History has a funny way of superceding itself. Bill "Maverick" Golden is one of the most famous racers in drag racing because of his antics in the "Little Red Wagon" Dodge A100 pickup. It has been overlooked that before becoming the world's first wheelstander pilot, Maverick was well known for his efforts in the Super Stock ranks.
The factory-built Max Wedge Dodge seen here is now part of Rick DeMarco's drag car collection. What a tribute to Maverick, who raced it in 1963, just as it appears here, beautifully restored to as-raced condition. While its history since being part of Maverick's operation is sketchy, it became part of DeMarco's growing stable in 1995 when he bought it from noted NHRA racer/Mopar retailer Bob Mazzolini, who had found it at a SoCal swap meet. Back in its heyday, under Maverick's tutelage, the car was one of the most advanced of its time.
By late 1962, Bill Golden had attracted quite a bit of attention from the factory. He was a major force in stock-bodied drag racing on the West Coast and had been supported by the Detroit powers-that-were for over a year. With the new Max Wedge program underway, he got one of the early cars released and began doing some chassis research with Dragmaster Company proprietor Jim Nelson. Using the Dodge as a test bed, what resulted was the first application of a floating rearend in a Stocker. This was achieved by mounting two pairs of Traction Master traction bars to the rear, a conventional set going forward and a second set pointed at the back bumper. In conjunction with the stock spring package, the result allowed the entire chassis to bite down upon acceleration and create optimum weight transfer. It wasn't illegal (after all, you could run traction bars), but NHRA saw fit to clarify the bar's positioning for 1964, effectively outlawing the setup.
Maverick stayed on the West Coast until the aluminum panel package was released in the spring of 1963. With the lightweight parts installed, he repainted the car the way that it looks today, with his name in big letters on the side. Then he went barnstorming. Frank Wylie, who was in charge of the Dodge News Bureau in Detroit, wanted the car on tour, especially in the south. Maverick turned in an enviable win record that summer-one that would remain in the forefront for almost a decade when the car was still being considered one of the Top Ten stockers of all time. After racing in SS/A trim, the car was converted to the new A/Modified Production class before Maverick sold it at the end of the season.
When DeMarco got it over 30 years later, it was still a solid, legal NHRA car. A reliable engine was needed so that the car could be driven in nostalgia competition without a lot of hassles. So, instead of going with a pure resto engine, friend Bob Dyer-who works on all of Rick's machines-built up a 440 block, using '64 Stage III heads and a modified factory crossram intake. Into the short block went a set of 12.5:1 compression Childs & Albert pistons, a forged Max Wedge crank, and a Cam Dynamics 'cheater' cam. A pair of stock-appearing Carter AFBs now top off the package, while Jack Davis step-type headers handle the trumpeting chores. The ignition was upgraded completely to MSD with a 7AL box.
Meanwhile, the latest in TorqueFlite technology is behind this package-a 727 case with lightweight 904 internals. Though Maverick used push buttons when he had the car (which are still inside), currently, the shifting is handled by a floor-mounted unit from Fairbanks. This then goes through an aluminum driveshaft to the original 8 3/4 rear, now housing a 4.56:1 ring and pinion set.
The body itself required only minimal attention. After being smoothed out one last time, Robby English replaced the yellow paint, and then the car was lettered by Butch at BJ Signs. When Rick first completed it, it had the early 'Dodge Dealers' lettering, but he later decided that the mid-season 'Maverick' moniker was much more fitting and has repainted the car accordingly. In an effort to keep the car in optimum condition and appearance, Rick also went to the trouble of having exposed parts like the wheels and K-frame powder-coated.
The end result may not be ready for the 'survivor' category at most car shows, but it most certainly retains the flavor of the original while allowing it to be used just as Maverick did over three decades ago. It still turns heads, too.
"Maverick" on Super Stock Racing
Most Chrysler fans know Bill "Maverick" Golden for his years piloting the "Little Red Wagon." Fewer are aware of his involvement in the Super Stock ranks during the early part of the '60s. A fierce competitor, Maverick could well have become a standout racer in the Funny Car or Pro Stock ranks had the opportunity to drive the red wheelstanding truck not come along. While researching Rick DeMarco's super restoration of Maverick's feared '63 Dodge, we had a chance to talk with "Maverick" about his early racing career at the same time he saw the car for the first time since its restoration.
