Not to get off topic here since this started as a Ramchargers thread, but anybody have anything more on the Mr. Norm's sedans? I'm fairly convinced that there was 2 different cars. The first sedan (which was before the CMG Hardtop) had the rear altered with the A-100 axle in the stock position up front. Eventually had the the frontend moved further forward. It had the entire front inner fender panels removed, shock towers and all. Still had the k-member in it, which I guess was there primarily to keep the engine and steering box mount locations. Also, the rear was not up so far; closer 10 or so inches. The framerails were not altered, the wheelwells were simply moved forward right up to the framerail-to-rocker braces. This car was stripped of it's frontend and probably the blown hemi to convert the CMG Hartop. This sedan is the one that crashed at a later date (after the frontend got moved). The other sedan, which seemingly always ran injected, was almost the opposite. It ran the "factory" injected hemi out of the CMG Hardtop, probably along with the lightwieght torsionbar frontend components they stripped from the CMG hardtop. This sedan had the rear moved up right about the "normal" 15inches. Noticeably more than the other sedan. As for the explanation about the 2 cars having some similar components, probably. I would guess that the sedan with the A-100 axle and 10inch altered rear (the 1 that crashed) was pressed into service AGAIN at some point AFTER it got stripped to rebuild the hardtop. What happened to the torsionbar AWB sedan is still a mystery to me, but Norm Krause was well-know as a wheeler-dealer. He probably sold it after stripping the parts he wanted! Only thing I see that clearly differentiates between the 2 cars thu all the pics I've seen is the roof stripe on the FIRST sedan that had the A-100 axle in the stock location with the blown Hemi. Also you'll note that the early version of this car has the slotted axle that appears to be identical to the axle that got swapped into the ex-CMG Hardtop. Later pics of the sedan with the A-100 axle in the forward altered position show a stock, non-slotted axle. The crashed car with the injected hemi had that roof stripe. It also had lightwieght steel or aluminum doors and not fiberglass. Can tell from the crash pics, they're buckled and beat but did not shred to pieces like 'glass would have. Sorry for typing so much....
Being born and raised in Detroit, the Ramchargers were my favorites from 1962 (I was 17) on. I always liked Jim Thornton and his black rimmed glasses....Like a nerdish "Clark Kent"
I AM SURE you are right. This pixture was emailed to me by my friend, Clark Rand, who owns the Sox & Martin 68 Hemi Cuda and the 67 SS/D car. I talked to Clark and he did say that, of course, he shot the pix at Bowling Green when he was there with the S&M cars.
I am a retired Chrysler Engineering employee doing research on the 1965 Plymouth & Dodge A990 vehicles history. I would like to contact your father regarding the vehicle that he owned and it's history. He should know if he purchased it from Dick Smith or from a second owner. If you could have him contact me at riclinsam@charter.net I would appreciate it. Sincerely, Richard Samul PS: I have seen movies of the Firebrewed Dodge on "Detroit At War", drag racing home movies on DVD.
Does anyone know were I can find pictures of 1949 Plymouth Coupe: The First Car of the Original Ramchargers Race Team. My grandfather was a member of the Ramchargers and I would like to get pictures of it. I'm very interested in what my grandfather did on the High & Mighty.
