Great cards, autos, etc. Congrats to all. Here are a couple of mine.

Rest in Peace, Fast Freddie
 

Lost a great one yesterday.
<a href="https://freeimage.host/i/2wWfR2e"><img src="https://iili.io/2wWfR2e.md.jpg" alt="2wWfR2e.md.jpg" border="0"></a><br /><a target='_blank' href='https://freeimage.host/'>image upload site</a><br />

RIP. So what’s his first card? Earliest Lorenzen I’ve got is a 1962 Racing Pictorial postcard.

1972 stp.

For anyone who is not aware, the card Justus posted above is one of racing's legendary rarities -- the Fred Lorenzen with car card from the 1972 STP set. I bought some STP cards a number of years ago from an older lady who was actually at the 1972 Daytona 500, and she said the two Lorenzen cards were not available at the track that day.

Like all almost drivers, Lorenzen was a great TTM autograph signer. He has been in terrible health with dementia for about a decade. Before he became unable to sign altogether, his daughter would sometimes include a note apologizing for the quality of the autograph but that her dad tried his best.

The King remains a TTM machine. Just got these back

1962 PC:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ize/img453.jpg

1969 PC:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ize/img454.jpg

Also a few from Dave Marcis:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ize/img441.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ize/img442.jpg

Ken Schrader:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ize/img439.jpg

Harry Gant:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ize/img443.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...ize/img444.jpg

Awesome TTM mail additions, Adam. The King's white paint pen must have dried up from overuse. ;)

Here is a Harry Gant story I was not even aware of until I read Kyle Petty's book a few years ago. Even after Gant's racing career was taking off and he was earning enough money to make a living as a driver, he still worked a Monday-Friday job as a roofer long past when most guys would have quit that life because he was afraid that the racing success would not last.

Adam.........That '62 Petty PC looks awesome signed. Very cool.

Thanks; I was super-pleased with how it turned out. I think he took a little more time than usual to place the signature; maybe he knew it was a toughie...

I also did these:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...0brochures.jpg

I was looking to find something fun and not part of a project that I have been working on forever and came across these two gems. Now I might have a new project of finding early post cards of the guys I grew up watching every weekend.

Nice, Bill. I am putting together a whole run like that of NASCAR HOFers' first postcards in the big series. Richard Petty's first was 1962 Daytona International speedway. Dale Sr.'s first was 1979 Osterlund. I've got your Wallace but the Elliott is a new one to me. Looks like he was twelve.

I am currently watching a pair of Bill Elliott postcards one is definitely from 1982 as it has the '82 schedule on the back and the other does not show the back but is most likely from 1983.

And this arrived today:

Nice. Old Silverpen strikes again.

A couple of new cards. Ricky Rudd and a really beat up Bill Elliott.

Davey Allison from 1984.

NHRA Top Fuel 8-Time Champion "The Sarge'

Two more Darrell Waltrip and a signed Bobby Allison to complete the legacy of the #88 Gatorade car.

Richard Childress & Austin Dillon autographed bottle of wine

Nice! :)

I acquired a diecast John Force funny car years ago (20-25+yrs?) that came with a plexiglass display case but I am unable to find the exact model anywhere?
Mine has a Red wing/spoiler and has no Jolly Rancher written on the side but if is very similar to this one.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/304575659724...3ABFBMjPnSgLhl

Thanks, I met Tony Schumacher at the Super Nationals in Englishtown, also Jonn Force's daughter Courtney Force got her autograph too. John Force is quite a character for the good

He certainly is! :D
Seen many an interview where he gets so wound up he loses he train of thought completely forgetting what he was talking about.

An NHRA event anywhere is on my bucket list. Only seen top alcohol, not top fuel.

From 2000 the diecast of the winning car from the 1969 Le Mans driven by Jacky Ickx & Jackie Oliver

Of all the sets that have exploded in value since Covid, T36s have to be near the top of the list. T36s are up 10X in the past five years. I am floored by a complete set going for $11,100 at REA over the weekend, but I guess that is probably not out of line when individual cards now go for $500 and up in many cases. :eek:

https://bid.collectrea.com/lots/147057

I have been stuck at 12/25 T36s for several years now, and will never finish the set if the permanent price is now $400-500 (or more for some drivers) a card. It wasn't that long ago when an entire set of T36s could be had for well under $1,000.

