Lee Smith's "Haulin-Hemi" A/FX Belvedere

 

Durring a ban from NASCAR during the 1965 season.  The  Plymouth AFX program was created to maximize the potential of the 426 Hemi engine in straight line acceleration competitions.

The AFX class was  Factory Experimental , the A was the largest engine displacement class.

 The Plymouth engineers found that if they could alter the weight distribution to create more traction for the powerful 426 Hemi engine, it would result in quicker elapsed times.  By the rules, there was no rule as to where the wheelbase needed to be located.  So the Plymouth and Dodge engineers moved or altered the wheelbase forward under the body for two reasons 1. to move the weight of the Hemi engine closer to the rear axle and 2 to put more weight over the rear tires.

Smith was an Illinois racer who had a sponsor association with Learner’s Sales & Service, one of the largest Imperial sellers in America. That and his success in 1964 had gotten him one of just six Plymouth's created by Chrysler for the AWB program, and one of only two existent today. Those survivors are this car and the Golden Commandos car.

 

 

 Driven by Lee Smith  this is one  of six acid-dipped, altered-wheelbase cars produced by Plymouth in 1965. This is one of the most well documented examples of the rare A/FX cars and the only one allocated to a private owner.

The body features plexiglass side & rear windows as well as the windshield . The heavy factory steel was replaced with fiberglass fenders, doors, hood, bumpers, deck lid and dashboard, giving it a 2,800-pound curb weight. That's close to today's Pro-Stock cars with carbon-fiber body's.


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The engine is the 426 C.I. Race Hemi spec’d to A990 trim with over 12.1:1 C.R. and a hi-lift camshaft.

 

 It features Mopar aluminum heads, and a magnesium intake manifold with Hilborn stack fuel injection . Early cars ran gas but the later cars ran on nitro! The ignition system is a Chrysler tach-drive distributor with dual points .

Radio delete , heater delete and carpet delete were standard options.

The sound of the Hemi was the only thing you heard !

The interior is all business with only a driver seat and column mounted Tachometer.

 The 4-speed is controlled by a Hurst shifter.

 

                                            There's nothing like the look of an old school hand painted race car !

In this view we can see the custom parachute box cut into the trunk lid , under that stretched trunk sits a heavy-duty Dana 60 rear end fitted with a spool and 4:56:1 gears.

The ‘Funny Car’ name came about when Thornton and the other engineers in Chrysler’s Race Group led by Tom Hoover decided to move the wheelbase as far forward as possible. The front wheels were brought up 10 inches and the rear axle moved forward by 15 inches, the result was wheel-stands and more records. The bodies for the program were acid-dipped in California and shipped to a conversion company near Detroit for build-up into program cars.