Swerve
Sr. Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2014
- Messages
- 526
I know that this record album is fairly well known, but I thought maybe this may be of interest to some since there have been no recent posts about this.
Maybe someone can chime in with some more history about Ray and his Bronco.
I included the front of the album so it would be easier for someone to locate one if they wanted.
The other photo is from somewhere on the net, I forget where I found it.
Here is part of an article form Hemmings Motor News, November 2004;
"Parnelli talked to Dad (Bill Stroppe), and convinced him that if I (Willie Stroppe) wanted to go off-roading, running karts was going the wrong direction. 'If you want him in off-roading, get him to Riverside,' he said. I shared a six-cylinder, two-wheel-drive Bronco with Ray Conniff (the orchestra leader whose music was mostly associated with elevators and supermarkets); Ray would race in Pro, I'd race in novice. Well, Ray practiced for days on the 2-1/2-mile course set up on the infield. I got in finally, made one fair lap. Well, somewhere in there, a trans bracket broke, and when you let up off the gas, the revs would race back up. So you back off coming into a turn, like I did at a 90-degree right-hander, and the engine revved up an additional 2,000 rpm. I set it sideways and missed the berm by an inch, but hit a ton of tires. Ray was third in the race, but Dad gave me the trophy; he said that I was actually quicker than Ray, but because he was the pro driver he had to have the result."
Maybe someone can chime in with some more history about Ray and his Bronco.
I included the front of the album so it would be easier for someone to locate one if they wanted.
The other photo is from somewhere on the net, I forget where I found it.
Here is part of an article form Hemmings Motor News, November 2004;
"Parnelli talked to Dad (Bill Stroppe), and convinced him that if I (Willie Stroppe) wanted to go off-roading, running karts was going the wrong direction. 'If you want him in off-roading, get him to Riverside,' he said. I shared a six-cylinder, two-wheel-drive Bronco with Ray Conniff (the orchestra leader whose music was mostly associated with elevators and supermarkets); Ray would race in Pro, I'd race in novice. Well, Ray practiced for days on the 2-1/2-mile course set up on the infield. I got in finally, made one fair lap. Well, somewhere in there, a trans bracket broke, and when you let up off the gas, the revs would race back up. So you back off coming into a turn, like I did at a 90-degree right-hander, and the engine revved up an additional 2,000 rpm. I set it sideways and missed the berm by an inch, but hit a ton of tires. Ray was third in the race, but Dad gave me the trophy; he said that I was actually quicker than Ray, but because he was the pro driver he had to have the result."
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