3/1/2007
In Praise of Real Race Cars, Part 1
In the years I have covered drag racing and the Mopar hobby, few issues seem to attract as much emotion as the debate between real vs. clone cars. In the realm of racecars, this is even more evident. The depth of Chrysler’s racing heritage is significant, particularly in drag racing where the factory used multiple teams and cars to promote their street wares. Beginning in the Max Wedge era and carrying on into the 1970s, these vehicles were always recognizable by their paint or big-name pilots. Of course, there were very successful guys like Petty in other forms of racing, but drag racing is where most of the “heated discussions” occur.
The high value on cars like John Friel’s Dart has sent many of them back into the garage for good. Englishtown, NJ 1990s era (©2006 by Geoff Stunkard GSAA05A quartermilestones.com)
Let’s be honest, most Mopar fans hold the 1962-1971 era in high esteem and for good reason. The factory regularly released new Super Stock packages during this era until 1968, and also funneled money to drivers in the Top Fuel and Funny Car ranks as well. These competitors were successful enough that there was an actual backlash by several
sanctioning bodies by 1972, who did not want to see one brand dominate. In the end, the highest echelon of Super Stock was reserved only for Hemi-powered Mopars (virtually all 1968-built Darts and Barracudas), and it took 30+ years before anything truly threatened them in that realm.
Today, these cars compete in what is known as SS/AH (A/Hemi), and they now run in a division reserved just for them. As the values on the original 1968 cars converted for racing continues to climb, coupled with the fact that very few “modified” cars can compete in what is the equivalent of vintage Pro Stock, most of today’s SS/AH entries start life as six-cylinder and 318-powered cars. These pedestrian versions are stripped down and turned over to a good chassis builder, who constructs modern suspension and safety technology into the package in accordance to the rules, taking advantages in regards to material and design evolutions. In the end, such a beast is more than capable of withstanding the forces modern S/S race hemi combinations can generate. This is true of the SS/B – SS/BA 1965 Hemi cars as well.
Anarchy at Bruce Larson’s annual reunion several years as the gold dust was laid in the street for two original altered 1965 Dodges – the Honker of Bud Faubel (owned by Jim Kramer) and Charlie Allen’s homebuilt Atlantic Dodge Flyer. Nope, it was not a real race…
