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Car of the Day: February 13, 2013; RCCA '76 Chevrolet Chevelle S-3 Laguna Stock Car
Topic Started: Feb 13 2013, 03:18 AM (1,653 Views)
Dean-o-mite
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Today's car of the day is from Firehawk73's collection, and is RCCA's 1976 Chevrolet S-3 Laguna Stock Car (as driven by Dale Earnhardt).


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Wikipedia
 
The Chevrolet Chevelle was a mid-sized automobile produced by the Chevrolet division of General Motors in three generations for the 1964 through 1977 model years. Part of the GM A-Body platform, the Chevelle was one of Chevrolet's most successful nameplates. The Chevrolet Malibu (named after Malibu, California) is a mid-size car produced by General Motors. The Malibu began as a trim-level of the Chevrolet Chevelle, but became its own model line in 1978.



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For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Chevrolet Chevelle


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1976 Chevelles earned a billing as "a size whose time has come." Malibu Classics adopted a diamond-pattern grille and stacked rectangular headlights, while regular Malibus kept a single-light setup and plainer grillwork. Three V8s were available: a new 305-cubic-inch version rated at 140 horsepower, a 165-horsepower 350-cubic-inch, and a 400-cubic-inch engine that developed 175 horses. Options included the Econominder gauge package. In its third and final season, the 1976 Laguna Type S-3 was little changed. It again featured quarter-window louvers and a sloped, body-color urethane front end. Lagunas shared their round-gauge instrument panel with the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, and could be ordred with a four-spoke sport steering wheel as well as swivel front bucket seats and a center console. Lesser models made do with a more conventional dashboard and a linear-readout speedometer. Production of the Laguna edged up to 9,100 cars as the base price went to $4,621.



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Wikipedia
 
The third generation Chevelle was an extensively used body style in NASCAR competition from 1973 to 1977. The Chevelle Laguna in particular was extremely successful allowing Cale Yarborough to win 34 races and earn the first two of three consecutive Grand National championships. Considered a limited edition model by NASCAR, the Laguna S-3 was ineligible for competition following the 1977 season.



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Edited by craftymore, Apr 3 2013, 11:06 PM.
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juantoo3
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nice! I hadn't seen this one before!
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Dean-o-mite
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This does look good! And an opening hood, too? Sweet! I need to find one for myself!
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pjedsel
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Action did many nice vintage NASCAR models. The Chevy looks good in orange and a great piece for Dale Earnhardt fans.
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Firehawk73
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I found this one at a Hobby Store near the house. I go in there ever once awhile to check out the very few 1/18 scale cars that they have overpriced. They are not the most welcoming people in that place but anyways I saw this one and another of Dale's race car in a display case. They were actually reasonable on the 2 cars but small 1/64 diecast is something they rarely, rarely ever have. I guess I was meant to go in there that day despite my slight distaste for that store.
Edited by Firehawk73, Feb 13 2013, 12:16 PM.
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Spennyman
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Love to see this in street form. RIP Dale.
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69Stang
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AAAAAHHHHH YESSS! Back when "stock cars" looked like STOCK cars. Love it!
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ivantt
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New casting? Quick! Take it apart!
Firehawk73
Feb 13 2013, 12:15 PM
I found this one at a Hobby Store near the house. I go in there ever once awhile to check out the very few 1/18 scale cars that they have overpriced. They are not the most welcoming people in that place but anyways I saw this one and another of Dale's race car in a display case. They were actually reasonable on the 2 cars but small 1/64 diecast is something they rarely, rarely ever have. I guess I was meant to go in there that day despite my slight distaste for that store.
Paul, you really done good. I enjoyed this.
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Billy Kingsley
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The Mad Documenter!
The opening hood IDs this as the RCCA version. The Action version did not have an opening hood. It's also not a Malibu but an S-3 Laguna. Dale drove this in his second Cup race.
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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

Thanks for the info/correction Billy. Good to see you back as well! :wave:
Edited by craftymore, Apr 3 2013, 11:07 PM.
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Billy Kingsley
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Thanks! I still owe a few promised COTD submissions as well, I'm not too reliable, unfortunatly. I think I promised them to Sean in September or so...
Edited by Billy Kingsley, Apr 3 2013, 11:09 PM.
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Dean-o-mite
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This car is from Firehawk73's collection, and he identified it as Action. If you are sure it is RCCA, I will take your word for it unless Firehawk can advise if there's something showing it to be Action.

