Your new musclecar

[Michael Beard]

I was born too late for the musclecar era, but when I turned 16 in the fall of '89, dad bought me a '71 Duster 225 /6. After buying the car and putting new brakes on it, along with some bondo and spraybombs, he had about $800 in it. I got my driver's license the following summer, and had it for 16 days before my first race. It ran in the 19's. I managed to win a couple of races, and the following winter, we rebuilt the motor with a one-step hotter than stock cam. Ran mid 18's for the most part. 1991 was my first full year of racing, where I won 11 races to capture the trophy class championship.



Dad took the car over several years later, and put a small block in it, while he built a '74 Duster 360 strictly for racing for me to drive. In 1998, I was footbraking the '74 Duster in Super/Pro, so I ran most of the season in Heavy Eliminator (Footbrake class) with the '71 Duster, running mid 14's, and won my third straight Heavy ET Championship. Dad got it into the 13's in street legal trim before parking it. It's still sitting at home, and I've been eyeing it up as a candidate for my crate motor drivetrain...