A fun photo for Fast Friday, recently sent to us by none less than legendary tuner and long time friend, Jim Bell.
The photo is faded from the many years it hung on the wall at Kenne-Bell racing, but the subjects are easily discerned. In the photo are fourteen trophies and four champions.
To the left is the 1967 Reynolds Buick GS400 with the 430 engine. It raced for only one season, and is very seldom seen in photos. To date, we have discovered only three. Jim Bell recalls that all of the teething pains of the new 430 engine came to light on this car when placed under the stresses of drag racing. This one, he would say, accomplished more for the factory than the Reynolds Kenne-Bell team. It raced only one season because of the dramatic restyle of the 1968 models, which caused Pete Reynolds to replace it for the 1968 season.
In the middle is the retired 1965 Gran Sport Racer number Two, the one acquired quickly after the premature demise of the first one. It had to be quickly repainted in Tiger Gold, and in this picture wears a black top that was added by its second owner, one Lennie Kennedy of Pomona, CA. That name may be familiar.
The car on the right is the 1968 GS400 racer, newly arrived at the dealership. Records show the car came in in January of 1968, so this picture would have been taken during the short window after the '68 arrived but before the '67 was sold. The new 1968 Buicks and Opels in the background help confirm the time frame of the picture- the first quarter of 1968.
And the gentleman in the photo? He's the current owner of the car in the middle, a certain Lennie Kennedy of Pomona, But we always called him "Pop."
(Thanks to Jim Bell for the remarkable photo.)
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