Original hemi dart information

[flintstonecharger]

Hello Paul,remember story that Gene O'Neill's Dart came from So. Conn. dealer that had an elevator in storage building,car was in basement ,can confirm with a friend that I think may have been present with Gene when car picked up.Too bad Bill Flynn not with us anymore,he would know, according to Gene,Flynn helped him locate Dart which was one of the last ones still available.

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

Hey W J,
A little back info from my contact "Highway Star" a.k.a Deep Purple
out of Indiana.
Gene O'Neill's car may have been shipped to either Fisher-Lowe Dodge in West Hartford or Norwalk Dodge in Norwalk, CT.
The ground-mole investigator has some Hurst-Campbell Corp. shipping information that he his digging up. Bill of Lading stuff that he supposedly got from a Hurst-Campbell shipping clerk that went on to become a
supervisor for Anchor Freight (car shipping company).
As for Bill Flynn getting involved with locating a car for Gene. That does
sound correct, but doubtful whether (2) Hemi Darts were shipped to the same dealership. Even Sox & Martin couldn't get a second car right away.
Researching Chorches Motors out of Manchester, CT. They were involved with some Drag Racing sponsorships in 65', and may have had
a hand in something.

Paul

[flintstonecharger]

Yes Dart was painted metallic tangerine orange with white pearl down side centers,originally lettered with Gene"s auto racing equipment,later changed to Gene"s Speed shop.Car was originally 4-speed,later changed to automatic.Car ran super stock,mod. prod. and possibly pro stock,not positive on Pro Stock.Will have to check my photo's,do know car did run with 69 grill.Would like to find more photos if you can look,thanks, SteveO

Originally Posted by ss wannabee

I was at Sanford,Me in 1965 and just barely remember the "Bloodhound" car....That's about it! Recall the name! I think I remember the "Gene's Speed Shop" Dart....think I saw it as a SS/AA car or possibly Pro Stock...wasn't it painted something like Candy Tangerine and White? Might have a photo but would take ages to find!

[Paul Ceasrine]

Flintstone ,
Gene's car, Was it lettered with "Gene's Auto Racing Equipment",
or "Gene's Speed Shop".
Tracking down a photo of a Tangerine colored 68' Dart at Connecticut
Dragway in 1970, versus a 69' AMX "American Rat". Both cars were
in A/MP. Many Hemi S/S racers jumped into the A/MP fray then, if they didn't want to update the trim work to go Pro/Stock.
OH, Gene's located on Chandler Street, Worcester, Mass.

Getting a little crazy, but I wonder if anyone wants to contact Otis Elevator Corp, in Yonkers. To find out what Dodge dealerships had
car-load rated elevators.
Looks like Chorches Motors, Manchester, Conn. is not on Gene's list.
Paul

[Liteweight]

Hi; This is Liteweight here.It's been about a year since I posted this thread & I thought it had pretty much gone stagnent. A good friend of mine Dave McDade (Marfen) suggested I should have another look. Wow!!!! The renewed responses are outstanding. Many thanx to the guys that are bringing their knowledge to this thread.The information that is being put out here is amazing. These factory built race cars are a very special piece of Mopar history & because they were built in such limited numbers (with alot less today surviving) makes it that much more important that the correct history is documented on them. With this in mind, I am looking forward to getting back into the thick of it & hopefully we can get an accurate history of this car. For now I am going to try and disect the info in the last 14 pages, & see where that leads me,but please keep those threads coming as any & every piece information can be helpfull,not just to myself but possibly another Hurst car owner. After all, it is the people that made these cars what they are today!!!!!! Here's a couple shots of my car as it sits today. Thanx again!!!!!
Liteweight
Daryl Klassen

[Liteweight]

Oops; Sorry about that. I attatched the same pix twice.Let's try it again

[W J]

Daryl, It sure looks like you've done a 1st class job w/that car. What's the color? Sure looks close to my old '02 Camaro SS coupe that was GM's Sunset Orange Metallic...Best wishes. WJ

[marfen]

Hey Liteweight, better tell them the story about the paint job on the Little Red Car 'cause it's a good one!

[68hemiss]

Daryl & Dave, Good to hear from you. How is Don's car coming? Daryl, I have a lead that I am going to try following up on next week. Paul, Any chance you found the photos of the Pomona Speed Shop Dart? I really think that this could be a key to this puzzle. I had a guy email me some time ago that he thought that the Pomona Dart came from one of the sons of the owner of the Orlandi Crane co in NY/NJ. I called and the sons now own the company - I spoke with one of the sons and he said that his brother used to race some cars but he didn't remember a Dart - he said he had mostly Fords???? Ring any bells? Could this possibly be where the Castaldo story comes in? Castaldo also had a Crane co. ???
Mark J
dart4261964@yahoo.com

[Liteweight]

WJ
Thanx for the kind words. I appreciate it !!!. I can't take all the credit for this tho as it was Tim Hennessey who was the one who did the restoration on this worn out old work horse back in the mid 80's. I acquired the car in 2000 & did a mechanical overhaul on it as it had too many years of show car duty. The paint is still the same as it was applied in 1986. As Marfen has asked; this car was sandblasted from front to rear on jackstands on a driveway & then painted in a double car garage on a rotissire. No high end down draft paint booths required here.Just a real good paint & body guy.No clear applied,just old school acrylic enamel.
I drive this car every chance I get,& it sees alot of street miles. I'm a believer that these cars were built to be used, so it does frequent the race track when the need arises.
Liteweight
Daryl

[jack arnew]

Originally Posted by jimi

ok a little lou centolanza up to date history, he was just at my shop today dropping off his 1969 plymouth barracuda g/s car it is a 383 4bbl 4spd,it is his first race car since the black hemi in the late 1970's,we have been building for the last year, i am going to finish up the front end alignment and the rear suspension settings this week and hopefully he can ge to the track within the next two weeks , i will take some pics and post them this week, the black hemi car is still an active ss/ah car , if i am correct jimmy keys has it now,i will check with lou and post that too.

If my memory still serves me I beleave the black cuda that Lou Centolanza purchased was from Baltimore. If it is I did the suspenion work for the owner at that time. Don,t rember his name, but the car was brought to my shop by Vernon Rowley. He ran a SS/B 64 Plymouth at the time,which was an orignal factory produced car.I could be wrong but I remember that great black paint.