Your new musclecar

[Todd Boyer]

Originally Posted by bill dedman

I never had the money fpr a new car during the era of musclecars, but, I have a true story about someone who did. His name is Steve Clukey, and he lives in Maine. Every month when he got paid, he sent money home (from Viet Nam) to his Dad. When he'd accumulated enough, his Dad drove to the local Mopar emporium and bought Steve a shiny new "70 Duster 340 4-speed car.

When Steve got home from the "war," he took the new car to the strip, with disappointing results (low 15''s)

He saw it as a challenge. In the 38 years that followed, Steve never quit making "improvements" to the output of that 340. He has added aftermarket heads, cam, headers, a stroker crank, high-compression pistons, aluminum rods, and a Holley Dominator carb. The car is still all steel (MIGHT have a 'glass hood; dunno), but is totally stock appearing,but for a hood scoop. Runs a Dana 60 and a Hemi 4-speed.

I don't think it's ever been driven on the street.

Thirty-eight years of "improvements" to this small block (now, 383 cid) now yields consistent mid-9-second e.t.s (best of 9.43, @ 143 mph) and I think that's fast, considering he's done nothing to lighten the car and uses NO power adder.

He has run the car in IHRA Super Stock,(at Epping) but usually races it at Winterport jn the brackets.

Some folks don"t consider the 340 Duster a true musclecar, but I think this one qualifies, at least, now.

Steve is a friend of mine. He did drive the Duster on the street when it was new. I think the odo shows 16,000 miles or so now. It was B5 blue with black 340 stripes when new.

He told me he was furious with his Dad who had ordered the car with 3.55 gears instead of the 3.91s that Steve wanted in it. He said his Dad thought he'd get better gas mileage with the 3.55s!!! Of course mileage was the farthest thing from Steve's mind when he ordered the car. Car now has a 414" (I think) small block stroker and a Lenco(!) 4-speed. Steve got tired of breaking the Jerico - which replaced the Hemi 4-speed about 10 or 15 years ago.

I saw the car run 9.20s at the Epping IHRA National this year. There are videos shot by his son Chad on YouTube. There are a couple of in-car vids showing Steve slamming the Lenco sticks!!!

The Duster is indeed all steel except the 'glass hood and scoop. All original glass and weighs around 3200 or so with Steve in it.

Still no lightening and no power adders.

Steve and the car were featured in Super Stock & Drag Illistrated (RIP) in 1985 - '86 or so, and was on the cover of High Performance Mopar mag in '83 I think. In fact I was the one who told Steve his car was on the cover, he didn't believe me, so I mailed it to him !!! I have both of them somewhere.

I'd say this Duster is definitely a musclecar !!!

[Chris DeGidio]

I remember when my Dad bought the 1970 Road Runner we still have today....Dad had done a tour(voluntarily) in Viet Nam while part of the airplane division of Uncle Sam's Yacht Club.Dad hadn't been home long and he had been talking about getting a new car,but he mentioned getting a 1970 440 Super Bee while he was in 'Nam.Our Dodge dealer in Lexington Park MD was changing over to a Plymouth franchise and they had a 1970 'Bird on the lot that was a demo.Vitamin C orange,383 4-speed,dog dish hubcaps.He saw the car and made a offer of $2200 cash.The salesman told him no way and he went home.The car had almost 4000 miles on it then.
Dad had told me about the car(I was 8 then) and said he had test driven it.Mom said he had a few too many Falstaff's when he did this test drive,but he was on 30 days leave,so it didn't matter.He told me he wouldn't buy the car now since they said no,but a day later the sales manager called and asked if he would buy the car for $2200 plus tax.And Dad did just that.I didn't see the car until my sister and I got off the school bus one afternoon.I saw that orange beast and said "That's Dad's new car"...my sister didn't think so,but it was. I still have the original window sticker, insurance card,sales receipt,and some reciepts for the speed equipment that he bought for the car,like the TM-6 intake for $52.00,and the 750cfm Holley(which are both still in use on the Demon we race today) SW mechanical tach. We raced the car at Budds Creek(MIR) and then the Navy transfered us to Florida where we ran it until 1985 at Gainesville.

