Alternative Muscle
Who: Arthur Targo
Where: Crooksville, OH
What: '77 Dodge Aspen RT
Fine Print: With the price of mainstream muscle Mopars becoming prohibitive for many of us, it's nice to know there are some cool alternatives. Arthur Targo from Crooksville, Ohio, has not one, but two of these fairly rare RT Super Pac Aspens. This particular one is packing its original 318/4-speed combination, but Art warmed the 318 up a bit with a .030-overbore and an MP 508/292 juice cam. Out back, the Aspen has an 831/44-inch rear with a 3.23 Sure Grip. Art informs us it will boil the tires at will, and we are inclined to believe him.
Rare Canadian Bird
Who: Ken Moffatt
Where: Richmond, BC, Canada
What: '71 Plymouth Road Runner
Fine Print: Sporting the rare orange-and-black bucket seats, Ken Moffat's numbers-matching, 383-powered, Tor-Red '71 Road Runner is a sight to behold. We can't confirm production numbers, but we've heard only 554 of these were built outside of the United States-making Ken's 'Runner a rare bird, indeed.
The Pride Of Puckelwartz
Who: Rich Puckelwartz
Where: Huntley, IL
What: '70 Dodge Coronet RT
Fine Print: Rich bought this Coronet RT from some cat in California in flawless condition inside and out with only 18,000 original miles. Equipped with the 335-horse 383, Rich's Scat Pack Dodge only required a wheel and tire swap to perfect it. And perfection it is. Driving around his hometown with a Mopar Muscle license plate is not too bad either.
Shelbyfied Dakota
Who: Dan DeGruttola
Where: Blairsville, PA
What: '89 Shelby Dakota
Fine Print: Many would like to credit Chevrolet for starting the new muscle truck movement with the introduction of the 454 SS pickup in 1990. The PentaStar faithful will tell you it started the year before with the Shelby-tweaked '89 Dakota. Shelby shoehorned a fuel-injected 318 where only a V-6 resided before. Though rated at a miserly 175 hp, it was enough to get the job done. Only 1,500 were built, and this one owned by Dan DeGruttola Sr. is number 825. Dan bought it new as a demo in 1990 and has piled on more than 100,000 miles. Dan's grandson, Vince, says it runs as well now as the day it rolled off the assembly line.
Three's Company
Who: Frank DeVeglio
Where: Elmont, NY
What: '64 Dodge 330, '68 Plymouth Valiant, '72 Plymouth Duster
Fine Print: That the DeVeglios like to race is evidenced by the fact they don't have one race car, nor two, but three. they are 440-powered and run in the 10s. The '64 was purchased by the senior DeVeglio from a friend needing to sell because of a divorce. This car was already painted in the Ancient Warrior motif that was then carried over to the Valiant and the Duster. It is important to note that all of the DeVeglios are true footbrake racers. You won't find any computer controls, throttle stops, or air shifters on any of their Mopars.
Hostile Territory
Who: Earl Rosenberg
Where: North Platte, NE
What: '70 Plymouth Barracuda
Fine Print: Earl reports to us that where he lives Mopars are the minority, and Nebraska is hostile territory for the Mopar faithful. Having owned his Barracuda for 18 years, Earl has slowly created the beauty you see here with an eye towards performance. Though packing a 318, Earl has bolstered its performance with a 340 cam, Holley carburetor, Offy intake manifold, backed up by a B&M 727 trans feeding the 3.91 geared 831/44-inch rearend. Brand X drivers beware, Earl's on the prowl.
Diamond In The Rough
Who: Mike and Brenda Potts
Where: Norfolk, NE
What: '66 Plymouth Belvedere
Fine Print: Mike drove by this '66 in the salvage yard a number of times before he conceded defeat, broke down, and bought it. The floor pans were rusted out, the engine was toast, but the car was complete with all glass and trim intact. A mere year and a half later, the Plymouth was up and running. Mike did all the bodywork, but hired the painting out, as well as the interior redo. A '96 360 Magnum was chosen for motivation, but Mike replaced the fuel injection with a carburetor.
