Shop Tour - Hardcore Drag Racing

  The 2023 Chrysler Nationals held at the Carlisle fairgrounds was a great success, with over 3,000 registered  show vehicles.  Add another 500 to 1,000 cars & trucks that spectators parked on the property, made this biggest gathering of Mopar only iron in one spot on record. There was plenty of cars to see at this event even though there were spotty showers on Friday, Saturday & Sunday, but the late afternoons afforded us some great opportunities to photograph some great cars and talk with some of the owners.  The show fields were organized into body platforms, A, B, C, F & M. There were also classes for the Plymouth Prowler, Viper, PT Cruiser  and the new TRX Ram. On the property adjacent to the highway there was a makeshift road course set-up where lucky individuals like myself were able to ride along in a 700 Horsepower Hellcat Charger & Challenger.  It was the best 70 seconds of my life ! The FCA brought out half a d...

    Throughout the 1960’s & 1970’s Custom Vans were very popular among the show car crowd , the owner of this van was inspired by that era of cool and created this over the top street Beast.  This one of a kind Evel Knievel Tribute was built in 2018 and is powered by a 240ci 6-cylinder engine mated to a 3-speed manual transmission. It sports a roof wing, big fender flares and Vintage Mags wheels in 14- and 15-inch with staggered tires and many other custom touches. The Econoline is hand lettered and detailed in gold leaf making the graphics pop! The van also has red tinted glass throughout, The interior features front bucket seats and in the cargo area a red, white and blue L-shaped bench seat with EK metal signage throughout ! Accompanying this van is a 1971 Honda K2 Z50 mini bike named Little Evel with matching hand painted Evel graphics. Restoration was just completed on an original Honda frame.   You can be the star of any car show when you pull up in this Va...

  Quick Look  The owner of this 72’ model took this Duster to the outer limits and beyond. The Duster is show and go with perfect panel gaps and a custom pearl white paint job with airbrushed graphics.  The engine compartment is bursting with horsepower and eye appeal with a stroker small-block now stretched to 408 cubes, it was built by Big Al's Toy Box in Connecticut. It sucks in the atmosphere through an 8/71 Blower Shop billet supercharger with dual QuickFuel 650 CFM carburetors topped off with a polished Enderle injector hat. The internals are filled with the best parts and pieces like an Eagle crank, H-beam rods, forged pistons and ARP fasteners keep it screwed together. The engine is making 14 pounds of boost making close to 900 Horsepower, so a heavy-duty 727 TorqueFlite transmission with a PTC 3,500 RPM stall converter sits downstream. The narrowed Chrysler 8 ¾ rear end was filled with Moser 35-spline axles and Richmond 4.56 gears that can take the abuse with ea...

   This week's tip will improve your muscle cars performance ! Cold fuel will vaporize more quickly than hot fuel, so adding a cooler can add horsepower. You can buy one or you can save some cash by making one. Take a large coffee can and line a coil of copper tubing around inside of it. Drill holes at the top and bottom of the can for the copper line to enter and exit.  Attach the appropriate fittings to the copper line to connect it in series to the Carb. Seal the line to the can to prevent leaks. Connect the fuel lines, fill the can with water, and inspect the can for leaks. If there are no leaks, fill the can to the top with ice, and install the lid. As fuel circulates through the copper coil, the ice will cool it.  When it hits the hot manifold, it will vaporize instantly, and be ready to ignite when the plug fires!  You can drop 1-2-tenths off a 1/4-mile time,and increase speed by 4-5 mph. Moroso also makes a plastic version that keeps the ice colder and i...

  If you look close enough you will notice the absence of the familiar blue bowtie. That's because this isn't a Chevrolet Camaro per-say - it's a Motion Performance prepared Camaro, and yes there is a difference, a very big difference. This is a car that General Motors could never build, not that they didn't want to, the EPA would never allow it.     The history First off you need to know what and who is Motion Performance and where the Baldwin name came from. It all started with Joel Rosen, who in the 1960s and early 1970s built the now legendary Motion Camaros, Chevelles and Corvettes. Joel Rosen had so much faith in his products that he offered an unconditional warranty for is performance cars. His cars carried this message: "We think so much of our Phase III super-cars that we guarantee they will turn at least 120 mph in 11.50 seconds or better with an M/P-approved driver. Phase III cars are completely street-able, reliable machines that will run these times...

 Quick Look ! This is not your typical 78' Ford Bronco   This has to be the coolest 1978 Bronco, it’s a full custom all the way. The rear cap is long gone and now a custom rear bulkhead and tonneau cover take its place. It makes it look like a short bed pick-up!   The build spanned many years from the 80’s and well into the early 2000’s, starting with the frame that was custom fabricated, it was notched and lowered and features a Fatman front clip with coilovers and tubular A-arms.      Under the hood a Ford 351 Windsor engine was stroked to 427 CI. It features Dart aluminum heads and a custom grind Comp Cam. Exiting the engine the owner built stainless steel headers that connect to a full stainless exhaust system, it dumps out at the rear bumper. Backing up the stroker a B&M 3-speed C6 automatic transmission and a Moser Engineering 9-inch rear end with a Posi-Traction diff.   Other features include: Power rack and pinion steering,Power wind...