Deemed the "mother lode" by...
Deemed the "mother lode" by Bruce's two friends, Tommy Helms and Riley Moss, who helped in the loading and unloading of the exchange, this spread looks more suiting for a swap meet than on a front lawn.
Rolling up his sleeves, Bruce removed the starter, which had a casting date of April 6, 1964. Bruce immediately realized this engine belonged to a factory Super Stock machine. Carroll explained he bought the engine in a '64 two-door post car from a fellow named George Nesbit around 1966. Carroll had raced it in the late '60s and early '70s. After suffering a breakdown at the Wadesboro dragstrip in 1971, he tried to repair it with little success. So he sold the body and stored the engine for a project '68 Barracuda race car that he had begun to piece together.
Bruce, once again, began to do his homework. He discovered that George Nesbit, a novice racer during the heyday of NHRA, had employed Bruce's neighbor's brother-in-law, Don Duncan. Don had made a name for himself as a successful local racing legend widely known on the NASCAR circuit and had served as the engine man for George Nesbit. A dinner meeting was setup between Bruce, his neighbor, and Don. Don recalled the car well, as George Nesbit had bought it new. Yet the origin of the engine did not begin with the '64 two-door post that Carroll had pulled it from. Rather, the engine came from a turquoise-over-turquoise '64 Belvedere two-door hardtop, sporting a push-button automatic-a factory-true Super Stock car. During the '64 Daytona 500, George witnessed the infamous 1-2-3 Mopar finish, which converted him into a Hemi loyalist. Deciding he had to have the fastest Plymouth available, he promptly ordered a '64 Belvedere push-button Super Stock Hemi car from Walter Chrysler Plymouth. George had unsuccessfully tried to race the car, unable to get the factory lightweight sedan to hook up at the line. Not "technically minded," George decided to partner up with someone who was more apt with hand tools. He paired up with Don, who had a '41 Willys that was prime to race as a gasser. George employed Don to pull the engine from the turquoise '64 to go "A-Gas" racing with the Willys.
When George left to serve his country, Don continued competing, winning again and again. Don recalled his most harrowing run, going through the traps with no brakes at 120 mph. A systematic brake failure had sapped the stopping power from the Willys, hurdling Don towards a dirt road that ran off the end of the strip. Don figured he skipped across the sand and gravel at about 110 mph, coasting to a gradual stop with little more than a bent front axle. Once George returned, he had no need for the Belvedere body, so it was sold to a body shop in Shelby, North Carolina, with less than 62 miles on the odometer in 1966. Finally having their fill of straight-axle mayhem, the duo pulled the engine and transmission from the Willys and dropped them into a '64 Plymouth two-door post car in 1966, and sold it to Carroll Hendrix shortly thereafter. It wasn't until September 2005, that Carroll agreed to sell the original elephant motor back to George for substantially more than what he had previously sold the whole car. The Willys today is found in a public museum in exactly the same condition as when it was raced, minus the legendary engine and transmission that remained in Carroll's garage since 1971. Carroll sold the Super Stock intake assembly to John Aruza in 1990.
Bruce had already restored...
Bruce had already restored this Hemi drivetrain for his '69 Road Runner project car, though a '67 date code. This, along with some hard currency, helped to pry the super-rare midyear '68 production Hemi from Carroll's hands. Though it would be more suiting for his car, Bruce felt obligated to offer the engine to the owner of the rightful convertible bird.
Bruce called John to inquire if he had known about the '64 engine. John replied he was unable to purchase the complete engine, but was able to buy the cross-ram intake and carburetor setup, which he later assembled onto a Hemi for a street rod for Richard Petty. Unfortunately, the King was upset because he didn't like that particular setup. John not wanting the King unhappy with him, quickly changed it out and lost track of it.
The Super Stock '64 elephant was intended for a project Barracuda that also never came about. in 1971, when Carroll was racing the post car at the Wadesboro dragstrip, he noticed a peculiar '68 Hemi Barracuda. The engine was in bad shape, and extensive acid dipping to the fenders, doors, and decklid had begun to take its toll. Apart from the cosmetic woes, the Barracuda was well assembled with quality tube-frame fabrication and chassis modifications. But what drew Carroll to the Barracuda were the distinct raised letters spelling out Sox & Martin on the doors. He inquired about the painted-over paint scheme, and learned the owner had purchased the car from Buddy Martin about a year and a half earlier. Confirming this was the Sox & Martin name stamped on components found throughout the A-Body. On the last qualifying run before the quarter-finals, the owner of the former S&M Barracuda grenaded the Hemi, puncturing a hole through the block near the fuel pump with a wayward connecting rod. The owner was so infuriated he hastily sold the complete, though wounded, Barracuda to Carroll, even personally delivering it to his house. Over the next 16 months, Carroll would salvage what useable parts he could from the Barracuda and transfer them to a substantially more solid Barracuda with a more modern tube-chassis. Thinking nothing of it at the time, the unused portion of the body was trashed. All that remained was the decklid, fenders, engine throttle hardware, seats, and the Dana 60. Some other items were used as well, but for the most part, the rest of the legendary Sox & Martin car is lost to the ages.
