Original hemi dart information

[Paul Ceasrine]

W J,
Your telling us that when you went down the track at Orange, you had to dodge para-troopers landing near the traps.
Closed in 1970, at the pinnacle of drag racing. Shaky management, or was there more money in Piper Cub and Cessna landings.

7) Joe Jill, "Speedwin Engineering", Happauge, L.I. New York
Off Jericho Turnpike.....(SS/BA)
Purchsed new from Ebbett's Field Dodge, Brooklyn, New York
Paid $5146 (MSRP) Manufacurers Suggested Retail Price
Ran primarily at New York National, and WestHampton (Suffolk), L.I. NY, Mostly local S/S stuff. Beautifully detailed car. White-base w/blue-green lacing down the sides. Ran a best of 10.66 in 69'.
Pictures in many S/S Magazines 68' thru 71'.
Joe Jill, also had another Speedwin location in Mineola, L.I., New York
Co-sponsored by Action Transmission
Joe Jill built, the Hemi engine for Charlie Castaldo (first SS/B car).
Also, was with Charlie Castaldo at the 1968 NHRA Springnationals
in Englishtown (6/14-6/16).
Was Charlie's engine tech. Photo's of the two of them at E-Town
in Nov. 68' Cars Magazine article.

PC

[John Leichtamer Jr]

the late John Wetling owned an uncut dart and a clone cuda. both were sold, the dart said Humin Hemi on the doors John was from the Ft.Lauderdale area. Anybody know where these cars went??

Hammer

[Bill Rolik]

Well, I told a white lie. One more photo!

I have a copy of a photo given to me by long-time NJ friend "Hemi" John Pierson, who purchased this Cuda from a Chicago area owner. The photo shows the original paint scheme, but when John acquired it, it was repainted, as I recall, orange and white. It was called the "Instant Cuda". John sold it years ago, and it is reported to be somewhere in western PA, existing as a Pro Street car.

Paul,

I was closer to West Nyack than you think: Before Spring Valley Dodge, I worked at Rockland CP on 304, which amazingly is still a Chrysler store. All of my "road tests" of performance cars in for service were "conducted" on the lower end of 304 by Lederle Labs. Also, my pasta choice for the meal will be farfalle (bowties).

Bill Rolik

1514 SS

[68hemiss]

Originally Posted by Bill Rolik

Well, I told a white lie. One more photo!

I have a copy of a photo given to me by long-time NJ friend "Hemi" John Pierson, who purchased this Cuda from a Chicago area owner. The photo shows the original paint scheme, but when John acquired it, it was repainted, as I recall, orange and white. It was called the "Instant Cuda". John sold it years ago, and it is reported to be somewhere in western PA, existing as a Pro Street car.

Paul,

I was closer to West Nyack than you think: Before Spring Valley Dodge, I worked at Rockland CP on 304, which amazingly is still a Chrysler store. All of my "road tests" of performance cars in for service were "conducted" on the lower end of 304 by Lederle Labs. Also, my pasta choice for the meal will be farfalle (bowties).

Bill Rolik



1514 SS

Bill,
I sent those pics to John! Any idea who owned the S/S 68' Hemi Barracuda from Idlewild Motors in Springfield Gardens, NY or the one from Brodlieb Motors in Woodmere, LI, NY? These wree bought new there.
Mark Janaky
Dart4261964@yahoo.com

[Jimmy R Parker]

68hemiss,

I'm pretty sure it was Max Hurley that was having wheelbase issues in tech.

I apologize in advance to Mr. Hurley if I'm wrong. Max was one of the heavy hitters at the time and I'm sure he did not go to Indy unless he was convinced his car was legal.

I brought it up because I was curious if the wheelbase modification was performed on other Darts at the time.

Jimmy

[Frito]

Originally Posted by Jimmy R Parker

68hemiss,

I'm pretty sure it was Max Hurley that was having wheelbase issues in tech.

I apologize in advance to Mr. Hurley if I'm wrong. Max was one of the heavy hitters at the time and I'm sure he did not go to Indy unless he was convinced his car was legal.

I brought it up because I was curious if the wheelbase modification was performed on other Darts at the time.

