Some of you may remember the Valkyrie, a kit car that McKee built in 1969. I’ve mentioned it a few times before. I don’t have any pictures of it from the 1960s but it looked something like this.
It’s a mid-engine V-8. I think it started out as a small-block Chevy. This Valkyrie has been through several iterations. Don used to drive it on the street. Then for years he trailered it to autocross competitions; the races that are often set out with cones in large parking lots. Then he drove it on a high-speed road course outside Aspen until the fiberglass bodywork on the back end started to melt from the engine and exhaust heat and caught on fire. The Valkyrie has been garaged for years since then, in pieces.
But it is showing signs of life (again).
Everything is getting a redo. The bodywork is still in another part of the garage in pieces. A completely new frame bent and welded. A different engine; now it’s a Ford Coyote. An exhaust system that matches tube lengths and bends for all the cylinders so they will each have identical backpressure. Some higher tech tires than were available way back then and require a redo of the original wheel well dimensions.
A heck of a project.
It’s fun to watch. Maybe next year I’ll get a roaring ride in it.
