Rainy sunday & muscle cars and dodge dart flowers

[1978 NYB]

This is a true story

　My summer, fall and winter of 1968 and into the spring of 1969 was spent keeping my head below the sandbags in South Viet Nam. I was able to convince my brother to send a car magazine now and then and dreamed about the Hemi GTX that was destined to be mine upon return to the world, (that means home to a GI). Well, I survived all the bad moons and returned home to Lincoln Park, (a downriver sub of Detroit) in March of 1969 where I was glad to be reunited with my trusty 1966 triple black Plymouth Satellite 383 4speed.

Will, Thanks for your service during some difficult times!!!! The TET Offensive and fighting in Nam in 1968/1969 resulted in the most vicious and deadly firefights during the entire War.
I bet that Freedom Bird back to the World was the prettiest sight you had there.

I salute you!!!

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[bluefury361]

A12 Roadrunner.......

WILL, any photos of that car?


Heres a shot taken on day one, still wearing the Dodge dog dish caps.
And a couple more with the Anson Sprint wheels I had mounted shortly after.
I still have the window sticker, delivery key tag and salesmans business card.
Sorry about the quality.... old pictures.
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[1978 NYB]

Beautiful A12!!!

 

[cm23uoc]

Even a 2dr. post and solely optioned out for go. Pretty much the way I would have liked it, would have skipped the Torquflite though. I like the dog dishes better than the plain actual A12 look. Metallic paint was no extra charge ?

http://www.musclecarsociety.com/plymouth/road-runner/1969-440-road-runner Just came up with this one by coincidence but it's a hardtop.

 

[detmatt]

That is a great story about a nice car. He must know if it still exists by the registries unless of course it's sitting in some garage in Detroit unregistered and rotting away.
Did you sell it and when?
Of course, thank you for your brave service back in Nam!

 

[polara71]

Yeah, dont stop there Will, we want part two of the cars story with you.

 

[polara71]

Nice post Bob, your the only one that could have expressed it like that

 

[70NPORT]

Wow, its like a window into the past of MOPAR history. Great that you had the wherewithal to take pictures for prosperity. I bet you weren't thinking about 40 plus yrs into the future, lol.

Oh and more importantly thank you for your service and putting yourself in harms way to protect the way of life we enjoy...today.




And yes. More pics please!!

 

[commando1]

I salute you!!!​

Goes without saying.

 

[bluefury361]

Wow, its like a window into the past of MOPAR history. Great that you had the wherewithal to take pictures for prosperity. I bet you weren't thinking about 40 plus yrs into the future, lol.

SO true....! In 1969 I figured you could always just go buy another one. I had thoughts of trading the A12 for a 70 HEMI Cuda less then a year later. Too much money though.
It was my intention to add a cam, headers and a few mods and class race the Roadrunner. Then I got hooked up with a fellow named Wally Booth who had landed a deal with Dodge to campaign a 69 SS/E street hemi Super Bee. I crewed for him throughout the 69 racing season and never had much time for anything but the ocasional street race with the A12. I never changed anything except the wheels. I kept the car for 2 1/2 years, interest changed, insurance went up and I sold it.
It has not surfaced and is not regestered in the A12 regestry last I checked.

 

[1978 NYB]

Ok Will, a million questions again....

I bet racing that Hemi was fun. Do you recall ET and speed? What was done to that Bee for the strip? Do you know what happened to that Hemi Bee? What did you get after the R/R?

I didn't think twice when I traded my 69 383 Bee in on the brand new 73 Ralleye Challenger...disc brakes, electronic ignition, 340 Mag, Torqueflite on the floor, am/fm, etc. R/T was dropped in 1973 and called a Ralleye.

 

[cm23uoc]

That's the point where the internet has its limits. This would be the point where a person to person chat with a couple of drinks would be great. But at least you can exchange messages from thousands of miles away.

I*d be interested if someone knows what brand the front rims on that 69 Hemi Bee were.

 

[bluefury361]

Class racing back in the day....

I*d be interested if someone knows what brand the front rims on that 69 Hemi Bee were.[/QUOTE]

Those wheels were Fentons..... We used them because they were FREE....! They came as part of the deal to any factory backed Mopar racer in the day. If you find pictures of mopar S/S cars from the day most will have these wheels. Just had to place a sticker on the car somewhere.

Ok Will, a million questions again....

I bet racing that Hemi was fun. Do you recall ET and speed? What was done to that Bee for the strip? Do you know what happened to that Hemi Bee? What did you get after the R/R?

Yes.... It was fun, although not very profitable, (for me anyways). We were giving the use of a new 69 Monoco station wagon as a tow car, color matched the race car.

Best I can remember was a 10:99 in the Dodge, at a national NHRA meet in York Pa. It was a record at the time. Wally and Dick Arrons owned Diamond engines in Detroit, (Wally still does... In Sterling hts now I think). Wally built the engine. We did a bunch of suspension mods on the car, (some legal),
The car started life as a 383 4 speed. Wally picked the car up at a local dealer, drove it home, and we had the engine, trans, rear end and interior stripped out of it that night.
Last summer I received a phone call from a fellow up in Ill or Indiana somewhere who told me he had found the old Super Bee and bought it. It had been sold without an engine and then used as a street/strip project car for many years and then parked in a garage and left.
He sent some pictures.. (attached). I told him some stories I remembered from that time and steared him to some other folks who were involved with the car. It was cool to see that it has survived.




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[commando1]

I'm running a gazillion memories through my head right now.
We're GOING to have to chew the fat.

 

[70NPORT]

Ohhhh man, I'm getting SUCH a kick outta this, look all that -- real LIVE pictures from that era....all that Detroit iron lined up there ...V8's...HURST PERFORMANCE, NHRA....

I'm sad now.

 

[bluefury361]

Ohhhh man, I'm getting SUCH a kick outta this, look all that -- real LIVE pictures from that era....all that Detroit iron lined up there ...V8's...HURST PERFORMANCE, NHRA....

If you look hard at the picture of the staging lanes you'll pick out "The Dragon Lady" shirley shahan..... Dick Aarons S/S 69 Camaro.... "The Fastbacks" Mustang, that was Jack Roush.... and several more I can't place right now.

 

[bluefury361]

1969 nhra summer nationals

Here are a few shots I took near the Indy timing tower during the summer nationals in 1969. Plus some from York US 30 Dragway and Detroit Dragway.
ld_school:

 

[70NPORT]

Fantastic, looks like you were right in the middle of the action!

 

[1978 NYB]

Here are a few shots I took near the Indy timing tower during the summer nationals in 1969. Plus some from York US 30 Dragway and Detroit Dragway.
ld_school:

Will, you've had a great journey so far!!! That's cool!!!

 

[detmatt]

Great pics, love those vintage shots!