"After I got out of the Marines in 1956, I stayed in California and I got my first Dodge in 1957-a brand new 1958 model. We raced Chryslers from then on.
"Next, I had a 1960 383-powered Phoenix. After winning one night at Lions Drag Strip, this guy came up and gave me his card. It was Jack McFarland, and he was from Dodge's West Coast News Bureau. He told me to call if there was anything I needed and that was how I first got connected to Chrysler. I also hooked up with Gordon and Jerry Williams, a husband/wife team that also raced in Southern California at the time. They helped me learn some of the ins and out of racing legal Stockers.
"After the Phoenix, I ran a '62 Super Stock Dodge that held both ends of the NHRA record as well as an AHRA record. That car was very competitive and we were undefeated with it most of the year. It belonged to Brian Nichols, son of Chrysler executive Byron Nichols. Brian and Bud Faubel had raced the car on the East Coast in September and October of 1961, and the season was done out there, so Mr. Nichols and Dodge's public relations man Frank Wylie sent it out to me. I ran it all through the winter and all that next year, until I got my 1963 car. It won the AHRA Winter Championships at Fontana Raceway in 1962, and I beat everyone there including Don Nicholson. That was a great car, and nothing I raced it against on the West Coast could touch it. I got my first match races in it, and I set top speed of the meet at 114.94 mph at the Indy Nationals that year-the first time I went out there.
"1962 was also the first year I was under contract to the factory with full sponsorship, and that helped me get the first Max Wedge on the West Coast. This 1963 Dodge was painted right off the assembly line with New York taxicab paint because the factory really wanted it to stand out. We got it very early in the model year-in October of 1962-and I took it all apart. Jack Hart from NHRA came all the way down from L.A. to look at it and that car was used as the weight example; whatever it weighed once I took it to an NHRA track would be what the NHRA would classify those cars at for the 1963 model year. We took it to Pomona one rainy winter day and it was like 3,435 pounds, so that became the number nationwide.
"It wasn't as dominant as the 1962 car at first, but in April, we got all these aluminum parts from the factory and the car started flying. It made a huge difference. I remember we had this big hassle because we still had manufacturer's plates on the car, which eventually led to a change in corporate policy to license the race cars to the individuals. That car still ran up a big win record, before the new parts were shipped to me. We won the first five races of the year at Pomona, lost the sixth with a carb linkage problem, and then won the seventh, eighth, and ninth before the Winternationals. We also took it to Detroit Dragway and set both ends of the track record which were held by the Ramchargers at the time-they weren't very happy about that! I was always legal-always-but everywhere I went I ended up getting protested and having to tear my car down.
"We won the Midwest Championships at Martin, Michigan-a race where everybody showed up-and beat Beswick's Pontiac for the title. Of course, they protested me and I had to tear down the engine, which was fine because I was legal. I remember Butch Leal, who was already a tough driver, showed up with his Z11 Chevy and decided to not even take it off the trailer that day; it was a super-serious race. That was the toughest that year. We ran that car for the whole season until I got my new car.
"Afterward, other guys drove it for me while I sorted out the new '64 car. Charlie Allen drove it to a win at the AHRA Nationals, and Dick Landy drove it for me at a couple of events, too. The thing made gobs of power. Allen and I took them up to this big race that AHRA's Jim Tice held up in Northern California. We ran four abreast there, and the final came down to me, Landy in his car, the Dutchman, and the Melanie Plymouth-all Mopars. This was a flag start, and I managed to win over all of these guys with my new '64 Max Wedge. Allen won A/Modified Production in the '63 using the traction system we had built for it; NHRA outlawed the system at the start of 1964-it was too good.
"Dodge wouldn't let us keep our old cars after the end of the season, so even though we were winning with two cars, I had to sell it by January of 1964. Any flat-tappet cam could be used in Super Stock, and we had Racer Brown grind us a special Max Wedge cam that he did just for us; nobody else could buy it. He did it again with the Hemi car I had the next year, and I still use that in the Little Red Wagon.
"I suppose I missed running Super Stock once I got the 'Little Red Wagon.' I was very competitive and had a lot of success racing other cars. Without boasting, I was the man to beat during some of those years. Frank Wylie had personally picked me for the 'Little Red Wagon;' he saw how big it was going to be as a promotional tool long before anyone else did."-Bill "Maverick" Golden