1965 gt350r prototype development unidentified tire

[pbf777]

      Not begging the question, but there's a lot to take into consideration in what might seem as a simple "I'm just going to turn the scoop around", that 's why I was interested in the why, and if there was any testing data.

     Some of the topics might be:

       Overall aerodynamic effect on vehicle?
       Effectiveness as a fresh-air "scoop" at actually grabbing the atmosphere?
       The one that isn't so often considered, at least initially, that is the effect the scoop's air routing has on the carburetor function?
       Of course, there's the presentation acceptability?
       And I'm sure there are others. 

     Scott.

[roddster]

  It was in one of the SAAC annuals.  Seemed to be 2-3 tenths faster at Willow Springs.

[SeanSide]

I just got an answer from Jim Marietta at OVC. Here is his reply:

– Shawn, All I know is that they were Goodyear 🔵 Blue Dot Race tires.  I will check around to see if Ted or one of the other guys who remembers the exact size.
All the best,
Jim M

That's good news. I never found that tire model mentioned during my research. I'll report back if there is any new info.

Thanks to everyone for your valuable contributions. I'm always blown away by the amount of history & knowledge on this forum!

[Vernon Estes]

Nobody on this thread was at SAI when all this was happening (obviously, myself included)... just throwing that out there before I start contributing to the thread.

There have been quite a few things said on the thread so far that I don't think are totally factual.

I just got an answer from Jim Marietta at OVC. Here is his reply:

– Shawn, All I know is that they were Goodyear 🔵 Blue Dot Race tires.  I will check around to see if Ted or one of the other guys who remembers the exact size.
All the best,
Jim M

The cars ran Goodyear Blue Streak Sports Car Specials... various sizes and types were used throughout the season. There was no racing version of a Blue Dot Goodyear tire made.

[Vernon Estes]

Jim Murietta did the wheel wells on the R Models. You might contact him at OVC (Original Venice Crew) to see what he remembers about the tires he was probably given and told to make them fit. Those small tires may have been used while they were trying the IRS in the Falcon.
Since SA sold the Gardena building Jim has moved OVC to Huntington Beach near Foose's. He's also making a lot of the unique R Model parts. Much of it on the original tooling.
I like the shot with the reverse scoop that Pete Brock had planned. Ford ran it past their engineers at Ford Aerospace and they nixed the idea.

Pretty sure Jerry Schwarz did the fender modifications on R Models. I've personally never heard anyone who worked in the Mustang race shop talk about Jim building cars.

I've talked about the goings-on around the race shop at LAX many times since my 66 Group 2 was built by those guys. Have also talked to Ronnie Sampson quite a bit.

002 was the prototype Competition Model. It got the large rear wheel openings. The SCCA didn't like them so the rest were smaller. The 3rd car built 001 was the first "production" car and all others matched its configuration.

I agree that 002 was certainly the most worked over car in terms of fender modifications at the factory... but the entirety of the first two batches saw pretty extensive modifications. According to John Brown, Jerry Schwarz said on the third batch of R Models they simply rolled in the stock fender lips as the team didn't see the actual need to cut and roll them.  This is how my Group 2 is which is an unrestored car. It might be the only SAI Comp spec Mustang left with all 4 of its modified corners untouched from the time that Jerry did them.

Kind regards,
Vern

[Vernon Estes]

Jim Murietta did the wheel wells on the R Models. You might contact him at OVC (Original Venice Crew) to see what he remembers about the tires he was probably given and told to make them fit. Those small tires may have been used while they were trying the IRS in the Falcon.
Since SA sold the Gardena building Jim has moved OVC to Huntington Beach near Foose's. He's also making a lot of the unique R Model parts. Much of it on the original tooling.
I like the shot with the reverse scoop that Pete Brock had planned. Ford ran it past their engineers at Ford Aerospace and they nixed the idea.

Pretty sure Jerry Schwarz did the fender modifications on R Models and Trans Am "Group 2" cars. I've personally never heard anyone who worked in the Mustang race shop talk about Jim building cars.

I've talked about the goings-on around the race shop at LAX many times since my 66 Group 2 was built by those guys. Have also talked to Ronnie Sampson quite a bit.

002 was the prototype Competition Model. It got the large rear wheel openings. The SCCA didn't like them so the rest were smaller. The 3rd car built 001 was the first "production" car and all others matched its configuration.

I agree that 002 was certainly the most worked over car in terms of fender modifications at the factory... but the entirety of the first two batches saw pretty extensive modifications. According to John Brown, Jerry Schwarz said on the third batch of R Models they simply rolled in the stock fender lips as the team didn't see the actual need to cut and roll them.  This is how my Group 2 is which is an unrestored car. It might be the only SAI Comp spec Mustang left with all 4 of its modified corners untouched from the time that Jerry did them.

Kind regards,
Vern

[98SVT - was 06GT]

Pretty sure Jerry Schwarz did the fender modifications on R Models. I've personally never heard anyone who worked in the Mustang race shop talk about Jim building cars.

I've talked about the goings-on around the race shop at LAX many times since my 66 Group 2 was built by those guys. Have also talked to Ronnie Sampson quite a bit.

Ted Sutton & Pete Brock seem to remember him since they teamed up as OVC. Those original 3 cars were built at Carter St. I'm certain somewhere there is a list of which cars were finished before the move to the airport.

[kram350]

Jerry Swartz told me he cut both the inner and outer wheel wells/lips on one car which ultimatly got him his job at SA. He did say it was a lot of work that was not pursued on subsequent cars, just bending of the lips.

As an aside circa 2000, he was building a red fastback and had come into my shop for some exhaust pipe work. The sad fact was I never got his contact info! Come to find out he lived half a mile from me and I never knew until his passing and estate sale. Could have picked his brain all those years. 

[john galt]

The cars ran Goodyear Blue Streak Sports Car Specials... various sizes and types were used throughout the season. There was no racing version of a Blue Dot Goodyear tire made.
[/quote]

Per the attached photos, the "diamond" tread pattern tires shown in the first post were Goodyear Stock Car Specials.  The old "diamond" tread Goodyears are very difficult to find today.

[SeanSide]

Per the attached photos, the "diamond" tread pattern tires shown in the first post were Goodyear Stock Car Specials.  The old "diamond" tread Goodyears are very difficult to find today.

AMAZING! Your pictures confirm EXACTLY what Dan Case was saying these cars were wearing originally.

I imagine the tires are extremely hard to find, just trying to find a picture online was a serious challenge.

I am not trying to find that exact tire to put on my project, but i was trying to find information about it to get something close to being "dimensionally correct" to that goodyear stock car special 6.50/6.70-15.

Thank you!