As we work on Project Talladega, our ’75 Laguna NASCAR tribute, we come across some interesting pieces of history.

We had to make a choice how we were going to decorate our ’75 Laguna project car, and we finally decided on Holley as a primary “sponsor.” And while no money actually changed hands, we did get the blessing of the corporate machine to use their historically significant logo. In the exchange, we got some old Holley ads for reference material, and also because we just enjoy looking at them.

One of those ads that Holley sent over is this one with Richard Petty’s Oldsmobile. We’re guessing most Petty fans know the King’s long history with Mopar, and later in his career with Pontiac, and they may even know about his brief stint with Fords in 1969, but the one that gets everybody’s head shaking is Oldsmobile. For one solitary year—1977—Richard Petty drove Oldsmobiles, and won. The King won 5 races driving Oldsmobiles in 1977, including the Daytona 500.

Even King Richard got in on the GM A-body action, and with a car that’s considered a throwaway today. Also note how the photo in the ad has been retouched in a day before Photoshop so that you can’t see STP anywhere!