Original hemi dart information

[Paul Ceasrine]

Owner ................... Charlie Lendrum
Home Location ...... Westerlo, New York

Car ....................... 'Original' 1968 ~ LO23 Dart '426 Race Hemi'
Transmission ....... Automatic

Car Name ........... 'Thundermug II'

Base Sponsor ..... 'Race Car Engineering' ~ Schenectady, New York
Dealer Sponsor ... Albany Dodge ~ 949 Central Avenue ~ Albany, New York


Year ---------------- Class ---------------------------------------------- Performance
* 1968 ................. SS/BA .................................................. ...... 10.90's
* 1969 ................. SS/BA .................................................. ...... 10.90's
* 1970 ................. SS/AA .................................................. ...... 10.80's
* 1971 ................. Pro/Stock {with Manual Transmission} ....... 10.50's
* 1972 ................. A/MP .................................................. ......... 10.40's

Raced At;
* Lebanon Valley Drag Strip {Primary Track} ~ Lebanon Valley, New York
* ESTA Safety Park ~ Cicero, New York
* South Glen Falls ~ South Glen Falls, New York
* Dover Drag Strip ~ Wingdale, New York
* Milton Speedway ~ Milton, Vermont
* New York National Speedway ~ Center Moriches, New York
* Connecticut Dragway ~ Meriden, Connecticut

In 1969 and 1970 >
Charlie was getting a $250 {Appearance Fee} for '3' Super/Stock Match Race runs.

[Liteweight]

Daryl's Hemi Dart Pic of the Day.
Bill Bagshaw warming it up

liteweight

[Charlie A]

Originally Posted by Liteweight

Daryl's Hemi Dart Pic of the Day.
Bill Bagshaw warming it up

liteweight

If a seal in that jack gave out.....Dart would be back in the trailer in record time.

[Paul Ceasrine]

Bill Bagshaw

One 'cool' man.

Bill switched Dodge Dealership Sponsors, from 'Hollywood Dodge'
to 'Del Amo Dodge'.

Check out the 'original' Cherry Bomb glass-packs.

[Liteweight]

Hemi Dart Pic of The Day
Anyone know this car?

liteweight

[a990hemi]

Originally Posted by Liteweight

Hemi Dart Pic of The Day
Anyone know this car?

liteweight

Steve Atwell's Dart?

[ww63]

Originally Posted by a990hemi

Steve Atwell's Dart?

I bought the dart from Rico and sold it to a guy in Nebraska

[Paul Ceasrine]

Originally Posted by Liteweight

Congrats on that Jim. good on ya!!. Keep us posted on availability.

Time to start up the Hemi Dart pic of the day again. The season's here, so's the fever. never seen this pic before. Anyone know the car?

liteweight

hemidartdave. so hows that ol hemi sounding?

Jim O'Connor

Started off in Chicago Illinois as a 'Chevy' man, and ran a 1962 Chevrolet Impala 409.

Jim ended up being the 'High Performance' Parts Manager at 'Nickey Chevrolet' in
Chicago from 1964 thru 1966.

Surprisingly, Jim also performed driving chores for Lenny Krause of
Grand-Spaulding Dodge in Chicago in 1965 and 1966.

Jim drove the 'Fuel Injected' 1965 Dodge Coronet 'Funny Car' for Mr. Norm's.

In late-1966, Jim then moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan to become a
Service Manager for a Pontiac Dealership.

In early-1967, Dale Berger {Grandson of Bill Berger} of 'Berger Chevrolet' in Grand Rapids, Michigan made an offer for Jim, to come join Berger Chevrolet in their new home at
2525 28th Street, and to run the 'new; High Performance Parts Department.

At the time, Berger Chevrolet was the #1 Chevrolet Dealer in Western Michigan.

Jim also campaigned a 1967 Corvette for 'Berger Chevrolet', called 'The Carouser'.
It was Berger Chevrolet's 'first' Race Car that they ever sponsored.

But, Jim's stay at Berger Chevrolet was 'short lived'.

In mid-1967, Jim moved again.

This time it was to 'Azzarello's Chevrolet' in Lowell, Michigan.

Jim then campaigned a 'new' 1967 Camaro SS 396 {396/375 HP} in
Sper Stock {SS/C}.

The 'Royal Plum' painted Camaro routinely ran 11.90's @ 117 MPH,
and was a dominant force in Super Stock at;
* US 131 Dragway ~ {Martin, Michigan}
* Milan Dragway ~ {Milan, Michigan}
* Great Lakes Dragway {Union Grove, Wisconsin}

But, in April 1968 >

Mopar 'came-a-knocking', and offered Jim a deal on a 1968 LO23
Dodge Dart 'Race Hemi' {Automatic} to run in SS/BA, as well as to become
a Service Manager at 'Earle Ike Dodge' in Inglewood, California.

Jim liked the 'deal', and went to the West Coast.

[Liteweight]

Background on the white Dart WW63?

Great info on the Jim O'Conner Dart Paul

liteweight

Hemi Dart Pic of The Day. Don't know if it's a LO23. Pics I've come accross

[Liteweight]

Hemi Dart Pic of The Day.
On my quest towards 1,000,000 views

liteweight