1937 Wilbur Shaw Indianapolis 500 Board Game

https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/OZIAA...O/s-l1600.webp

I like the Wilbur Shaw game cards because there are so few racing cards from the period between the T36s in 1911 and the Shaw game in 1937. I have a Frank Lockhart card from the game as an example. I want a Ray Harroun card from the game, since that seemingly has to be the rookie card of the first Indy 500 winner but have lost out on a few Harroun cards at auction in recent years.

I'm collecting Rose cards, so this was a nice get for me.

I found an interesting Clark PC from Europe that year in a PC collection I purchased recently and just finished breaking down. I will scan and post when I have some time later.

t36 Chevrolet...
 

My Son and I spent the weekend in Indy for the 500 and I picked this up at a local shop. Fun weekend overall, but the race was mostly a parade at the end compared to last year.

Great pickup, Matt. T36s are on fire right now. I wondered if anyone on the board attended the 500 yesterday. It will be interesting to see if Palou can keep up his dominance all season and put together a season for the ages. I know Palou had never won on an oval prior to yesterday, but it seemed crazy to me that went off at 11-2 odds yesterday, given how dominant he has been all year.

I like the current Indycar sets that Parkside has put out the past couple years, and bought nine bricks of the Pacific set. Given the fact that that buyers were guaranteed an autograph card in each brick I thought $30 each was a good deal. The cards look great, but the collation has been awful.

Not a lot of vintage at the natty but I did get this:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...t%20Badge.jpeg

1948 pit badge. And these:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi.../IMG_9175.jpeg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi.../IMG_9174.jpeg

Anyone know the earliest racing cards ever made?

If we are talking cards in actual sets, I think the 1901-02 Ogdens and 1908 Felix Potin cards may be the answer. Both are massive sets and include some racing cards. The 1911 T36 Auto Drivers set is the most mainstream early American set.

1965 Ford Corsair promo PC featuring Jim Clark:

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...0Clark%201.jpg
https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...0Clark%202.jpg

Dutch, I think.

Yeah, the prices on T36s are stupid. I was getting these pre-covid for $30-50 or so (with some exceptions). I don't believe I'll be able to complete the master set without some market correction, but at least I have the 25 card set complete.

Congrats on adding and even finding that one. In the years I've been working on the T36 set, the Chevrolet is the one I've seen the least.

Good to see you back posting again, Kin. I always enjoy your appearances on the NASCARD Radio podcast.

Barring a huge market crash, I am probably destined to stay stuck at 12/25 on the T36 Auto Drivers set. I always thought the set was undervalued at $50 or so a card, but I never would have guessed there would enough interest in drivers largely unknown to most collectors to drive prices to $500-1,000 a card.

I picked up 10 packs of the Parkside Pacific IndyCar set last year because I wanted to support a company producing modern IndyCar cards. I know the modern parallels are just a gimmick, but I was a bit disappointed by how horrendous the collating was in that some buyers were hitting 1/1s in almost every pack they ripped. The autograph cards are pretty nice, though.

Longshot, but am considering adding another midgrade 1972 Richard Petty if anyone has one to move. PSA preferred but would consider SGC.

I'm not surprised. It isn't just that set. Non-baseball N and T cards are having a moment, have been for a year at least. I bought a collection of vintage NS cards a year or three ago, sold them for nice multiples, and watched them skyrocket from there to prices that make me throw up a little in my mouth.

IMO North American racing, esp. Indy and NASCAR, are primed to get moving. They both have Drive To Survive style shows, a long history, and some sporadically-issued but interesting card histories, and they lag way behind comparable F1. Mix in people like me who are frustrated with the prices on vintage baseball cards but still have the drive to collect old cardboard, and you have a formula for prices to go up on other types of cards. At least until us dilettante collectors are bored or prices fall back into line in baseball. Neither of which may ever happen. I am really enjoying the racing stuff and will probably keep on with it regardless.

One of the other non sports sets I watch that has gone crazy over the last several years is the N76 Great Americans set, at least when it comes to the iconic Presidents in the set like Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, etc. The big names in that set are up 10X in just a few years. Someone willing to pay any price for a vintage Lincoln or Washington card, I at least understand more so than a rabid bidding war for Bob Burman or Henry Fournier. ;)