Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

[Loren L.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

As a computer illiterate, can I ask if it's really necessary to use up thread space with some apparent desire to include redundant references? Simple sentences and paragraphs are preferred. The Dick Jess car was used only at Sea Fair and at Palm Springs. D'Olivo and/or Brown NEVER owned the Jess car. They campaigned, tweaked, serviced (mainly at Edelbrock & other SoCal shops) it and were responsible, with Bill Pollock, for the sterling record of the car. After it was wrecked at Paramount Ranch, it was offered to D'Olivo (don't know about Brown) who was "too smart for that". That car's history continued also. There was a widely published photo of the Thompson car missing the front end through the middle of the front wheel wells - I believe that at one time Dave Bartush owned the nose piece of the car from that accident.

[Dino L.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

Am I the only NCRS member biting my lip?

[Loren L.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

I wasn't trying to be unkind, if that's your take.

[William K.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

Thanks no problem

[William K.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

Loren
You were correct about the "nose piece " being owned By Dave Bartush.
I got hold of him and he still has it . To use his own words in his reply to me :
i.e.
From: David R Bartush <dave@detroitunlimited.com>
To: WILLIAM KEOGH <wllmkeogh@yahoo.com>
Sent: Friday, October 17, 2014 6:08 AM
Subject: Re: front nose of 1956 Corvette SCCA race car of Dr. Dick Thompsom (i.e. back in 1956)


Still have nose piece as shown in NCRS stories. Surprised no one has inquired about it until now. D

I have asked him if he can remember what happened to rest of car in 1956 and will put result in this forum

Bill Keogh

[William K.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

Per Dave Bartush
He believes that the rest of Dr. Dick Thompsons 1956 Corvette was sold after the crash
Maybe somebody knows who bought it ?
I do not know how much damage to frame but certainly the car body with thye vin# maybe out there some pl;ace with new nose section
Bill Keogh

[Loren L.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

Please see response #6.

[Mike E.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

Per Dave Bartush
He believes that the rest of Dr. Dick Thompsons 1956 Corvette was sold after the crash
Maybe somebody knows who bought it ?
I do not know how much damage to frame but certainly the car body with thye vin# maybe out there some pl;ace with new nose section
Bill Keogh

Bill,
I'd prefer to see Dave Bartush's response, rather than your characterization of his response.
Mike

[Loren L.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

It would appear that this Roundup has reached the Last Followup.

[David B.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

Gentlemen,
Since my name has been mentioned with regards Thompson's EASTERN C class '56 Corvette and at the risk of starting a new firestorm over this subject, I would like to correct some facts and clear the air on others.

#1 I am NOT a relative of Frank Burrell. Frank lived a couple of miles from me and we were good friends.

#2 Fortunately, Frank was somewhat of a "pack rat" and saved almost every written piece of correspondence he was involved with while working at Cadillac and Chevrolet Engineering. I have been ablle to obtain a lot of Vin#s, engine#s etc. from his notes.

#3 From these notes it can be concluded Dr.Dick Thompson was the owner in name only. Chevrolet Engineering provided Burrell as the chief mechanic on this car and it provided Chevrolet critical information on improving it's performance.

#4 From these notes, Frank indicated at Elkhart Lake 9/9/56 the car driven by Thompson's co driver
Major Wm Kincheloe hit the hays bales hard, (hence the nose piece) no mentioned was made of it flipping. After the car was refired, Thompson continued driving the rest of the race. Burrell's notes states the car finished 4th in class C.

#5 It appears fall Elkhart Lake was the cars last race. Further evidence indicates the car was returned to GM's Tech Center where it eventually came into possession of an Engineering employee. Have further info but prefer not to divulge for fear of a feeding frenzie

[Mike E.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

Dave,
Good to hear from you!

[David B.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

Thank you Michael. "Notice of my demise has been greatly exaggerated". As a man of cloth you are probably one of only a few glad to hear from me. My first thread response was considerably longer, lost a lot of it when I hit the preview button. When finally retrieved it must have been censured. If they allow the desert guy to speak why not me?

[Mike E.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

We monitor the guys who race speedboats more carefully.

[Richard M.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

David, Good to see you here and tell us all of that great information. Thanks for sharing. Sorry I got your heritage wrong. John Baldwin told me much about the #1 car and the Sebring Program, so I must have gotten it confused somewhere. I thought he said you were related. Apologies.

You're into race boats too? I had some fun with the antique kind a few years back. Never owned one, just helped restore. I used to own a '57 Coronado but had to pass it along to another enthusiast when I moved to Florida 8 years ago. Gators, brackish rivers and wooden boats don't mix very well.

Rich
p.s. There is no censoring here that I'm aware of. Except if you type the word TWEAKING, it deletes it. Just ad spaces to T W E A K I N G and you're good. There IS a bug in the software which does strange things to our text when going to "Preview" mode or "Go Advanced", after the text is written..... Sometimes you loose all paragraph formatting.
Also, note there is a Auto Save mode of your Replies if it's not submitted and leave the site. If your computer dies or you accidentally delete your window or something, next time you reply it asks to "Restore Auto Saved Content". Just click on that Button and your lost message will miraculously reappear.

[David B.]

Re: Second owner of the 1956 Corvette raced by Dr. Dick Thompson 1956 SCCA CP champ

Rich,
Thanks for the help. Tried to be careful with your software but messed up somewhere. I was aware of the auto save feature (good idea, reminds me old Doss software). When I hit the preview button to double check the accuracy of comments the entire thread disappeared. When I hit "Restore Auto" only a portion returned. Probably did not get saved within time lapse. My error, mentioning censoring was done with eyeballs to the sky.

In light of the insane prices some of these early engineering/styling/race cars are reaching I would love to help correct a lot of misinformation some of these car owners are "claiming". Just count the number of law suits now going on and some that should be started. The Sebring info you mentioned is probably a good place to start (I probably provided a majority that info and documentation when I sold my car) however, some of it has not been interpreted correctly. I am not sure the discussion board is the proper place to do this. Would appreciate your advise.