|
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Mr. Dart from Mobile is what we always called him. He didn't talk much, but when he showed up with his black '71 dart at CCP races that Saturday that afternoon things started to change.
The Corvette Club of Pensicola FL. got a permit from the Navy to use one of the old 'touch and go' practice landing strips as a drag strip. The only prevision was that they keep it clean. Well, talk about a good thing coming along! It was open to all types, not just Corvettes; they charged a buck to get in and that was just to cover the cost of setting things up and keeping the place clean. Lots of vettes there. And the drag racing was a blast. It was old fashion 'run what you brung' just as long as your battery was bolted down and your doors stayed closed. There was a bunch of heavily modified vettes that usually domiated the races. Tons of money invested in those things and they usually came out on top. All accept that day. Mr.Dart didn't draw much attention in his unassuming little car. The only clue that it might have been tinkered with was the narrowed rearend with 50s stuffed under the rear. It wasn't noisy like the majority of the cars there. IT was actually very quiet. Up at bat, Mr. Dart dispensed with the burn out. He just rolled up to the line and waited. His race; a cherried out '73 vette clearly had uncapped headers for race day and did a crowd pleasing burnout. The vette backed up to the line and the race was on. The cars revs came up and launch! The vette stumbles, and the Mr. Dart is GONE! REALLY GONE! That unassuming dart ran 11s FLAT! Mr. Dart runs twice more that day. All three runs he runs extremely consistantly and nearly 11s every time. Several of us badger him for speed secrets. His answer to 'whatcha got in that thing' is a sly grin and "V8" Well, Mr. Dart was the consistant winner when ever he showed up. Other MoPars got wind of 'beat the vettes' day and several members of the MoPar club brought their cars. The MoPars were consistant winners. Like I said that is when things started to change. The corvette guys didn't like loosing to ragged looking Plymouth Satelites, and Dodge pickup trucks. So, they got even. The next time we showed up for beat the vettes day, they asked to see our CCoP membership card at the gate. You had to become a member of the Corvette Club of Pensicola to get in and the dues were were not cheap! OH, and by the way they won't be drag racing as much now, they are going to do skid pad time trials. Poor Vettes Guys. I guess they realized that looking fast doesn't matter as much as BEING FAST. I never found out what Mr. Dart had under the hood. But I guess V8 was all he needed. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Just reminded me about the "Green Brick" that I believe Mopar Muscle built up a few months ar so ago. It was built to run in several different types of racing, which included slalom and oval track. It was a 71 Dart or Valient and it took all comers in the oval race except for a very fast Viper I believe. This car could run about 170 with the right gears and had a programmable fuel injection that could be mapped to give up to 20 mpg. Unfortunately I an't find the articles right now, grrr... but I swear I am not making this one up. This car ran Ibelive a 340 that was pretty well engineered. Just the right tool to hand it to these vette owners. Just another case of if you don't let me win, I'm gonna take my toys away and not let you play anymore. Waaah
|
#3
|
|||
|
|||
The car you're talking about is Richard Ehrenberg's '69 Valiant 100 of Mopar Action magazine fame. The car was built for the Car & Driver One Lap of America. They've finished as well as third overall and usually win their class. The Valiant is powered by a stroked small block built by Ray Barton. What the real hoot about the car is that outside of some money spent in the driveline dept. there's nothing real trick about the car. Just the right blend of factory and aftermarket pieces that have combined to alow the car to run over 163 mph up the back straight at Watkins Glen on the button.
|
#4
|
|||
|
|||
That's the one! I was looking through all my Mopar mags to find a story on it, couldn't remember if it was Mopar Muscle or Mopar Action. I thought it was a great show of parts matching and well engineered performance. It is great to see a car like this can be built on a real life budget. Thanx for clearing this up for me,
cruzerjd |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
The sad thing about Mr.Dart is that "V8" could mean any mopar V8. I was just looking at an article on a Dart with a stroked 340 on juice running in the 8s. Thats 1/4mile, not 1/8mile. It runs KOS. It really doesn't sound that exotic when compared to the chevies running those kinds of times.
|
#6
|
||||
|
||||
That one lap america car was a W-2. I though it was a 340, not a stroked one. Ethier way. Its funny to see that thing kick some royal #ss. What could be better than grandma's car killing the comp.
|
#7
|
|||
|
|||
I remeber treading that it was a Ray Barton Built 390(340 base SB) W2 headed motor.
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
One Corvette stuffs another for Thanksgiving. | Stoga | Street Warrior Forum - great street race stories..... | 0 | 11-27-2011 08:01 PM |
Corvette Model I've built (Hey, it's in the Off Topic!!) | 383Cuda | Diecast and Model Car Forum | 6 | 10-22-2004 09:52 PM |
Unique Corvette Photos | SUN RA KAT | Joke Forum | 6 | 01-14-2003 10:45 AM |
Do you think the Viper GTS is better than the Corvette Z06? | Performin Norman | Dodge Viper Chat... | 4 | 11-25-2001 11:27 PM |
2000' Dakota Club Cab same as 1999' Dakota Club Cab ??? | RKurashima | Jeep Chat (Wrangler, Cherokee, etc...) | 0 | 09-30-1999 08:56 AM |