[Hemi Moose]

Mandella's '63 Max Wedge Wagon

Mike Volz of Olympia, Washington, made the discovery of a lifetime by following leads about "some old Mopar station wagon race car." The mystery wagon turned out to be one of only three factory-built Max Wedge station wagons sold in 1963 (two Plymouths, one Dodge). Amazingly, the plus-size body style was what spooked everybody else away. Originally equipped with a low-compression 11.0:1 426 Max Wedge, pushbutton 727 TorqueFlite, AM radio, heater, and steel front end, this six-passenger Belvedere long-roof was originally sold new by the legendary Milne Brothers Chrysler-Plymouth of Pasadena, California, to a young racer by the name of Ron Mandella. Though Ron recently passed away, his brother Phil Mandella-proprietor of PM Race Cars-says Ron campaigned it extensively in NHRA A/SA competition, winning the Indy Nationals in 1964 with a 12.99/108.04 run (he runner-upped there in 1963). When he wasn't chasing national gold, Phil tells us Ron often drove the cross-rammed beast on the street: "He'd be lined up against Dyno Don's 409 Chevy on Colorado Boulevard or Rivergrade Road, then he'd deliver flowers for my parents' flower shop with it the next morning." Today the car is headed for a total restoration back to the way it was when Ron Mandella raced it in the early '60s, complete with hand-brushed lettering, chrome reverse rims, and fenderwell headers. -Steve Magnante

I wonder who got the other '63 Max Wedge wagons...