Re: 427 Mystery Engine
Verne
From what I've read Holman Moody were the ones who filed a protest and made NASCAR stick to the no experimental engine rule. Engines had to be available to the public, and NASCAR made Chevrolet sell two of those engines to Ford. These two engines were picked up at Smokey's by Holman Moody.
Bubba Farr had a '63 with a 409 in it, and he said "If you're giving Holman Moody two of 'em, I ought to get one." They let him have an engine, but after the race, they took it back. Holman Moody never returned their engines.
There were four 427's in the Daytona 500 - Johnny Rutherford driving for Smokey, Junior Johnson driving for Ray Fox, Rex White and Bubba Farr.
Rex White had been testing the new engine at the Proving Grounds in Mesa since late '62 and had accumulated several blown engines and many parts which he brought to Daytona. Chevrolet didn't usually let their test cars out of the Proving Grounds, but the car that Smokey ran was actually the test car from Mesa that White had built. Smokey's relationship with Bunkie Knudsen got it out the back door.
Rex White continued to run his 427 through the Memorial Day World 600 at Charlotte, then abandoned it due to a lack of parts. They had to reuse everything, including head gaskets! I don't know how long Smokey or Ray Fox ran theirs.
Glenn
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