While Purdy was winning with an upright super, Todd Gibson from Richwood, Ohio decided that a lower center of gravity was the way to go. Gibson was one of the first to introduce the roadster type design, that was used in Indy car racing. By roadster we mean the drive line is offset to the left so that the driver sits beside the drive line, thus the entire center of gravity of the car is lower. By contrast the upright car has the drive line mounted down the center of the car and the driver sits on top of the drive shaft, thus making the car sit higher. The USAC Indy influence in supermodified racing was once again apparent here as Todd purchased a wrecked Kunzman Indy car chassis after the 1966 season and took the running gear off of it to create his new supermodified. Gibson offset the drive line eight inches, which was unheard of at this time. He also shortened the wheel base considerably from conventional supers and lightened up the overall frame. The results were a superior handling car right from the outset of the 1967 season.

It took him only two times out with the car to find victory lane. However, engine problems kept plaguing him all season and Todd became so frustrated that he parked the car by mid August and picked up another ride for the balance of the '67 season.

Todd missed the first two weeks of the 1968 season because of a supermodified tour in the midwest which he competed in. But he was back with the Flintstone Flyer (the nickname of the car) on June 8th and into victory lane. Todd then proceeded to amass nine feature wins in a row with this car before having problems. He then rolled out 4 more additional wins to end up with 13 total features in 1968 and the track championship.

After this very successful season Todd also got the calling to try his hand in USAC with a shot at making the Indy 500. He sold the prize winning car to a young fellow by the name of Jim Quinn in nearby Syracuse, N.Y. Quinn had never driven a supermodified before in his life and suddenly found himself behind the wheel of the winningest car of its time.

See a color photo of Quinn's version of this famous car. It was real sharp and raced in this configuration just once! Also, notice how similar the design of the new Swift car is...

It was a great waste of a potential winner and along came an all Canadian team composed of car owner Norm Hagen and his driver, the popular and successful Norm Mackereth. They struck a deal with Quinn which saw Hagen take possession of the Gibson roadster and Quinn picking up Norm's old car 40, which was a good "starter car", plus an unspecified amount of cash. Hagen took possession of the car and headed for a special supermodified show at Flamboro Speedway in Ontario, Canada on Wed. July 23rd. They were leading the race when a vapor lock occurred in the engine on a restart and they were unable to refire the car. They came to Oswego on July 26th with the new machine and after a stop in the race, the same vapor lock occurred. This time the car did fire and Norm won the feature his first time out at Oswego with the new car! Everyone figured this would be the start of another reign by the Gibson roadster but it was not to be the case. Norm didn't win another feature in 1969 although he finished second in the Classic.

Four weeks into the 1970 season and Norm just about destroyed the Gibson roadster in a grinding crash in turn one. Meanwhile the Hagen crew had built a back up car to the Gibson roadster and Norm drove that car for the balance of the season.

Hagen repaired the car over the winter of 1971 and Mackereth had a very successful year with the car in '71, visiting victory lane two more times and 13 top five finishes overall. 1972 was the last year Mackereth drove the Hagen car and registered one more win before vacating.

Mark Letcher took over the reigns of the car in 1973 and it was renumbered 58. Mark's best finish with it was a fourth. In 1974 Jim Gray, who had driven the backup car for a while, was given a shot at the main ride. He drove it for five weeks before being replaced by a top supermodified driver from Ohio - Baldy Baker.

Baldy was a crafty old veteran that got 110% out of every car he drove and if there was a win left in the Gibson roadster, Baldy would make it happen. Sure enough, on July 20th the old roadster gave its' last win to Baldy. Baker continued to drive the car with limited success. He left the ride about midway through the '75 season. Norm Hagen passed away shortly thereafter and his estate sold the car to Canadian Brian Morrison. Brian brought the car out three times in the 1977 season and was never to appear again. This crash happened on June 25th of '77, and may have been the car's final appearance at Oswego.