1964 S/SA National Record Setter with a Hemi

[Mike Bassin]

The first hemi car to hit the track at 75-80 in Maryland was owned and driven by Fred Leigh of Rockville, Md. I was the announcer at that time on Wed. nite test & tune sessions and we knew Fred had a new brown 64 Ply hemi automatic car on order. The date was about mid May 1964. Here comes Fred towing the new hemi car in, there were probably 50 cars and maybe 150 people total at the track, everything stopped to watch the new hemi make some runs. Fred drove it easy down the track and came back up to make the first run. I can remember this like it was yesterday. The car left fairly soft but by the time he went by the tower [ its about 150 ft. down track] I knew it was faster than all the stuff from '63. First run, 12.00 @ 120mph! Think of that, 48 years ago, just like it left the factory, no tuning, 120 mph. The sound of that car and all the hemi cars since will always take me back to that night. By the end of the evening, Fred ran in the 11.70s at 122 mph. Several weeks later, better headers and tuning the car would run mid elevens at 124.
Those were the days. Just got done announcing at Cecil County last Sat, John Pressley's nostalgia event, hemi cars were there, what a show!

[Barnstorm]

yeah...the sound of a race Hemi thru the factory headders is truly unique

[jackarnew]

MIKE
I drove FRED's pro/ stock a few times for him, I think the 64 car was lettered MISTER BUTTONS> Is that correct?

Jack Arnew

[X-TECH MAN]

Originally Posted by jackarnew

MIKE
I drove FRED's pro/ stock a few times for him, I think the 64 car was lettered MISTER BUTTONS> Is that correct?

Jack Arnew

Yepper !

[Mike Bassin]

Jack,

That is correct, the first brown car was the '63 max wedge Plymouth which was also was brown, he called that one Mr. Buttons also. That car was fast and was regular week in and week out at 75-80. By the way, one of his tough competitors was Dave Reitz of the Bob Banning & Sons Dodge / Plymouth dealer Bounty Hunters team, Tom Sneedon was Dave's team mate. Dave Reitz was driving this past Sat. at the Cecil County Nostagia event. Dave rolled up in his re-creation '64 Dodge post car "Hounty Hunter" entry on his first time run. I introduced him and gave the fans some background on his driving accomplishments, he lays down a 10.98 & 121 mph with a .003 light! Dave is on the north side of 70 yrs old. Not bad!

[jackarnew]

Mike

I talked to Dave a few weeks ago as he lives next to a freind of mine .
He cook me into his garage and showed the Dodge to me. He said that Bob Jr. still drives the car some times.

Old drag racers never fade away they just restore and run again.!!!

[jackarnew]

Mike, were you at 75/80 on the .Friday night that Vernon Rawley came in direct from Grand Spalding Dodge with his 64 Hemi Dodge ?
He made a few runs and Ronnie Sox made two passes in it. Ronnie had a match race the next night at Cicle County, and did not unload his Comet.
On Ronnie's second pass in the car he lost the drive shaft on the line

Hemi's had a sound all their own, and the sound was POWER

[Paul Ceasrine]

Once the 64' Hemi's (64 1/2 mid-year S/S cars) hit the track in
May 1964, the Max-Wedges got pushed out into AA/SA.

I remember seeing an ad for a 63' Max-Wedge S/SA Plymouth with the
aluminum nose for $2350.
The ad stated former S/SA, a now a top running AA/SA.
Included, an extra set of Max-Wedge heads.
Must sell,,,,,,,$2350

On the front bumpers.
Not all of the 64' Race Hemi's came with the fiberglass front bumper.
Some came with the full steel (100 lb.) bumper.

pc

[borninamopar]

And there are some racers running in the low nines now with a few of the original cars: Still doing the same thing, with the same car; Only faster. Love them big old ugly Dodges. World needs more of them running down the track.

[davidhuff]

Originally Posted by Mike Bassin

The first hemi car to hit the track at 75-80 in Maryland was owned and driven by Fred Leigh of Rockville, Md. I was the announcer at that time on Wed. nite test & tune sessions and we knew Fred had a new brown 64 Ply hemi automatic car on order. The date was about mid May 1964. Here comes Fred towing the new hemi car in, there were probably 50 cars and maybe 150 people total at the track, everything stopped to watch the new hemi make some runs. Fred drove it easy down the track and came back up to make the first run. I can remember this like it was yesterday. The car left fairly soft but by the time he went by the tower [ its about 150 ft. down track] I knew it was faster than all the stuff from '63. First run, 12.00 @ 120mph! Think of that, 48 years ago, just like it left the factory, no tuning, 120 mph. The sound of that car and all the hemi cars since will always take me back to that night. By the end of the evening, Fred ran in the 11.70s at 122 mph. Several weeks later, better headers and tuning the car would run mid elevens at 124.
Those were the days. Just got done announcing at Cecil County last Sat, John Pressley's nostalgia event, hemi cars were there, what a show!

Great story!