Some of you may
remember the Valkyrie, a kit car that McKee built in 1969. I’ve mentioned
it a few times before. I don’t have any pictures of it from the 1960s but
it looked something like this.
It’s a mid-engine
V-8. I think it started out as a small-block Chevy. This Valkyrie
has been through several iterations. Don used to drive it on the
street. Then for years he trailered it to autocross competitions; the
races that are often set out with cones in large parking lots. Then he
drove it on a high-speed road course outside Aspen until the fiberglass
bodywork on the back end started to melt from the engine and exhaust heat and
caught on fire. The Valkyrie has been garaged for years since then, in
pieces.
But it is showing
signs of life (again).
Everything is
getting a redo. The bodywork is still in another part of the garage in
pieces. A completely new frame bent and welded. A different engine;
now it’s a Ford Coyote. An exhaust system that matches tube lengths and
bends for all the cylinders so they will each have identical
backpressure. Some higher tech tires than were available way back then
and require a redo of the original wheel well dimensions.
A heck of a
project.
It’s fun to
watch. Maybe next year I’ll get a roaring ride in it.
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