The First And Only Drag Test Of A 1969 426 Hemi Charger Daytona - How It And Mopar Action Came To Be
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- Опубликовано: 23 авг 2024
- Way back in the 1980s we were very involved in the magazine business and known for Drag Testing all of the hot cars of the era. But, when we decided to switch publishing companies and launch a brand new title called Mopar Action, we needed something special to kick things off. That something was a perfect, low mileage, original 1969 Hemi Daytona. And this is how it all went.
#mopar #classiccar #musclecar #magazine
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Cars Illustrated=Best Mag EVER!
Uncle is a lot like Paul Harvey in that he always looks forward. I confess that because I detest the time we live in and its insanities, I like looking back and dreaming.
Amazing how much this man has given the hot rod community. Truly saddened to not be born in an earlier era and see it all first hand. Thank you Tony
I still have all of my issues of Cars Illustrated, and I bought them new. I rode my bike to the 7-11 or the U-Totem because I wasn't yet old enough to drive. One day, a lime gold '68 Shelby GT500 KR was for sale in the dirt lot next to the 7-11, totally stock down to the mag look hubcaps, faded original paint. Asking price was $6500. What a time to be alive and a car guy.
You said you don't really like the retro stuff, but I'd love an episode solely devoted to your stories of your time in nitro
Your work back then was inspiring to us Mustang 5.0 guys. I was stoked when I duplicated your effort of getting a 5.0 into the 13s....then I got sorta serious, adding blow, eventually turbos and finally a supercharger to the old 88.
Those Mustangs were the best to drag race in the day, super light and mods were available and relatively cheap.
SOUNDS SO CRAZY TO WATCH THE MAN WHO WROTE ALL THE ARTICLES I READ BACK THEN. I still have that magazine in top drawer at my moms. Back to the futur alright !
No wonder I loved those magazine so much. You still are #1 story teller to me!
You are lucky to have experienced this we get it every now and again
I can remember going to the 4th or 5th Mopar Nationals in Milan Michigan. I only had a 2.2 Charger at the time and it ran 15 flat. I was astounded by how many wing cars were running mid 15's. I tried like crazy to get paired up to run one, but they always switched me out of line. I think it was to save the ego of the rich kids. It would've made a sweet Pic though!!
I still have a soft spot for those. Really did love my then-aging Turismo 2.2 but rust and money woes eventually caught up with the poor little guy.
Street cars always seem to be real fast until you line them up on the 1/4 mile! I’m sure I’m not the only one who thought a car was so fast! Until your track time shows up lol
@@michaeladamo1188that was surly the case in the late 80s throughout the 90s
2.2 charger running 15flat isnt stock
Those "winged" 15 second cars were prolly driven by people with no track/Christmas tree light experience with stock radials losing traction with 3:23 gears and so on.
Back in the 80s/90s, I always thought that the best car magazines came from publishers on the East coast. The only ones worth my time out of California were Car Craft and P.H.R. because they had more tech articles. I will ALWAYS prefer print magazines over online "subscriptions". Unfortunately, car magazines that are actually worth reading are hard to find in print these days.
Thanks for reading my mind and saving me the time to type that comment word for word lol😉👍
I'm into my MOPARS, Got a right hand drive Australian CH which came from the factory with a 318 now running a freshly rebuilt 440 with a Whiplash cam and straight pipes. Same body as a Polaris. One of three in the UK.
Hey Tony,
Tim here, i'm a Pontiac guy, but remember MOPAR ACTION magazine!!!......yep!!.....and its SO cool u had easy acess to E-town.........my brother knew Vince Napp personally......so i have a reasonable pedigree, for days of old.....(Boy was he bummed when Vince passed).....and his heirs, only made sure E-town went away.....so, ur flogging of a Hemi Daytona/Superbird, from MOPAR ACTION, was somethin i probly saw.......we kept on on that shit, no matter the manufacturer, as we wanted to know our competition well........maybe u dont like memorabilia, but it brings back GOOD times for me!!!....PEACE to you my brother!!!
I remember the road tests. The Lincoln LSC that was taken to Wall Street to do burnouts and an 87 or 88 Dodge Daytona Shelby Z that was coaxed to a high 14 quarter
The Wall Street Wailer!!
The MkVII & MKVIII LSCs are so under-appreciated.
Owned 5 2.2 turbo cars. First one in the 90's. Used to loved picking on 5.0's.
I never saw one at the strip, didn't know they were faster then a 5.0.@@Welcometofacsistube
Good days. I had subscriptions to all those publications ! Back when Car magazines were FUN and had GOOD writers and stories. Thank you Tony for the great memories ! BUICK Sold at least one Turbo Regal to us thanks you (25,000 in 1986 ! ) . Priceless ! Glad you are still kickin butt with cars .. don't ever stop !
