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Bill Rexford 1950 champ

 
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bangor boy



Joined: 29 Jan 2018
Posts: 447

PostPosted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 11:27 am    Post subject: Bill Rexford 1950 champ Reply with quote

Looking to add Bill Rexford's 1950 NASCAR title-winning car to my collection and feeling unsure about what is truly accurate when I look to source reference pictures.

There are plenty of models - plastic and diecast - out there that feature this scheme:





But it all seems to be based on a single piece of artwork:



I like that montage very much. But it raises more questions than it answers. First, it shows Rexford with a 1949 Olds. He definitely drove a 1950 Olds, with a couple of spins in a Ford, to the the title that year.

Also, after lengthy searches through digital, printed and video (youtube)materials, I can find no single photographic or moving image of this car, in this livery, on any track in 1950 or any other racing season.

Does anyone have something that shows this version of Rexford's car in action during 1950?
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Firefly



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 808
Location: New Jersey

PostPosted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 7:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can't affirm anything about the original car, but I'll give you a couple of my observations:

There was a diecast of a '49 Olds out there in that scheme shown above, applied over an Action Red Byron replica. That was before the Revell '50 release. The artist who made the illustration above might have used that model as reference.

And - keep in mind the chrome trim along the side is the best visual indication of the difference between a '49 and '50. Not the split windshield. Early '50 models had the split windshield.
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bangor boy



Joined: 29 Jan 2018
Posts: 447

PostPosted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 10:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks, Bill,

I'm constantly wondering what came first - the diecast car or the montage?

There's plenty of useful youtube clips - shot by Rexford's car owner, Julian Buesink - that show the car in race action from various 1950 events. The number 60 changes from blue to white

Early on, he's clearly driving a car with the split windshield, but with the chrome trim you mentioned from the headlights to the doors.

It's also pretty clear that he's wheeling a four-door model, too. By Darlington, he's sporting #59 with a one-piece windshield on a two door. Very hard to tell if the rear tail lights have the finned chrome housing of the '50 model.

But nowhere - video clips or news photos - can you see the graphics shown on the car as displayed in the original post.

Haven't got a definitive answer yet as I search, though the hunt is an enjoyable one.
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sc antiques



Joined: 09 Jan 2019
Posts: 9

PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 1:53 am    Post subject: 60 rexford Reply with quote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqadtopyEh8


go to 0:25 and hit pause, the car shows blue and darker blue numbers.

1:53 shows the car with a small blue #60
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hemiman_1999



Joined: 29 Jan 2018
Posts: 296

PostPosted: Thu Jan 10, 2019 9:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Problem is the car here is a 4 door not a 2 door
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bangor boy



Joined: 29 Jan 2018
Posts: 447

PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perhaps using the word 'problem' is a bit harsh. A mild discrepancy might be a better term.

That video (many thanks, sc) does indeed show a four door car in that race. But other videos from the Julian Buesink youtube series and photos on the internet also show a two-door model being used by Rexford that season.

Buesink, a car dealer, ran all his drivers in a variety of cars from different makers and body styles. The issue I initially raised is that the images shown of Rexford's car with lettering on the front and rear quarter panels are yet to be supported with real news photos or videos from that era.

Videos and pics from the era show Rexford did indeed drive a blueish-gray or grayish-blue Olds race car. Its numbers changed and the body style varied. No sign yet of the alleged sponsor or crew lettering on the sides.
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Firefly



Joined: 28 Jan 2018
Posts: 808
Location: New Jersey

PostPosted: Sat Jan 12, 2019 9:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Seems you may need to contact the illustrator and modeler about their reference. Could very well be visuals based on written information.
And I still do suspect the model was based on the illustration (or vice-versa!)
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sc antiques



Joined: 09 Jan 2019
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 2:42 pm    Post subject: Rexford Reply with quote

I contacted Bill Rankin and his response was that a family member of Rexford showed him the photos of the car as you see it in the drawing and that inspired the diecast.

Yet I have not seen that photo either.

I am a friend of historical race car drivers, team members and family members and try to get more info of the past cars history when reference is needed.
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sc antiques



Joined: 09 Jan 2019
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 2:45 pm    Post subject: my version of the diecast Reply with quote

http://www.legendsofnascar.com/Bill_Rexford.htm
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bangor boy



Joined: 29 Jan 2018
Posts: 447

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 2:55 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The original post shows the illustration from the site you are linking to.

It's quite likely no other champion has had a season involving so many changes in the make and number of his car. It was a strange title win in so many ways given that he squeaked out the championship by 110.5 points over Fireball Roberts who only ran nine races that season. Lee Petty ran the same number of races and outperformed Rexford in wins, top fives and top 10s, but finished more than 300 points behind.

Rexford ran a total of seven races with the number 60 car - five in a '50 Olds, two in a '49 Olds. His only win came in the #60 '50 Olds.

He also ran five races in a #80 '50 Olds.

He ran 1950 Oldsmobiles at Darlington with #59 and one other race each with #20 and #62.

He ran a '49 Ford in one race with #61 and one race in a '50 Mercury with #8.

That's 17 races of the 19 total races run that season. He missed two events at Martinsville and North Wilkesboro and still won the title. None of the Buesink cars ran at those events.

There's a decent amount of images and video out there on his endeavours. But nothing from 1950 showing the fender lettering on the car as per the model or the illustration. His Darlington car has 'Buesink Motors' written onto the masking tape covering the front end chrome, but that's the only visible sponsorship showing in any accessible images or videos so far.

Which is why I remain skeptical that the illustration or the diecast model previously discussed are, in fact, actually accurate depictions of the car Rexford drove.

I wonder whether Buesink simply created a 'show car' of Rexford's racer, one that never raced but, after winning the championship, was created to respond to media attention and, at the same time, promote his own involvement and boost awareness of his dealership.
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