Olympia Charger

McGriff Dodge Charger at Mulsanne 1976

Our faithfull fan François Breton sent us this great screen capture from a little amateur film of Le Mans 1976. It shows Hershel McGriff at the wheel of the Oly Express Dodge Charger after sidelining his racecar right after the Mulsanne corner. Read more about the whole story by clicking here.

Hershel McGriff's Le Mans snowplow Camaro

Hershel McGriff returned to race at Le Mans in 1982. After the not so successfull attempt with his son Doug in the Dodge Charger in 1976, Billy Hagan signed on Hershel to drive the Stratagraph 1979 Camaro with Dick Brooks.

Great 1976 Le Mans photos by Ron Zuehlke

Thanks to Dick Pierson's recent TV appearance on the Seattle local news, Ron Zuehlke had some memories coming back to him. Ron was at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1976 and took these two excellent pictures of Hershel McGriff and the Dodge hurdling toward Dunlop. Thank you so much, Ron. I just love it when this whole story keeps growing thanks to contributions like yours!

Hershel McGriff back at Le Mans

Today was sure a day to remember for Team Oly Express as Hershel McGriff came back to the Le Mans track. After racing the Charger here in 1976 and one of Billy Hagan's Camaro's in 1982, Hershel, alongside with wife Sherrie, daughter Marilyn and son-in-law Tex Powell (yes, THE Tex Powell), came to France, 25 years after his last 24 hours drive.

1976 Picture of Dodge Charger at Le Mans

Alain Jourdainne has recently put his private Le Mans photos from 1971 to 1981 on this great Le Mans picture site. Among those is this shot of Hershel McGriff at the wheel of the Charger. Since the car has not yet the outside rearview mirrors, it must be a picture taken during qualifying. The real Le Mans experts among you might be able to identify on which part of the track it was shot.

Courtesy Photos 24 H Le Mans dot Free

Pistons took a pounding at Le Mans in 1976

John Todd from Seattle recently got in touch with us. That may not seem worth mentionning to you, unless you know who he is. John Todd was working at Precision Engines and assembled the 426 Wedge engines for the Charger in 1976. He was also a member of McGriff's pit crew at the Le Mans. You bet that we called him right after reading his e-mail. Here is what John told us about the Chargers engines!

French Fan builds Olympia Charger Model

French fan Stephan Vallois bought one of the 1/43 scale kits of our Charger. He is doing the complete starting grid of the 1976 24 Hours of Le Mans, which also includes a few group 5 BMW 3.5 CSL. Congratulations to Stephan for this great job!

... and a Happy New Year!

May 2007 bring to all of us peace, health, happiness and may the Oly Express bring more great moments of vintage racing!

Oly Express makes cool Christmas present

For those still searching for an outstanding Christmas present and for who'd like to have a model of the most american Le Mans entry of the 70s, here is the 1/43 scale model of the Olympia Charger! We had a limited run of just 10 models made for team members and sponsors. Two fully assembled models and two to be assembled kits for are still available. The assembled model, as pictured above costs 200 EURO ($250) + shipping and the kits cost 65 EURO ($80) + shipping. To order just leave a comment below or write directly to Team Oly Express!

 

More 1976 Photos of the Oly Express Dodge

Great things just keep happening around the Olympia Charger. I received today the reprints of half a dozen black and white shots from 1976. Eric Cettour, a fan who met us in the pits during Le Mans Classic, sent me these. The one on the left shows his father, an ACO scrutineer in those days, checking out the Charger at the famous Place des Jacobins! The picture below shows the whole crew around the car in the same spot!