Original hemi dart information

[Liteweight]

Originally Posted by Hemi Moose

Is this the other '68 Hemi Dart that you were talking about...it does say Wildfire on the front fenders.

Even tho there are similarites to the original WildFire, like the shackes & name, In an old email I have from Mark Janaky, this is believed not to be an original car. It also has the trunk finish panel ( which is easy to install mind you) . No roll bar that I can see either

liteweight

[mopar68]

Lots of footage of red & silver Wild Fire Hemi Dart in this vintage video:





M68

P.S. I just noticed: blue & white and red & silver Wildfire Darts both have the same Dodge Superbee painted on quarter panel.

[Hemi Moose]

So who currently owns the '68 Hemi Dart called Wildfire?

I also recall one of Mark J's earlier posts saying it wasn't a real car...

Are all 3 photos of the same car or not?

[JCShiels]

Ok here is what I remember about the different wheels on the car, and please understand that I'm really reaching back in my memory. First understand that the owners were not well funded - they were dealer mechanics not rich guys so unless a sponsor funded the purchase of extras like special wheels, they could do without them. I dimly recall something about them losing the use of the ETs or Americans that were on the blue/silver version of the car hence the steels went back on. I remember better them bending the offset in the long shackles so they could put a larger slick under the car. They had ordered wider rear wheels (steel) to accommodate the larger tire and I remember they had to get a special backspacing so the tires did not protrude beyond the fenders. I have a total blank regarding the roll bar, but it is possible that they removed the 5 point when they sold the car and the new owner put in the 3 point. To directly answer your question about the Cragars, no I don't remember ever seeing them and I believe they were installed by a later owner. Actually I don't remember seeing a color photo of the car (in the red/silver paint) from the time when Tim and Bob owned/raced it. All the color photos I have seen are from a later time (1971 and later) including the engine compartment shot.

[rr-sweden]

Hi found two more are they real ones?

[Hemi Moose]

Originally Posted by Liteweight

Liteweight

Just figured I'd give this a bump to refresh every ones memory...so does this thing look familiar to anyone?

[lionshead]

page 148 scatpack dart was owned and driven by glen warfel jax. fl. him & wife dana have a mopar salvage deal going still.raced at gainesvill fl in 70s &80s there was also a sox& martin hemi bo29 owned by tom shively at about the same period constant winner he lived in ocala fl.

[Hemi Moose]

Originally Posted by Hemi Moose

You know I was wondering about this for awhile now, is it me or am I seeing things...in some of the old photos I'm seeing splashes of a blueish - greenish color by the door decal, splashed on the side of the dash, on the door jamb by the door stricker etc, or maybe it could be just primer...it could be that the photo's are just old and the color is off, but it sure looks like a different color to me in some of those shots, because I see traces of blueish - greenish spots and also some red - brown under that black paint, I'm just sayin'...also I don't know if I mentioned this before but have you ever tried chipping off the old paint off the rocker seam lip that hangs down, where the floor pan meets...any old paint is usually caked on there pretty good if it hasn't been blasted already, and judging by the old photos it looks like the rocker panels weren't touched.

Well does anyone else here see what I see, and think what I think !

I knew I saw traces of blue paint on this thing before...

Look real close by the drivers door striker...

.

[JCShiels]

Daryl,
Just a point of interest, I was looking at the 2 B+W photos of Wild Fire to see if I could tell what rollbar set up it had at that point in time and I realised that the guy that painted the car is in the picture. If you have the one that shows the car with Bob leaning over the engine on the driver's side and Tim on the passenger's side you see a man standing behind Tim, he is missing his left hand, that is Finley Jackson. Mark J has the photo if you don't have it.

[Liteweight]

Originally Posted by Hemi Moose

Well does anyone else here see what I see, and think what I think !

I knew I saw traces of blue paint on this thing before...

Look real close by the drivers door striker...

.

hey Hemi Moose
Thanx man for your continued interest in finding the history of my "unknown soldier". I really appreciate it !!!!!!
I've looked all these pictures over many times searching for something I'd missed. I haven't seen the blue before, but I think I see where you mention. Honestly, I don't think we can trust some of the colors that come through in these old pictures. There is alot of that blue/green hue in them, so I really can't say for sure there's anything there. The rest of the jambs look to be the original black that was applied by ma mopar in 68. The black on the rockers was applied by Paul Pittman when he painted it white for Lou Vignonia in 85.

All it's previous colors were eventually blasted off previous to being restored by Tim Hennessey.
I have a couple pictures on a PDF file that were sent to me by Paul Pittman of the car after it was chemically paint stripped previous to it's white paint in 1985. I've been tring to convert them over to a jpg file, but have been unable to do so. They clearly show the Lakewood 3 point rollbar in it, but again it's very hard to see any colors on it, just bare steel.

More to come on Wild Fire

liteweight