Mopar or No Car

I've been a member of the Hamb for quite a few years and while I love and appreciate traditional hots rods I don't own one. I love checking out the build threads and learning about the history of hot rodding and drag racing and the Hamb does that for me. That being said my passion is Muscle cars, can you guess what make? This is my 1966 Coronet 440 that I have owned for 35 years, it was 100% original when I bought it, (paint still original except hood) and 75% original interior. 1st it was my cruiser, then I built a 440 for it and put wheels on it (same ones on it now) then it was my hot street car (I don't dare use the word hotrod right?) in 1997 I decided to start drag racing it, its caged but still has the bench seat and all the electrics work including the wipers and radio. eventually it ended up running 11.0's with the original iron headed 440, when it cracked a head I saved up and bought some Indy EZ (aluminum aftermarket) heads for it along with a carb, intake and cam upgrade and in this configuration it ran a best of 10.53@126 at Fontana (SoCal) At a race a few years ago it lost oil pressure and damaged it enough for me to decide to build a stroker 440 for it - 493ci 12.2:1 CR, single 1050 dominator, ported heads (the same Indy EZ's) big solid roller cam, belt drive ETC. I also built a Dana 60 for it with Moser axles to handle the extra power, rear disc brakes to stop it also. The car weighs 3650lb with me in it, it hooks hard (1.37 60ft) on 9in wide Hoosier radial slicks and my personally built 727 with a 8in converter. So far its run a best of 9.94@133mph, its still fairly new so I'm sure there's more to be had. I believe it now needs a tighter converter. I run my local bracket series so I de-tune it to run 10.0's because I don't want to have to use the extra safety equipment required for 9's.

 

That’s a beauty right there !
Very strong engine too .

Remember,,,.,,in the quarter,,,,,MPH is horsepower !
That’s pretty darn fast,,,so you built a strong engine .

Tommy

 

That’s a well sorted out car for the 3600 lbs. it weighs.

 

Really nice!

 

Cool ride! More MOPARS!

 

The Mopar B/RB is arguably the best-sorted iteration of the conventional American V8. I hope to source a 383 locally if I ever have the opportunity to do an actual project.

 

Throw in the Hemi, Slant Six and the 340-360 and it makes you wonder why everyone doesn’t own one.

 

I've seen these cars a few times at MATS over the years.

 

What track is this?

 

This is the only Hamb friendly thing I own -

 

Here is the car at Bakersfield for the 2006 Hot Rod Reunion - I made it to the final round in AFX - that was a fun weekend.

 

Carlsbad?

 

Made many a pass there

 

My mom lived a couple miles away from Carlsbad Raceway, I dove by it a few times but was never fortunate enough to race there or even spectate, what year did it close?

 

The first time I ran with the Amerian Nostalgia West guys was at the '06 CHRR (from above) I beat Shirly Shahan's son in their "Drag on Lady" Dodge Dart in the second or third round before losing to Joel Miner in his Aluminum nose '64 Max Wedge car. It was great meeting the Shahans -

 

It closed in 2004, They are holding a Carlsbad reunion at Barona dragstrip June 1st.

 

My '64 330 wagon and the wife's '69 Barracuda 340 4- speed . We've owned the convertible Cuda since 1979

 

This is my "cruiser" - my dad bought this car in 1976 for $125 after my parents divorced, he resto-modded it and it was his "chick magnet" It was complete around 1980 or so, rebuilt engine & trans new interior with bucket seats new paint ETC and still looks much the same today, same paint (its a 20 footer) same wheels and even the same BFG Radial TA's (replaced in 2012) He bought the previous set in 1981 (I still have the receipt) He died in 2009 and I brought the car home to bring it back to life. It had been sitting in his garage for at least 12 years unmoved. I went thru the brakes, tune up, clean up and restored the interior back to stock. I also put a new top on it. This car is one of 134 built - '66 Coronet 440 convertible with 383 4bbl automatic. It also has some options which I believe makes it even rarer - 3.23 Sure grip diff, power package, light package, retractable seat belts front & rear, bumper guards, Wood grain steering wheel, clock, tinted glass & power windows.

 

Dig the '64, my first car was a '64 330 2-door sedan

 

Thanks theman440 , your Coronet is awesome too !

 

A guy I work with also owns a '66 droptop Coronet but his has the 318 poly motor in it.... I think that was the last year for the poly motor for Chrysler cars....

 

I've only owned 1 MOPAR, a 65 Plymoth Sport Fury and will say it was a great car, not a speedy type, bought it in 70 and ran it till 75 as my DD/tow vehicle. I called it my first adult car, V-8, AT, AC, towed Dad's Midget racer I was driving. 125K miles still running great when sold, only problem was Wisconsin Winter/Salt was winning..

. by wicarnut posted Jan 20, 2014 at 5:46 PM

 

Beautiful. I own a black 65 Sport Fury Hardtop, White convertible and My Dad has a Med Red Metallic hardtop, all big block Cara.

 

My mopar dream car ❤️ too a T !