Walker sold the car to the Adlers in 1974, with Joan Adler hand painting the numbers on the car that were still there when Tretter pulled it from the shipping container using a piece of heavy machinery.
After racing it for a couple of seasons at Flemington and East Windsor as a sportsman, Adler retired the car, pulled the engine out of it and left the chassis to fade into history inside the storage container.
That is until Tretter pulled it back into the daylight on April 29.
“It was really like a time capsule,” Tretter said. “When I got into that trailer it was a year ago. I couldn’t believe it. I mean it’s really the way it came off the race track minus the motor. Just an unmolested, beautiful piece of history.”
Tretter revealed the find to the world on the day it was removed from the storage container, sharing photos and videos on the Flemington Speedway Historical Society Facebook page. According to Tretter, the reaction was indescribable.
“I think we’re up to 750 likes on that Facebook post,” Tretter said. “I looked at the amount of shares and it’s just unbelievable.”
Tretter said one of the best parts of the process was seeing Joan Adler’s reaction when he drove his truck with the car on a trailer into her driveway.
“It brought a tear to her eye,” Tretter said. “She was there when they bought the car. They bought the car together in 1974. She painted the numbers on it. It just brought up a whole wave of emotions for her and that was nice. It’s one of the reasons we do (this), as a club, and the reason I do it, so you can share those memories and be a part of that. It meant a lot to her.”
So what does the future hold for this vintage piece of racing history? Tretter said his goal is to get the car cleaned up, put an engine in it and get it running again. He hopes to display it during a future Hunterdon County 4H Fair alongside other vintage racers from Flemington Speedway’s history.
“The car will always stay the way it is. We will never try to make it something else. At that point you’re trying to change history,” Tretter said. “People really want to see the unrestored cars with patina. I mean there are some beautiful tribute cars out there, replicas, that are a nice, new shiny penny. But people really want to see this stuff the way it came off the track.
“The plan with the car is to basically clean it up, not do anything to it, put a motor in it, get it running just so it makes some noise and keep the patina, get some brakes working and then show it.”