Super User Published: 13 March 2015 Hits: 5155
Category: Historic in the news
Dave Schultz Buys Texas Big Bird From Matt Tolbert
as told by Dave Schultz
March 26, 2003
It all started on MoparStyle March1, 2003, when a thread announced that Texas Big Bird was for sale.
Of all the Pro Stock/Pro Mod type of cars – Texas Big Bird had been my favorite. I’ve always been partial to Petty Blue Superbirds and was tired of looking at all of the GMs running. Texas Big Bird's last ¼ run was 6.40 @ 224MPH.
I asked Monte Smith, who is the NMCA Super/Modified racer that many of us at MoparStyle sponsor, to call Matt Tolbert (aka Cowboy – the man who owned Texas Big Bird) to get a little information about the car. Matt’s initial response was not very informative. We later found out that he was so tired of tire-kickers calling all day that he’d become cynical. By Monte’s second call, Matt had checked out Monte and I through our various web sites (including MoparStyle) and was a lot more interested to talk about the car.
Monte and I agreed to go look at the car. The following Thursday I flew Monte out to Houston and picked him up at the airport. Friday morning we (and my son Dallas) hooked up my racecar trailer and headed for Austin. We first stopped by the Matt’s business to look over the molds needed to make the carbon fiber Superbird body. We then followed Matt to his house to inspect the race car. After about an hour of inspection and questions we started the negotiation of price.
Being that we’re both Texans, Matt and I went through the two hour ritual of asking each other what the other’s best price was – but would always defer to the other to start. Neither of us would blink while Monte was trying to figure out how to hurry us up so he wouldn’t miss his 6:44PM flight back home. Matt and I finally agreed on a price that included the car, the body molds, a lot of spare parts, a 55 gallon drum of fuel, and the computer used to set the car up and record its runs.
By the time we finished loading the trailer up – it was 3:30 and we were at least four hours away from the Houston airport. I phoned my daughter to check the direct flights back to Huntsville, and the next one wasn’t until Saturday at 4:30PM. I told Monte that if we left early in the morning and took the Superbird back to Huntsville – I could have him there before he’d get there by plane, and he’d have the Superbird there too.
We left Houston at 6AM the next morning, and made it to the Huntsville, AL airport (so Monte could get his car) by 6:30 PM. I followed Monte to the shop and we unloaded the car and parts. I also managed to buy a 69 Charger R/T with a 530HP motor Monte had built – but that’s another story. Texas Bad Bird is currently in Monte’s hands being adjusted to his driving style.
The car originally cost $186,000 to build, has a $40,000 motor, and ran Pro-Mod in IHRA. It went through $500,000 in less than two years. We won’t have that kind of sponsorship money, so the plan is to detune it slightly for dependability and run it in the NMCA Outlaw division. In that division, we will be allowed to run more blower and hopefully not run on the ragged edge and break as many parts. The motor is a 526 Indy block with 3½ passes on it. The car is claimed to be race ready. Monte is currently stripping the previous sponsorship stickers off of it – and applying a MoparStyle banner. There a few things he needs to move for his comfort, some items will need to be sent back to the manufacture to re-certify, the chassis will need to be re-certified, the 3-stage fuel system scrapped for a less complicated system, and Monte will need to be certified for 6-second ¼ passes.