Will No One Buy This NASCAR Legend’s 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass?
It’s not every day you get to sit behind the wheel of a NASCAR legend’s race car. The winner of 83 Cup Series races, Cale Yarborough, has put his 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass up for sale. There has not been much action on the listing. If you’re interested, act now to purchase a piece of NASCAR history.
NASCAR Hall of Famer Cale Yarborough’s career
Yarborough became an integral part of stock car racing in the early 1960s, when the sport was still in its infancy. The legendary driver, now 82 years old, was the first racer to win three consecutive NASCAR championship titles.
According to Britannica, Yarborough won his first championship race in 1976, and in 1977, “he was the first NASCAR driver to start and finish 30 of 30 races.”
The tough-as-nails driver was inducted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame in 2012. Competing from 1957 to 1988, Yarborough had 562 starts, 83 wins, and 69 poles during his 31-year career, ranking fifth of all-time.
Listed as one of NASCAR’s “50 Greatest Drivers,” he not only won the Daytona 500 four times but according to alt-driver, “Yarborough is credited with popularizing the sport thanks to his fight with the Allison brothers following the 1979 Daytona 500.” It was the first television broadcast of a NASCAR race in its entirety. Today, race fans remember the fight more than Richard Petty winning the title.
A unique opportunity to purchase a piece of history
Last month, the legendary stock car racer put his 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass up for sale. The duPont Registry, which is listing the vehicle, says it “is likely to be the most historically significant NASCAR chassis in existence today.”
The Cutlass was driven by Yarborough in 1978, during his third championship season. The duPont Registry blog states it “was chosen as 1 of the 18 race cars displayed at the ‘Dale Jr.: Glory Road Champions’ exhibit in Charlotte, NC at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.” Still, in its original condition, the iconic car was “race-ready up until going on display in 2019.”
The 1977 Oldsmobile Cutlass couple has a white exterior with a V8 engine paired with a manual transmission and rear-wheel drive. Despite the vehicle’s place in NASCAR history, the sale has not generated much interest. Many thought it would be a hot seller right out of the gate.
What the retired Hall of Fame NASCAR driver is doing now
It has been more than 30 years since Yarborough has competed in NASCAR. The legendary driver was the owner of the racing team, Cale Yarborough Motorsports, from 1986 to 2000. In 2003, he opened a Honda car dealership in Florence, South Carolina. According to alt-driver, he has an estimated net worth of $50 million.
The Sports Illustrated Vault reported the South Carolina native owned a 1,000-acre farm outside of Timmonsville since 1968. He raised his three daughters there with his wife, Betty Jo. SC Now claims the farm currently consists of 4,000 acres and includes a 30-acre lake the hard-working NASCAR driver dug himself.
In a 2005 interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Yarborough said, “I feel like I served my time. I did it for a long time, enjoyed it. The sport was good to me. I feel like it’s time for the younger people to do it and let me spend a little more time with my grandkids and stuff.”
