "plausible deniability" for providing factory support due to the Automotive Manufacturers' Association (AMA) ban on such activities during the period. It also allowed H-M to build up the cars from bare body shells as opposed to buying completed cars and stripping them out, which would have been a real waste of money, time and effort. This story is covered in THE book on Ford racing, "Ford: The Dust and the Glory."
2. Re. the Johnny Beauchamp/Burdick/Daytona '500' connection, Beauchamp was from west-central Iowa and spent much of his early career racing in the Midwest, including Playland Park in Council Bluffs (which is across the river from Omaha). I had the opportunity to interview an old friend/pit man of his from Harlan, IA in '94 (whom is since deceased) when I was researching my first book. He didn't know much about the T-birds as he wasn't wrenching for Beauchamp during the period, but he did tell me that part of the controversy about the finish of the race and the delayed awarding of 1st Place to Lee Petty was due to the fact that Petty's wife was the scorekeeper for the race. Conflict of interest? You be the judge - let's just say that after I heard this story I lost all respect for NASCAR and haven't followed it since.
3. The Burdick family ran a salvage yard/parts/repair business in Omaha that's still in business as far as I know. I haven't attempted to contact them about the '59 T-bird racing effort in part due to stories I've been told that they weren't really interested in "revisiting history" and opening old wounds. My understanding is that they were purchasing the Beauchamp-driven race car they sponsored from H-M but that it had been reposessed by mid-season. A fair amount of local press dwelled on the '59 Daytona "500"/Beauchamp/Burdick connection on the 50th Anniversary of the race, and the Burdicks didn't really want to talk much to the major local newspaper here about it.
4. There's been several people who have claimed that dual shocks on the front end could have been had for '58s, and some have installed both the outboard shocks/backets (originally installed in anticipation of using the air bag suspension system that was cancelled before production began) along with the inboard ones (i.e. inside the coil spring and bolted to the body structure between the upper A-frame mounts) on their cars. My hunch is that someone took a set of '58 outboard shock brackets and lower control arms and installed them on Mark's '59 as part of the modification process. Detailed inspection of the car should yield clues about this.
5. In comparison to similar cars, lack of power steering and power brakes on a car optioned with a 430, heater, radio, backup lights and leather interior seems rather odd to me. Inspection of mounting points for the steering ram, the brake pedal and ventilation port for the underdash booster may yield some hints as to previous installation of these items. I suspect that the steering linkage and brake booster were removed, and that wiring probably got hacked up, at the time the transmission was changed out in order to get the clutch linkage in.
In short, spending time with this car on a lift may yield some additional information that can put some of these questions to rest.
1. My understanding of the Holman-Moody built '59s is that the bodies delivered to them were considered "rejects" due to damage during assembly, and that none of them were assigned a serial number. The running gear was also considered to be rejects or not fit for use on finished cars, and shipped to H-M in crates as part of a "deal" to buy scrap from the plant manager at Wixom. This, in part, allowed Ford "plausible deniability" for providing factory support due to the Automotive Manufacturers' Association (AMA) ban on such activities during the period. It also allowed H-M to build up the cars from bare body shells as opposed to buying completed cars and stripping them out, which would have been a real waste of money, time and effort. This story is covered in THE book on Ford racing, "Ford: The Dust and the Glory."
2. Re. the Johnny Beauchamp/Burdick/Daytona '500' connection, Beauchamp was from west-central Iowa and spent much of his early career racing in the Midwest, including Playland Park in Council Bluffs (which is across the river from Omaha). I had the opportunity to interview an old friend/pit man of his from Harlan, IA in '94 (whom is since deceased) when I was researching my first book. He didn't know much about the T-birds as he wasn't wrenching for Beauchamp during the period, but he did tell me that part of the controversy about the finish of the race and the delayed awarding of 1st Place to Lee Petty was due to the fact that Petty's wife was the scorekeeper for the race. Conflict of interest? You be the judge - let's just say that after I heard this story I lost all respect for NASCAR and haven't followed it since.
3. The Burdick family ran a salvage yard/parts/repair business in Omaha that's still in business as far as I know. I haven't attempted to contact them about the '59 T-bird racing effort in part due to stories I've been told that they weren't really interested in "revisiting history" and opening old wounds. My understanding is that they were purchasing the Beauchamp-driven race car they sponsored from H-M but that it had been reposessed by mid-season. A fair amount of local press dwelled on the '59 Daytona "500"/Beauchamp/Burdick connection on the 50th Anniversary of the race, and the Burdicks didn't really want to talk much to the major local newspaper here about it.
4. There's been several people who have claimed that dual shocks on the front end could have been had for '58s, and some have installed both the outboard shocks/backets (originally installed in anticipation of using the air bag suspension system that was cancelled before production began) along with the inboard ones (i.e. inside the coil spring and bolted to the body structure between the upper A-frame mounts) on their cars. My hunch is that someone took a set of '58 outboard shock brackets and lower control arms and installed them on Mark's '59 as part of the modification process. Detailed inspection of the car should yield clues about this.
5. In comparison to similar cars, lack of power steering and power brakes on a car optioned with a 430, heater, radio, backup lights and leather interior seems rather odd to me. Inspection of mounting points for the steering ram, the brake pedal and ventilation port for the underdash booster may yield some hints as to previous installation of these items. I suspect that the steering linkage and brake booster were removed, and that wiring probably got hacked up, at the time the transmission was changed out in order to get the clutch linkage in.
In short, spending time with this car on a lift may yield some additional information that can put some of these questions to rest.
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