HELP - History/photos of former Fireball Roberts short track / Modified Sportsman 57 Ford

Hello,

I need some help tracking down the complete history and period photos of a car I just purchased.

Its Fireball Roberts old 1957 Ford which he raced in Modified Sportsman and the NASCAR Short Track Division from about 1958 - 1962.

History as I know it:
1) (Building) The car was bought from a local Ford dealership in about 1958 or 1959 (according to Doris Roberts circa 1992) by Fireball. It was taken home and built into a race car by Felix McConnell, Ralph Eury and Ralph Earnhardt. Ray Fox may have also had something to do with its construction.

2) (Racing) Fireball raced this car in short track and modified sportsman events up until about 1962. Apparently Ralph Eury and Ralph Earnhardt also drove the car in events.

3) (Retirement to Today) It was parted out and parked in the woods behind Doris and Fireballs house in Kannapolis, NC on or around 1962. It was purchased by Curtis Ballard (gentlemen who I bought it from) in 1992 directly from Doris Roberts and hauled out from the woods of Fireballs property (took 8 hrs apparently to get it out). I bought it from Curtis this week.

Any help tracking down its history is much appreciated. I really want to do the restoration right.

you can see my other restoration I recently finished of Roy Maynes 1965 Impala here: http://NASCARImpala.com

Photos below of this 1957 Ford.

Thank you!

shaun

updated by @shaun-b-coleman: 03/06/19 05:46:16AM

Well i can`t tell you anything but i do no it looks like one heck of a find i do no somebody on RR can can tell you something about that car hang in there

It may be exactly what it's purported to be but I see two serious red flags in the pics.One-if it was last raced in '62 then there's way too many door bars (only one required through '62 IIRC) and those rear "kicker" bars off the main roll bar also are a later touch.Two- most of the Fords run in that era were the Custom bodies and this is a Fairlane- two inch longer wheelbase, heavier hardtop bodystyle

A question for the historians here -Did people really buy brand new cars to run in the Modified/Sportsman divisions? That seems kind of odd. Wouldn't it make more sense if this car was run in the Grand National Division? At least for the first year or two?I've always been under the impression the Modified/Sportsman divisions were for older cars to keep costs down...at least in those days.

Jerry Sims said:

It may be exactly what it's purported to be but I see two serious red flags in the pics.

One-if it was last raced in '62 then there's way too many door bars (only one required through '62 IIRC) and those rear "kicker" bars off the main roll bar also are a later touch.

Two- most of the Fords run in that era were the Custom bodies and this is a Fairlane- two inch longer wheelbase, heavier hardtop bodystyle

Thanks Jerry,Its possible it ran later then 62 -- Doris was the one who provided this information back in the 90s to the person I purchased the car from. She could have been off a few years. It was definitely parked and parted out in the 60s though.Regarding Fairlanes racing, as I understand it there were many 57 Ford Fairlane hard tops which races? I've personally seen many photos of these racing up thru 59 I believe in GN.Questions resolved (confirmed with multiple sources) :1) Who built it (Ralph Eury/Felix McConnell maybe Ray Fox)2) Who raced it (Fireball, Ralph Earnhardt, maybe Ralph Eury as well))The outstanding details as I see it are:1) Photos of the car2) When did it start racing (58 or 59)3) When did it stop racing (door bars indicate it raced into at least the mid 60s?)4) Which series specifically did it race in (We know Sportsman but Short Track Division, GN?)thanks everyone for the help. We want the history to be accurate and precise on this one. thanks!shaun

Shaun ,Don't know if this helps or not, but the Nascar Short Track Division only raced from 1951 -1959. This Division division did not exist in the 60's.Jack

Shaun, not trying to be a smart butt, but I didn't just get involved in the racing world in the last few years. I know that Smokey built two Fairlanes to run for Ford in '57 but almost all of the other cars that I'm aware of were the shorter wheelbase Customs. I've seen a few Fairlanes but most, if not all of them were zippertops made to run in the convertible division and do double duty with the GN cars.The only time I've found him to run a Ford in '58 in the GN division is at Lakewood on April 13. No pics but the owner is listed as Beau Morgan and the car number was 494 for that race. Pretty much the only thing I find him running in the '59 races that Smokey didn't enter the Pontiac in is Buck Baker's Chevy. Hope this helps in your search for info on the car.

Thanks Jerry, that would be for grand national races though right? What about fireballs short track and sportsman modified racing?As I understand fireball raced many more races in those series then he did in GN and that was in different cars, ones which he himself built and owned. Even when he was with Smokey racing the Pontiac, I'm told he would race his own stuff in modified sportsman and that was in fords he built (not the HM stuff)?shaun

Jerry Sims said:

Shaun, not trying to be a smart butt, but I didn't just get involved in the racing world in the last few years. I know that Smokey built two Fairlanes to run for Ford in '57 but almost all of the other cars that I'm aware of were the shorter wheelbase Customs. I've seen a few Fairlanes but most, if not all of them were zippertops made to run in the convertible division and do double duty with the GN cars.

