Original hemi dart information

mopar68 · 04-19-2012, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liteweight

HM
It has been a thought, but locating someone who has kept those ND will be a challenge in itself.

Mostly early-1970s thru 1977.

M68

Liteweight · 04-20-2012, 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mopar68

Mostly early-1970s thru 1977.

M68

Well, well well, what do we have here????
and in the years I'm looking for tooo,
Hmmmmm----- wonder how I could convince the owner of these to do some searching.
just thinkin' out loud here M68--heh,heh.heh

liteweight

Hemi Moose · 04-20-2012, 12:55 PM

If those back issues were mine I'd start looking back from the last known date that Lou Vignogna owned the car...and look for some detailed items on the car such as the Cragar Super Tricks, or anything else that sticks out on the body from the old photos posted earlier...I did notice that there was a big hole drilled in the dash just below the speedo gauges probably for a mechanical tach...

One thing I also noticed was the warped hood scoop in the earlier photos, was this the original hood or was it changed when Lou owned the car, because I recall the story that Hennessy told that he replaced it because it had some other type of scoop molded onto the original hood...so which hood was on there when it was sold because it doesn't make any sense, it's two different stories.

Maybe Liteweight can enlighten us on some more things to look for on the '68 Hemi Dart from any old National Dragster issues...

.

68hemiss · 04-21-2012, 10:55 AM

OK guys, Over the years I have done quite a bit of research trying to find some info on the history of Daryl's Dart. Here is what I have come up with.

Lou - told me that when he went to buy the car it was in an underground parking garage of some apartments in Mt Kisco, NY. A young kid owned it . I asked him where he had heard about the car and he told me that a friend of his (at the time) named Big Al in CT (I am pretty sure that this is the guy who builds blower motors) told him about the car and that they went there together. I called Big Al and he said he doesn'r remember any Hemi Dart - Lou also mentioned that he and Al didn't get along any more.

I thought I would focus my search in Mt Kisco - I called Mt Kisco Auto Parts - a counter guy there told me that he might know someone who knew about the car but after several calls - no luck. I was told to check with Richie Mattoni who originally ran Mt Kisco Auto parts and machine shop. I tracked Richie down in TX - He runs Storm-Vulcan. Ritchie remembered the car - said a guy who ran the gas station across the street (around the corner from the old movie house and down the street from the coffee shop/beer joint that Frank Sinatra owned - feel like I have actually been there - lol) had the car sitting along side the station. He mentioned that the only underground parking garage in Mt Kisco at that time was down the side street from shop/store. He couldn't remember the guys name and told me to call his brother and a few other people. I called his brother and he also couldn't remember the guys name but remembered the car - he said they used to call him rubberface.

I called TonySaracini who ran a Duster/Demon Stocker/SS/Bracket car that was originally Bill Davitt's car (big Mopar guy in the area). Tony remembered the Dart - said it was black with silver or gray on it, he had another scoop attached to the top of the Hemi scoop. He remembers teasing the guy calling him "two scoop Lido" - in reference to the Rasin Bran commercials of the time (two scoops of rasins) He said the guy didn't really race it - it just sat next to the station. He said that him and some friends got the guy to bring the Dart to the track with him and some friends - they all brought their cars. They were bracket racing - he said the car wasn't that fast - 11's and the guy wasn't very serious about it - just having some fun. He said that they went to Englishtown and another track in NY - have to check my notes - might have been New York National (not sure it was open at this time??)

I was finally able to get the names of the guys who ran the gas station after many, many calls to various people in Mt Kisco and people who lived in Mt Kisco. It seems that most of the people who used to live in Mt Kisco do not live there anymore.Brothers Eddie and Ernie Smith ran the station - I belive Eddie owned the Dart. I called the listing for Eddie Smith in Mt Kisco - thinking I had found the missing peice of this puzzle - and I got a 90- year old lady - who was very helpful - she remembered Eddie as worked on her car at the station. She said that when he stopped running the station he was working in Richfield - but she was sure that he didn't move as his family had a nice big house on Ward Ave in Mt Kisco. I tracked down the address and phone number - no luck - he doesn,t live there anymore. Good luck finding an Eddie Smith - this is not the same West Virginia Hemi Eddie Smith.

