Aiding and abetting traction in 1964 was done by using lightweight nose pieces and putting the largest logical OEM battery near the right rear corner.
 The first race Hemi engines came in both 12.5 and 11.0 compression formats (this one has the tighter pop). The Holley 4160 carbs were a post-production upgrade from the AFBs that had been normal fare on most Mopar cross rams; some later ’64 Hemis were reportedly built with the Holleys on them. |
Jenkins’ tight wrench work and Bud’s driving ability would lead to both ends of the S/SA record in May of 1964 at Cecil County Maryland, one of the first big numbers in Super Stock by a 426 Hemi engine (and this 11.53 / 123.79 would hold that honor until in early August when Hank Taylor’s Hemi Plymouth took it away at Phenix City, Ala.). Faubel also finished in the top five for Division 1 points in Top Stock year, a real achievement considering the competition he was up against.
After Bud sold it in 1965 to devote time and energy to his factory altered wheelbase and experimental turbocharged Dodges, it went to New York, and later ended up in the Midwest. Car broker/restorer Steve Banker found it in the late 1980s, with much of Faubel’s signature paint and graphics still intact. It was restored to the standards of that time, and was a star exhibit in a private musclecar assembly out west.
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| The artistic duck was part of Bud’s standard paint schemes during the 1960s, based on a nickname given to him by fellow circle track racer Marvin Panch | Clean graphics and lettering were one of the things that made the Honker a memorable racecar. Anytime you saw that Jenkins logo meant things were happening fast. |
It became available for sale as the collection in Arizona was being dissolved in 2001, and Don and Mary Lee Fezell of Pennsylvania leapt at the chance to bring it back to the Keystone State. All the paperwork was there, including title, body tags, VIN tag, and invoices; the odometer shows just five miles since rolling off the assembly line (having been disconnected for racing soon after the purchase was made). The graphics are painted directly on the white factory body color; without them, the car would look exactly like it did when it left the factory.
In the era before power brakes became popular, a LOT of street cars used ‘pump ‘em up’ style master cylinders; so did these Hemi race cars. Three bouts of round-robin passes and you were praying for a lot of shutdown area…
 The Fezells also displayed the Hemi car at Carlisle this year, including a promotional sign from back in the day announced one of Bud Faubel’s personal appearances. |
Today, though, the car still looks like it did when Faubel was chasing the record books and win lights with it, and Faubel himself has been a guest at many of its public appearances. Last July, he even took it for a quick jaunt down the quarter at Beaver Springs Dragway’s York US 30 Nostalgia event. The only change from stock that is visible was the addition of an oil/temperature gauge set-up for engine safety sake. Hemi Dodges are popular, Hemi Dodge race cars are even better, and Hemi Dodge race cars with provenance and history are the best of all. The Honker is a benchmark car from Dodge’s 50th year and the 426 Hemi’s first.