The only time I've found him to run a Ford in '58 in the GN division is at Lakewood on April 13. No pics but the owner is listed as Beau Morgan and the car number was 494 for that race. Pretty much the only thing I find him running in the '59 races that Smokey didn't enter the Pontiac in is Buck Baker's Chevy. Hope this helps in your search for info on the car.

But you've still got to factor in that shorter, lighter car when thinking about all those short track races and on dirt. Just going by what I know was raced and why back then. Maybe he got a really good deal on a car lot Fairlane that may have been wrecked or a trashed interior or bad engine. It would have had to be a lot cheaper though to fight the weight penalty and longer wheelbase though.

I don't want to burst anyones bubble, but the 1957 ford could not be used as a modified or sportsman car until its fourth model year, which would mean 1960.as i recall glen drove only the major modified & sportsman events once his grand national career was
established. The cars he drove are well documented, and a 57 ht.wasn't one of them according to any records or that i can recall.Also the remaining panels are awfully straight for an old sportsman car.Add the cage design, and what looks like a lack of any real racing prep ,which leads me to think it was probably a local street stock when that type of class first started in the mid 60's. It appears this one may not have even been completed.

Thanks David, yeah its turned out to be a bit of a nightmare car. I ended up trying to get my money back after questions arose about the true history of the car. I even hired a lawyer at some expense without any luck. Its his word against mine (and other racers) which might hold up in court but it will cost me far more then I paid for the car to move forward.

today its sitting in Georgia at my friend Wayne Smith's (person who I purchased Roy Maynes [REAL] 65 Impala from) property waiting to figure out what to do with it. It was raced, we have confirmed that by looking at it. It was purchased from the Roberts family, we have evidence of that but what it was and who actually raced it, I hope someone knows?

shaun

Thanks.You've been a huge help! I'm thinking of putting it back up on Craigslist and just listing it at history unknown and see if anyone wants to research it themselves. Would be nice to get something back on what I've spent... lesson learned --

shaun

I am NOT going to say "I TOLD YOU SO'...if I did, I would be on the same level as the &%#@^ that sold you that POS...if you STILL or EVER decide to persue it LEGALLY, again..lmk.............

Thanks Wayne, wish you'd 'told me so' before I bought it but I didn't know you before then, alas.... sigh..

I'd love to sue the %(@(#* but it was going to cost twice as much as I paid for the car to even get it to court. ah well.

shaun

Just WANT to clear up something. I DROVE 12 hrs., TWICE... to look at this POS.. for the family in question...and the SECOND trip CREATED the curious..and GREEDY, of the seller..Shaun PAID that greedy price.

Creating "history" seems to be common in this area. Witness the comments from Mr. Ball on the 37"flatback" he purchased. BTW! Thanks to Billy Biscoe for the history lesson on my brothers old GN Monte Carlo and for keeping the "history" alive in his cars.

Have you talked to the neighbors? Maybe there is some old dude that hung around them back in the day and still lives near by. Back when I was a police detective that's

where I started my investigations. Just saying! W

Thanks guys, at this point I would just like to know what it is. The consensus seems to be that:

1) fireball did not drive it. The 'story' places fireball, little bud moore, raph eury, and ralph earnhardt as the "builders" of the car.

It having been purchased as a 1 year used car from a local kannapolis ford dealership does at least seem to check out since it has that dealerships nameplate still on the car from that time.

A local car, probably never left Kannapolis?

2) the car coming from doris's back yard, which it very well may have but that doesn't mean it was driven by fireball.

PattyKay's explanation seems to be the more likely scenario. As I understand it now, doris moved after fireballs death somewhere around '64-'65 to the house where this car was discovered. Would she have moved an old race car to a new house after fireballs death? Seems unlikely.

3) It does seem to be a race car, and probably from the early 60s era. At some point it appears to have been towed to events due to a spot for an old taillight (making it also unlikely Fireballs car since he would have trailered a car in those days?) and a tow bar up front.

4) It has a beefed up suspension and a large tractor like tire on the passenger front (dirt trick from those days?. The cage looks to have been really poorly constructed and likely was updated over time with the additional door bars (or could have had 3 bars because of it being a short track car?).

Again I'd just like to know what it is. I'd hate to junk the car not knowing at least what she is.

thanks everyone

shaun

Some more photos below that I have of the car.

Nice,real nice!Good Luck on the resto;peace,out.