Washington lawmakers are drafting a large economic stimulus package to help create jobs and rebuild infrastructure. They want to include a nationwide scrappage program which would give U.S. tax dollars to consumers who turn-in older cars to have them crushed, as a misguided attempt to spur new car sales. The lawmakers need to scrap this idea.

It was 1999 when The Walter P. Chrysler Museum opened to the public-a vision that began when ground was broken for construction on November 19, 1996. The tri-leveled building covers approximately 55,000 square feet and rests on 10 acres at the southeast edge of Chrysler's North American headquarters in Auburn Hills, Michigan. The building's exterior of polished red granite and black glass reflects the neighboring Chrysler Technology Center. The museum looks more like an extension of the headquarters than an afterthought.

Ronnie Sox, the quiet, blonde-haired, southern gentleman known for his mystical mastery of power-shifting a manual four-speed transmission passed away Saturday, April 22, 2006, at his home near Richmond, Virginia. Ronnie succumbed following a lengthy battle with prostate cancer. His beloved wife Diane, family, and friends were nearby when the legendary driver took his last ride.

Drag racing changed drastically in the early '70s, and one driver whose career mirrored those changes was the late Don Carlton. He successfully drove for both Sox & Martin and Rod Shop, but will always be remembered best as the pilot of the legendary Motown Missile and Mopar Missile Pro Stock cars.

It's been said that all the good cars are already bought up, smashed, or rotting away in some guy's backyard. While this trend persists, we at the Mopar Muscle office have been beating the "clone" drum and preaching the gospel of turning grandma's cruiser into the ride of a lifetime. Tech Editor Dave Young turned a plain-Jane '68 convertible Satellite into a 440-powered, low-12-second GTX for his wife. Randy took an Army-green Valiant and converted it into one of the most highly regarded project vehicles that MM has done in years, and this author is still breaking his knuckles on his '69 Charger with aspirations for low-10-second, Hemi-powered, quarter-mile times.

In drag racing, some big names come to mind when you talk about certain classes: Big Daddy Don Garlits or Shirley Muldowney in Top Fuel, John Force or Don Prudhomme in Funny Car, and Bob Glidden, Warren Johnson, and Darrell Alderman in Pro Stock. However, there is one legendary figure who has competed seriously in NHRA competition for almost thirty years that many still refer to as the "best ever." He was one of the major players in the inception of the Super Stock class itself, and created a professionalism displayed by his Plymouth team that set the standard for years to come. His dominance in the class caused NHRA to make rule changes, and even after all these years his name commands awe and respect. His win record includes over 50 event victories in Super Stock and Pro Stock in an era when the national event schedule consisted of less than half of today's schedule. Fans young and old flocked to see him, and to many, Ronnie Sox is still the "Boss."

It's not just Mopar's cars that are collectible, so are its spin-off items, such as literature, dealer signs, neon clocks, and plastic promo cars. But one area that has escaped widespread notice is records-those quaint black discs we once used to store sound. Mopar has its share of cool records. We've put together a nice little overview, showing you some rare and some not-so-rare records from nine different categories. Some basic rules of record collecting are:

It's 1967, and musclecars are being offered by everyone. Then, along comes one that not only has a real performance package, but a catchy name to match-the Road Runner.

Who would have thought in 1981 that a small 500-vehicle car show would become the premiere Chrysler car show in the world? this year, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary. We have come a long way, and quite a few of you have been there from the very start.

Though it has been many years since Ray Nichels and Paul Goldsmith have been in the racing spotlight, the contributions that the Nichels Engineering team made to stock car racing and Mopar are huge. In addition to building cars for their own in-house teams, the Nichels "Go Fast Factory" in Griffith, Indiana, did R&D for all of Chrysler's teams, built additional cars, inventoried parts for those teams, and even rebuilt their wrecks. In the period between 1963 and 1970, they amassed an impressive win record in NASCAR, USAC, IMCA, and ARCA competition.

When legends speak, people listen. And when the legends are from theperformance and racing industry and they share tales from their storiedpasts, people laugh, cry and, more importantly, remember the early days.Such was the scene at the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum in Pomona,Calif., where Wally Parks, Vic Edelbrock Jr., Alex Xydias, EdIskenderian and Ed Pink held court for 2-plus hours, keeping the pastalive and an audience of about 150 thoroughly amused during a paneldiscussion aptly titled "Living Legends."

Bookin'The Tales Of "Big Daddy"Fans of "Big Daddy" Don Garlits have a lot to look forward to with the release of Tales From the Drag Strip, a first-person account of the biggest icon in fuel drag racing penned with Bill Stephens. Having lived on the edge through a half a century of nitromethane-burning exploits, the countless tales of races, racers, race fans, and race tracks are recounted in this must-have book. A life filled with triumph and tragedy at the helm of the Swamp Rat series of dragsters told in the colorful manner that only Don Garlits himself is capable of. Sports Publishing's Tales From the Drag Strip can be found at all major bookstores in hardback, as well as the Don Garlits museum for around $20. Log onto www.sportspublishingllc.com or www.garlits.com for more information.