So although I didn't buy the car originally,I've had 40 years of time with it and I know every bolt on it personally.It's been stripped to it's bare bones awating paint,and then my Dad gets to drive it again.

[Jim Parsons]

In December 1965 when 19 years old and attending my military reserve meeting in Salt Lake City I stopped by Wilson Chevrolet to see the new Chevelle SS396's all the magazines were writing about. Note; I already had been drafted but waiting orders to boot camp as they were too overloaded to handle the influx of guys. Instead of looking at the Chevelles I saw sitting on the showroom floor a little white Chevy II Nova SS L-79. The salesman ask if I want to take a spin so we pushed in out the door and I was sold in about two blocks. Picked it up the next day and drove it home to my new wife in Idaho as a Christmas present. I still remember the look on my new father in laws face when I showed up, like what has my daughter married.
Still got the same wife and the white Nova as its the same one we run today in F/S with a 327/ 275 HP.
Also as it turned out never was beat on the street by any SS396 or street Hemi for that matter and the father in law finally forgave me when the first grand son came along.

[GTX JOHN]

On Nov. 5, 1966, my Dad (Then he was 61 years young) bought the first 1967 Plymouth GTX to arrive in Los Angeles California. It was Gold with Black interior and sport stripes. It had 3.23 open rearend and factory tach. We put a Hemi Dual Point Distributor and 750 CFM non calif stick carb on it. It ran 13.83 @ 102.15 after a little tinkering and we won many class wins in B/Pure Stock at Irwindale Raceway. It remains to this day the prettiest car that I have ever seen! It cost $3412.08 out the door with tax and license. Sticker was about $3,600. but my Dad got Mopar employees discount. About May of 1967 I meet a guy in Long Beach who had just received a company car and told me I could have his 1967 GTX with only 2000 miles on it for his payoff of $1576. I broke out my life saving and had a friend drive me the 30 miles to buy it. I did not ask any questions for that was a heck of a price. When I got there it was a Rootbeer with Copper buckets car with a 426 Street Hemi with 4 speed and 3.54 Dana and Manual Steering. Well I ripped the pocket in my Jeans getting the money out of my pocket. Instead of taking it home to show Dad, I took it directly to OCIR and it ran 13.21 @ 108.85 nearly braking every finger on my right hand banging the Foot and Half Inland Shifter on the AM radio. Eventually with 4.10s / Hooker Headers/ 7" Slicks/Clay Smith Cam, I ran 11.56 @ 117.52. I drove it to college every day and paid my tuition by street racing it four nights a week with the Big Willie and the LA street racers winning over 600 straight races without a single ticket or trip to Jail!! I used up over 50 sets of N9Y plugs and 20 sets of points......Wish I had a MSD back then. Well both those cars and my Dad have long since gone to the Raceway in Heaven where I will probably (By our Lord's undeserved grace and kindness) join my Dad in near future. Hopefully I will still be able to catch him around the 1000 ft. cone! "GTX John" Irving......... Irving Family Racing AKA Nevada Missile Motorsports

[Bill Koski]

Bought a 1961 Ford convertible in June of '61 with a 375 HP 390 3 speed with OD, smoked 3 ring and pinions and dropped a valve but Ford took care of me.
In June of '62 traded for a '62 Ford convertible with a 405 HP 406 4-speed, grenaded the engine big time and Ford covered it.
In Novenber of '62 traded for a split window 340 HP 327 4-speed off of the show roon floor two weeks to the day before I turned 21. That car took a licking but kept on ticking!
Sadly in September of '64 I bought a '64 Impala 327 250 HP powerglide 2-door hardtop as a private E-1!

