Perfect Pair: Check Out These Street Legal Darrel Waltrip Tribute Cars
These two custom classic Chevies may be the ultimate Darrel Waltrip collectibles for the true fan — back when “stock cars” were actually based on stock cars!
The 2020 NASCAR season is off and running. It’s got us thinking about trying our hand at racing our local short track, so we pointed our browser over to Racing Junk.
Initially, we were looking for a race-ready stock car, but this pair of classic Chevrolets we found has us changing up our plans a bit. Both are impressive replicas of cars driven to victory by the legendary stock car racer Darrel Waltrip. However, there’s a catch: both are street legal, with full interiors.
We found both cars at a dealership in Nashville, Tennessee called Streetside Classics. It’s safe to assume that both were built by the same dedicated Darrel Waltrip fan before being offered up for sale. These cars replicate the machine he drove his first full season in NASCAR, and the car he made his last championship run in.
The Gatorade Years
The first car is a 1976 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, painted up in Waltrip’s iconic green-and-white Gatorade livery. Our favorite part about this paint job is the way it accentuates the Monte Carlo’s creases and sweeping body lines. We usually don’t notice them as much when the car is painted in just one color.
Racing drivers, much like athletes, are very superstitious. One of the longest-standing superstitions in racing states that green cars are unlucky. We’re not sure where this started or why. However, when Gatorade signed on as Waltrip’s primary sponsor for the 1976 season, it didn’t take long for him to put that old superstition to bed.
Waltrip one just one race in 1976, the Virginia 500 at Martinsville Speedway. However, his career would explode after that. By the early 1980s, he was still driving a green and white car. This time, the sponsor was Mountain Dew, and he was driving for NASCAR legend Junior Johnson.
The replica car seen here looks ready to roll, needing just a pair of headlights to be fully street legal. The ad isn’t clear, but it looks like the screens may be affixed with clips or velcro, exposing the real headlights underneath. That would be ideal.
Success in the ’80s
The second car, a 1987 Chevrolet Monte Carlo, has the headlights hidden behind a pair of smoked GTS headlight covers. Those headlight covers have been out of style for a while, but they serve their purpose here very well. We wouldn’t be opposed to them making a comeback — they looked good in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and they look good now, too.
This car is painted to resemble the red and white Budweiser livery he raced with in 1985 and 1986, his last two years with Johnson’s team before moving to Hendrick Motorsports. He’d win three races each year, winning the Winston Cup in 1985 and finishing second in the point standings in 1986 behind Dale Earnhardt.
In 1985, he also won The Winston, the first running of NASCAR’s annual all-star race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Waltrip clearly had his best years racing for Johnson. He won all three of his championships — 1981, 1982, and 1985 — during that time. He also amassed over half of his 84 total wins in this period.
Waltrip would retire from NASCAR’s top series after the 2000 season. After that, he had an impressive career, calling races from the broadcast booth until retiring at the end of the last season. We’ll certainly miss seeing his cars run on the track, and we’ll miss hearing his voice in the booth even more.
However, these two awesome street machines offer us a chance to relive some of Waltrip’s most legendary moments — within reason, of course. After all, these are street cars.
Photos: Racing Junk
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