Well, this may be a little long, and not exactly a "race" story, but typical, I think< of what most teenagers went through.
I was 16 at the time & prior to that my Dad let me "fix up" (a verrrrry loose term) his '62 Savoy SW. I posted one of my exploits in that, but at 16 my Dad thought I had earned enough money & the "right" to buy my own car. At the time I was looking REAL hard at a '61 Falcon with a 392 Hemi. This was my dream car---smallcar, big motor, classic Gasser look (including a straight front axle)all for $800. My Dad would have none of it though and since hewould have the Bill of Sale (I was under 18,remember) he kinda called the shots. What he & my Uncle found was a '55 Chevy 2-dr post car, 327/4spd, with "fuelie"heads, a Duntov "30-30"cam, overall a nice car. "Take it or leave it!", he said, so I bought it. All for $500.
Now I still had visions of "Gasser" in my head so the poor car got gutted, its quarters opened up & the nice, glasspack muffler system discarded for "Purple Hornies" hooked straight to the headers. The car ran no better, was loud as Hell & just not as "complete" as when I had picked it up. My Dad was madder than Hell & refused to help with any car project I had after that. Looking back, he had actually done me a favor and if I knew then what I know now I would have NEVER parted with that car. I eventually traded it off for a proper (?) '55 Chevy Gasser that, with its straight axle, went everywhere BUT straight...........