My, guess is that the car was local in the mid 70's when Eddie bought it - he obviously didn't buy it to race - but it was a rare, neat car. Since he didn't race it and they weren't worth a whole lot at this time I doubt that he traveled far to buy it. The Pomona Speed Dart that Paul has mentioned seems the most promising. It was black, not very fast, local to the area - owned by another repair shop, early 70's?????

This information has taken years to put together with hundereds of dead ends - so if I seem a little skeptical at some of the references - I apolagize - I have a ton of work into this car's history - more than any other Dart/Barracuda that I have researched. Just need a new lead/angle to go any farther.

Mark J
1968 Hemi S/S Registry

marfen · 04-21-2012, 11:08 AM

Mark, As always your endless hours of research and investigation never fail to impress me.

ssaahemifan · 04-21-2012, 11:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marfen

Mark, As always your endless hours of research and investigation never fail to impress me.

No Doubt .. I can't imagine how frustrating it is, but you gotta have some great stories and huge phone bills.

When's the book coming out ??

Hemi Moose · 04-22-2012, 05:18 PM

Quote:

- said it was black with silver or gray on it, he had another scoop attached to the top of the Hemi scoop.

This is the first time I'm hearing that the car was painted 'Black'...as if it wasn't hard enough to track someone down, the previous owners last name was 'Smith'.

mopar68 · 04-23-2012, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Liteweight

Well, well well, what do we have here????
and in the years I'm looking for tooo,
Hmmmmm----- wonder how I could convince the owner of these to do some searching.
just thinkin' out loud here M68--heh,heh.heh

liteweight

The entire collection could be yours if you're interested.

M68

marfen · 04-24-2012, 12:59 AM

Where the LO23 and BO29 engines painted Street Hemi Orange or the lighter Race Hemi Orange originally?

Liteweight · 04-26-2012, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marfen

Where the LO23 and BO29 engines painted Street Hemi Orange or the lighter Race Hemi Orange originally?

Dave
I believe the 64,65 cars were race orange, & the 68 cars were street orange.

I'm going to repost this decal picture again, in hopes of someone that'll respond.
My current plan to this search is to locate the track in the NED that actually held this particular championship. The location is probably in an old National Dragster, Popular Hot Rodding, Hot Rod magazine,etc,etc.. There could be a picture, or even a name attached to the driver of this 68 Hemi Dart. Not sure but don't think there were alot of these cars that competed in a bracket race back then with hemi's still in them. I know this one did, because the original K member was still in the car when Hennessey purchased it in 85.
I would REALLY appreciate if someone could have a look at their old collections from 1977

liteweight

04-20-2012, 12:55 PM	#3
Hemi Moose VIP Member Join Date: Jan 2010 Posts: 2,824 Likes: 0 Liked 12 Times in 12 Posts	Re: Original hemi dart information If those back issues were mine I'd start looking back from the last known date that Lou Vignogna owned the car...and look for some detailed items on the car such as the Cragar Super Tricks, or anything else that sticks out on the body from the old photos posted earlier...I did notice that there was a big hole drilled in the dash just below the speedo gauges probably for a mechanical tach... One thing I also noticed was the warped hood scoop in the earlier photos, was this the original hood or was it changed when Lou owned the car, because I recall the story that Hennessy told that he replaced it because it had some other type of scoop molded onto the original hood...so which hood was on there when it was sold because it doesn't make any sense, it's two different stories. Maybe Liteweight can enlighten us on some more things to look for on the '68 Hemi Dart from any old National Dragster issues... . Last edited by Hemi Moose; 04-20-2012 at 12:59 PM.

