Let's admit it, most of us are fans of the musclecar's golden era-1966 to 1971. This five-year period comprised the advent and demise of the Street Hemi, the Six Packs, the wing cars, the package cars, and the Rapid Transit and Scat Pack programs. The years prior to and following this horsepower-enriched period also featured many interesting vehicles. Rarely, however, do these machines garner the same level of attention, with the exception of the Max Wedge/Hemi race cars and certain luxury models.
Once in a while, however, you come across something that just seems different. Pictured here is a Dodge Custom Royal Lancer circa 1956. From a styling standpoint, it probably had nothing on the Charger or Challenger (though Virgil Exner took an Esquire magazine Design award for his '56 Chrysler Corporation lineup), and under the bonnet is an engine that displaces less than the 318 Poly. The flat white paint and hand-lettered racing info would be considered tacky in most restoration circles. But, what makes this car important is that it is the only D-500-1 NASCAR-type Dodge still known to exist in unaltered form. Moreover, the owner of this car, Tim Dupont of Golden, Colorado, actually drives it on the street occasionally.
To understand it all, one needs to go back to 1955, when Tim Flock took Carl Kiekhaefer's Chrysler 300s to the NASCAR Grand National Championship. Accordingly, Kiekhaefer had serious pull with President W.C. Newberg and the factory. With the December release of the D-500 Dodge street performance models (based on the Custom Royal and Coronet) for the '56 model year, plans were made to supplement the big NASCAR 300s with a special Dodge package. In early January 1956, Dodge Division announced an upgraded version called the D-500-1. This package consisted of additional severe-usage parts for the already stout D-500 cars. So Kiekhaefer, working in conjunction with Dodge, tooled up some very unique pieces for homologation purposes in circle track racing as part of this option list.
As built, the new Heavy Duty D-500 models came with a 315-inch Dodge D500 Hemi engine. This mill was set up with 9.25:1 compression, one WCFB Carter four-barrel carb, and rated at 260 horses. The D-500-1 Extra Heavy Duty release had an engine parts option that included a proposed cast-iron dual-carb intake and exhaust pieces. Due to porosity problems while casting, Dodge had to forgo doing the intakes itself. Given a Dodge part number, Kiekhaefer's Mercury Outboard manufacturing concern then quickly created an aluminum 2x4 inline intake for this engine (rumored to be approximately 75-100 pieces total, but at least 20 were required by NASCAR for that year's February beach race) that mounted two WCFBs and listed for a very hefty $425.50. A set of special-design four-bolt exhaust manifolds (quantity unknown) also came through the parts conduit with Dodge part numbers for this option on the D-500-1, and the 315-inch Hemi engines got hotter cam selections and a 211/42-inch exhaust system.
Test driver and developer Danny Eames used this basic package (at stock compression, not the NASCAR legal 10.0:1 configuration) to get a documented 276hp dyno reading, while other sources reported even higher numbers. Incidentally, this test, done on March 9, 1956, is the first recorded instance of these 211/42-inch exhaust items actually being used; correspondence between Eames, Chief Engineer Robert Engles and Dodge New Car Sales Manager Bert Carter dated February 2 (prior to Daytona) did not include this with Kiekhaefer 2x4 outfits. Indeed, the intakes were shipped to Volusia Motor Company in Daytona Beach and distributed by Eames and picked up by racers coming to the event. The exhaust manifolds mentioned in the D-500-1 dual-four package release letter of January 12, 1956, are not relisted in the later February 2 material, leading to the assumption that they were not ready yet.