I think we all owe a BIG CONGRATULATIONS to Tweed Vorhees for being selected for the article in Muscle Car Review. While the article is informative, the real credit should go to Tweed for his tenacity to PROVE that the car he found is INDEED the Ron Garey/ Chesrown Olds mount. Knowing Tweed, the car will be restored impeccably to what it was back in NHRA winning trim. If my post is not the first here to congratulate Mr. Tweed, I apologize, but as of yet, I haven't noticed such a thread. For those who don't know Tweed, he is a veritable "walking and talking encyclopedia" of W-31s and Oldsmobile performance in general. He also was part of the Chesrown Olds team that raced competitively and brought to light the efforts and accomplishments of that team. I can't wait to see the finished product and who knows, we might have to get our old Olds W-31 dealership race cars together for a reunuion.
WAY TO GO TWEED!!!!!!!!

 

Here, Here! I second that!

 

Way to go! I'll be looking to read that.

 

I just read the article today. I had no idea of the history. Nice work. I can't wait to see it restored.

 

Yes this is a great article on the car. Congrats to Mr. Tweed.

 

Thanks Guys -- I'll try not to disappoint you with the resto project. Not sure if i will have the time (or wherewithall) to do a "diary" daily log of the build process on here but i will do updates from time to time. Pictures im adding here is how the car looks as it was found and the other pic is at the 1968 Springnationals where the car won Stock Eliminator. This pic is what i will be doing the resto. It should look exactly ( and hopefully run the same too) as it was during that 1968 season. This win is regarded as the very first major win for modern era muscle car Oldsmobiles. And it goes without saying that a lot of its success can be attributted to the late Dale Smith at Olds. First off, this car was delivered to us on orders of Dale and it was one of a couple of "pre-production" test "mule" cars for the W-331 Ramrod project.
Officially the Ramrods were not released to the public until the first week of January 68, and Dale wanted one to be in competition at the 68 Winternationals which was always the first weekend in Feb back then. In order for a car to be prepped for racing would take more time than that so Dale got this car to us around the first of November. As they say - "The rest is history!!

 

I was with Tweed for part of this treasure hunt. Turns out the Ramrod was located 6 miles from my house. The owner had parts all over the place where the car was. Some related, most not. Like a big jigsaw puzzle. Trying to determine if the car was the real deal was more than a challenge. The fact that the original was wrecked and re-bodied made things more difficult. There were many tell-tail signs that were positive, but nothing that would make it "for sure". Checking it out was exciting, but frustrating. The nagging thought was "What if this really is the car, but we can't prove it?". Which is pretty much where things were left until Tweed was able to obtain the VIN for the original car. That was all the proof that was needed, and fortunately the car was still available. Nice that it was proof-positive and no doubts were left.

 

WMachine was a great help in the "verify" process. Dont be so humble, Kurt!! He provided some valuable Olds knowledge to the "search"!! Especially in regard to finding "date ranges" of the sequence numbers in the VIN and on the cowl tag!! As you most may know, the car rolled after an oil-down incident at Hyde Park and had to be re-bodied, Hence the two different styles of lettering you have seen the car with. Heres the aftermath of the roll-over!

 

Way cool Tweed! Glad to hear you get to save this baby.

 

cool story, the 68s are my favorite olds for a hardtop model! I am a little confused as to what re bodied means ??? anyway that was a great looking car in the day.
Charlie,,,

 

Tweed, any other VINs come to light in your research?

 

Nice cant wait to see it done.

 

Re-bodied means just that -- remove the wrecked body and throw it away and replace it with a new undamaged body. In our case -- we took our empty trailer to Lansing and they loaded the new body shell onto our trailer right at the Fisher Body plant. Again Dale Smith arranged the deal! And it didnt cost us a dime either for that new body. Ron DID have to purchase and own the original car when it was delivered to Chesrown Olds. Dale couldnt swing it as a "freebie" race car at that time.

 

No - all I was interested in was to verify the VIN on the car. And were able to do that-- thanks to the loan records at the bank that originally financed the car's purchase. The bank even had a photocopy of the original title in thier records!! Both the loan papers and the title had the "magic number" on them!!

 

ohhh, gotcha was thinking the car was rebodied in the 70s- 80s. that tells you how much I know of the chesrown 68 olds. wish I could of done that with my 70. anyway VERY cool car and story. will be watching your story as it unfolds. best of luck on your build!!!
Charlie,,,

 

Tweed, I saw you @ the Anderson show. I didn't bother you as you looked busy/important walking around with a clipboard in you hands. Great car with a great story.

 

Great story, and great find by Tweed. The car is in good hands now Can't wait to see the finished product
W-31's and Ram-Rods rule

 

Awesome find Tweed! Can't wait to see it finished.

 

Great story...can't wait to see the transformation back to its former glory.

 

Sorry i missed ya -- clipboard was for judging -- not that much time - shoulda spoke up!! -- never to busy to BS with Olds guys!!