Olympia Charger

Doug and Hershel McGriff with Oly Charger

Thanks to Randy Ayers Modeling Forum's member Sundance, we just received this great picture of Doug and Hershel McGriff before their 1976 Le Mans start, found in a vintage issue of SCR magazine. I suspect that is was taken at Bridal Veil, just before Dick Pierson trucked it cross country to Sealand for its shipment to Le Mans. Judging by the title, I'd guess that the article relates to his DNF in the race. However, one question still remains: where is the original Oly Express Charger these days?

New old picture of Ray Elder Dodge Charger

François Breton, one of our biggest fans and also the one with the most vintage Le Mans knowledge, just sent us this picture of the Ray Elder Olympia sponsored Dodge. Judging by the surrounding trees, it must have been parked near some Winston West track. Judging by the right hand side location of the fuel filler, it must be near Riverside.

Extra lighting for Le Mans Classic 2008

You will probably have noticed that the Oly Express has now two extra lights sitting on its front spoiler. Since we had to remove the inner high beams to route extra fresh air to the brakes in Monza, we had to figure out where to put the now missing lights in order to see good enough at high speed in the Le Mans night.

More Coke Bottle Chargers of the Northwest

Mike Sproule, chief instructor at Okanagan Racing Experience, sent us two great pictures of NASCAR Dodge Chargers in action on the Vancouver track. Here you see his dad, canadian racing legend Larry Sproule, in a Petty built Dodge. The one below is Ray Elder in the famous other Olympia Charger.

HEMI Rumble: more than beautiful noise

We always have a good laugh when we fire up our HEMI in the pits for the first time of the race week-end. People are just not prepared for the level of noise that it makes! Then comes the moment when we go flat out in front of the grandstands and that HEMI bellows in anger. Despite the fact that our top speed is as fast as any other car in the CER Cup, the sound is what fans like the most. So here is for you to discover how our exhaust system looks like!

French Fan Olivier Vernez builds Oly Model

We are very happy to see that our fan community is growing constantly. Some, like Olivier Vernez, build great models of the Oly Express in its Le Mans configuration. Here you can see the model half finished. We will feature a complete series of photos once it is done. Way to go, Olivier!

Dodge Charger front end setup 1-2-3

Setting up the front end right is key to achieve good lap times. Thanks to the advice from Tex Powell, we were able to duplicate the front end settings that Richard Petty had on his Coke bottle Chargers in the seventies. For the Nürburgring race, we found that a height of 5" and 3° of negative camber worked best.

HEMI Charger shakes and bakes at the Ring

We just had two days of great thunder at the Ring! HEMI Thunder,that is! After a promising qualifying time of 2'26"125 and race laps in the 2'28", we were set to do a good finish. However, two slow tyre punctures threw us a back. The Charger nevertheless took the checkered flag and finished the race as 34th out of 43. More on our Nürburgring race to come soon!

HOT ROD Magazine on Oly Dodge Charger

Don Cann did once more a phantastic job writing about our Charger. This time, HOT ROD Magazine features the story about the re-brewed NASCAR racer in their August 2007 issue. HOT ROD was and is our reference for many reasons. Reading its great features taught us the way to turn wrenches on a V8 and even made our english improve in school! What a thrill for us Hot Rodders in Europe to see our car in THE magazine!

Lay rubber and go get your copy at the local newsstand now!

MOPARSHOP readies Charger for next race

As our next race at the Nürburgring in Germany approaches, the guys at the MOPARSHOP are busy working on the Oly Express Charger. Since Monza, Oliver and his crew have made a few changes to improve the Dodge's brake cooling and the front spoiler setup. Everything else has also been double checked. Having a professionnal partner like the MOPARSHOP taking care the car gives us the necessary freedom to concentrate on our racing. Thank you, guys!

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.

Chrom und Flammen features Oly Express

Chrom und Flammen features our Le Mans Classic adventure and the projects origin in their latest issue. Based on Don Cann's great writing and photo work, our Dodge Charger is on four great color pages! In print for our German fans to read about it now, the Charger will also be live in Germany, when we'll go racing at the Nürburgring in June!

Front suspension custom built on Petty jigs

During our trip to North Carolina, we met great people from NASCAR past and present. Among those is Billy Biscoe. Billy was on Richard Petty's pit crew, a builder at Petty Enterprises and crew chief for Hershel McGriff, with the Almost Heaven WV Charger in 1974.

Hershel's other Dodge Charger at Daytona

Much better known to the general NASCAR fan than the Oly Express, is Hershel McGriff's "Almost Heaven" Dodge.

