67 Dart GT Racecar Rescue
Rear leaf springs were ditched for a pro-tuned coil-over and ladder system, and numerous details - the adjustable pinion snubber, the non-adjusting 8 3/4 upgrade - all tricks that show a true mopar racer was at the wheel. For a car at this power level, subframe connectors and a full cage were mandatory.
"We didn't do it for safety," he explained, "it was because of all the chassis flex with that motor otherwise."
But it was all on the street. He would win most races with the 273 car, but occasionally some joker would show up with a 5.0 and a bottle of juice to challenge the established order. Then he'd go home, get the racecar, and come back and ask for a rematch. Most guys who weren't into mopar wouldn't notice that the blue GT had somehow sprouted a pro stock hood scoop.
"I'd say 'I went home and got my other motor, can I have a rematch?'" he explained.
With a hot street machine and a pavement-pounding racer in the driveway, what could go wrong? Well, he was a street racer. A lot could go very, very wrong all at once, and finally one day luck caught up with him.
"Judge told me I had to take that car off the road or I'd go to prison," he explained, "and I had a kid on the way."
But the car and the racing didn't stop. He took off the front grille and headlights and made changes to make the car track-legal for NHRA events. This pic from 1994 shows the car launching at Seattle International Raceway.
Rear leaf springs were ditched for a pro-tuned coil-over and ladder system, and numerous details - the adjustable pinion snubber, the non-adjusting 8 3/4 upgrade - all tricks that show a true mopar racer was at the wheel. For a car at this power level, subframe connectors and a full cage were mandatory.
"We didn't do it for safety," he explained, "it was because of all the chassis flex with that motor otherwise."
But it was all on the street. He would win most races with the 273 car, but occasionally some joker would show up with a 5.0 and a bottle of juice to challenge the established order. Then he'd go home, get the racecar, and come back and ask for a rematch. Most guys who weren't into mopar wouldn't notice that the blue GT had somehow sprouted a pro stock hood scoop.
"I'd say 'I went home and got my other motor, can I have a rematch?'" he explained.
With a hot street machine and a pavement-pounding racer in the driveway, what could go wrong? Well, he was a street racer. A lot could go very, very wrong all at once, and finally one day luck caught up with him.
"Judge told me I had to take that car off the road or I'd go to prison," he explained, "and I had a kid on the way."
But the car and the racing didn't stop. He took off the front grille and headlights and made changes to make the car track-legal for NHRA events. This pic from 1994 shows the car launching at Seattle International Raceway.