The Mopar Muscle True Street Challenge

This '72 'Cuda owned by Tom Eskridge of Denver, Colorado, was a great combination of power and good looks, and landed Tom a tie for fourth place.

'72 Plymouth Barracuda
When Tom Eskridge teamed up with his friend Kipp Smallwood to build this 'Cuda, they wanted a car that was fun to drive and fun to race. Starting with a clean, low-mileage, original car made their job easy. After purchasing this 'Cuda, Tom and Kipp went through the car, replacing anything that was worn or broken. The interior remains mostly stock with the addition of a Blaupunkt stereo system, Kenwood speakers, and aftermarket gauges. The factory disc brakes were rebuilt along with the front end, and Weld Pro-Star wheels were added to accommodate the sticky Mickey Thompson 275/50 rear tires. The Top Banana paint job isn't the original from the factory, but was in good shape so it was detailed and left alone.

Since Tom wanted this car to both race and cruise, he decided the engine should be slightly warmer than stock. Beginning with a factory block, crank, and rods, Tom had the block bored .030-inch oversize and added Speed-Pro flat-top pistons and a Hughes .640-inch lift flat-tappet camshaft to wake the 440 up. Edelbrock Performer RPM cylinder heads top the engine, and factory electronic ignition lights the fires. Behind the engine the TorqueFlite was freshened, and a looser converter was installed; out back the factory 3.23-geared 831/44 rear handles getting the power to the pavement.

Tom stresses this is no show car-it's driven regularly and sees regular time at the local dragstrip. In Vegas, this combination was good for mid-12-second elapsed times in the quarter-mile-enough to tie him for fourth Place.

A solid combination of parts propelled Tom's '72 'Cuda to mid-12s in the quarter and captured a tie for fourth place in the True Street Challenge.

E-bodies turn heads, and with Top Banana yellow paint, side stripes, and Weld wheels, this 'Cuda definitely gets attention.

While the rest of the car remains pretty much stock, the engine is a different story. Edelbrock aluminum heads and a Hughes camshaft helped the 440 propel this car to mid-12s in the quarter.

This '68 GTX owned by S.E. Garrick of Lehi, Utah, was the closest to a fully restored vehicle in this year's challenge. Beautiful paint, good performance, and attention to detail equated to a fourth place tie.

'68 Plymouth GTX
Having owned this GTX for more than twenty years, S.E. Garrick is quite familiar with his Mopar. Over the years, he has driven this car in various configurations, but he always knew he'd restore it one day. Loving the way the car came from the factory, he decided to leave everything pretty much stock, rebuilding and replacing only the items that were worn. The maroon interior was recovered with Legendary seat covers, and the carpet, headliner, and dashpad were all replaced. The stock radio still resides in the dash and even works! Cragar wheels were added to lighten up the rolling stock, and BFGoodrich tires adorn all four corners. The suspension and drum brakes were rebuilt, but are still the same items this GTX left the factory with.

When it was time to rebuild the engine for this project, S.E. was pleasantly surprised. The 440 block was in amazing shape and didn't even need an overbore. The factory crank, rods, and pistons were used, and the heads were freshened and reinstalled. The only internal modification performed was the addition of a Mopar Performance .509-inch lift hydraulic camshaft and matching valvesprings. A Mallory distributor and electronic ignition handle the spark duties. Behind the engine, the transmission was freshened, and the stock converter was checked and reinstalled. Out back, the 831/44 Sure Grip was inspected and reassembled with new seals.

While the GTX didn't perform as well as he would have liked, the 15-second quarter-mile times were still respectable given Las Vegas' elevation, and earned S.E. a tie for fourth place.

S.E. liked the maroon interior so much he decided to restore it in the stock color. We agree this is definitely an eye-catching combination.

Under the hood, the 440 looks much like it did when it left the factory. Internally, the engine is stock as well, with the addition of an aftermarket camshaft.

As the most stock car in the competition, this GTX ran 15-second elapsed times in the quarter-mile to earn a fourth place tie.