Poor people used what they could. It seems a shame to change anything. So the engine in this Ford is not period correct unless the builder knew someone in Pontiac and got an earlier Pontiac prototype. In Junior Johnson's glory days as a bootlegger his hometown Wilkes County gained itself the nickname Moonshine Capital of the World. And when Junior got behind the wheel to run ‘shine at the tender age of 14, things finally started to turn around. T-shirts, posters, stickers, home decor, and more, designed and sold by independent artists around the world. Found inside – Page 117“Remember that Iwas doin' the racin'with my moonshine cars. ... get his autograph, PiedMont distiLLers and the Legacy of Junior Johnson 117. My uncle was caught making shine in 1930, they used a wagon to haul their load to the TN river. 1926 Ford Model T Coupe / Image: Wikipedia. 24 Chevrolet Silverado of reigning NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series (NGOTS) champion Brett Moffitt and the XFINITY Series No. Become a member to add images to your comments. Found inside – Page 4They closed it until 2010, when several stock car races were planned for the ... and Moonshine and Thunder—The Junior Johnson Story shows in October at ... You’re right: not period correct. JUNIOR JOHNSON MOONSHINE CARS ORIGINAL 2005 ARTICLE | eBay Dirt and gravel go flying, as sirens wail behind a speeding jet black car. He was 88. These bootlegging cars possessed the stiffest of suspensions to hide that that they were carrying 100 plus gallons of liquid thunder and up to 500-something horsepower. Found inside – Page 71If he and his colleagues had a moonshine raid planned for that night, ... might get sent to federal prison like Junior Johnson, the famous race car driver. Back in the day when the world was sepia and grey and men wore hats, many a fellow was killed or sent to the pen due to his penchant for running the shine. Subscribe to our free newsletter to get daily updates: Cancel anytime, but there are no refunds. This car included. Junior Johnson: A NASCAR Story. Johnson was the best-known bootlegger in Wilkes County, North Carolina, a hotbed of the moonshine industry. Cool car, cool mods, unfortunately not my “style”. Sip It. But the “pony-ack” makes it great! And, about 150 years later, Junior’s family kept the tradition going in order to survive. I hope it ease your brain and kill your pain the way it do mine. gary dunc Contact. Other related resources: Auto racing, moonshine and NASCAR on NCpedia; Images of moonshining and liquor stills from the State Archives; The N.C. Sports Hall of Fame, at the N.C. Museum of History, of which Johnson is a member The answer is simple: In the first decade or so of NASCAR racing, the transportation of illegal liquor in the South was huge business, and a lot of the sport's early stars drove, owned or built moonshine cars. Tags: Bootlegging, Classics, Ford, Moonshine, Taylor is the founder of AutoFoundry.com. Moonshining was in his blood. Found inside – Page 50“ Sometimes you'd win the race , then have to beat the promoter to the back gate to be sure you got paid , " recalled Junior Johnson , a former moonshine ... Without further ado, we give you AutoFoundry’s list of the best bootlegging cars from Prohibition to present day. We chose these rides based on their popularity among whiskey-trippers, their cultural significance, and their sheer awesomeness. And, what made it a primo carrier of moonshine was of course its large engine bay – capable of holding very big V-8s – and pickup bed. There is reportedly a souped-up ’51 Ford pickup in the White Liquor Exhibit at The Blue Ridge Institute in Ferrum, Virginia. Found inside – Page 266In 1951 Bob Flock crashed his race car and broke his back and neck. ... the story of Junior Johnson would serve as a complex allegory for the history of the ... So yeah, Junior had a lot to live up to it. Found inside – Page 194Famously, Junior Johnson was plowing his family's garden, barefoot behind a ... Junior described the moonshine cars in an interview with Hot Rod magazine ... While it appears to be unrestored, you have to wonder whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. This 1947 Ford coupe, found on craigslist in McMinnville, Tennessee, is a perfect example of a ridge running hauler built for one purpose: outrunning the law. Men from law enforcement agencies never much liked knowing that folks were cooking their own whiskey and selling it to others. But early in his racing career, Junior was finally caught by the revenuers. He served 11 months of a two-year sentence and then returned back to racing where he ultimately won 50 races during his illustrious career. The Last American Hero: Directed by Lamont Johnson. The sponsorship promotes Midnight […] Survival for many families was tied to moonshining. Found insideRunning moonshine groomed Junior for a racing career because he learned about ... Like many future stock car drivers, Junior Johnson came by his driving and ... Johnson made his name as a power sliding, hard-charger who thrived in