Jimi,
Paul here. Tell your Pop, My father Vincent and I said I. Hope all is well.
I remember "Earthquake" in the barn off Route 6, behind Keane's Pub.
Absolutely the most beautiful paint job (black) on a car (Plymouth) I ever saw. (1969 or 1970). Perfect lettering too, the way the tail of the letter Q
intersected with the letter U. I remember it in SS/EA, than C/Gas with
the front I-beam (from Marin's JunkYard).
How' that for confirmation. I was only 12 at the time, but I always listened
when your Pop spoke.
OK. The first Castaldo Dart, a 4-speed was reddish-brown with a silver
center section. Raced in 68', but was wrecked at E-Town (in late 68').
I woudn't think Charlie trashed the good parts (Dana rear, S/S springs,
4-speed trans, and engine, which was built by Joe Jill of Speedwin).
Also, something from the body of the car must have been salvageable.
Lets just say, it didn't end up in the trash bin at Saw Mill Auto Wreckers in Elmsford.
Car #2. Brown, with a gold-center section. Was an automatic (SS/BA)
that Charlie ran in 69' (the car was at the Indy Nationals and ran 10.75)
and ran at Dover (69' thru 71'). Sometime in 70' or early 71' the car campaigned in Pro/Stock, and a manual-trans was added. whether it was the original 4-speed from the first Dart, a Liberty-trans or Lenco,
thta I do not know. But if the 4-speed was put in, then the floor board most likely was cut-up. If the car was restored to perfection, than I imagine all sub-floor panels were replaced. The Hennesy restored car is
a perfect gem. Hard to imagine, the last time I saw Charlie Castaldo's
second car was at Adam's Diner (in Wingdale, down the street from Dover) in 1970, with a For Sale sign on the passenger side rear window
$5500.
Paul
P.S. Ask your Pop about the time he went with my father and me out to
New York National (1969). My father bent the pushrods in our Cuda
during the first round. Your father straightened them out ( I think with
a hammer). My Pop went back out in the second round a won. The good old days when 4-cars ran at a time.