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!

MOPAR SHOP supports Oly Express in 2007

We are pleased to announce that the MOPAR SHOP will take care of our Charger during the 2007 season. MOPAR SHOP, a leading restoration and racing outfit, located in Olfen Germany, is specialized in vintage MOPAR's. Aside from maintaining and optimizing the Charger between the races, MOPAR SHOP will also be with us at the CER competition in Monza (April 13 - 15) and at the Nürburgring (June 29 - July 1st), to team up with our pit crew. We are happy that such a professional sponsor has joined our effort!

We wish you a Merry Christmas

After a fantastic Le Mans Classic 2006, Team Oly Express wishes all its friends and fans happy holidays among their families. To just say that we had the opportunity to live an exciting and thrilling 2006 would be an understatement! Above all the fun we had, the whole Olympia Charger project has brought us a gift to cherish: Friendship!

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!

 

Vintage Motorsports features Oly Express

Thanks once again to Don Cann's great writing and reporting, our Le Mans Classic endeavour is featured in one of the leading classic car magazines. The latest issue of Vintage Motorsports has it in condensed form on page 8! Don should now have the story translated into Russian and Japanese to really go around the world.

Mopar Action features Olympia Charger

Thanks to free-lance writer Don Cann (picture below), who is with our team since early 2006, our story is featured in the February 2007 issue of Americas greatest Mopar publication! All you lucky guys in the USA, you better rush to the newstand to get your copy! Now, where is this magazine sold in Europe?

Oly Express HEMI Dodge Charger on DVD

Thanks to our Cyber-Son and CAMTECS Engineering, we had this little DVD made as a souvenir for our team members and for our sponsors. It shows the team with the car in the pits, as well as some cool inboard camera footage.

Pro Drivers look at Oly Express for 2007

Thanks to our excellent media coverage, the Oly Express is being looked at by a lot of people. Among those are a couple of pro drivers, who would like to race with us in 2007.

More about the other Olympia Dodge

Thanks to you readers, our Oly Express Blog is getting better every day. How? Here is a great example: Dennis Garrett from Virginia sent us this official Olympia Brewery picture of Ray Elder's Dodge. Like Hershel McGriff, Ray Elder was sponsored by Tumwater's famous brewery. It is our pleasure to publish it here for all of you... or should we say, y'all ?

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!

Inside the Oly Express NASCAR Charger

We keep posting great photos and videos of our Dodge Charger on the track, but not much of its interior. Some of you ask how the cokpit of a vintage NASCAR race car looks like ? What is in there anyhow ? Thanks to Fabien Bernard, President of the French MoPar Club, here are some great interior shots. You can even download them from his gallery at http://fb440.free.fr/OlyExpress/index.html .

More video from Le Mans Classic 2006

While we'll soon see more press coverage on this years Le Mans Classic, here is a little video to keep y'all waiting. During our last stint on Sunday, Dick is at the wheel, racing with a few fast cars and making a 911 vanish in the Chargers rearview mirror. Watch out for that downshifting in first gear at Arnage. Ouch! Thanks to Walter P's engineers the Mopar 833 transmission can handle that kind of abuse!

NITRO on Oly Express at Le Mans Classic

Once more, NITRO Magazine has followed our project very closely. As the worldwide first print media, NITRO features two full color pages in their August/September 2006 issue on our Le Mans Classic racing venture !

Friday 7 PM: HEMI rumble resounds !

Our friends Laurent and Josette, a.k.a ELJI, took this great shot of our Charger during its practice session. Dick Pierson races through the DUNLOP chicane in the warm Le Mans air !

Charger laps Le Mans in less than 5 minutes

After getting to know the track better, Dick Pierson managed to lap the big 24 hour circuit in a stunning 4 minutes 57 seconds, a teams best in the week-end. Knowing that the current GT2's qualified in the 4 minutes 30 range, that tells a lot about our Chargers potential. Now I wonder what Juan Pablo Montoya would be able to do in his 2007 NASCAR Dodge ? Anybody got Chip Ganassi's phone number ?

Photo Erwan Six

Dolmetsch MoPar V8 roars at Le Mans

The morning after our party, we had a chance to practice on the Le Mans track, prior to the race, with our MoPar Shop built 1972 Charger. It's V8 is a 400 cubic inch B-Block built by Don Dulmage of Belleville, Ontario. Click below to see the video !

Our Motorvation ? HEMI !

Now that you could hear it rumble on video, here is a picture of that good ole HEMI. 426 cubic inches churn out huge torque and horsepower. Can you believe 596 hp at the rear wheels ?