the dog-eat-dog arena of 1950s and early '60s NASCAR. It’s what they did to those flatheads. The south eastern states, except around larger cities, where very,very poor. They were cars that had logged thousands of miles hauling illegal liquor. Cop radios were crude, at best, and score one for the bad guy, and the cops have been chasing them ever since. View full size Junior Johnson's career included a 1963 win the Daytona 500 at Daytona Beach, Florida, on Feb. 24, 1963. While they had no chance of chasing him down in a car, they staked him out at the family still and arrested him. Born June 28, 1931, in Ingle Hollow, North Carolina, Robert Glen Johnson, Jr. was part of a family of farmers who supplemented their income by making moonshine. Bootlegging moonshine was essentially a hereditary trait for Junior Johnson, a Wilkesboro, North Carolina native. Found inside – Page 9Jim L. Sumner JOHNSON, Robert Glenn Jr. "Junior" (b. ... stock car racing, running his father's moonshine on rural mountain roads in western North Carolina. Their trade was moonshine, variously called "white lightning," "mountain dew" or "white whiskey.". Based on the ad, it’s a 57 motor. "From his early days running moonshine through the end of his life, Junior wholly embodied the NASCAR spirit." Johnson joined Bill France Sr. and Jr., Dale Earnhardt and Richard Petty in the inaugural NASCAR Hall of Fame class in 2010. Junior Johnson looks over a poster a fan brought in to autograph while he was promoting his Junior Johnson's Midnight Moon - Carolina Moonshine distilled by Piedmont Distillers, Inc. being signed . It cost $5,000 back in the day, which is more than my first car, a used Trans Am, cost me in 1986. Found inside – Page 481Born to Robert Glenn Johnson and Lora Belle Johnson , Junior Johnson was the ... home early from the race to convince Junior to race his moonshine car in a ... Junior's father Robert Johnson was one of the biggest copper still operators in the area. Junior Johnson decides to leave the troubling moonshine business for a promising career in racecar driving. He was 88. Found inside – Page 69... of NASCAR legend Junior Johnson. From moonshine runner to NASCAR driver and team owner, Johnson's story is one of hardship and triumph. As a car owner, ... Midnight Moon does not have the harsh, heavy corn taste people often associate with illegal moonshine. This helmet is a replica of the helmet Junior Johnson wore when he won the 1960 Daytona 500, and is signed by Junior Johnson. Smart Car: The Motorcyclist’s Automobile? In the 1970s and 1980s, he became a NASCAR racing team owner, winning the NASCAR championship with Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip.He produced a line of fried pork skins and country ham. Forever immortalized by Tom Wolfe's short story "The Last American Hero is Junior Johnson. Though the glory days of the tax free, high-alcohol drink (moonshine is normally from 150 to 190 proof) was many generations ago during Prohibition and shortly thereafter, perhaps its most exciting period was in the 1950s and 1960s when the power of the law strengthened while the power of the hotrod grew as well. Found inside – Page 410Johnson stepped away from racing in 1966 to become a dominant team owner at a time ... surrounded the Johnson clan in North Carolina during Junior's youth, ... Throughout the years, this rebellious approach to living sent Junior’s father and brothers in and out of prison. This documented example gives us a window back to a wild time in our nation’s history, and an excellent example of the practicality that defined hot rodding in the South. Born in the rural speck of a community in Wilkes called Ronda in 1931, Junior was always fascinated with the running side of liquor. It’s then blended with ultra-clean water that has been through a five-step filtration process, and the result is a very smooth spirit with a subtle sweetness from the corn. Parts of the movie “Thunder Road” were filmed in Western North Carolina, near my hometown. Moonshine Runners, History, and Their Cars: Looking Back at Junior Johnson. A really cool element was the switch on the dash. And the generations before him were all active moonshiners as well. Cinematic Junior, like the real one, learns how to drive hard and fast while running the moonshine whiskey made by his father. Found insideThere may never have been stock car racing if it hadn't been for them. Why one of the biggest moonshine haulers around had been Junior Johnson. While becoming a NASCAR legend, Johnson lived a pretty interesting life, too. A young hellraiser quits his moonshine business to try to become the best NASCAR racer the south has ever seen. suvreviews on November 08, 2012: Very thorough article. On the west coast, customizers and dry lake runners drove the hot rod scene and achieved much of the notoriety and fame that still defines hot rodding today. Junior Johnson, Moonshine Runner And NASCAR Champion, Dies At 88. The 347 was a ways off. Keep me in the conversation via email. 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