I remember that issue. I was 10 years old and convinced my older brother to buy the magazine for me. He was excited bc I showed interest in cars. And that story is the one that started the sickness in me. I didn’t realize that was you. Now I know who to blame. And to thank.
I still have that issue, great stuff !
Cars illustrated, Hi Performance Mopar and Mopar Action were the best. I still subscribe to Mopar Action. Couple of my favorite stories where quater million dollar street race and the drag test between the 4 barrel vs sixpack on the 440 Dart Sport. I still go back and read them from time to time during our long New England winters. Cheers !!
Great Stuff.👍👍
New England Dragway?😃
@@MrJohnnyDistortion Love New England Dragway !! The view from up on the hill is awesome.
@paulcabezola3559
We use to go there from Lynn.
"The Elephant Sings Tonight: Beep Beep, Stomp Stomp, See the Rats Run" One of my all-time favorites. Right up there with the 6-BBL Road Runner road test where you nearly got stuck in wet grass and blew up the muffler. LOL
I remember the issue with the drag times from an '88 Daytona Shelby they tested. 14.6 I Believe. That's pretty damn good for an 80's front wheel drive four banger. I bought a totaled '89 Daytona Shelby and pulled the motor to put it into my '86 Daytona Turbo Z. I put a Mopar Super 60 turbo, cam and computer and other parts on it along with a full port/polish, larger valves, five angle valve job and a straight three inch exhaust. 3500 stall Converter and I took 300 lbs of weight off of it. After all that it ran a 12.3 at Numidia dragway on Firestone Firehawks. Bright red, t-tops, digital gauges. Looks similar to the Daytona in The Wraith. I'll never sell it😃
Had 5 2.2 turbo daytonas. Very big soft spot for those cars. Used to pick on 5.0's. If you ever want to sell yours.....
We like the retro stuff Uncle T.
This is one of your best vids yet. It goes into telling us all where you came from. That same magazine is where I first started reading your articles but the Charger was not what got my attention, it was the on on the 400 to a 470, "Build a 470 Cube Face Distorter". It was very good in that it put things into a simple easy to replicate process and the only special part was a set of pistons which back then were maybe $500, now from the right Ross dealer just under than $1000. Cheap for a 400 that could pass off for a stock 383 but eat 440s for lunch. I also loved the pic of you standing beside the Roadrunner as if to say "shissssssssssss" as if you're hiding something. I know you have plan for your channel and you want to look forward but one of these Retro videos featuring some of the old articles would be really good to put into the mix now and again and you have plenty of material.
Good job Tony. DC
Tony is humble, his magazine articles we're second to none. I read them as soon as they hit the newsstand. he could get cars to go faster than anyone else. And did it on the street! loved Every second of it.
Bought A tpi Corvette because of an article he wrote. Thanks for the memories Tony
Man you are leading a great life. That red burn out was awesome for the magazine..
I wish you would talk about the magazine days a lot more actually. Including the Mustang stuff. I’m definitely a Mopar guy especially 1st gen Road Runners, but bought a new 89 Mustang GT in part because of your tech articles on the fox bodies.
I still sorta remember reading Tony’s articles in Mopar Action at 15 years old in 1985 and loved his writing style and detailed descriptions of sounds smells and physical feedback. Later on, the Mustang articles were on point. 😊
Same. Still have my first issue with the Superbird on the cover. 👍
Fighting in the Stoplight wars of the '70s and 80s a 13 second flat car was fast. 12 second was almost unbeatable. Love the real world anecdotes.
I remember Mopar Action from back when. I never missed an issue.
it was still in print till next months issue which will be the last
I'm the same way; I write something, and I move on -- very seldom to revisit it. But every now and then, if someone requests it, I'll take a trip down memory lane. I'm an '80s kid, born in '80. I used to read my dad's MuscleCar Review mags and stuff, even back then, Shedding some light on the backstories of some vintage articles, like this one, or the Turbo Buick series, is always cool. Keep it up, Tony.
Hard to believe i am now watching the man who was involved with the mopar magazines i use to collect in the late 80's this is amazing. I probably still have that issue in a box hidden away. I just remember the picture of that burnout
I came into Mopar Action a few years after you were there. Ehrenberg became my hero with the Green Brick. They tried an event at Maple Grove, big publicity in the mag...swap meet, show...etc.
Maybe half a dozen vendors, not many cars. But Ehrenberg was there. I walked up and said "You must be E-booger". He said, with a straight face "You got a warrant?" Cracked me up.
