Some MOPAR /Drag Racing History, or a challenge to your building skills ?

[Craig Irwin]

Febuary 91 issue of Mopar Collectors Guide artical on Big Willie calls the Cuda a follow-up to the King Daytona.

[dieseldog1970]

I belive the colors of Big Willie Robisons three `69 Daytona colors were Yellow, Charger Red and Rallye Green.

Thanks for posting the pics, i always thought that the third car was white...probably just due to it being dirty and sun faded over time. That colour was not one of the high impact colours, probably a pale yellow (not sure what the name actually is, would have to do some digging for that.). I thought I seen a Charger hood with the tear drop scoop on it for sale??? Might have been on the 'bay...this was just recently too....hmmmm? I think that the only hard part would be the decals, not sure if there is anything available from the aftermarket? Keith Marks maybe...I am sure someone could chime in. Other than a Revell Daytona, headers and slicks....might be a fairly easy build...but who am I to say....all my stuff is packed away in boxes!! LOL

[69NovaYenko]

Big Willie’s "King Daytona" with its 432 cubic inch blueprinted 426 Hemi (thanks to Keith Black Enterprises) was one of the fastest street cars in L.A. during the 70ties. I read that the "King Daytona" regularly ran 10.5`s /133 mph at Orange County Raceway and King Daytona`s best time was 10.2 /139.7 mph. The scary thing is that some say his wife Tomiko "Queen Daytona" was even faster than Big Willie’s car sometimes.

It should be noted that Willie`s Daytona`s were in a constant state of upgrade and change, sometimes changing on a week by week basics; in pursuit of being the "fastest street machine in L.A.." The pictures I found of Willie`s "King Daytona" in an article written by Jay Amestoy in the 70ties entitled "10 Second Street Machines -Afro Charger" differ quite a bit from the die-cast replicas.

The under-hood picture I stumbled across showed two flexible hoses (what Willie affectionately called "Two elephant trunks sniffing for rats") that scooped air into the dual 750 cfm Holley carbs. They were snaked to the front of the engine compartment and down to the two small rectangular openings in the wedged nose. The dual Holley's were bolted to a Mopar short cross ram intake. Additionally, note the stock factory radiator was replaced by a small Opal Kadet unit as a means of reducing overall weight.

The interior of the Daytona is anything but attractive. All non-essential items were removed to bring down weigh of the car. Notice the front/back factory seats were deleted, no carpet, no sound deadening installation, no passenger door hardware, headliner and the dash instrumentation were also stripped out. The sparse interior sports only a B&M Clutch-Flite selector, steering column, accelerator/brake/clutch peddles and one light weight racing seat. Other weight saving measure was the elimination of the factory gas tank which was replaced by a two gallon keg style racing fuel tank. The window glass, including front windshield, was replaced with plexiglass duplicates. The factory horizontal section of the wing was originally made of forged aluminum and weighting about 50 pounds was replaced with a fiberglass replica. Willie also had a fiberglass rear deck lid and hood made to his specifications by Fiberglass Trends.Tires for the Daytona were 12.2 x 15 Firestone Drag 500`s in the rear and 6.70 x 15 Travel Trailer tires in the front mounted on American Racing mags.

As a final note-Ted Moser owner of Picture Car Warehouse (a company that builds cars for Hollywood movies and TV shows) is using his clout in Hollywood to garner support for a screenplay treatment that would tell the story of Big Willie Robinson’s life. Moser hopes to get the support of Denzel Washington, who would ideally play the role of the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Big Willie Andrew Robinson III.

Edited August 21, 2013 by 69NovaYenko

[Craig Irwin]

As a final note-Ted Moser owner of Picture Car Warehouse (a company that builds cars for Hollywood movies and TV shows) is using his clout in Hollywood to garner support for a screenplay treatment that would tell the story of Big Willie Robinson’s life. Moser hopes to get the support of Denzel Washington, who would ideally play the role of the 6-foot-6, 300-pound Big Willie Andrew Robinson III.

Now that would be far more entertaining than any more F&F movies could be.

[1972coronet]

Now that would be far more entertaining than any more F&F movies could be.

So long as it's as close to the 'prosaic' truth as possible ! I'm certain that Big's life story needs absolutely zero embellishment .

I've said it before and I'll say it again : Big Willie was much more of a community leader than any of the fledgling "leaders" (whose names shall be left to the imagination) . He not only talked-the-talk , he also walked-the-walk , and he remained an absolute gentleman in the process .

[1930fordpickup]

I am not sure if Denzel Washington is big enough to play this man. He is talented enough for this role just a bit small for me.

[Greg Myers]

[Blown03SVT]

This thread spawned a 2 hour search and educate myself on Big Willie and his winged cars. Great read over a few cups of coffee

[Blown03SVT]

Some more cool stuff about Big Willie and the Brotherhood

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=244401&showall=1