Cumberland, MD – Take a little trip with me in the time machine at Frosty’s 9^th Annual Hot Rod Show. We’ll step out and find ourselves transported back to the 70s where we find Rex Johnson and his ’61 Corvette. Well, not really, there’s no time machine, but what we will find is Rex Johnson showing off the same Corvette he raced back in the 70s, still looking the same and even wearing the same paint!

Rex and the car have been together for a while. According to him, “I bought it in Cincinnati, Ohio, my first teaching position was there, I think it was ‘72 or ’73, probably ’72. I bought the car, it had been hit in the back end, so I found a real tail section to put it on. I drove it on the street for up to 1974. Then I painted this thing in a chicken coop believe it or not. I had to put one of those tarps up, you know, plastic tarps, and I painted this thing in the chicken coop.”

Looking at this car, you can really appreciate how well the paint’s held up since 1974, but learning the paint job came to life in a chicken coop and not a paint shop is absolutely mind blowing! Rex would further explain how the artwork and the name on the side came to be, “Back then, everybody had a name for their car, so we both decided on ‘Hauling Glass’ because it’s all fiberglass. She did all the artwork on it (pointing to his wife Beverly). She’s an art teacher.” Painting the car in a chicken coop with the finishing touches applied by an art teacher. This is definitely not the normal path to make such an enduring paint job, but the formula is obviously a winner! Rex’s wife, Beverly, definitely captured the whole 70s vibe with the graphics on this car, making it a real eye-catcher!

The car is really amazing and a true racing survivor, so you know Jim Frost just had to have his eye on it. Rex confirmed this as he explains, “Actually Jim Frost, he’s been pushing to buy this thing forever. I blew the engine up a long time ago and quit racing it and so I just said ‘well maybe I’ll just put this back to original,’ and Frost said ‘No you can’t do that!’ so I thought, ‘Yeah you’re right.’ So I decided to put it all back to the way it was.”

It’s a good thing Frost’s prodding put Johnson back on the path to bringing the car back to life because it sure is an excellent example of how things were in the 70s. Since the engine was blown up, Johnson had to build a new engine for it. The Borg Warner 4-speed was still there to back the new engine up and the car still has the rear end Johnson purchased out of a ‘69 Camaro, that had, according to him, “pretty steep gears.” As it sits today, the car is an immaculate example of what racing was, a very special car. But that wasn’t always the case. According to Johnson, “When I bought this car it was just another car. Even though it was called the Corvette, it was just another car. Today, when you say the word Corvette, the price just goes up. I mean, just like the bumpers, I probably paid more for the front bumpers than I paid for the whole car probably.” “Just another car?” Definitely NOT! Mark your calendars for next year’s Frosty’s Hot Rod Show. You’ll definitely see some fine cars and might just get to see one “Hauling Glass!”

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