When I was a kid on Long Island every car with a crane cam ran 10's, or at the very least low 11's. Then when we got to the track my GTO was running high 12's and beating them. I think most had no idea what an actual 10 second car would feel like. But it was fun times and great memories.
The fastest bone stock car back in the day I had ever seen was a 390 AMX that ran low 13's easily, usually with a bit of wheel spin. Easily a legit 12 second car.
Too bad American Motors was an underappreciated company. They did some good stuff!
I love these stories from your magazine days. As a kid in high school I had subscriptions to both HPM and Mopar Action. I would devour every issue, and I'm quite sure I still have this one in the basement. The burnout in the red paint was the best!
I enjoy when you talk about the magazine days. Great story.
I honestly made a wild guess of 13.90 at the beginning of the video and nailed the time of the first run (so proud of myself).
Tony has the best stories! Thanks for the memories.
Mopar Action is an awesome magazine still today!
I still have this issue of Mopar Action. I loved the article on the low deck 400 stroker engine.
I think I have that's magazine? I bought every Mopar magazine that has ever been printed. I still have most of them. My 71 Demon 340 was featured in Moperformance Magazine back in 1985 during a Muscle Car shootout at Quaker City dragstrip. Great memories and I still own that car.😊
Those old magazines were a huge part of my youth! Didn’t go anywhere without an old Mopar or car magazine back in the day. Constantly on mind were drag racing Mopars..
The good old days of American muscle..
Mopar Action was my favorite and I do remember that Daytona article, I had always wondered about the red smoke. Funny how so many migrated to the Mustang in the late 80's and early 90's but we had no choice, Mopar had nothing for us then. And now all these years later rather than read DeFeo I watch him on youtube....Happy New Year!
I remember that, I read anything with your name on it. I really liked the article on the Dodge Demon, that was a really good story. I may still have it.
Still flip through Mopar Action to this day.
I have every issue since 92
@youtubesucks2001 My best old school buddy has stacks of old issues and is currently subscribed too.Cant count how many times we have dug up old issues looking for tech on our fleet of Mopars.
I think I might still have that issue around the house some where. I remember I bought it for that article.
So you actually got meetings will publishers and pitched ideas for magazines and they published them? Talking about that process would be good for a few episodes.
Your Yellow A12 RR story totally shaped my HS days and frankly my mopar life, "the 1-2 powershift that blew one of the mufflers off!!!.....hell yeah, I need one of those! And the 500 foot burnout! That was cool too!
Street and Stip Supercar blew away every other magazine on the shelf! I only got issues #1 and #3 before it dissappeared and i couldn't find it anymore. I was craving more Tony DeFeo!
I have this mag issue in a box somewhere, ill never forget the red burnout !
I used to buy them mags up the top of Nth Queensland, so u had some circulation back then . Could of bought a plum crazy Cuda for $15k too but i was only 18 and evry penny went into a hardtop 69 Dart. Ahh take me back
I think I probably still have the issue of that mag if I dig deep enough in my collection of old car mags. But my favorite old mags are the ones from the 60s and early 70s when the cars were new and the car mags were testing them right off the showroom floor. I think Cars Illustrated or one of the Mopar mags from the 80s actually reprinted a few a those original tests. One of my favorite was a test of the 69 1/2 440 6bbl Roadrunner.
I prefered all of the magazines mentioned over the Peterson titles, also liked Chrysler Power, Popular Hot Rodding and others I've since forgotten.
Growing up in the 1980’s with the Malaise Era cars I could only dream of the classic muscle cars of the 1960’s and early 1970’s with envy. The speed and power were the thing of myth and legend. By the time I was old enough to drive in 1986 they were already becoming collectible and out of my price range. Tests like this are great, not only because they document the cars as they really were “from the factory” but also because it proves that modern muscle cars of the 2010’s and 2020’s are far superior to their ancestors in virtually every aspect of performance
No they aren’t
As somebody who has actually owned cars for over 6 decades I can say you are wrong. Late 50's & early 60's big GM cars were wonderful stuff, very reliable, and highly preferable to the newer cookie cutters. New cars have the advantage of technology but with all the plastic & built in flaws along with terrible build quality I'll take a loaded up 58 Chevy or a 60 Olds over anything made today.
@@vinnyvette6028 If you don’t count handling, acceleration, quarter mile time, or top speed the old cars are definitely cooler
Great story. I love hearing them because the time back in those days seemed so simple than what we have today.
