Shop Tour - Hardcore Drag Racing

        Ford had the Cobra Jet's, Chrysler had their S/S Cuda's & Darts and Chevrolet had their COPO program. These were all drag strip terrors, the public ate it up and rushed to their local dealer just to get a look at these monsters. Dealers themselves started building their own versions like this Camaro here.   Campaigned in NHRA competition by Dick Arons and Gordy Foust for Berger Chevrolet in 1969. It featured the factory L78 396 with 375 HP. backed up with a 4-speed transmission and heavy-duty 12-bolt rear end. Later the car was equipped with an L72 427 CI V-8 for use in Super/Stock competition. This Camaro was the SS/E class winner at the 1969 NHRA Spring Nationals in Dallas, it was also raced at the Super Stock Nationals in York Pennsylvania and at the"Big Go" U.S. Nationals. The Odometer only reads 210 miles as it was only used as a drag car its entire life and the mileage was put on a quarter mile at a time and was never tagged for the street. In ...

      This 1969 Ford Mustang Cobra Jet gained notoriety on the West Coast drag-racing circuit under sponsorship from Chuck Foulger, the former Ford Racing director from Monrovia, California. It was driven by Lucy Below and known as 'Lucy's Larceny'.   At Fremont Dragway it set the SS/HA class record, it ran mid 11s at 126.45 mph. The car was then retired after racing only three short years in Division 7 . Then it was sold and went through a few owners. It was featured in all the popular drag racing magazines during the 1970s.     The car was well known at the time because of its unique paint scheme, refrigerator white on the passenger side with a bright blue racing stripe outlining the fender, door and quarter panel. On the driver side the complete opposite with bright blue paint and a bright white stripe down the flanks.  The car’s distinctive paint scheme was Foulger’s idea, he reasoned that media coverage would give the impression there were tw...

  In the 1960's there were racers that won races once in a while, then there were racers or should I say teams that were feared. The team of Ronnie Sox & Buddy Martin were the ones that dominated the Super-Stock category in the 1960's, and then in 1970 they dominated again in the early years of Pro-Stock.   They won more national events then any other team at the time. The only other person that was just as good at rowing a 4-speed at the time was Dandy-Dick Landy with his fleet of silver bullets.  These 68' Plymouth Cuda's started out as a basic shell or a body in white that was pulled from the assembly line and sent to Hurst Performance. Where they transformed from a boring compact car to fire-breathing strip  monster! The bodies were acid dipped and when they were done the sheet metal was as thin as a Lays potato chip. To save weight even further the front fenders were an aluminum stamping or acid dipped steel. The glass was replaced with Owens-Corning light-w...

  This is AMX S/S # 3 known as “Patriot-1”. The American Motors  factory transformed the sheet metal from a 1969 model to represent a 1970 model, as only 1 of 53 examples were ever produced by Hurst Performance, this is a rare car indeed.  There are more HEMI S/S Darts out there now then have ever been built by the factory, how many people can say they have an original?  This is the real deal, it was purchased new by Phillip Frisbie.       The  390 CI V-8 engine features an Edelbrock STR-11 cross-ram intake manifold. Fuel is mixed by dual Holley 4-barrel carburetors with velocity stacks that are sealed to hood with gaskets allowing it to gulp fresh air from the power bulge scoop.         The interior is typical 1960's, black carpet, black high-back bucket seats and of course a Hurst shifted 4-speed  manual transmission gets the job done.  The exterior is painted in AMC factory race team colors in Red, White and Blue. ...

  The Plymouth Scamp was the A-Body platform that Chrysler Corp. used for their economy class of cars . The A-Body was light weight at 3000 pounds , it was offered with the slant 6- cylinder engine for a base engine , the 318-V8 was an option.    The cars were built with rubber floor mats and very plain interiors , bench seats , AM radio & A/C was optional. Chrysler used the 68 A-Body Dart's & Barracuda's for Super- Stock programs and they were very successful . In 1970 they were used in the new Pro-Stock class , but they were now the new Plymouth Duster or Dodge Dart's . These cars ran the mighty 426 Hemi backed up by either a 4-speed manual transmission or the heavy-duty Torqueflite 3-speed automatic. The Hemi cars had the Dana 60 while the auto cars had the 8 3/4 rear end. The bodies were modified to fit big slicks , the quarter panels were cut open , suspension upgrades included 6cyl front torsion bars , Super-Stock rear leaf springs & pinion snubber lifte...

  Rare Rides Quick Look !   This month's quick look is a 1 of 1 1971 HEMI Plymouth Barracuda convertible that was prepped by the legendary race shop of Ronnie Sox & Buddy Martin.  This a true Sox and Martin built Cuda'. The car was purchased new in Detroit and driven to Sox and Martin for preparation to run the NHRA Super Stock Class.    The Cud'a competed in 1973-1974 NHRA events, and was driven by "Mr. 4 -Speed" himself, Herb McCandless.  It's powered by a balanced and blueprinted 426 C.I. Hemi. Built by Sox and Martin, shifted by an A-833 4-speed the Hemi's torque is sent to a Dana-60 rear end filled with 4.56:1 gears and a spool. There is full documentation on the car and it was the only known convertible built by S&M. As it sits there is 33,307 miles on the clock and you will never find another example like this on the planet .