The stout Dana 60 was heaved...
The stout Dana 60 was heaved by the three men into the back of a borrowed truck, along with a cherry-picker, transmission, and the disassembled 426.
Carroll became tangled in a series of personal dilemmas that impeded the progress of his '68 Barracuda, and it was left to sit outside his shop for over thirty years. When Bruce was walking through the paces of the Super Stock 426 Hemi's background, Carroll took him out back to show him the incomplete drag racer.
What started as a wild goose chase to hunt down an original engine evolved into one of the largest high-performance Mopar mother lodes in recent history.
But what struck us at Mopar Muscle-more than all the high profile names involved, rare production numbers, and big dollar potential of all this gear-was the fact they still exist. Many people think they have all been hoarded and/or eaten away by corrosion. Rather, Bruce's discovery should help us all have faith that there are still Charger 500s, four-speed Super Bees, 383 Barracudas, and Hemi GTXs out there. You just need to look.
It took some work and long...
It took some work and long hours of research, but Bruce was able to hunt down Stephan Stehnij in New York, who was slowly piecing together the fabled one-out-of-four convertible Hemi-powered Road Runner. Amazingly, Stephan had also restored a 426 Hemi that yielded the same June 10, 1968 production date, but more appropriate for Bruce's later-manufactured hardtop Road Runner rather than Stephan's earlier soft top. Bruce traded the disassembled, correct running gear to Stephan in exchange for his correctly date-coded finished Hemi that would find a new home between the fenders of Bruce's unfinished '69 Runner. The exchange also allowed Stephan to meet Carroll Hendrix, the man who removed the engine in 1972.
Once the powerplant for a...
Once the powerplant for a factory, lightweight, turquoise-on-turquoise '64 Plymouth Belvedere, this engine served as the motivation for a '41 Willys gasser that raced successfully for several years during the mid-'60s. In 1966, owners/ racers Don Duncan and George Nesbit dropped the engine into a '64 Plymouth two-door post car; the original lightweight car had been sold separately earlier.
The early production date...
The early production date of the '64 block immediately struck Bruce as being from a Super Stock car.
The big Dominator carburetor...
The big Dominator carburetor didn't come as factory equipment, but once the Hemi found its way underneath the hood of Don Duncan's Willys, it was a staple of its performance.
Bruce meet with Don Duncan...
Bruce meet with Don Duncan and George Nesbit over dinner. Both were more than happy to talk at great lengths about the history of the potent powerplant and how it bounced from three different vehicles in nearly as many years.
Windowed during the '71 winter...
Windowed during the '71 winter season, this 426 Sox & Martin Barracuda was sold to Carroll Hendrix, who bemoaned the condition of the corrosive acid-dipped body and saved as much as possible from the weak and damaged A-Body. The salvaged parts-the fenders, doors, and decklid-were all transplanted onto a solid '68 Barracuda that had been fitted with a tube-frame chassis, while the same damaged Hemi sits between the shock towers. Unfortunately, the original race car was lost to the ages.
Radically altered, Carroll's...
Radically altered, Carroll's Barracuda was ready to begin competition in 1972 when personal business put the A-Body project on hold. The Dana 60 is part of the bounty the retired S&M car yielded.
The tin work shows the extremes...
The tin work shows the extremes that Carroll went through to save weight from the A-Body. The hard plastic seat is a little outdated.
Reassembled from a hodgepodge...
Reassembled from a hodgepodge of different parts, the Hemi block sports '64 "K" heads. Bruce wasn't entirely sure where the top end hailed from, but just noted the peculiarity of its presence.
Covered by the original Sox...
Covered by the original Sox & Martin dipped decklid sits a once-legal fuel cell. The bumpers are also made of lightweight material, making this Barracuda a featherweight. (the '67 through '69 Barracuda is the only Mopar with interchangeable front and rear bumpers.)
Amid stored tires and engine...
Amid stored tires and engine blocks sit both A990 non-adjustable Super Stock seats. Originally taken from D100 vans, these seats featured "Swiss cheese" seat brackets and zero hardware. These were swiped from the S&M '68 before it was scrapped.
Saved from the wounded elephant...
Saved from the wounded elephant was the high-performance cross-ram intake manifold and custom Sox & Martin-stamped throttle linkage. Totally unique to the car, only the S&M team cars wielded such mechanisms. Carroll refused to part with the linkage because of its historical significance.