In an environment dominated by the hostile General Motors and his Brand-X troops, going to the Mopar Nationals is like taking refuge in a fortress, a safe haven, or comfort zone-kinda' like coming home.
Blessed with the best weather to ever grace a Mopar Nationals weekend (August 13-15), this 24th annual event held at National Trail Raceway, Columbus, Ohio, broke all previous attendance records and featured more than 3,000 cars, nearly 1,900 vendors, and close to 60,000 spectators. Chrysler enthusiasts from the four corners of the globe made the trek from all over the US, Norway, Canada, Australia, England, Germany . . . which should tell you something about the quality of this event. This year's Nats paid tribute to the Dodge Charger, always a stylistic innovator in a sea of brick-like automobiles, with many fine examples from every year of production, including the little L-body. As always, the Mopar Nationals provided something for everyone-from the judged car show, to the swap meet, F.A.S.T. class race, Manufacturers Midway, model car contest, car corral, matchbox car race (for the little Mopar enthusiasts), and loads of drag racing. Next year's 25th annual event, to be held August 12th through 14th, will pay homage to the mighty Road Runner-the original low-buck, everyman's musclecar. If you want more info, simply log onto www.moparnats.com.
What can we say about the Mopar Nationals that hasn't been said 24 times before? If you are a true Mopar aficionado, then there are no excuses not to attend this event. Besides, what's better than going home?
For more pics of the Nats, go to wwww.moparmusclemagazine.com
We believe that four-month-old...
We believe that four-month-old Caleb Scott Potter of Sullivan, Missouri, was the youngest participant at the Mopar Nationals. As you can see, he wears his colors proudly.
This F.A.S.T. class Duster,...
This F.A.S.T. class Duster, owned by Jeff Patterson of Oberland, Ohio, regularly runs in the mid-to-high-11s at 116 mph. If that wasn't enough to get noticed, he drives the 150-mile round trip to the track! Just your average stock 340 with exhaust manifolds. yeah, right. We don't really know how big the LA is under Jeff's hood, but he would cop to somewhere north of 340 inches. He says the Duster causes quite a stir at his local drags.
Young Guns participation was...
Young Guns participation was very strong at this year's Mopar Nationals. Judging by the quality and type of iron, the future of our hobby is in very good hands.
What could possibly be cooler...
What could possibly be cooler than an old Duster-bodied funny car?
As usual, virtually anything...
As usual, virtually anything Mopar related could be found at the swap meet. This pair of early Hemis got our imaginations working overtime.