On the Malibu versus Laguna front, I was the one who did all the research on the car, and EVERY reference I can find for Dale Earnhardt's 1976 Army car, names it a Malibu. References to the real car, as well as the diecast companies / auction listings. I included the Wikipedia tidbit that the Laguna was big in motorsports, but I also remember during my original research, something that said the Malibu was used for the Earnhardt car instead of the more popular Laguna stock car. I'm also no expert, and realize not everything on the internet is true. With that being said, I would like to know the difference between the Laguna and Malibu so I can identify between the two in the future.
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Billy Kingsley
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The Mad Documenter!
It's RCCA, the opening hood was something you got when you purchased the more expensive RCCA example. RCCA was Action's hobby club. (Excepting 2003, when Action used the RCCA tooling for all releases for some unknown reason, but this was issued in 1999)
Here's the Action version, note the permanently closed hood.
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As for the nose, that is an S-3 Laguna. The S-3 was more aerodynamic and pretty much every Chevrolet team had one or two. They would usually alternate them with other cars as well, at the time there were 3 seperate Chevrolets available to race. Walter Ballard, who owned this car, had at least two of them. The S-3's nose is unique and can be seen clearly especially in the first photo. The Malibu's nose was not slanted. It looked like a base model Chevelle. This is Sam Sommers' #27 from the 1976 season. Note the flat nose. Technically both are just different versions of the Chevelle.
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Here's a good shot of an S-3 Laguna that shows the nose. Also, all S-3s had the side window slats, where the base Chevelle and Malibu do not.
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By the way, the real #30 car survives and is in a well known driver's personal collection.
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Firehawk73
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Dean-O-mite
Apr 4 2013, 09:07 AM
This car is from Firehawk73's collection, and he identified it as Action. If you are sure it is RCCA, I will take your word for it unless Firehawk can advise if there's something showing it to be Action.

On the Malibu versus Laguna front, I was the one who did all the research on the car, and EVERY reference I can find for Dale Earnhardt's 1976 Army car, names it a Malibu. References to the real car, as well as the diecast companies / auction listings. I included the Wikipedia tidbit that the Laguna was big in motorsports, but I also remember during my original research, something that said the Malibu was used for the Earnhardt car instead of the more popular Laguna stock car. I'm also no expert, and realize not everything on the internet is true. With that being said, I would like to know the difference between the Laguna and Malibu so I can identify between the two in the future.
I just went by what was printed on the box that car came in when I bought it. The car is now buried in my collection which is in my full closet and do not wish to retrieve it. I for one, not a very big stickler on trying to separating the 2 cars because basically they are the same car with just a different variation to the front clip. So, I could go either way and there will be no arguments from me on Billy's assessment.
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Dean-o-mite
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Thanks for the info on the slanted nose = Laguna.

And I forgot that I already combined RCCA and Action as the same brand when it comes to documenting COTD entries. All is now well in COTD land.
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craftymore
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Support your local demo derby.

Question for Billy - so in the mid 70s, Chevy offered the S-3 Laguna, Chevelle and the Monte Carlo body styles? I find that hysterical, amazing and strange all at the same time. Is there a website that shows the different NASCAR stock cars/bodystyles used for each season? That is something I'd be interested in seeing.
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Billy Kingsley
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The Mad Documenter!
Yes, and not only that but multiple versions of the Chevelle were available to race at the same time. In that time period pretty much anything American made was legal to race. I have at least one photo that shows one of the base Chevelles, an S-3 and a Monte Carlo side by side. In 1978 & 79 the Caprice was also raced as well, technically the S-3 and Chevelle were still legal, but the S-3 was so aerodynamic that NASCAR instituted engine restrictions, so I know of only one being raced at that time. (By Dave Marcis in 1978). J.D. McDuffie continued to use his Chevelle as late as 1979, modified with the latest nose/tail sheetmetal to keep it legal. (At the time, you could race a car as late as 4 years after it was produced).

There is a website that photo-documents NASCAR history, it's another message board, I will PM you the link. You need to register to see the photos but it's well worth it!
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