I have a collection of the pictures that I used in re-creating the High & Mighty. There is not a lot of them but you can contact me. membership@cemaclub.org
You're not the grandchild of Maurie Leising (the fella smoking the cigarette), are you? http://home.earthlink.net/~whshope over 140,000 page views
Wow a thread I can relate to. I bought the ramchargers demon funnycar from John Schumacker who bought it from ramchargers and ran it as the fuel altered named altered attitude,several pictures are posted earlier in this thread. Before the judge was involved,I saw Leroy P several times and approached him with pictures and told him of my plans of restoring and running the car in nostiliga funnycar races.I WAS warned that the name still was trademarked and that if used I would be subject to a lawsuit.I did restore the car without the name and showed it at several times at some upscale events. After Ramchargers sold out and the judge bought the cuda and name I approched him to get permission to put the name on the car. I was told that for the sum of 20 thousand dollars I would be able to do so.I was told of his plans of a racing circut and even a resterant. Thats way out of my leage so I sold the car to a unnamed hemi collector where it is today. It was a shame that thinks did not work out as I was and still am a huge ramchargers fan from seeing them run at detroit dragway in the 70s. After seeing all the hoopla going on at the BJ auction,I feel good selling one of the icons that was a childhood memory burned in my brain for life. Politics and racing do not mix well.......................Johnny Rotten
Check out this link,Mr norm's 65 and Rob Bruce zombie's afx cars and remember the dude on the rescue truck that hits the dirt is/ was a nhra safty safari's finest. Hope he practice's a little more. the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGBfDyibVzc Johnny Rotten
I'm MaryLynn's daughter, Laurie. Maurie Leising (Maurice B. Leising) is my Pop-oh. No lie. I saw the remake of the High & Mighty at the Woodward Dream Cruize this past summer and he told me about when he and the Ramchargers made the original. I've been interested in it every since.
<style></style>Does any one have old High & Mighty pictures videos or links that they can share? I have not figured out how to post pix on H A M B yet so for now you can find some High & Mighty 1 & 2 shots through these links. When I get more time and education, I will find, edit and add more, some are mixed in with the recreation pix. C E M A put together people and donations to recreate the first funny car. "The first Rem Chargers club car" http://community.webshots.com/user/HighandMighty2008 http://www.cemaclub.org/ http://www.cemaclub.org/highmighty/index.php
I have a picture of the Ramcharger team with my grandfather in it and another one with the car but all you see is the back of peoples heads. Chop shop- I recieved your email. I will get in touch via email or call soon. Probably email, I have classes till late everyday.
Just to clarify things ... the '65 Dodge in that clip isn't Mr. Norm's car. It is a look-alike endorsed by Mr. Norm himself. The car was built by Brian Kohlmann out of Wisconsin. I helped him with alot of the research on AWB cars and incidently I was the flagman on that run. The GTO jumped by a mile that day. Joel
OG Ramcharger HemiCuda. we replaced both fenders, both doors and hood. the car had been dipped in acid along time ago. the car had bubbles showing thru the paint. when we started to tear it down. the metal was to thin to work on it. and someone sprayed some expandable foam in between the doors. so we couldn't do anything to it. read more about the car here. http://main.ramchargers.com/index.html you can see it in the background finished. it's being delivered back to the customer this week. the scoop is on a 900 hp street legal Porsche i've been working on recently. `
<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD class=insidetable bgColor=#ffffff width="100%">Dear Family and Friends, Linda and I finally took the Richard (Dick) Smith, 1965 Dodge Cornet, an original A990 Ramcharger Super Stock vehicle named Firebrewed, out of the barn recently. It had been stored for about 35 years. We went with the vehicle to the Chrysler Employee Motorsport Association car show this past Sunday, held on the Walter P. Chrysler Museum grounds. I would like to thank Mike Spinazzola for saving Firebrewed from a unknown fate in the junk yard at Michigan & Middlebelt, where he found it in about 1974/1975. It was good to see you at the show Mike! I would like thank CEMA for allowing me to display Firebrewed, in it's as is, junk yard condition, at the show. I would like to thank my friend Jim Reese, who let me use his truck and trailer to get the vehicle to the CEMA show. Thank you Jim! I need to buy a