The 2012 Mopar Muscle True Street Challenge

We attend many events around the country, and one of our favorites has to be the Moparty at the Strip car show, autocross, and drag race held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada. During this spring event, Mopar Muscle hosts a friendly competition called the True Street Challenge, which is open to eight cars that have previously entered in either the car show or drag race during the weekend. As the name implies, our True Street Challenge is an all-around performance, drivability, and appearance test for classic Mopars, and is a fun opportunity to get your car in the magazine.

Once everyone is fueled up, we lead the cars on a twenty-mile cruise through the desert, stopping along the way for photo opportunities. All but one of our cars made the trip without problems, and--fortunately--all the cars eventually made it back to the track, where they needed to make two dragstrip passes. All of the cars were judged on their best quarter-mile performance, with the quicker cars earning more points than slower ones. Overall judging boils down to one-third show judging, one-third drivability, and one-third quarter-mile performance.

This year, six of our eight contestants made the call and completed the True Street Challenge, with one car not making it to Vegas due to an issue with a tow vehicle and another making it to the show, but with a coolant leak preventing it from competing. The other six contestants represented a variety of Mopars including an A-Body, a variety of B-Bodies, and even an A-100 Dodge truck. The contest was close, and came down to just less than ten points between first and last. This year we congratulate all of the True Street contestants, especially Holly Graves as the winner of the Mopar Muscle True Street Challenge in his beautiful B5 Blue '69 Charger.

Holly Graves

Holly Graves' '69 Charger R/T is a combination of restoration, modification, function, and performance. Equipped with a 517-inch Hemi built by Arruzza Performance, the engine features a Mopar block, Stage V cylinder heads, and is fed by a pair of Edelbrock 650 carburetors. With the original 833 four-speed and 4.10 geared Dana 60 rear end, this Charger drives as great as it looks, and Wilwood disc brakes on all four corners ensure the heavy B-Body can stop as well. During the driving portion of our event, Holly put about twice the miles on his Charger as the other contestants, driving back and forth from the track to retrieve a battery for a fellow entrant when his car's alternator stopped working at our photo shoot location. Though traction was limited on the dragstrip, the Charger managed 12.76-second pass in the quarter-mile, at an impressive 114 mph. With a set of sticky tires this Charger would certainly be quicker, but running 12s and scoring highly in the show and drivability categories was enough for Holly Graves and his '69 Charger R/T to win the 2012 challenge.

Doug Wikfors

The '63 Fury Doug Wikfors brought to our contest is a great example of a tough looking early B-Body. Doug found this car as a nice original and purchased it from the owner as a project to drive and race. Also owning a factory Max Wedge B-Body, Doug says that car is too valuable to cut up and make safe and fun, so the Fury was purchased as a fun street/strip project. For power, Doug chose a 440 wedge topped with Edelbrock Victor cylinder heads and a Victor 440 intake. To harness the power, a 727 TorqueFlite was chosen and the rear of the car was mini-tubbed to make room for some sticky tires. Doug's Fury scored highly in the show and race categories, but unfortunately, points were deducted during the driving portion when his car's alternator stopped working, killing his battery. With some help from Holly Graves, however, another battery was retrieved from the track, and Doug went on to finish the challenge.