Perry Wyatt Raced At Detroit Dragway
My Father, Perry Shannon Wyatt Sr. came to Michigan in 1959 with the dream of finding a better life. At just Sixteen years old when he arrived and moved in with his older brother, he immediately found a
My Father, Perry Shannon Wyatt Sr. came to Michigan in 1959 with the dream of finding a better life. At just Sixteen years old when he arrived and moved in with his older brother, he immediately found a job at a Used Car Lot as a porter. Shortly after that he went to work at a Service station, where he worked on cars and was taught how to rebuild Automatic Transmissions. He loved cars and quickly became friends with a local group called the “Slo-Pokes”.
He was very good at working on their Hot Rods, which he did after work and was hooked on Drag Racing, which they were doing on the ID in River Rouge. His buddy John had purchased the “Bad Banana” from Lefty Grennen and he had my Dad work on it. They were unbeatable on the street. Very quickly , he became known for his ability to tune hot rods and build automatic transmissions and became manager of Ecorse Transmission. He and John had a 1955 Chevrolet, then Dad got his own.
He raced it at Detroit Dragway, In 1967, one of his buddies asked him to build a Hemi-Torqueflite Transmission that he was going to run in his new Funny Car. The following year, that same guy asked him to be partners on another new funny car and “Super Camaro” was born ! “Super Camaro” was built by Tom Smith of Wolverine Chassis. A 1969 Camaro, painted Candy Apple Red By “Teddy Z” . Dad built the all steel 427 Chevrolet engine and Hemi-Torqueflite Transmission. The 6-71 GMC blower was done by Chet Blazik and Injection was by Hilborn. It had a nine-inch Ford rear with 4:56 ring&pinion. They put the brand new American Five Spokes on the front and the Brand new “Bear Claws” on the rear. it was raced at Detroit Dragway during the 1970 season and made a best pass of 7:83@200.89 mph. By 1971, Dad was out of the drag racing business, but continued to help with the “Trader Ray” funny cars. I was born in 1961 and grew up watching Dad and to this day I have a passion about Drag Racing and Detroit Dragway, that Dad instilled in me. Dad passed away in 2012 , but his memory will live in my heart forever and that passion he instilled in me burns brighter than ever.
