No chassis number available
Beginning in 1957, Max Balchowsky and his wife designed, built and raced a limited number of sports racing cars. His first two were named Old Yeller, after the dog in Disney’s 1957 film who was yellow, mangy and unwanted. Disney didn’t like that, so Balchowsky changed the spelling to “Ol’ Yaller,” due to their pale-yellow paint scheme.
Offered here is Ol’ Yaller Mark IX, the final design from the minds of Max and Ina Balchowsky, which incorporated many of the lessons they learned over the years and resulted in one of their quickest cars ever. Mark IX was built for Haskell Automotive in 1963. As with all examples of the Ol’ Yaller series, the car featured a tubular steel space-frame chassis with a front-mid-mounted American V8 — a powerful 401-ci Buick in this case. The output is said to be 310 horsepower, and the car should do 0–60 mph in under four seconds due to its light weight. Those daring enough behind the wheel could achieve a top speed upwards of 150 mph.
As one of only nine Ol’ Yallers built by the legend Max Balchowsky, this series of cars represents the zenith of American sports-car racing specials. The chance to acquire Mark IX is a special one indeed.
