Despite such woes, the cars kept getting quicker. In September, Bob Riffle won an unlimited Pro Stock match race at Orange County with an unreal 8.21 at 168.85, assisted by a little nitrous that evening. Also on hand was Butch Leal, who had his latest Butler-built Plymouth, a 92-inch beastie called the Arrow. The short wheelbase made it illegal as an NHRA Pro Stock for the moment (Leal would run it as a Gasser that year), but it showed promise at 8.30s . . . and without Riffle's laughing gas. It would also spell the beginning of the end for the Colts as Pro Stock cars.
Rules in 1977 brought more changes to NHRA Pro Stock. Minimum wheelbase was now 92 inches, and the Arrows were legit. The Hemi remained the same at 6.85 over 105 inches and 7.00 under 105 inches, but the Cleveland small-block Fords got hit big-time to 7.10 inches and 7.20 inches. The AMC and Ford 429 was at 6.80 and 6.90, the Chevy small-block at 6.80 and 7.00, and the Chevy big-block was at 6.80 and 6.95. The best breaks were 6.60 and 6.70, respectively, given to Buick-Olds-Pontiac, Ford wedge, Ford Windsor small-block, and that little 340/360 Chrysler engine. At the same time, the W2 head program had finally come to pass and parts were available over the counter. Indeed, Herb McCandless had driven John Livingston's '71 'Cuda to two decisive IHRA Super Mods wins with just such a combination in late 1976.
The 92-inch ruling was not lost on anyone. Sox and Stepp, as well as Roy Hill, retired their Colts soon after to run the slightly shorter, but more stable, Arrows with some success. There were still several independents, such as the Reed Brothers, who were running Colts on the IHRA and the match race trail, up against the mountain-motored Camaros and Fords that were cropping up around the south.
After Pomona with the stretch car, Don Carlton chose to stay in Comp. He and Hodges built a brand-new car running a single-plug combination that was within the rules of the B/A division, and Carlton went on to begin his most successful season ever in NHRA competition. He won at Columbus and posted a runner-up at Bowling Green during the Sportsnationals to take a commanding lead in the NHRA's new W.R. Grace Sportman points standings, but tragedy would strike shortly thereafter. While testing for Chrysler in this Colt in early July in Michigan, Carlton was fatally injured in a top-end, single car crash. Clyde Hodges towed the back-up former Riffle car to Indy and asked Ronnie Sox to drive it, which he graciously did, but the car could not make the tough field in A/FX trim. This car then went back to the Rod Shop, who still owned it at that time.
By then, the Colts had become notorious as ill-handling little monsters. The Arrow proved to be more stable at speed, and the Dodge Colts that remained active were slowly being shuffled down through the sportsman ranks toward bracket duty. Hodges and Sox, with some financial help from Buddy Martin, decided to make another go of it in early 1978, but did so by stripping the body off the car Zorian had leased (the gold Colt Don Carlton had won with at Indy in 1976) and setting it up as a Challenger, the model Dodge was then importing. However, Sox would not find himself back in successful standing until he accepted an offer to drive Dean Thompson's Ford Mustang, which he piloted to an IHRA championship in 1981.
As for the Arrows, in the dark hours of Chrysler's financial struggles of 1979, Bob Glidden agreed to drive one using a small-block and had a dominating season to win the NHRA Pro Stock crown-the only time the factory took that title between 1971 and 1990. Drastic cutbacks in 1980 sent Glidden back to Fords, and soon after NHRA went to the present 500 cubic inch across-the-board regulation.
The Colts remain popular today for a lot of reasons. They were indeed secret weapons, built for one purpose: to dominate Pro Stock if possible. They were piloted by some of the best Pro Stock drivers of the era. But perhaps, most importantly to those of us who know Mopar history, they were ahead of their time and just too far out for normal people to appreciate them.
The photos used in this article are available to serious buyers by contacting Match Race Madness at 714/547-6004.