The Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum not only displays some of the world’s most amazing vehicles, but from time to time takes them outside so they can demonstrate their aural and dynamic capabilities.
The next such demonstration day is October 11, when NASCAR Racing Legends will be exercised between noon and 2 p.m.
The star car figures to be the famed “Mystery Motor” 1963 Chevrolet Impala SS that Junior Johnson drove to a speed record at Daytona and to seven victories that season wearing the No. 3 and Holly Farms sponsorship colors.
Chevrolet withdrew from official factory participation in motorsports for the 1963 season, but not before delivering some of its newly developed “Mystery Motor” engines to several NASCAR teams. The engines (RPO Z33 Mk II 427) featured cylinder heads with valves canted in two planes. The engines were so strong they were banned for the 1964 season. The No. 3 went from the race track to storage in a barn.
It reportedly has undergone no modifications since, except for a replacement alternator and a new carburetor, needed after the original Holley carb was stolen.
The car is owned by RK Motors Charlotte and is on a brief loan to the Simeone. NASCAR Racing Legends Day is the only time will be “exercised” while in Philadelphia.
Joining the No. 3 car in demonstration runs will be a 1986 Buick Regal raced by Larry Pearson with Chattanooga Chew sponsorship, a replica of the 1938 Ford raced by Louis Smith, a 1953 Hudson Hornet that competed successfully in hill climbs and became known as the “Satan of Morimar,” and a 1970 Plymouth Superbird.
For additional information, visit the museum’s events webpage.
