I currently own that 1966 Olds 442 W30. I bought in from Wally falconer in 2005. It was originally a dealer sponsored race car for McDonald Olds/Chevy in 1966. I would like to contact anyone who knew the dealer's driver/mechanics or anyone who knew the car while being raced by the dealer. Wally told me he raced a 1967 Camao Z28 several times. I have the original timeslip for one of those races. The Z28 won.
I currently own that 1966 Olds 442 W30. I bought in from Wally falconer in 2005. It was originally a dealer sponsored race car for McDonald Olds/Chevy in 1966. I would like to contact anyone who knew the dealer's driver/mechanics or anyone who knew the car while being raced by the dealer. Wally told me he raced a 1967 Camao Z28 several times. I have the original timeslip for one of those races. The Z28 won.
WOW I call it the couch car ?? It was owned by Peter Lerette of Old Gold Restorations in Sackville N.B. He owned it, and sold it, and it got pretty run down The fellow he sold it to, ran short of money (don't we all ) He wanted to sell and Peter didn't have any cash Hes says what can I trade? what do you need? The seller said he needed a couch !! Peter had a almost new couch and went home and loaded it up and traded even for the car lol lol (the one that got away) He sold it agian and finally Wally tracked it down and bought it
'64 Parisienne CS "barn find" - last on the road in '86 ... Owner Protection Plan booklet, original paint, original near-mint aqua interior, original aqua GM floor mats, original 283, factory posi, and original rust.
Both of my older bothers worked for Bob macDonald Chev Olds of Halifax in the 1960's and 70's. I remember Doug bringing home a red Corvette with a 427 ci Alum block and heads. It may have been 1969 or 70. Bob was very good to his staff. Doug sold over 30 cars one month and was allowed his choice of cars for a demo. He picked a new 1968 427 Impala SS. It was brown with an off white top and interior. It was a 4 spd car. I always looked forward to Sunday mornings as you never knew what would be in the driveway. Z28s, W31 Olds, big block Chevelles many Camaros and a yellow 69 Nova 396 with a 4 spd. I remember when it shifted from 2nd to 3rd it turned sideways and I was looking out the passenger side window at the road coming towards me.
In 1969 Joel Rosen and Joel Kim from Motion Performance Baldwin Automotive of New York visited Bob MacDonalds. The brougth a 427 68 or 69 Camaro. It was black and ran A/MP against Bob MacDonalds Camaro driven by Ronnie Locke. Also in 69 the funny cars showed up. The story I seem to remember is that one evening they fired up Mel Perry's Super Hugger (Camro body) and Joe Black's Green Hornet (Firebird body) on kempt Rd in front of the dealership. I don't think they raced but the talk was that at the track "the only way you were going by me is if you go under me." On Sunday as I watched from the stands Joe Black was true to his perdiction and went sideways across the track in front of Mel Perry.
My uncle Bernie Scott was used car sales manager at Citadel Motors Halifax. They sold Pontiac, Buick and Caddies.My cousin Barry would pick me up in a car off the lot a take me for a "Test Drive". Wow. Big Block Pontiac Grand Prixs, Tempest T37, Firebirds, GTOs and Buick GSs to name but a few. When the rubber Endura bumper came out the dealership had a baseball bat leaned against the bumper in the showroom. I was told one night a guy hit it so hard a signal light popped out. In 1969 my brother Mike drove a new GTO at Drag City for Citadel Motors. It was dark blue with a black vinyl top and white letters along the side. Citadel on the body running through the doors and the word Challenger over the rear wheel wells. Mike McGrath was written on the door just below the glass.(Would like a photo of this car if anyone knows where a copy may be.)
Another uncle, Sonny with his son Bill had Scott Motors, a used car lot. They had a 1967 396 ci Parisienne 4 spd. Black with a white top that was a very sharpe car. Through them I also drove in numerous Fords and Mopars.
Due to men like Bob MacDonald, Nova Scotia had its share of Muscle Cars back in the day. I was lucky enough to have had a drive in many of the models. Today when I drive down Kempt Rd past the location of the old dealership I can imagine the funny cars flashing up the hemi power pllants and for a mommnet I can smell a trace of nitro in the air.
Today I am the keeper of the family 1964 Pontiac Parisienne. It is a 2 door hardtop, 283 ci 2 spd automatic. It has 30,000 miles on it. I guess I am still lucky. Thanks for letting me unleash these memories. Paul McGrath, Halifax Nova Scotia.
-- Edited by jpaulmcgrath on Sunday 2nd of September 2012 02:46:21 PM
-- Edited by jpaulmcgrath on Tuesday 12th of March 2013 06:34:06 PM
I finally have the Z home. Works well. Not the torque of the COPO but fun just the same. I picked up a 69 Super Bee 41,000 mile survivor. Not a GM but a nice highway cruiser.
Got to go play last Saturday. COPO and Z. Couldn't hook the Polyglass tires with the 427 and 4.56 gears. The Hugger Orange was definitely bright in the Texas sun
Tonight I spoke to my brother Mike McGrath. He worked at Bob MacDonalds when the Olds was there. He used to bring it home at lunch time. He remembers the gang at Macdonalds were sad when Bob gave the car to Johnny Smith and the Clusterbusters to run. He recalled that Sam Ellsworth painted the dice on the fenders. Did the dice read 442?
Mike said that Olds was some car. He regrets not buying it when he had the chance back then.
Dealer emblem for my Bob McDonald 1967
Corvette - I have one of the 67 corvettes delivered new at Bob's dealership. would love to locate an original dealer emblem from the day to have with the car - anyone out there have any ideas where i could find one?
About a year or so ago, a coworker handed me a flash drive with a number of local drag racing pics on it. A buddy of his had given them to him and he let me copy them over to my hard drive... so I don't know the origin of the photos, but I'll post a few of them as I think they are relevant to this thread. I recognize the location of most (if not all) of them to be at the old Maitland Dragway (formerly an air strip built in Maitland NS during the second world war), and the timeline to be 1967-ish. I know the track well as I used to go there quite a bit during its second go around as a drag strip in the 1980s and 90s. Some of the cars may even be the very ones discussed here. I had to edit some of the photos as they were somewhat dark and had a blue tint to them, so you are seeing my colour corrections to the best of my ability to guess what they should look like. If there is any interest, I'll try to post more as I get the time.
If anybody knows the cars or the people, it would be cool to get some context.
?? It was owned by Peter Lerette of Old Gold Restorations in Sackville N.B. He owned it, and sold it, and it got pretty run down The fellow he sold it to, ran short of money (don't we all ) He wanted to sell and Peter didn't have any cash Hes says what can I trade? what do you need? The seller said he needed a couch !! Peter had a almost new couch and went home and loaded it up and traded even for the car lol lol (the one that got away) He sold it agian and finally Wally tracked it down and bought it 
