Pete’s Patriot

Mail    Pete’s Patriot © 2010 Patriot Racing. Design by Server Titan

 

   Before this car was known as “Pete’s Patriot”, it was Hurst car #39. Built on the AMC assembly line then transported to a warehouse rented by Hurst Performance outside of Detroit, Michigan along with 51 other AMX’s, it was transformed into one of AMC’s factory super stock race cars.

 

   At Hurst Performance, it received a make over to prepare it for a life of drag racing. Partially disassembled, modified, then reassembled, it had many of it’s original parts replaced with special race parts or even discarded. All of the shocks, rear springs, axles, cylinder heads, intake manifold, carburetors, distributor and coil, exhaust manifolds, bell housing, clutch assembly and flywheel and shifter were replaced with parts by various manufacturers, many which are still producing parts to this day.

 

   Hurst #39 was then delivered to Peterson Motor Co. In Kearney, Nebraska. A group of eager AMC club members, Eugene “Pete” Peterson and Lou Downing began to massage, rework and refine the diamond in the rough that “Pete “ had bought. They all had grand expectations and dreams but none of them would comprehend what they would accomplish. The original “Pete’s Patriot” was a 1968 AMX stocker that had some local and regional success, but nothing like they would achieve with the new super stocker.

 

   In 1969 and 1970, “Pete’s Patriot” won many local, regional and divisional championships. “Pete’s Patriot” had become one of the most successful of AMC’s Super Stock AMX’s. When it had come time to move on, “Pete’s Patriot” was sold and taken to Southern Maryland and spent the next several years racing in the mid-atlantic area. Through several owners, including local race car builder and fabricator, Ken Keir, “Pete’s Patriot” was changed from it’s original Red, White and Blue AMC paint scheme with AMC power to a Burgundy color with Chrysler power for more consistency. “Pete’s Patriot” was changed back to AMC  power and the Red, White and Blue paint scheme that it had been so famous for, by Ernie Magraw after securing a die-cast model deal with Ertl Collectibles.

 

   In 2001, “Pete’s Patriot” was purchased by it’s current owner, Mike Pearce, and an ongoing restoration was started. Phase I was to get  “Pete” back to it’s original appearance which meant replacing the interior with original parts. (A complete 1969 AMX was bought since it had the original seats from “Pete’s Patriot”.) Phase I also included completely rebuilding the drivetrain and the installation of an original Edelbrock STR-11 manifold with Holley carburetors and other parts to make it “Period Correct” for Nostalgia Super Stock racing. Four months later “Pete’s Patriot” was ready for it’s reintroduction. It was loaded up and taken back to Kearney, Nebraska for Gene “Pete” Peterson, Lou Downing and the original AMX race team to authenticate it.

Pete’s Story

   Since the car was never titled when he owned it, Pete verified the serial number from the loan papers he had saved from it’s original purchase. (The loan papers listed the truck transporter along with the car since there was no title for it.) Pete later gave the original loan papers to the recent owner, Mike Pearce.
   Several things they had personally done to the car were evidence that this was their old car so all the original AMX team members, Pete Peterson and Lou Downing signed the inside of the trunk lid approving and verifying that this was the “Pete’s Patriot” they had raced. The following day, at the local track, Kearney Raceway Park, Lou Downing made a couple of passes in “Pete’s Patriot” as he had so many times thirty five years before. All the original AMX club, Pete and hundreds of fans watched and remembered as if it were 1969 all over.   
   Lou had not lost his touch driving “Pete’s Patriot” and the proof of it was when he raced the car in the 2003 East Coast Nostalgia Nationals to a runner-up finish out of a sixty five car field. On his way to second place, Lou recorded six 10.74 second E.Ts on a 10.74 dial in with reaction times between .008 and .013. The combination of Lou Downing and “Pete’s Patriot” is still deadly. Lou drives the car at specialty events and appears at AMC shows each year.
   In 2007, after Lou appeared at the “AMO Convention” in Denver, Colorado, “Pete’s Patriot” underwent Phase II of it’s restoration. Bart, Charlie and Bruce Evans restored the engine compartment by replacing much of the sheetmetal with original parts and paint before a new motor was dropped in.
   The new motor consists of an original set of pistons donated by Lou Downing, that was used in one of the original motors, a pair of original Crane cylinder heads, #16 and #22, an original Edelbrock STR-11 manifold, two Holley #4584 carburetors and a Mallory dual point, cable drive tach distributor. A BW T-10 transmission with Hurst Super Shifter and Lakewood bell housing rounded out Phase II. The next Phase is still in the planning stage since many of the parts needed are nearly non-existent or almost impossible to obtain. Different avenues are being researched as possible sources for these and other SSAMX specific parts. (See Patriot Racing Products)