Whoa Daddy! Brandon Beach’s Cool “Daddy’s Thing” 1958 Chevy Bel Air

There’s something about the styling of cars from the 1950s and 1960s that just grabs your attention — when you add a cackling big-block to one of them you get a killer package. Brandon Beach went for a wild ride behind the wheel of the 1958 Chevy Bel Air known as “Daddy’s Thing” when the big cubic-inch Chevy under the hood released all of its horsepower and sent the nose of the car towards the sky.

Daddy’s Thing was built and raced by Frank Marshal during the 1960s through the ’70s at Oswego Dragstrip and Lake Geneva Raceway. Eventually, Ted Beach took ownership of the car after it had been sold a few times and restored the Chevrolet so he could race it. In 2013, Ted’s son, Brandon, jumped behind the wheel of the car and has been as quick as 9.93 at 135 mph.

Powering the Bel Air is a 540 cubic-inch big-block Chevy that uses the original tunnel ram intake from when Marshal campaigned the car back in the ’70s, along with a pair of 750cfm Holley carburetors. Behind the rather rowdy-sounding engine is a TH400 transmission that transfers the power to a set of Mickey Thompson slicks. Daddy’s Thing is far from a lightweight — it tips the scales at a healthy 3,705-pounds with Brandon belted into the car.

On this wild pass caught on camera by victoryredcolorado, Brandon had his hands full as Daddy’s Thing went into a massive wheelstand, twisted the wheelie bars, and headed towards the wall in a hurry. Brandon had to make a quick decision and lift, causing the heavy Chevy to crash back down to the Route 66 Raceway surface with some serious force. Thankfully, the only damage was to one of the control arms, so it would be an easy fix for Brandon.

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Brian Wagner

Spending his childhood at different race tracks around Ohio with his family’s 1967 Nova, Brian developed a true love for drag racing. Brian enjoys anything loud, fast, and fun.
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