Original hemi dart information

[marfen]

Originally Posted by beekool

was that jack thomas or charlie castaldo? picking up the car!

They all look the same don't they.
Okay, the first pic of the dart not yet loaded is definitely Jack Thomas's dart as the pic was taken and photo credit given to Jim Brooks, who helped Jack out with his SuperStocks, check out the books, Jim is always in pics with Jack and the cars.
The Castaldo car being loaded behind the wagon has visible door jam black overspray, the HOT sheet not visible and the sheet with the Assembly number is in a different spot than on Jack's dart.
When we'd meet Jack at Hemi reunions he'd show us these pics. Great guy.That dart is one of the very best preserved.
I'm sure lots of first owners took pics of their very expensive superstock when they picked it up and I'm sure they were all wondering why they spent so much for a car that didn't have paint and needed so much prep to race.
Fortunately for us these pics exist of Jack's , Charlie's , Bagshaw's, etc.

[Liteweight]

Originally Posted by muscle_car_fan

Hi Daryl! Nice to find this thread, have some catching up to see everything here! Dan

Great to have you over here Dan. Enjoy your visit. There's enough here to keep you busy for awhile. The complete Nostalgia based forum was initiated because of this thread. It's been going for quite a long time as evidenced by the plus 1,000,000 views and over 4,000 replies.
A lot of the original pictures have dropped off over time on this thread unfortunately but luckily we have our own personal inhouse resident by the name of Charlie A. who has taken upon himself to ensure this thread is kept up. Thankyou Charlie for fillin in the big gaps I am leaving behind.

liteweight

[Liteweight]

Originally Posted by fullmetaljacket

Here's The Manhattan Speed structure nowadays. There used to be a garage door opening to the far left of the front of the building where another black and grey looking window door is now. This is where they brought in cars to repair,install,modify and store. That Dart might have lived in that hole from time to time.
I'll search for some more flicks from the original store owners. I can smell 'em.
I mean this story is getting at me as well since this was my neighborhood.

Hey Lee
great to see you back here bud!!!! Glad you haven't given up on me or my quest yet. It's been a long freakin haul with still many gaps that still need filling.

liteweight

[Liteweight]

The pic of the LO being loaded on the trailer is Charlie Castaldo's first Dart which was a stick car. He rolled this car @ E Town in 69. The Dart pictured with Charlie crouched down by the front fender is the Palmer Dodge LO that Tom Crutchfield originally owned with Lynn Balyck (sp). This car is currently owned by Tom Lee & is residing in NY.

I had the opportunity with speaking with John Castaldo (Charlie's son) a few weeks ago thanks to a lead from Jimi Vignogna trying to get more information on Charlies Racing operation back then. Mostly to see if he possibly had a 3rd Dart that was never campaigned.
Charlie did an interview with Super Stock and Drag Illustrated back in 1971 describing his race operation and that he was looking at campaigning a legal SS/AA car for 1971. It has never come to light after the article and Jimi And I both thought because of Jimi seeing Charlies name on my doors back in 1980 that possibly my car could of been Charlies 3rd Dart. I was thinking that this might fill in the gap between it being The Manhattan Speed Parts Dart, then disappearing in 1969 early 70? till the day the Vignogna's purchased it in the late 70's early 80's.


I am still looking into this as a possibility but from the information I have got from John Castaldo does not support this theory presently.
liteweight

[Liteweight]

here is an interesting pic of a just delivered Canadian BO29 which Fank Elliot eventually purchased. Notice the lack of supports inside the hood scoop. They musta missed this one.

liteweight

[Charlie A]

Jack Thomas:

[Charlie A]

Bill Bagshaw "Red Light Bandit":

[Charlie A]

"Red Light Bandit"

[Charlie A]

[Charlie A]

This group of pics for "That Dart" are from the "A bodies" website.