Pretty cool road race car

[jt1]

There's this guy, in France of all places, who is road racing a .......72 Dodge Dart.

 

 

 

It's got a modified stock front suspension with coilovers, a four link/panhard rear suspension, an all aluminum small block Mopar V8 with W8 heads, dry sump, and a 180* flat crank that came out of one of the Oreca LMP cars. Most of the front end is fiberglass, along with the trunk lid and rear bumper. Full of fuel with driver, it weighs 2850 #. The motor makes about 650 at the crank, and hits the rev limiter at 165mph in 4th gear.

 

 

I think it's remarkably cool to do that with a car that has virtually no road racing aftermarket stuff available.

 

jt

[woldson]

Thats nuts seeing a dart go that fast!

[zxtoy]

I'm an old fan of old mopar and loved seeing that. Thanks for posting it.

[johnc]

And then there's these guys:

 

http://www.olympia-charger.com/2006/06/oly_express_pre.html

 

[jt1]

The Charger and the Porsche side by side are quite a contrast!

 

jt

[Mayolives]

Somehow the sound was not what I expected after reading the description of the high dollar motor and after watching the first right hand turn I thought he would be dealing with a big pusher but that seamed to disappear perhaps as the rubber heated up. The track looks very interesting with good elevation changes and straights that are not all that long and death defying for the amateur road racer. Not to mention several other very cool and fast, cars on the track that were hauling butt. I have always liked those cars. There's a guy here on the East coast that road races a Dodge Dart or maybe it's a Plymouth from that era. He shows up at VIR and other tracks with the Tarheel Sports Car Club events and I think its still powered by a a slant six banger. Those cars were small cars when they were first sold. Man, how things have changed in the car world. JT....Good find!

[zxtoy]

That charger corners better than I thought possible for a car it's size.

[mark]

Very cool car. I didn't know you spoke French well enough to translate the specs on the car. JT-1 a renaissance man for sure.

[johnc]

Here's the Oly Charger web site: http://www.olympia-charger.com/

[frank280zx]

Here's the Oly Charger web site: http://www.olympia-charger.com/

If seen that one active at SPA

[JMortensen]

I like this Charger: http://www.glennbunch.com/

[jt1]

It's a Challenger, Jon!!!!!

 

The video of that car on the VIR full course is one of my all time favorites. 528 cubic inches of torque, torque, torque, and blindingly fast.

 

jt

[zxtoy]

That's a great story on the Challenger. 426 Hemi's were the best motors ever built for taking abuse and producing horsepower. As an owner of 5 different 1970 dodge challengers back in the day, I really enjoyed reading about this one. When it hit 170+ in the straight aways I got goose bumps.I've seen 168 mph in one of my challengers in 1977. It's a rush! Thanks for posting it.

[JMortensen]

I guess I should have said "fast Mopar". Don't know my A bodies from my E bodies.