By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Wow, this thing is gorgeous. It’s in absolutely immaculate condition following a two-year resto that left all the important bits in place–like the last set of tires that Arlen Vanke raced it on. In 1968, the Super Stock option was a race-only package put together by Mopar, with so-equipped vehicles being shipped to the Hurst plant for final assembly. This one’s got the 426 Hemi built by Vanke himself with the crossram intake and dual-quad Holleys along with an epic list of other performance goodies–it required a factory-relocated right-hand shock tower, master cylinder, and battery just to accommodate all the hugeness. It’s amazing to think that back in the day, if you had enough money you could walk into a dealership and order one of these. More incredible still is that Best of Show Automotive now wants $1.1M for this historic Barracuda. Will they get it? Check out the auction here!

Continue reading "Arlen Vanke’s ’68 Super Stock Barracuda For Sale on eBay" »

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

There are few cooler guys or cars on the planet than Don Prudhomme and his killer restored 1970 ‘Cuda flopper. It is the car that launched the Snake and Mongoose rivalry that packed drag strips from sea to shining sea for years and launched Don Prudhomme and Tom McEwen into super stardom. In this video, Jay Leno and Snake check out the car and the incredible transporter it rides around on. Ace tipster Darr Hawthorne pointed us in the direction of this video.

The interesting thing that not everyone may know is that this tandem, the car and the truck, are going up for sale at Barrett Jackson this winter. The truck, as you will see in the video, carries the original crew shirts, Prudhomme’s original driving suit, and a spare, period correct Hemi. This one will probably be the highest bid item at BJ 2010. It is going to bring a fortune.

By Brian Lohnes

BangShift.com

We’ll jump right to it and tell you that if you’re in a hurry, skip to the last 30 seconds or so of the video to see and hear why Ronnie Sox was called “Mr. 4Speed.” Its is absolutely wild and proof that there are guys who can simply operate a manual transmission and then there were guys born to work a manual transmission. Sox was the latter. He also seems to have the “never lift, Southern-doorslammer, keep it to the wood” mentality that we love so much.

Nothing else to say. Ronnie Sox was the freakin’ man. Just the sight of him careening down this bumpy, cow path of a drag strip, grabbing gears the whole way makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Here’s the ‘Cuda in happier times. Click through to Ozzy’s ride page to see what happened next…

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

The 7th Annual Holley NHRA National Hot Rod Reunion will be held from June 19-21 at Beech Bend Park in Bowling Green, Kentucky. A highlight of this “3-day festival of speed, hot rods and American automotive enthusiasm” will be the Mopar Hemi Challenge, featuring a new ’68 Barracuda from 2008 Series Champ Charlie Wescott Jr. Full details at Museum.NHRA.com

My buddy Scott Smith was at Mopars At The Strip in Vegas this weekend. Phil Painter, the organizer for MATS, decided to invite any current owner of an original LO23/BO23 1968 Hemi Dart or 1968 Hemi Barracuda to attend a 40th anniversary get together. He also invited many of the cars original owners/drivers who were Super Stock Racers from back in the 60s.

Some of the bigger Mopar driver names from back in the day included Bill Stiles, Arlen Vanke, Dick Olfield, Judy Lilly, Don Grother, Shirley Shahan, and other Hemi legends such as Tom Hoover (the inventor of the Chrysler Hemi) and Buddy Martin (the "Martin" in Sox & Martin). These people all showed up and signed memorabilia for attendees all weekend, and Scott reports that it was a really nice bunch of people. I have eleven more pics Scott took of these awesome rides after the jump.

Continue reading "Mopar Super Stock 40 Year Reunion At Vegas MATS" »