:
"One of the most controversial cars ever built
was the '66 Ford Galaxy of Junior Johnson for the Dixie 400. This
was the year that the Ford teams were boycotting NASCAR, and for the
2nd straight year attendance was down. 1965 saw all of the Chrysler
teams stay home, also drastically affecting attendance. Johnson had
retired as a driver but cut a deal with NASCAR to build a car for
Fred Lorenzen to drive in the upcoming Dixie 400. He had protested
in the past about how all of the Mopars had been chopped and
channeled to alter their appearance for better streamlining. Indeed,
all of the cars were starting to look like pyramids when you saw
them from the front. Johnson's car had the dog-house angled down so
steep that the front bumper was actually covering part of the lower
headlight covers. The roof was also angled down. It was reported in
the January 1967 issue of STOCK CAR RACING MAGAZINE that Lorenzen
had to get in where the rear side window space was as the space
between the door and roof was too narrow. The quarter panels were
angled straight back rather that the regular downward slope.
All of these were obvious even to the untrained
eye. Johnson made no effort to hide anything. Yet the car passed
tech inspection, showing how desperate NASCAR was becoming due to
the smaller crowds. The car was leading when the right front tire
blew sending Fred into the guard rail and ending his day.
The body was cut in 3 sections for all of the
necessary alterations. Decals are Fred Cady. Firestone wheel/tires
from Nostalgia Race Models. The AMT kit has the 7-Litre type grille.
All of the stock cars used the standard Galaxy version. I added
strands of wire to achieve the correct look. Underhood details
include usual wiring, fuel lines, radiator hoses, starter solenoid
wiring, battery cables, and scratch built 3-piece shocks.
Johnson's Galaxies also utilized the long Chevy
truck trailing arms which are still being used today. A
scratch-built Watts linkage and hand wound springs complete the
suspension. "
