The legend began on the high banks of Daytona on a cold February day in 1963. A handful of Chevrolets arrived for the Daytona 500 with something “mysterious” under the hood. While Ford and Chrysler expected to compete against Chevrolet’s venerable “W” head 409, the Bow-Tie guys had a rather large surprise waiting for them.
As Junior Johnson’s Chevy thundered around the track at speeds in excess of 160 mph, every soul from the garages, to the pits, to the stands knew that was no W block. Hot on Junior’s heels was Johnny Rutherford in another Chevy.