No Arguments
Who: Bill Barthel
Where: East Haven, CT
What: '65 Dodge Coronet 500
Fine Print: Bill reports that his Coronet was actually owned by an old lady before he got his mitts on it, but that's a good thing. it was only sporting 50,000 miles on the odometer-50,000 careful miles. Bill performed most of the restification you see here, except for the paint, rechrome, and powder coating, and a fine job he did. Not satisfied with the stock mill, Bill stuffed a .030-over 440 between its front fenders packing forged slugs, and an Edelbrock cam, Edelbrock heads and intake, and a Demon carb. The Dodge turns heads wherever it goes, lays down nearly 350 hp at the wheels, and runs in the mid-12s at 109 mph. How can anyone argue with that?
Right Of Passage
Who: Russ Ackerknecht
Where: New York
What: '80 Plymouth Volare
Fine Print: Russ felt we would have little interest in featuring a slant-six-powered Volare in these pages. he couldn't be more wrong. Many of the Mopar faithful have memories and stories about the slant-six-powered, fill-in-the-blank cars that no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn't kill. The "leaning tower of power" is almost a right of passage. The Black Walnut Metallic beauty was purchased by Russ nearly 15 years ago, features almost all original equipment, and has never failed him. If you want reliable transportation, look no further than any Mopar powered by a slant six.
A .44 Magnum
Who: Tony Melton
Where: Etowah, TN
What: '79 Dodge Magnum XE
Fine Print: Dodge's Magnum XE was a last-ditch attempt at building something cool with style. In retrospect, they succeeded. This fine example was purchased four years ago by Tony, and is equipped with T-tops and the requisite 360-inch small-block. Tony is the car's third owner, and he reports that it's "very quick for a big car."
Early Christmas Present
Who: Mike Foshee
Where: New Holstein, WI
What: '69 Plymouth Barracuda Formula S
Fine Print: Mike Foshee's son Aaron sent us this submission on the sly hoping to surprise his Dad. An early Christmas present, if you will. All we really know about the Barracuda is that it is B5 blue, and it's packing a 340/four-speed and sporting a bench seat. Merry Christmas, Mike. Hey Mike, what are you getting Aaron for Christmas? We think he's keen on a certain blue A-Body
Dusted
Who: Bruce Elswick
Where: Lewisburg, WV
What: '70 Plymouth Duster
Fine Print: Bruce's Duster-like many before it-came equipped with a slant six between its front fenders. but like many gearheads out there, he desired a bigger kick in the pants. So he put together a 360 with a pump-gas-friendly 9.6:1 compression; perched a pair of ported, big-valve J heads on top of the short-block; topped it off with an Edelbrock Torker intake and 750 AFB; and wired it up with a complete MSD ignition. A Torqueflite with TCI converter channels the power to a 4.30-geared 831/44. Weld Draglites hold the Duster up at all four corners.
The Big Kahuna
Who: Dave "Big Kahuna" Schultz
Where: Richmond, TX
What: '81 Chrysler Imperial
Fine Print: It's only befitting the administrator of www.MoparStyle.net has a truly stellar ride in this '81 Imperial. Purchased by his brother from the original owner, Dave took it off his brother's hands in the mid-'80s. He drove it until 1989, when one day upon starting the stock 318 mill, he heard the clatter and saw that there was no oil pressure-the perfect motivation and/or excuse to make the Imperial into the ultimate ride. He replaced the wounded '18 with a hotted-up 360 pumping out 390 hp, swapped trannies for a Cope Racing 904 trans, stuffed a B&M converter in it, and then swapped the original diff for an 831/44-inch 3.55-geared unit out of a '68 Charger. A set of 17-inch Centerline wheels shod with BFGoodrich rubber hold up all four corners. The brand-X paint looks good, so we won't give him any grief over the origin. To see more of Dave's cars and to check out a great web site, simply log onto www.MoparStyle.net.