# What kind of car did Dale Earnheart, Sr. drive? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 20, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171 "2001-02-20T03:15:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171/1 "2001-02-20T03:15:24Z")
I know it was a Chevrolet, but that is all. What specific kind of car was it? Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171/2 "2001-02-20T03:30:26Z")
I believe it was a _race_ car. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Llardball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Llardball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llardball)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171/3 "2001-02-20T03:34:48Z")
He drove a Chevrolet Monte Carlo. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171/4 "2001-02-20T03:35:05Z")
Aren’t all the Chevy’s Monte Carlos? ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171/5 "2001-02-20T03:56:17Z")
All Winston Cup cars are specially-built, V8-engined, rear-wheel drive racing chassis fitted with bodies representative of full-size, _front-drive_ sedans. The body shapes used are based on uniform templates generated by NASCAR. The four body types currently used in the series are: Chevrolet Monte Carlo Dodge Intrepid (new for 2001 season) Ford Taurus Pontiac Grand Prix Earnhardt’s car had a Monte Carlo body. **Smackfu** , the production Monte Carlo is a 2-door coupe, based on, I believe, the same platform as the production Grand Prix. All Monte Carlos are Chevys, but not all Chevys are Monte Carlos. Cheers, ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171/6 "2001-02-20T04:00:22Z")
Sorry, **Smackfu** , after I hit “Submit” I realized you were talking about the Cup cars, not the production versions. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171/7 "2001-02-20T04:37:47Z")
Just a note… With the demise of the Ford Thunderbird :(, none of the NASCAR bodies’ “real life” (production) counterparts are available with a V8 **or** rear-wheel drive. Kind of ironic, considering that some of the drivers racing today (and nearly all of the recently retired ones) started out in cars that were truly stock, off a dealer’s lot, with a few simple engine tweaks. ---
**Author:** ![Shiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171/8 "2001-02-20T05:05:58Z")
Yup, the days of true _stock_ bodied cars and homologation are over. Hopefully NASCAR’s crash energy absorption program will equal their make-it-look-like-a-stock-car efforts. [http://www.daleearnhardt.net/chevy/specs.htm](http://www.daleearnhardt.net/chevy/specs.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171/9 "2001-02-20T16:39:13Z")
Uh, Shiva, maybe it’s just me, but that link didn’t work. Can you fix it? ---
**Author:** ![Shiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@Shiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shiva)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171/10 "2001-02-20T16:47:08Z")
That’s strange. Let’s try Google’s cached page: [http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.daleearnhardt.net/chevy/specs.htm+&hl=en](http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:www.daleearnhardt.net/chevy/specs.htm+&hl=en) ---
**Author:** ![Gunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gunslinger)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2001, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-kind-of-car-did-dale-earnheart-sr-drive/55171/11 "2001-02-20T17:40:20Z")
Mahaloth: It is just you, apparently. It worked for me.