truck and trailer! Attached is a letter from my friend Jim Burns, who attended the show. Thank you for the kind words Jim and for staying the duration of the show, with Linda and I. Now that I am officially retired, I have started on my long overdue retirement project, restoring Firebrewed. Lot's to due, to complete it for the CEMA show next year. Plans are to restore the vehicle to Dick Smith's 1965/1966 race condition, with safety upgrades. I plan to race it, not turn it into a museum piece. After all, it was one of Chrysler's finest and fastest production cars for that time period! Attached are some pictures from the CEMA show on Sunday. Sincerely, Rick & Linda Samul > To: "Rick Samul" <riclinsam@charter.net> > Cc: "Bill Thaens" <bill.thaens@keiper.com> > Subject: Yesterday > From: burnscuda70383@aol.com > Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:56:25 +0000 > > Rick/Linda, > > I'd say you had a pretty good day - after all your efforts to get to the CEMA car show - yesterday. Firebrewed was an instant hit for those (a size able number) who recognized it for what it was. In addition, there was the guy who has film footage of the car running at the drag strip, the potential (near certain) coverage in the newspaper, the contact with the guy who knows the Alexander brothers, and Tom Gale (former EVP of Chrysler Styling - and later Engineering) who I heard personally thank you for your time and effort in getting the car there. I heard innumerable people commenting on the car, studying it and giving it a solid thumbs-up. > > Me included. It was great seeing the car some 30+ years later. And, it was great seeing you & Linda, too. I was pleased to see you getting the recognition you got. Your mastery of the history of the vehicle was great, too. Very impressive. > > BTW, my father-in-law is very good friends with Ray Kolby, who was the president of Chrysler's Golden Commandoes. I will find out whether he knows anything about Firebrewed. And, he's got lots of contacts in the Golden Commandoes as well as the Ramchargers. There may be someone who remembers something, or knows someone who knows something. > > Rick, it was truly something special for me to have been there (in 1975 and yesterday). Since 1975, when you first educated me about the AFX cars, I've devoured any info I could obtain about them. It has raised my appreciation of them to the max. Thanks for recognizing my minuscule involvement in the whole thing. > > If there's anything I can do to help with the restoration, I hope you feel confident you can call on me (not that I have any particular area of expertise). > > All the best and, again, thanks, > > Jim </TD><TD background=/images/portal/mail_mid_right.gif?l=en-US&v=ssomail width=4></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!-- Bottom toolbar --><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=2 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=bottom width=28></TD><TD style="BACKGROUND: url(/images/portal/mail_bot_left_bg.gif?l=en-US&v=ssomail) repeat-x left bottom" height=10><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD noWrap><INPUT class=button onmouseover="return hint('Reply')" onmouseout="return hint()" onclick="javascript:document.location.href='/do/mail/message/reply?msgId=SentMailDELIM1347&replyAll=off&referrer=msg&l=en-US&v=ssomail'" value=Reply type=button> <!-- Reply All --><INPUT class=button onmouseover="return hint('Reply to all')" onmouseout="return hint()" onclick="javascript:document.location.href='/do/mail/message/reply?msgId=SentMailDELIM1347&replyAll=on&referrer=msg&l=en-US&v=ssomail'" value="Reply All" type=button> <!-- Forward --><INPUT class=button onmouseover="return hint('Forward this message')" onmouseout="return hint()" onclick="javascript:document.location.href='/do/mail/message/forward?msgId=SentMailDELIM1347&referrer=msg&l=en-US&v=ssomail'" value=Forward type=button> <!-- Delete --><INPUT class=button onmouseover="return hint('Delete this message')" onmouseout="return hint()" onclick="javascript:confirmDelete('msg')" value=Delete type=button> <!-- Forward As Spam --><!-- Detail --><INPUT class=button onmouseover="return hint('View details on this message')" onmouseout="return hint()" onclick="javascript:detail('/do/mail/message/viewDetail?msgId=SentMailDELIM1347&l=en-US&v=ssomail')" value=Detail type=button> <!-- Print Preview --><INPUT class=button onmouseover="return hint('Printer-friendly version of this message')" onmouseout="return hint()" onclick="javascriptrintPreview('/do/mail/message/preview?msgId=SentMailDELIM1347&l=en-US&v=ssomail')" value="Printable View" type=button> </TD><TD><!