Yahoo Autos Junkyard Gem: 1965 Plymouth Belvedere Race Car
I've found the occasional retired race car during my junkyard travels, but most of them have been fairly modern machines. Today's Junkyard Gem is a different sort of racing remnant: an ancient dirt-track beast that probably last saw service more than 40 years ago, found in a Denver-area yard last summer.
It's really just a gutted shell that sat outdoors for decades after its final competition, but you can still catch glimpses of its past here and there among the rust spots and peeling paint.
The rear quarters clearly identify it as a 1965 Plymouth B-Body two-door sedan.
The 1965 B-Body Plymouths were sold as three models: the upscale Satellite, the mid-level Belvedere II, and the El Cheapo Belvedere I. The shadow of a Belvedere badge on the fender found inside the car indicates that at least the fender came from a Belvedere I (the way race cars — especially those that compete on dirt — whack into each other, we can assume this is the 19th fender affiliated with this car).
Belvedere fenders were easy to find in junkyards until about 40 years ago, and the faded sponsor stickers indicate that this car last raced around that time. You can still buy new "Turbo Action" valve bodies for Chrysler automatic transmissions, by the way.
Likewise, CRC 5-56 lubricant still exists. The "OZONE SAFE" label on the can suggests that this sticker is of late-1970s-to-early-1980s origin.
