So who was Dick Harrell? One of his nicknames was "Mr.
Chevrolet", and he was one of the winningest drag racers of
the 60'S. He was instrumental in the development process for
installation of 427 powerplants in Camaros, a few Chevelles and
a handful of Novas by a few of the Chevrolet high performance
Dealerships. He was connected with the likes of Yenko, Gibb,
Nickey and other dealerships several years before the COPO order
process came about. It would be an understatement to say that a
car is unique because it was "Dick Harrell performance
modified". Dick Harrell was truly a legend in his own time.
Unfortunately, he had an early tragic ending when, on Labor Day
1971, he was killed in an accident in his Funny Car.
This 1968 SS 427 Camaro was built by Dick Harrell’s
Performance Center of Kansas City, Missouri. In addition to his
highly successful and visible drag racing career, Harrell ran
his own high performance shop and did produce a few 427 Camaros
himself.
Harrell built very few 1968 Camaros -- probably fewer than
ten – and this particular car is the only surviving example
that’s been found.
This 68 SS 427 was sold through Branine Chevrolet in Mulvane,
Kansas. Options on the car included the Harrell-modified high
performance 427, Fiberglass Hood, Hood Pins, Accel Ignition
Distributor, Tubular Exhaust Headers, Sun Tach, M22 4-speed,
Hurst Shifter, 4.10 Positraction, Traction Bars, Stewart Warner
Gauges, Mag Wheels, Rear Spoiler, Radio Delete and Power Brakes.
Mr. Gary Branine, owner of Branine Chevrolet, provided the
records for this car from his 1968 inventory sheets. The car’s
original owner, Larry Gann, still lives in Winfield Kansas. When
contacted, he was thrilled to discover that this car had
survived. Mr. Gann was also very helpful in confirming the
car’s original configuration.
One final interesting note is that this car is a 26,000 mile
unrestored car and still retains its original Dick Harrell motor
and drive train.