Buy your OLY EXPRESS team shirt now !

Quite a few of you asked me about buying a team shirt. We now decided to sell 50 of our official team shirts on a first order, first served basis. The price is 40 EURO or $50, including packing and shipping. Place your order via PAYPAL to christophe.schwartz@free.fr and leave your shipping adress in the comments box.

Le Mans Classic is in just 30 days

Do you also start to feel the heat ? Le Mans Classic is just one month ahead! Vintage vibrations will fill the air, tyre squeals and HEMI below delight your ears, brake pad dust challenge your nostrils and 400 unique vintage racers will battle it out in style! See you there or be square !

From Tru-Cut to Olympia Charger

Some of you asked me where our race car came from. I guess that the time is right to reveal its origin. Our Charger is not the original McGriff car. Nevertheless, it has a high pedigree. It was one of three Dodges from Gray Wutkes USAC team. USAC champion Butch Hartman built it and equipped it with a HEMI. Paul Feldner won the 1977 USAC championship at its wheel. Chuck Shafer bought it from Gary Wutke in the nineties. And now, it's the new Oly Express!

Front spoiler: Part II

The talented craftsmen at the MoPar Shop are putting the finishing touches on our Charger. Dick Pierson scrubed the initial front spoiler off during one of his very fast laps at Portland. It is now rebuilt and will comply with the 1976 NASCAR rules, which mandate that it is flat, not wider than the car and not lower than 2 inches from the ground. I'll better ask Oliver to have his guys build a few more of these spoilers, just in case one of us comes out wide and rides over the curbs again...

FAST DAY 2006: more pictures

The Fast Day was all around good fun. Our crew was busy at the wrenches and at the wheel, so we had to rely on friends and fans to take the pictures. Here are some done by Achim "Ape" and Achim "Gunni", who travelled from Germany in their vintage Opel and Ford to the event.

Oly Express at FAST DAY 2006

Last Sunday was big for Team Oly Express. The MoPar Owners Club de France gave us the opportunity to test in racing conditions. It was the first time since 1976, that a Dodge Charger in Olympia livery hit a track in France. Despite overheating brakes and undersized tyres, it was good fun to dish it out among the Corvettes and Mustangs on the 1.2 mile road course. Kevin Erkrath and Thierry Senges served as pit crew, while Christophe Schwartz was at the wheel.

Click on "continue reading" to see the inboard video !

All set for the FAST DAY

The crew at the one and only world famous german MOPARSHOP has put the finishing touches on our Charger. It is now all set for its appearence and testing at the French MoPar Owners Club Meeting Sunday May 14 at Croix En Ternois. It will also be the first track testing of our team in Europe. Be there or be square!

Readying the Charger for the FAST DAY

Our initial Olympia Charger is being readyed for the famous FAST DAY. The MoPar Shop's skilled mechanics as well as Oliver Zinn, Germany's Mr.MoPar himself, are putting the final touches on the Charger's build up. You'll be able to see the Charger on display at the MoPar Shop season opener. It is then sheduled to hit the track at the french annual MoPar meeting in Croix-En-Ternois on Sunday May 14. Be there or be square!

Oly Express at Le Mans: newly found photo

The Olympia Charger weblog is a great tool to communicate our project to you readers. It allows us also to receive feedback from you! François Breton sent us this great shot of the Oly Express on the starting grid. Since the Charger's unpacking a few items like rearview mirrors and an FIA tow ring have been added. What other Le Mans typical details do you see ?

1/43 model of Le Mans Charger on Ebay

Thanks again to our avid reader and fan François Breton, we noticed this 1/43 scale model kit of the Charger on french Ebay. Built by italian company TURBO, this kit is part of a series of Le Mans car models made just after the race in 1976.

1976 24 hours: hot week-end at Le Mans

Thanks to our fellow reader François Breton, we received this new photo of the Charger's arrival at Le Mans in 1976. The team just unloaded the car from the container in the hot Le Mans summer sun. Now, we have three month ahead of us to work out our abs, if we want to run around in the same outfit at the Classic!

Oly Express at Olympia Fire Department

Before going on with our test day reporting, we would like to share with you our Saturday visit to the Olympia Fire Department. Thanks to fireman Dave Haag, our Charger could be diplayed in front of a big fire engine to the crew on duty. Since the lettering on our Charger and on the fire trucks are the same, this made a great scenery, as you can see here.

Le Mans 1976: Oly Express on starting grid

Thanks to our reader François, we received this great picture of the Charger on the starting grid. Judging by the way he wears the white cap and his stature, it is Hershel McGriff who stands next to the car in the blue shirt. He is not wearing his racing suit yet, so the picture must have been taken between 2pm and 3pm. Hershel is apparently discussing the engine problems, due to low octane fuel, with his team.