[Gary Merrick]

September 1968, I started working for General Motors at the age of 18. My father had always been a Ford man, so naturally, I had had several Mustangs by then. I sold my 1967 Fastback 289 - 4 barrel, 4 speed when I went to boot camp in May of 1969. I decided to buy a Chevy (since I worked for the General -- no discounts back then). Told my Dad that I wanted to buy a new,69 Corvette 427-435 HP, he said no way would he co-sign for my loan for a "plastic" car. Sooooo, while I was at Fort Bragg, my Dad found this 69 Camaro, he said it had some stripe on the side that said "YENKO" and that he would co-sign for my loan, since it was a steel car. Naturally, I jumped at it, he made the deal and it was sitting in the garage when I got home.

Fast forward two years, I go to my first NHRA points meet in Saginaw, Michigan, towing my Camaro on an open trailer with my 1965 Chevy Suburban (283, three on the tree). First round race pushing up thru the lanes, I count the cars back and I have to race a 69 white Camaro convertible (SS/NA). I figure, no problem, I'm running SS/D and I will blow this little small block off in the weeds. As we get closer to the SS/NA, and I take a closer look, much to my surprise, this Camaro that I have to race says it is a National Record Holder, multi-time class winner stickers and a guy by the name of John Lingenfelter is driving it (you know the one that was on the cover of the latest hot magazine doing a smokey burnout with a big smile on his face, yeah, that John Lingenfelter). Anyway, as Bob Frey would say, “that's why we don't run em on paper, we race em down the track!!!!” Can you guess what happened (who got the win slip). That race started a friendship, even though I never met John until 3 years later in Pomona at the 1976 Winternationals.

[Curt Rees]

I still have 13 trophies won in Pure Stock with my purchased new '68 Road Runner and my purchased new '69 '340, 4 speed, 3.91 geared Cuda. I dug the trophies out this summer and cleaned them up.

Most were won with the 'Cuda. I had a chance to buy the 'Cuda back a few years ago. I passed, that was a mistake.

#5457

Curt Rees

[mtkawboy]

After owning a 427/425 FE 4 speed powered 57 Ford Custom 300, at the age of 23, I bought a new black 67 GTO hardtop, 400HO/360 HP, 390 gears, close ratio 4 speed for $3050. The thing was beautiful but also a flaming turd running 15.25. I put the Chevy adjustable rocker nuts on it and set them, blocked the heat risers, rejetted the Q-jet and put an advance kit in the distributer and got it down to 14.01. Not spectacular but it would run off & hide from most factory stockers at the time {untouched} on street tires. Looked pretty good too with American Mags on it. Unfortunately I worked on Miami Beach and 4 years of salt air renedered it a major rust bucket even though I washed nearly every day. The insurance on it at the time would still be a ton today but I had to have it. Never regretted it either.

[Charlie A]

Summer of 71 I bought a stunning black, gold interior 70 GTX 440/6pack from a local guy. This car was garaged and never drivin in rain. He had an old pickup for that.He was getting married and the wife-to-be needed a/c.
Bucket seat, automatic, p/s car that scared the poop out of my then 17 year old girfriend (and myself) when she drove it away from the first stoplight. You see, she drove a automatic shifted Vega and she hit the pedal in the GTX like she did in the Vega!
Funny now.....
Never raced it (on the strip) but it was a very fast ride out on the marked off quarter miles outside of town.
Memories.....

[Fred Connell]

I got my first car when I was 17 years old. Lucky for me my Dad raced Outlaw cars. So nothing but fast for me. It was a 1969 MACH 1 , Blue gold stripes. 351 Cleveland Engine , Automatic. My Dad was a FORD man. When I sold it and got a 1970 SS Chevelle with a 454 Automatic he would not let me park in the driveway I had to park out in the deadend circle. God rest his sole. Don't you just wish you had just ONE of you old cars back >

JoAnn Connell