Peoria Oldtimers Racing Club

Up-Load Photos of Your Favorite Stock Car & Drivers from the Past Here  !!!

Up-Load Photos of Your Replica Stock Car Models that You have Built  !!!

Please Include Info about Your Replicas with Drivers Name and Original Car Photo if Possible  .....

 A Message from Model Replica Builder PAUL ELMORE  .....

Scott- I have been a fan of your site for some time. I was very pleased to see that you have added an area for replica models to be displayed. I have been a model builder for many years and my subjects have nearly always been the race cars I saw while growing up. While they have not always been exact replicas, they certainly represent the spirit of the cars I watched with great enthusiasm as a young boy. My favorite cars ran at East Moline, Davenport, and Peoria in the sixties. I worked with Slim Louis in getting the decals made for the Herb Shannon Plymouth. This car has always been special to me and I have plans to complete one for my collection. (I also have plans for one of Benny Hofers' cars in the future.) Heres' a story about the '64 Plymouth.

In the summer of 1964, my family was returning to East Moline from a day trip to Springfield. At that time, we owned a two year old Volkswagen that had toured all over the US without so much as a hiccup. Just south of Peoria, the car began to run very rough and coughed and spit itself to death along the side of the road. After some time, a tow was arrainged and the car was pulled into the VW dealership in Peoria. Having become bored with sitting around waiting for the repairs to be made, I began to explore around the dealership. I eventually wound up in the doorway of a building that was in the back. As I walked through the open overhead door, my eyes fell upon a white and orange '64 Plymouth race car! For a race car crazy 12 year old kid this was like finding a personal gold mine. The building was dark and quiet and the light coming through the large door shined directly upon ol' number five with Herb Shannons' name on it! This was the first

'Grand National' type car I had ever touched. I had seen and touched many local coupes and late models but I had only seen these cars in snippets on Wide World of Sports or Racing Pictorial magazine. To say that I was in awe would be an understatement. I never told anybody about what I had found. Our car was repaired and we were soon home. I plowed through my collection of Racing Pictorials and sure enough there was a photo of that car with Herb inside it. It's the same picture you have placed with Slims replica. I have never forgotten that experience and I'm very happy that we can now build a copy of that car.

Sincerely,

Paul Elmore