Your a good bloke UT
Like your attitude to life
A little nostalgia is a good thing. I subscribed to HiPo Pontiac, CI, and Vette back in the day. Still pissed at GM over the whole Pontiac thing, but that's GM. Hell, I'm a little surprised the Corvette is even still around considering that lot. My '91 Formula 1LE was obtained entirely due to the article on that car in HiPo Pontiac. Good times. I do recall some of the editorial whining in Vette when the editorial team changed. Something, something about flogged cars and alleged bad behavior. I had a bet with myself that the guilty party was Tony and...well, here we are.
I grew up in New Zealand, not New Jersey. For US monthly Car magazines, I paid dearly in 1984 to 1988, about NZ$11.99 for each magazine, as New Zealand devalued it's currency under the IMF downgrade. Thanks Robert S McNamara. Ended up, I got to use my local library and swapped my massive Encyclopaedia supplies to horse trade so I got to see all the best magazines. For all the Counter Reactionary Revisionists who say you were a hack, screw you guys. US Mopar Muscle was the most serious Ground Pound. 🔩 & Bolt Lightening ⚡.
I Still have that Issue, to this Day,One Of The COOLEST BURNOUTS EVER ‼️
I bought that issue. I remember looking at the stand and seeing it on the cover saying oh wow daytona!
I have that issue btw… brought it off the news stand. Great work Tony! 👍😎
Tony, I’m really looking forward to more of the propane engine. Good stuff.
Yep. My uncle had 2 wagons. 440s. He rebuilt the 440, and wanted 12.1 compression. The engine builder didn't do it and gave him 500 cubes. Sigh. Anyway, he never had dirty oil, changed it yearly, out of guilt. Spark plugs ways clean. Almost no emissions. They were 100% conversions, not the dual fuel junk. It's guaranteed 110 octane, at almost half price gasoline. No carburetor to mess with (its a toilet plunger, sucks what it wants).
That’s one of the few old copies I have of any of them. A friend and I were arguing over who was gonna buy it as they only had one left. He won the coin toss. Loaned it to me a few years ago and then passed away a few weeks later.
I HAD that issue in storage at my sister's until it was thrown away during the cleanup after my sister's house caught on fire 2 days before Christmas 2 years ago.
I've always been of the opinion that Hemis received more hype than they deserved, and preferred the 440. To be fair, those late 60's muscle cars had plenty of motor. They were suspension & tire handicapped. Newer cars get a lot of their 1/4 mile glamour from great launches. I think 3/8 mile or 1/2 mile tests would have leveled the field quite a bit when those big blocks come roaring back late after getting hooked up.
As far as I'm aware, the 440 was only offered with a wedge combustion chamber, not a Hemi. Biggest Hemi I've heard of was the 426.
@@aussiebloke609I never said the 440 was a Hemi....I said I preferred the 440. It's a better motor.
The Hemi was never practical for anyone other than a serious drag racer, and the only reason they were ever offered to the public in the first place was so Chrysler could run them in stock cars in NASCAR. A well tuned 340 Duster or Dart would give them a good run, if not show them their tail lights. That said, with the right gear ratio, drag slicks, and super tuned and especially in a lighter car like a Cuda, those things were about the fastest stock musclecars of their day.
@@clembob8004 Lots of practical cars have hemis. They aren't all Mopar. Toyota Corollas had hemis.
@@debluetailfly They had hemispherical head designs and worked well but were never "hemi" cars. that is a trademark name. Burger king sells hamburgers but not big macs if that makes sense.
I remember that article...I had all the magazines in 88. I was a crazy senior in high school with a camaro.
I remember reading this in my old magazines
The car had its valves adjusted to tight
I just read this magazine! I bought it back in 1988!
I started reading Mopar Action right around then. I assumed it had been around for a while. Lol. I used to love to hear in the early 90's of doing the push wars with minivans and then Neon's, also using nitrous on rental car Neon's and taking the Dodge Spirit off road out west with good tires😂
I used your article on the 470 stroker to build my first real performance engine.
It's funny how many of those magazine covers I remember from when I was a kid. :)
Mopar Action was always a fun and informative read, thanks for sharing that story.
I like those old mags. I loved my $50.00 72 Challenger too. ❤
One of my car club members has that color Daytona in a 440 4bbl 4 speed with Airtemp air-conditioning.
I just re uped my subscription to Mopar Action 🎉
My brother Larry owned a Saytona superbird back in the 70's .
I saw that Daytona in 78 on Flatlands Avenue in Brooklyn
What an awesome story!! Way before my time, wish I could have been around back then 🤷♂️
How Funny I had that issue and I would get MOPAR action for many years every month of the stand and I had subscriptions too off and on over the years. I had to make room in the house last year and had to dump 3 full size trash cans full of magazines. In a way I felt bad but just getting rid of all the magazines had over the years from the 70 up to the early 2000 was like getting a new room in the house.