-- Move to Folder if it's a local mailbox --><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0><FORM name=botbar><TBODY><TR><TD><SELECT onchange="javascript:doMoveBot('msg');" name=top_folderid> <OPTION selected>Move to:</OPTION> <OPTION value=INBOX>Inbox</OPTION> <OPTION value="American Express CC">American Express CC</OPTION> <OPTION value="Charter Communication">Charter Communication</OPTION> <OPTION value="CVS Caremark">CVS Caremark</OPTION> <OPTION value=DAK.com>DAK.com</OPTION> <OPTION value="DTE Energy">DTE Energy</OPTION> <OPTION value="e-Bay Purchases">e-Bay Purchases</OPTION> <OPTION value="e-Bay Sales">e-Bay Sales</OPTION> <OPTION value="Firebrewed Dodge">Firebrewed Dodge</OPTION> <OPTION value=freecreditreport.com>freecreditreport.com</OPTION> <OPTION value="M&D Gifts">M&D Gifts</OPTION> <OPTION value=NWA>NWA</OPTION> <OPTION value="Scott Samul Family">Scott Samul Family</OPTION> <OPTION value=SWA>SWA</OPTION> <OPTION value="">[New Folder]</OPTION></SELECT></TD></TR></FORM></TBODY></TABLE></TD><!-- Prev|Next link --><TD noWrap align=right> Prev | Next </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
Maurie Leising is (was?) my godfather! Jim Thornton is my father. His email address is jimt@buckeye-express.com. I'm reading Dave Rockwell's book right now: "We Were The Ramchargers". You all would love it. John
Wow, thanks for the info. And, welcome! See if you can get your Dad on here, to do some "storytellin'"... Where can you get the book from? Thanks! JK
Anybody have pictures of the AWB '65 from after it crashed but before it went to Harrop? Here is a sample pic (notice the primered roof and quarters repaired from when the car went on it's roof): 8.91 with a stock bore/stroke Hemi in a (roughly) 2700LB car. I wonder what they poured in the tank to click off that number? Can anybody say "hydrazine with just enough gas to get it to light"? All together now.....
There is a shot of the wrecked '65 in "We Were The Ramchargers". What a great book!!! When I start reading it I can't put it down. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys SS/AFX racing from that era, no matter what brand you prefer!!! I wish other teams/drivers from that time period would write books like this. This is history and little by little we a losing it as our heros pass. Boy, those Ramchargers liked Hydrazine, Nitro and Benzene......
Several years ago, my company, Drag Racing Underground, helped produce a TV program for the Speed Network that was about the legacy of the Ramchargers racing team... I believe the show was titled American Muscle Car or something to that effect... We supplied footage of Ramcharger "tribute" cars that were being campaigned here in the northeastern part of the nation... I admit that I learned a lot about the Ramchargers story when viewing the completed program... Those Ramchargers folks were true pioneers who worked far beyond the call of normal duty to compete at the drags... Their incredible "work ethic" certainly surpassed anything you see today in modern motorsports, that's for d*rn sure!!... Thanks to all who've contributed to this highly entertaining and informative thread... It's such a breath of fresh air to have a web site like The HAMB, where folks can discuss nostalgia related drag racing and not break into the kind of childish Village People-esque, macho-man, cyber bully, kindergarten nonsense you see elsewhere on the internet... Sharing the thoughts, stories and photographs of the Ramchargers on this thread is both inspiring and enchanting, please keep 'em comin'!!... I realize now just how fortunate Drag Racing underground and I were, to have contributed to the Ramchargers story on the Speed Channel... Thanks... "The Doc" (Celebrity Drag Racing Authority & Visionary)...
I know this thread is about the "ORIGINAL" Ramchargers, and not trying to stir this Authenticity thing. How did Ron Mancini fit in the Genealogy of the "USE" of the "RAMCHARGER" name on the 62 Dart raced in the early-to-mid 90's?
Hemi Kid;Ron(and Lou) are the sons of Dan Mancini,one of the original Ramchargers. Being in the family probably allowed that. I met Tom Coddington at this past summer's Sloan Auto Fair;great guy,and I could have listened to his stories all day.
When I was a kid my father took me to Atco, our home track in '65, the year all this cool funny car stuff was starting. I found out that Bob Harrop lived close by and called him out of the phone book. Almost everybody was listed back then. He was really cool and answered all my questions, stupid and otherwise. We went over his house on a Saturday and checked out a Woody Gilmore '66 stretch nose Dart he was building and my father gave him some pics of his cars that he drew. Harrop signed one and gave it back and my son got it at my father's funeral. My father gave him a paint design in apricot and white for the Dart, which he eventually sold before it was finished. He still has the pics the old man gave him, and a couple of weeks ago I sent him this cartoon.
The Jalopy Journal