Targeting and attempting to cater to a wide variety of consumers is a risky proposition in any business-automotive or otherwise. Often, a lack of identity and a watered-down product are the result of serving a customer demographic that is too broad. Nevertheless, that is the exact strategy Plymouth undertook in 1970.

While a lot of racers probably won't admit it, drag racing is an addictive sport. Jack Werst knows all about it. After all, Jack was in the middle of the fray during the glory days of factory racing in the '60s, moving from Super Stock to Pro Stock. By 1972, when the Detroit conduit was running dry, Jack wisely decided it was time to do something else. After leaving Chrysler, he went to work for Winnebago Industries-a career spanning 20 years-before returning to a dragstrip. Now, with a couple of years back in the saddle in a Max Wedge car built by Jerry Stein, "Mr. 5 and 50" is loading fuel into a Hemi again.

Outrageous. Decadent. Insane. Rebellious. All words which succinctly describe America in the waning years of the ’60s. The country was feeling its oats, and industry was quick to tap into this cultural vein in any way profitable...er...possible. Extreme was “in,” and that went double for the automotive scene.

How and why the musclecar came to prominence during this brief span of history is a dog we don’t need to kick again. The monster engines, gonzo performance, loud colors, and often garish styling spilling out of Detroit, Auburn Hills, and Dearborn between 1967 and 1973 were, simply, a reflection of the broader spirit of the times. And while the inferno lasted only briefly, the flames haven’t quite cooled 30-some years later.

Although shadowed by General Motors and Ford Motor Company in terms of production numbers, Chrysler played no small part in feeding the musclecar frenzy. In fact, the perennial underdog status of the Dodge and Plymouth divisions which persists to this day was present in full measure during the ’60s. The Pentastar’s marketing and engineering gurus found interesting ways to level the playing field with their dominating competitors then, and that same dark horse spirit is still seen today in models like the Viper, PT Cruiser, and Prowler.

Chrysler was fully ready to play the horsepower game when the raucous decade dawned. The Max Wedge engines and the 426 Hemi that came online in 1964 proved that Chrysler understood horsepower and its implications as a production car seller. Similarly spicy, yet less rowdy, small-blocks like the 273, 318, and 383 were also waiting to be tapped.

Indeed, no one could question Chrysler’s musclecar potential in the early and mid-’60s. But while the beef was in the barn, so to speak, styling was downright Victorian by the contemporary standards. By the ’67 model year, Ford and GM had made considerable gains in shedding the stodgy, boxy styling still clinging to much of the automotive industry, what with such models as the Mustang and Shelby fastbacks, Corvettes, Cobras, Camaros, and Firebirds. Chrysler, on the other hand, hung onto the edgy-and-chrome thing with seeming passion. Granted, the Dodge Charger and Plymouth Barracuda showed signs of a new era dawning, but popular models like the Dart, Coronet, Belvedere, and GTX exuded a suburban white-bread persona that, frankly, seemed disparate with the youth movement. And it was the youth that sat squarely in the sights of The Big Three automakers.

Chrysler started to get its act together with the ’68 model year. The Dart GTS hit the showroom for the first time—presenting buyers with a big bark for a little budget. With its standard 340 engine, the Dart GTS packed a serious punch. For a few bucks more you could opt for the 383, which turned that punch into a profound wallop. Changes were also afoot on the B-Body front. The already popular Charger received yet another design change, as did the Coronet, and the R/T versions of these two models—coupled with the midyear introduction of the Coronet-based Super Bee—presented Dodge with a stable of fresh, exciting, and honest-to-goodness groundpounders.

Hot cars all, but they needed a common thread. That’s when the marketing department stepped in. Taking a cue, no doubt, from the infamous hipsters Martin, Davis, Sinatra, Lawford, and Bishop—affectionately called the Rat Pack—Dodge planners decided that their cadre of hot cars fit the good times, bad boy image of the original Packers quite well. With a reverent nod to the Vegas crew, Dodge fired up the coals and branded its A- and B-Body screamers the Scat Pack.

The sport of drag racing flourished in the musclecar era, and every manufacturer had some sort of presence there. Sanctioned and unsanctioned tracks alike hosted the newest machinery. The simplicity of the early '60s soon gave way to the FX and Funny Car categories, while the later part of the decade saw the demand for a new class based around door cars that NHRA called Pro Stocks. Throughout this time, individuals who eventually became legends came onto the scene. To go along with the stories Forrest Pitcock told us about the Golden Commandos team elsewhere in the issue, we thought it would be interesting to go back through the files and find some vintage photos of other Plymouth teams. In some cases, these are printed publicity images done by the big oil companies; others are archive photos. They are definitive reminders of why this era of drag racing history continues to be remembered with admiration.