Photo D.Gasnerie

Oly Express front spoiler rebuilt

Once more, Dick has gone the extra yardage to make our Charger even better. The front spoiler is now fitted to the car exactly as it was in 1976 for Le Mans!

Jeremy Hall inspects Olympia Charger

Dick had the pleasure to welcome FIA technical delegate Jeremy Hall for an inspection of our Charger. Jeremy is currently in the USA to check out american racers, that will be going to the Le Mans Classic. Although, he has seen pretty much every race car on this planet, Jeremy was stunned by the sight of our vintage NASCAR Dodge Charger! He gave us some helpfull advice about a few technical details, that will make the job of the scruteneers at Le Mans Classic easier.

The other Olympia Dodge: #96 Ray Elder

Next to the McGriff's, Ray Elder was also sponsored by Olympia Beer. Know as the 'racing farmer" from Carruth, California, Elder raced all sorts of Dodge Chargers, like the 1966 fastback, the 1969 Daytona and the 1974 coke bottle shaped model. Like Herschel McGriff and Jim Insolo, Ray Elder also made a few excursions from Winston West to the Grand National circuit during the seventies. Since 1976, he is the last Winston West Champion to win it in a Dodge Charger. I just wonder why the pit crew is still in their pyjamas!

photo Bill Wood of Motorsports Forum

Dodge Charger technical specifications

Just recently some of you asked me how close our re-creation of the Oly Express will be to the actual car that Doug and Hershel raced at Le Mans. To answer your questions, I want to give you here some insight on the technical specifications. Let me point out that our Charger is build to celebrate the 1976 McGriff entry and is to be raced only at the Le Mans Classic. Therefore two major guidelines govern our build-up:
1. be in accordance to FIA appendix K regulations
2. look exactly as the McGriff Charger did in 1976

"Rocket's" MoPar Restoration in Washington

Our next stop was at Rocket Restoration, where the owner and general manager Mike Volz welcomed us. Rocket deals with MoPar restorations and they are the only place next to Seattle where you can find numbers matching vintage MoPar like this 1964 Max Wedge Sports Fury, which is one of only 11 made! Mike explained to us the different flavors 8 3/4 rear axles come in. Thanks to that we are now able to pick what will suit our road race application best, an 8 3/4 with diagonal roller axle bearings and adjustable preload. Mike gave us a few small parts and will now shop for such an 8 3/4 as well as a sturdy 833 four speed. Thank you, Mike! We count on you to help us get to 160 mph on the Mulsanne straight next year!

Don Dulmage to build MoPar engine

In the MoPar engine world, as in any other, there are a few people who really know their way around. Don Dulmage is certainly one of them. Don is a true blooded Canadian and has been into MoPars since he was 15. I had a chance to meet him and his wife Linda, both exceptionnally nice people, personnally this week, at their home in Belleville, Ontario. The highlights of my visit, next to a nice welcome dinner with Linda and Don, was a tour of Quinte County in Don's 1963 Max Wedge Dodge and an extensive visit of his own machine shop.

Our Charger is back from the paint shop

Our Charger has just come back from the paint shop and Dick Pierson himself could apply the stickers. Remember that Dick was part of the McGriff race crew in the 70s. Despite his demanding job of nowadays, Dick handled the follow-up on the Charger flawlessly!  Thank you! Tim Brown of Brown and Balsley Sign Co. here in Olympia. Tim is a huge supporter of this project. These decals are exact reproductions of what was originally on the McGriff Charger at Le Mans. Thank you very much, Tim. I'd also like to thank Sally here, who is our strongest supporter and has gone more length to motivate people on this project than you might imagine. Seing the results of these efforts coming together now is truly encouraging ! A big THANK YOU from Paris, France to Olympia, USA! Next in line will be a more extensive photo coverage of the Charger. There will also be an update on the engine build-up, which is carried out by expert MoPar engine builder Don Dulmage in Ontario, Canada.

Donor Dodge Charger Found!

As I got to the USA, I was still lokking for a 1971-72 Dodge Charger to be used as a donor car to re-build the Olympia Charger. Luckily, one was for sale near Portland. After that I won the auction, Dick, Sally and myself drove down there from Olympia to pick it up. It is very solid and just as described by Jessie, the seller, on her Ebay add. Besides meeting a very nice MoPar fan, namely Jessie, I now had the pleasure to drive this big-block Charger to Chris Evans shop!