Legendtorial: Dodge ~ Gone With the Wind

by: Tim Leeming

Several years ago, the Statler Brothers had a song called “Do You Remember These?”.  As the verses rattled off item after item from the 50s, I could remember each one of the items named.  These days, there are e-mail forwardings that provide pictures of things from the 40s, 50s, 60s, and the nostalgic response is requested as you view each picture.  Again, I remember each and every one of the subjects of the pictures.  It’s not that I have a photographic memory, or even an above average memory; it’s just that most of those things were a part of my life at some point.  One such picture is the dinosaur on the Sinclair Gas Station signs. Yes, I remember that.  There was a Sinclair station between where I lived and downtown, so every time my family traveled downtown we would pass that station.  I sort of miss that old dinosaur but even more, I think, I miss the times my Dad would stop and we would get a Moon Pie and an R.C. Cola. Seriously!

Now, let me throw a few names at you and see how quickly your mind’s eye will call up a picture.  Here goes:  Packard, Hudson, Henry J., Willys, Nash, Studebaker, Edsel, Desoto.  Because this show is Racin’ Through History and because MOST of that history includes me as a fan, no doubt all of you guess those were makes of cars.  Those are makes of cars that actually raced in NASCAR, in what is now the Cup Division.  Not included in that list are Oldsmobile, Buick, Cadillac, Chrysler, Plymouth, Mercury, Lincoln, T-Bird, Pontiac, all of which once raced for The Cup, but no longer.  All of the cars mentioned in the first list are gone, no longer existing.  Some of the cars in the second list are still around, but are no longer racing in NASCAR.