As we all know, Chrysler was a technology leader in terms of creating solid engine packages. To create engines that would withstand the severe duty requirements of drag racing, circle track competition, and street abuse meant replicating that environment in a laboratory. The data would be analyzed, small changes made, and the cycle would start again.

When it comes to talking about Mopar’s racing heritage, it is virtually impossible to not include the Chrysler Hemi in one form or another. The versions built in the ’50s proved their worth on the speedways rather quickly as competitors built them for racing, but in 1964, the factory unleashed the engine that would make Mopars the most feared machines on either the street or track. Bred primarily as racehorses, the 426 Hemis built from 1964 to 1971 became the stuff of legend. So, to celebrate that, we will let some prime movers and shakers of the performance era tell tales about their involvement with Detroit’s finest.

392 vs. 426
Due to my close relationship with Chrysler, I was well aware of the development work on the new 426 Hemi long before it was public knowledge. Prior to the release of the engine, Chrysler sent me five complete crated Hemis. Swamp Rat VIII was the first 426 car we ran, and Connie Swingle was driving for me at the time. We struggled for two years with the 426 and couldn’t get out of the 8-second zone at 192 mph. Conversely, people who were running the old 392 were in the mid-7s at 214 by now. We weren’t the only ones having the problem; the Ramchargers, and just about everyone else, were locked in the 8s struggling with the 426. With the 392, you ran 34 degrees of timing; 35 degrees would burn a cylinder, so we were running the 426 at 34 degrees, just like the 392.

In 1966, we were racing at National Trail Raceway near Columbus, Ohio, and could only run 190 mph. On our way to the next race at Rockford, Illinois, I made up my mind to run the engine at 40 degrees, blow it up, and put a 392 back into the car. At 40 degrees, the car went 7.55 at 214. I figured I’d go to 50 degrees and grenade it for sure—it went 7.40 at 219! We had found that the secret to the 426 was fuel volume and lots of spark advance. With the stock Chrysler aluminum heads, we went 6.77 at 222 mph; with worked heads, a Keith Black 3/8-inch stroker crank and 30 percent blower drive, we could run 6.15 at 243. We were showing 1,600-1,700 hp and turning the motor in excess of 8,000 rpm, and we were still using the stock block, exhaust valves, and rocker arms and shafts.

—Don Garlits, abridged from Mopar Muscle, Vol. 1, No. 2

The quarter-mile mix is actually quite simple. Take one aftermarket Hemi block, add a variety of bulletproof hardware, such as a billet crank and heads, a huge 14-71 supercharger, twin magnetos and plugs, and the strongest fasteners known to man. Now place the engine at the front of a driveline that doesn't use a transmission and a high 3.20:1 rear-gear ratio at the end of a perfect driveshaft. Put this combo into a short-wheelbase chrome-moly chassis with the driver seat right behind that big blower. Add one custom-built carbon-fiber Team Mopar Parts Dodge R/T body to cover it, stick one Mr. Dean Skuza in the hot seat, and fill the fuel tank with the legal 90 percent nitromethane/ 10 percent methanol mixture. Result: 4.80 seconds at 300-plus mph.

Mopar Muscle's focus has been, and will always be, the era of Chrysler's ground-pounding machines of the 1960s and '70s. These were the cars that gave true meaning to the words "performance era." While some may argue that the Pentastar troops lacked innovative styling in the earliest days of the Max Wedge, there was no denying that when the flag came down, the horsepower told the story. Indeed, while Pontiac's GTO and Ford's Mustang may have gotten kinder accolades in the automotive press, no one ever denied that when it came to blistering tires and reaching the finish line first, these cars had no equal.

Even today, Chrysler's barely-streetable packages rule the upper echelons of the quarter-mile. Only the advent of recently-"discovered" Chevrolet Camaro and Corvette combinations have allowed anything but Mopars to run in the upper realms of the Stock and Super Stock divisions. To field a class-legal car in NHRA, and, to a lesser extent, IHRA, requires that the owner spend a great deal of money. Due to the attention to detail needed to find even miniscule amounts of horsepower, thousands upon thousands of dollars can be spent on finding the right set of heads or carburetors, and blueprinting that equipment to the most exact tolerances is a given. Once at the track, especially in Super Stock, the Max Wedge or Hemi racer may find himself or herself up against a late-model car whose scienced-out replacement suspension and digital engine controls give the newer vehicle inherent advantages. It isn't futile to race older cars in these classes, it's just not as fun as it used to be.