Jimmy

In the staging lanes at Bristol in the late 70's, Max asked me to set in his car and hold the brake while he went to the little boys room. The back of the lanes ran uphill and Max did not have park in is trans. He kept a small piece of 2x4 for parking on less hilly ground. I would say the wheelbase issue was him and I am sure he had talked it over with nhra first. A first class guy. He ran with the heavy hitters of that time (Bagwell, Earwood, Kinnett) with a LOT less budget!!

[marfen]

Figure I'll wade into Liteweight's thread here re NE based Hemi Darts/Barracudas (the cold beverages are on me next time we get together Liteweight!) since my dart has been mentioned a few times and there's a wealth of info coming out on this thread. It's the car that may be the Gene O'Neill 4 spd car. Here is the earliest pic from 83/84 that I know for sure is my car when it was for sale in Quebec (Reynald Prieur), it went to Nova Scotia (Richard Boyd), John Brown (Pennsylvania) and a few more collectors until I acquired it. It is a first run VIN car. Any of you NE folks recall a dart heading north back then and who may have owned it?

[Bill Rolik]

Originally Posted by 68hemiss

Bill,
I sent those pics to John! Any idea who owned the S/S 68' Hemi Barracuda from Idlewild Motors in Springfield Gardens, NY or the one from Brodlieb Motors in Woodmere, LI, NY? These wree bought new there.
Mark Janaky
Dart4261964@yahoo.com

Mark,

Those cars MAY have spent most of their activity at tracks like New York National Speedway. I don't remember even seeing either one at Island, and I only went to E-Town for the first time in 71. Maybe they had already left the area by then. Were Brooklyn Heavy or Ron Lyles involved with a Cuda, as opposed to a Dart like the Speedwin car?

Bill Rolik

1514 SS

[68hemiss]

Originally Posted by John Leichtamer Jr

the late John Wetling owned an uncut dart and a clone cuda. both were sold, the dart said Humin Hemi on the doors John was from the Ft.Lauderdale area. Anybody know where these cars went??

Hammer

Yep!
The car spent a few years in Chicago and recently was for sale in MN.
Mark J

[W J]

Originally Posted by Paul Ceasrine

W J,
Your telling us that when you went down the track at Orange, you had to dodge para-troopers landing near the traps.
Closed in 1970, at the pinnacle of drag racing. Shaky management, or was there more money in Piper Cub and Cessna landings.

7) Joe Jill, "Speedwin Engineering", Mineola, L.I. New York (SS/BA)
Purchsed new from Ebbett's Field Dodge, Brooklyn, New York
Ran primarily at New York National, and WestHampton (Suffolk), L.I. NY, Mostly local S/S stuff. Beautifully detailed car. White-base w/blue-green lacing down the sides. Ran a best of 10.66 in 69'.
Pictures in many S/S Magazines 68' thru 71'.
Recently located and re-stored.

PC

Yes Paul, believe-it-or-not, sometimes race action had to be stopped at the Orange, Ma. (NHRA cert.) track back in the late '60's to let a sport parachutist land who had blown off course when trying to hit his landing target at another area of the airport. I believe new housing being built in the area, and airport/dragstrip problems between the FAA and Orange strip promotors is what closed the track. Connecticut Dragway was also becoming very popular w/ New England area racers. Orange was 1 of 3 tracks run by the New England Timing Assoc., others being a track at Sanford, Me. and also a track at Charlestown, Rhode Island. A couple of NETA people ended up buying the property in Epping, NH and building New England Dragway, I believe. Regarding Bob Ramstrom's '65 Hemi Coronet SS/BA "Bloodhound": Car's name was changed to "Flintstone Charger", then sold to and campaigned by Gene O'Neill, owner of "Gene's Speed Equipment" of Worcester, Ma. Gene's '68 Hemi Dart came shortly thereafter. There's a great full color 4 page article on the "Flintstone Charger" Hemi Coronet in the July 2008 issue of "Musclecar Enthusiast". My good friend, Steve O'Neill, now owns this beautiful piece of early Hemi-history. Keep the hits coming, Paul...... WJ