Cars Illustrated, best magazine ever! I still have about a dozen of them.
Thanks
COOP
...
Awesome!! TY UT!!!
I seldom throw away a car magazine and never a Mopar mag... not on purpose anyway. And all of Tony's articles, the technical and the narratives, were worth keeping. And I knew all of the tech or most of it before I read it. It was just well written.
Tony DeFeo, Richard Ehrlenberger, Steve Dulcich, David Freiberger were my favorites of that era. Before that there was John Baechtel, John Dianna, and before that, I forget his name, but the Road Test Magazine guy in the early 60's. Also, the Cannon Run guy. Brock.
I remember Mopar Action!
I read over on For B Bodies Only that Mopar Action has printed their last issue for February 2024. They are stopping publication.
My '70 Challenger 426 hemi , 3.23 gear, TF,,PB am./fm, headers, slicks period. best run 13.37 at 107 some change, hitting 3rd gear just
before the traps.
a 4.1 gear would have really brought that hemi to life.
@@danielslocum7169 Dan you're right but the 50 mile round trip would be hard un the engine, 3:55 maybe. gas
18 cents high test during "gas wars: off brand.
55-60 mph 3000 rpm;not too bad. 70-75 mph 4000 rpm; no fun! engines w giant intake ports tend to be a bit lazy without a high numerical gear ratio;especially when pulling a lot of weight. its definetly a trade off. worth it if you like to win.@@josephszot5545
Thanks Tony
I got a lotta those mags in my collection great stuff
I have boxes of Mopar magazines from the late 80's to mid 90's still
I really liked the time you blew up a muffler on an original 440 six pack Road Runner owned by Mr. D'Agostino. I still have the issue.
Who knew I was a UTG follower sence the 80's. 🤔
I still have a lot of those old magazines
LoL😂 yeah I remember all of y'all's articles on the fox body that I still own three of today. And I distinctly remember the one where y'all share with us how to secretly hook up nitrous and hide the bottle in the passenger door. That was my first and last experience with nitrogen and I still own the same 89 GT Heavenly modified even though thanks to the nitrogen I totaled it due to not replacing brake lines and the right front wine busted in a 15 mile an hour curve that I was drifting at about 45 after I hit it at 55.. I manage to hold it just fine around the curve but before I could get my tail in back in my Lane a semi in a hurry trying to get to his drop destination in time on a late Friday after I had just knocked off work as a dredge boat engineer and showing off a little for my co-workers following behind me in a 89 Ford Ranger which was really holding its own enable to witness the whole thing before it ended with the semi clipping my tailend . And the rest is history and I've never used nitrous since only propane with my diesels today. Thanks for sharing Tony I enjoy all your content, so keep it coming and thanks for keeping us updated on the new adventure in the new shop at your new location. 👍 Respectively, Bo
Love the stories.
Have fun with your grandkids on the PW. I raised my kids on PW 50’s
Very good video Tony I like to hear the old stuff.
I have that issue.. I was big on the turbo cars back then and if I saw one in a mag I'd grab it
I still have ALL of those magazines and a lot of others from the 80’s & 90’s, probably could have bought a Hemi with what I spent on magazines! I clearly remember that article, and many others. Especially fond of the Boss 351 vs 5.0 comparison (I had both at the time). Also dug the 13 second 318 Satellite, lots of good basic tech in that one. And as for giving cars back in pieces, how about the 440 4 bbl vs 6 pack comparison where you didn’t turn up the fuel pressure? Pure gold!!
I loved Street & Strip Super Car. But it was very tough to find in Florida. Did you ever publish anything with 'Mopar Review' from Dobbs Publications in Lakeland, FL.?
Remember a Car Life article some in the late sixties featuring a modified VW bug and how it would make the bigblock Mustang following "breath real hard".
Some of those bugs were running in the 12s NA back in the eighties.
Tony my buddy! Good mopar subjects. I’ll probably get a kick out of it!
Love your stories
@UT Marvin’s Garden article 1986(?) Marvin near Ocala Fl area. What ever happened to Marvin?
I think it would be cool if you did a video on exactly how you got a 5.0 Mustang into the 13s.
I keep thinking about that Daytona. Did Mopar Action make it past the Mississippi? I remember reading one, similar (?), as an H.S senior, growing up in New Mexico. At that same time, I was picking up the lesser known mags, as well. Maybe, it's only me, and seeing that red.
You have really lived life!!!