Great Find at the Pate Swap Meet

[cwisenheimer]

Hello all,

I don't post much here (no Cobra) but I try to keep up-to-date and keep the dream going.

For those of you that haven't been, the annual Pate Swap Meet is the second largest (to Hershey) car parts swap meet in the nation. It used to be held between Fort Worth and Granbury at the Pate Transportation Museum on 377. Now it's held in the parking lot of Texas Motor Speedway. It's so big that you don't have a prayer of seeing everything without spending an entire day.

I went yesterday and I came across a huge find for some lucky Cobra guy/gal. There was a gentleman named James Harrell with lots of literature, photos, and prints. (He also has a Woody, a Ranchero, and several other Fords.) The "find", though, was a pair of original AC blueprints, one of the AC Ace roadster and one of the AC Aceca coupe. He told me the path by which they came to him and it started with one of Shelby's mechanics in the days of the original Cobras. I'm no Sotheby's but they looked legitimate to me.

Mr. Harrell seemed like a very nice, honest older man. I told him how to find this group on the web and he told me he doesn't do any web stuff. Instead, I had him give me his phone number so I could post some details and forward people to him. I am not about to put his personal information (phone #) on the web for him but I'd be happy to supply it to anybody via PM.

FYI, I asked "how much" and he told me he'd turned down $700 apiece. That didn't really answer my question but for the right buyer they might be a great bargain. Also, Mr. Harrell may be looking to sell some of his Ford collection and / or wholesale some large parcels of his merchandise in the next year or so.

Curtis

[Michael P. Wole]

I seem to remember a Dick Harrell from the '60s...Ford drag racer...could this be him?

[jayscobras]

Dickie Harrell was a famous drag racer from the 50's and 60's but drove Chevrolet powered cars, not Ford. Info about him at www.yenko.net.

Jay

[gsharapa]

Hey Jay,

Dickie Harrell, I remember him well as I use to go watch him at US30 Drag Strip in Indiana (when I lived in Chicago) in the late 60s. I think he got killed testing a new car if I remember right.

Dick Harrell
For many years Dickie Harrell ran a lot of the AHRA races and very few NHRA national events. He did a tremendous amount of match racing and was among the most popular drivers in the country. Undoubtedly, one of the reasons for his success and popularity was the fact that he raced Chevrolets, real Chevrolets and the fans knew it. The title of “Mr. Chevrolet” was contested at booked in match races across the country but win or lose the fans always knew that Dickie Harrell was the real deal. One of the few times that Dickie did attend an NHRA national event was at the U.S. Nationals in 1971 where he qualified for a very tough field. A few weeks after that; while match racing in Canada, Dickie was killed in an accident. Although his drag racing career came to an untimely end, his legacy didn’t.