Stock car racing, especially the juggernaut that is NASCAR, is today one of the most popular spectator sports in this country. It generates hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and entertains tens of millions of people in person and on television. Almost every motorsports enthusiast has a favorite driver or, just as likely, one that they particularly do not like. However, it was not always this way. While much is made of the moonshining history of the sport, stock car racing stretches back some two decades before the founding of NASCAR and was hardly a regional phenomenon. Organized races for “modifieds” were found across the country and as far back as the 1920s.

Many of these so-called “modifieds” were little more than street cars. They were dragged from the junkyard, the glass was removed, and they were fitted with a rudimentary roll cage and a few truck suspension and brake parts. They were then turned loose on dirt, fairground, and a select few paved tracks in the hands of gutsy drivers who in many cases were also the builders. There were no national sanctioning organizations for these cars and no standardized rules, so every track had its own set. This ensured that every car was unique, with no two built to the same standard. From its tape-wrapped steering wheel to cockpit controls made of gate hinges, the car offered here is an authentically built tribute to those unsanctioned days.

This beautifully fabricated recreation 1960s-style modified, based on a 1938 Pontiac, currently wears the striking blue and white livery used by the car’s builder, well-known modified and vintage racer Denny Loroff of Castalia, Ohio. It is fitted with a Blue Flame Chevrolet six-cylinder engine and a three-speed manual transmission and is ready for showing or displaying. After appropriate race preparation, it would make an ideal companion for any number of vintage racing events.