Gary Bettenhausen research
 

I recently purchased a couple of glass “reverse painted” pictures of what I think is Gary Bettenhausen from the early 70’s. Car is #1 Thermo King. Looks to be a Dirt Champ Car because of the Foyt Indy Car engine and the oil cooler hung off the roll cage.

Can any one confirm if this is a sprint car or champ car? And confirm the year? Would anyone out there know more about these? Was there a series of who was the artist? The paintings are 14 x 18 inches and very good condition. Pics to follow….

Post card.

Painting

Sounds like willie davis sprint car.

Picture of painting.

Re: Gary Bettenhausen research
 

This s a painting of the car Gary ran in 1972 after winning his second USAC Sprint title in 1971. Willie Davis owned and wrenched car running a Ford 4 cam engine. Same car he won the title with in 1971.

What about the Moser(sp) engine which I believe was sort of a Chevy based version of the Ford DOHC?

Re: Gary Bettenhausen research
 

Originally Posted by ronmil:
What about the Moser(sp) engine which I believe was sort of a Chevy based version of the Ford DOHC?

Gary Bettenhausen drove a Dirt Champ car/Silver Crown car with Moser heads on a Chevy engine (I believe it ran with sponsorship from Obberdorfer Foundries) in the mid/latter 70’s. There was a car that made a couple of appearances at USAC Sprint car races in the early/mid70’s with Moser heads on a Chevy block (maybe #27) that had several different drivers including Jackie Howerton but it was never much of a factor. The Moser heads seemed to improve the performance of the Chevy, but negatively impacted the longevity.

Unfortunately, the Moser conversion never gained much traction and was hampered by a lack of funding and a lack of development.

Thanks openwheelfan1. That helps. 🙂

Re: Gary Bettenhausen research
 

Originally Posted by racefanindy:
Thanks openwheelfan1. That helps. 🙂

You are quite welcome! Beautiful painting!

I admit to being biased, because I was a HUGE Gary Bettenhausen fan, but IMO, his 1970-1972 sprint cars were some of the most beautiful cars on the USAC circuit.

I will be set up at the Racing Memorabilia show at the Indy Dallara factory later this month. I’ll have one(maybe both) painting for sale if you’re interested.