These photos are of the Desperation 500 event held in the high desert of Southern California. I received them with a box of other FCCA materials donated by Randy York. The photos have no information on them, but from the look of the cars, I’d say it took place in the mid-1960s. If you have information on this event, please Contact Us. Also, thanks to Terry Masci, who found the medallion pictured below in a box in his attic and donated it to the FCCA history archive. He had no idea about its origin until he Googled “FCCA” and made contact with me! Later I was contacted by Dale Deem who ran the 1962 and 1963 events. Dale sent dash plaques from those events along with photos of the cars he ran. You can view these below.
I ran this as a navigator in 1967 in a Mark II Sprite and as a driver in 1968 and 1969 in my ’67 Formula S Barracuda. What a blast! In the ’68 or ’69 event when we started off at Willow Springs, I had the 3rd fastest lap time, and the fastest of all cars that were on street tires (I had Michelin Xs).
Hi,
I have some pictures of the Desperation 500 of 1966 or 1967 (don’t know exactly). It went through Virginia City Nevada.
I can email some B&W images of the event if you want them. My husband’s car was a 66 Jaguar XKE (clearly not 4 cylinder)
Thanks, Leora Worthington
Sorry for the delayed response, Leora. I usually receive notices of postings. But, for some reason no notices have come through for the past several months. I wondered why things were so quiet in FCCA land! I’d love to have scans of the photos you have. Please email them to wilkmanracing@aol.com. I’ve heard many stories about the wild Desperation 500 rallies. Did you accompany your husband on the D-500 rallies? 1966 XKE…very cool!
Willow Springs is a tricky track. You did well to post such a good time!
The 1966 Desperation 500 starting near Death Valley Friday afternoon, across Nevada, 1,500 miles, and back into Calif. I was driving the ’63 XKE Jag, red roadster. I was told we were leading in class until I launched it Sunday morning, just inside Calif., tore up the right front, then right rear suspension, pulled off the exhaust system, then the right rear tire blew, followed by the right front. Kept it on the road. Do any of your have photos of the car?
Leora Worthington…. We hung out with the XKEs in the ’66 event. You may have photos of our ’63 XKE Red convertible. I have none. Would appreciate it if you could take the time to look.
Herb, I have some photos of the d 500, but none of your E-Type. If anyone out there has photos, please let me know via wilkmanracing@AOL.com
Bill Wilkman