04-21-2012, 10:55 AM	#4
68hemiss Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 167 Likes: 0 Liked 1 Time in 1 Post	Re: Original hemi dart information OK guys, Over the years I have done quite a bit of research trying to find some info on the history of Daryl's Dart. Here is what I have come up with. Lou - told me that when he went to buy the car it was in an underground parking garage of some apartments in Mt Kisco, NY. A young kid owned it . I asked him where he had heard about the car and he told me that a friend of his (at the time) named Big Al in CT (I am pretty sure that this is the guy who builds blower motors) told him about the car and that they went there together. I called Big Al and he said he doesn'r remember any Hemi Dart - Lou also mentioned that he and Al didn't get along any more. I thought I would focus my search in Mt Kisco - I called Mt Kisco Auto Parts - a counter guy there told me that he might know someone who knew about the car but after several calls - no luck. I was told to check with Richie Mattoni who originally ran Mt Kisco Auto parts and machine shop. I tracked Richie down in TX - He runs Storm-Vulcan. Ritchie remembered the car - said a guy who ran the gas station across the street (around the corner from the old movie house and down the street from the coffee shop/beer joint that Frank Sinatra owned - feel like I have actually been there - lol) had the car sitting along side the station. He mentioned that the only underground parking garage in Mt Kisco at that time was down the side street from shop/store. He couldn't remember the guys name and told me to call his brother and a few other people. I called his brother and he also couldn't remember the guys name but remembered the car - he said they used to call him rubberface. I called TonySaracini who ran a Duster/Demon Stocker/SS/Bracket car that was originally Bill Davitt's car (big Mopar guy in the area). Tony remembered the Dart - said it was black with silver or gray on it, he had another scoop attached to the top of the Hemi scoop. He remembers teasing the guy calling him "two scoop Lido" - in reference to the Rasin Bran commercials of the time (two scoops of rasins) He said the guy didn't really race it - it just sat next to the station. He said that him and some friends got the guy to bring the Dart to the track with him and some friends - they all brought their cars. They were bracket racing - he said the car wasn't that fast - 11's and the guy wasn't very serious about it - just having some fun. He said that they went to Englishtown and another track in NY - have to check my notes - might have been New York National (not sure it was open at this time??) I was finally able to get the names of the guys who ran the gas station after many, many calls to various people in Mt Kisco and people who lived in Mt Kisco. It seems that most of the people who used to live in Mt Kisco do not live there anymore.Brothers Eddie and Ernie Smith ran the station - I belive Eddie owned the Dart. I called the listing for Eddie Smith in Mt Kisco - thinking I had found the missing peice of this puzzle - and I got a 90- year old lady - who was very helpful - she remembered Eddie as worked on her car at the station. She said that when he stopped running the station he was working in Richfield - but she was sure that he didn't move as his family had a nice big house on Ward Ave in Mt Kisco. I tracked down the address and phone number - no luck - he doesn,t live there anymore. Good luck finding an Eddie Smith - this is not the same West Virginia Hemi Eddie Smith. My, guess is that the car was local in the mid 70's when Eddie bought it - he obviously didn't buy it to race - but it was a rare, neat car. Since he didn't race it and they weren't worth a whole lot at this time I doubt that he traveled far to buy it. The Pomona Speed Dart that Paul has mentioned seems the most promising. It was black, not very fast, local to the area - owned by another repair shop, early 70's????? This information has taken years to put together with hundereds of dead ends - so if I seem a little skeptical at some of the references - I apolagize - I have a ton of work into this car's history - more than any other Dart/Barracuda that I have researched. Just need a new lead/angle to go any farther. Mark J 1968 Hemi S/S Registry

04-21-2012, 11:08 AM	#5
marfen Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 208 Likes: 0 Liked 16 Times in 9 Posts	Re: Original hemi dart information Mark, As always your endless hours of research and investigation never fail to impress me.

04-24-2012, 12:59 AM	#9
marfen Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 208 Likes: 0 Liked 16 Times in 9 Posts	Re: Original hemi dart information Where the LO23 and BO29 engines painted Street Hemi Orange or the lighter Race Hemi Orange originally?