The advent of the National Muscle Car Association and other venues brought another racing option to owners of classics '60s-era package cars. This was through a new division known as Nostalgia Super Stock. Unlike the rules in traditional class racing, where vehicles are classed by combination, cars in the NSS division run off of set time indexes. For example, NSS/A is run off of a 10.00 index, with no breakout allowed. Therefore, it's no longer as critical to be able to run optimum times as it is to run consistent times. To keep qualifying level between packages, positions in the field are based on reaction time rather than elapsed time. The breakout rule remains in effect even for heads-up battles; if you run quicker than the index, you're out (unless the guy in the other lane was even quicker).

Moreover, the rules allow you to move around in the division as needed. For example, if you find that the car is having a hard time running NSS/B, the sanctioning body allows moving down (or up, if that's the case) even after qualifying has begun. In fact, as long as the tower is aware of your change, you can change anytime until the end of Saturday's final session.

the globe, there are tributes to man’s love affair with the automobile. The Petersen Museum in Los Angeles, the Indianapolis 500 Museum in Indianapolis, Henry Ford’s iconoclastic Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan, and many others around the world are all basically dedicated to the internal-combustion engine and its various cultural effects on people. Each of these facilities offers its own individual view of how the “horseless carriage” has impacted us.

It's been almost 20 years since die-hard Chrysler fans truly had reason to watch circle track racing on Sunday afternoons. Certainly there were many of us who watched or attended NASCAR Winston Cup races to see the competition for its own sake, but it always lacked something without a single presence from the Pentastar camp. The 2001 Daytona 500 will change that.

The nation's 3,000-strong conglomeration of Dodge dealerships and Dodge Motorsports have partnered up to give us something we can cheer for. Moreover, this effort is not just a token appearance of a couple of second-string machines, but a flat-out assault by both technology and marketing to be a dominant force in Winston Cup. A lineup of drivers ranging from seasoned veterans to Rookie of the Year contenders, a group of teams that everyone in the sport has to respect, and a completely new car and engine developed from dream to reality in less than 500 days, will make this season one for the record books. All in all, it's been a long wait, but well worth it.

So, next time you're at the gas station, you can tell them ol' boys with those big No. 3, No. 24 and No. 88 stickers in their pick-up truck windows that we're coming back to win...again.

By its nature, auto racing is an evolutionary process. Throughout the history of motorsports, parts and pieces were developed and then modified and adapted to their specific performance environment. This process often takes years, and it allows racing activities like NASCAR to become the fast, durable, dynamic sporting events they are today.

But let's say you're not in the evolutionary stream. Let's say that sometime, years ago, the process of adapting in an increasingly competitive environment halted. To return, you would need to become a creator, and if the timeline of your return to the environment of "survival of the fittest" was limited to 500 days, you would need to call on every resource and idea to be successful.

Enter The NASCAR Platform Team

The Dodge Motorsports solution may well revolutionize the way the auto manufacturers look at racing technology. The bread and butter of these companies is, of course, production machinery for the consumer; racing isn't an end in itself. Chrysler has a reputation of using space-age technology and science in place of more common, time-consuming methods of design, simulation, and prototyping. Due to changes in manufacturing, it doesn't take three or four years to design a new model, build it, and ready it for sale; it often takes less than 30 months.

When Dodge's network of dealers and DaimlerChrysler management announced that the nameplate would again be part of the NASCAR scene, and put it on a 500-day execution schedule, knowledgeable individuals wondered how they could get all the work done. There were no cars and no engine, and although Ray Evernham, who Chrysler tapped to spearhead their efforts, might well be the most talented individual in the sport, he couldn't do it all himself. Enter the NASCAR Platform Team.

Just like production vehicle projects, Dodge dedicated a team of experienced engineers from each discipline who used the technology at the company's disposal to streamline development of the NASCAR program. Meanwhile, a conglomerate of NASCAR teams, including Petty Enterprises and BIll Davis Racing, came together with Evernham to form a NASCAR racing "brain trust" that delivered additional input and real-world experience. In a groundbreaking move for the sport, these three teams, plus the others who joined since the 2000 Daytona 500 announcement, all work in "platform" mode as well, freely interchanging ideas.

Coordinating the effort from the factory is Tim Culbertson, Program Manager, Dodge NASCAR Winston Cup Program, Dodge. He has a team of engineers from a wide variety of technologies working on the effort, but deflects praise away from himself.

Click on the sidebars below for the team details.

The year was 1971. As Three Dog Night’s “Joy To The World” came over AM airwaves, the Vietnam War and its protesting counterpart were at the center of the news. The publication of the infamous Pentagon Papers documenting the length and depth of our involvement in Southeast Asia became an ignition point for the Nixon administration’s difficulties, and thousands of anti-war demonstrators were arrested in Washington during a May rally. What’s more, the postwar economy was cooling down, and the financial problems that would manifest themselves later in the decade were just beginning to show.