1960s Chrysler | Legendary Factory Lightweight Drag Racing Warriors | The Bloodline of Muscle

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Dec 9, 2021

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MagnaLume
46.5K subscribersIn this video, we take a look at some of the purpose-built Chrysler Legendary Factory Lightweight Drag Racing Warriors from the 1960s. In the 1960s, US auto makers were in a horsepower and go-fast arms race to score drag racing victories at tracks across the country. Back then, manufacturers were keen on getting their brands and cars in front of race spectators, tv

viewers and featured in magazine articles as a form of marketing, especially if their cars won. They even coined an adage for it: Win on Sunday – Sell on Monday! These cars were built in limited quantities, and most were not street legal and were discouraged for purchase by members of the general public not involved in drag racing. Even when new, these cars were rare, and

today, all original examples are even more scare as many did not survive their drag racing glory days in their factory original form or were straight up scrapped. We time travel back to the 60s to see what Chrysler’s need-for-speed wizards had cooked up to reign supreme on the drag strip and make history with their legendary creations.

 

MrStrollerisme

I have a 1960 Plymouth Fury. It is a precursor to the what was to come. It was ordered in 1959 to be delivered as a '60 model. It was ordered as a factory race car. It was a Golden Commando. It was acid dipped, no heater or radio. No sound deadening anywhere. The back of the back seat was the front of the trunk. It did not come with spare tire, jack and no where to secure them.

 

Joe Barber

Brings back memories. When i was in the service, back in 74 had a friend with a old (by then ) factory acid dipped dodge sitting in the base auto shop compound and a race stage 2 426 wedge engine apart and stored in his apartment bedroom closet. His wife got pissed and took one of the pistons, with rod and chunked it out into the street wanting it gone !

Complete engine was offered to me with even spare camshafts for 150 dollars But the car wasn’t forsale. Could not buy the engine because i was living in the barracks on base. But still kick myself for not finding a way.

 

screddot

A gentleman in my hometown special ordered a Hemi with an automatic transmission. People thought he was crazy with the auto, but he could (and did) take it to the track and bring home a trophy every time. I don't remember much details about the car because he also had 3 of the prettiest daughters in town. Good news about the car, someone found it and restored it a few years ago. It was the ONLY one built to those specs.

 

Jeff

I have owned many cars, but the one I wish I still had was my 1965 Satellite 2 door hardtop. The car had a 383 with a 4bbl, auto trans with shift kit and headers. Rear tires were huge M50x14 mounted on Ansen sprints. I street raced frequently and never lost to anyone off the line. My MO was to let off the gas after a few hundred feet and let them go screaming by (in frustration). Several times, I would race the same car repeatedly from consecutive red lights. Fun times!

 

Ravennaal

I always thought that the idea of racing was “I’ll bring my best, you bring your best and let’s see who is fastest”. Evidently, with NASCAR and the NHRA it’s “ I’ll bring my best, you bring your best and if your best beats my best and your best isn’t a Ford or Chevy, we’ll ban it” It seems like every year they wanted to ban Chryslers from winning. That’s why I quit watching NASCAR after they banned the Daytona and Superbirds.

If I was in charge of Chrysler back then, I would have had ads in every magazine with a picture of the Daytona on one page with a caption “Our Daytonas and Superbirds were so fast that NASCAR banned them because Fords and Chevys were too slow. This year, we have a new car that we hope Ford and Chevy can keep up with”. Then on the next page have a picture of a child sitting in a pedal car with MOPAR on the side of it.

 

Gorilla Cookies

I have a 1966 Plymouth Satellite that my grandparents bought new. It's a factory 383 4 barrel 4 speed car. My grandpa was 45 and apparently in the midst of a midlife crisis or something when he bought it. I think he was a bit naive about it's performance and found himself somewhat fearful of it because when I bought it from him in 2000 it only had 27,602 original miles on it.

He always said it was the clutch and his WW2 leg wounds that made him drive a different car all those years. He said he never sold it because it was the only brand new car he had ever bought until he retired. But I think the truth is he got spooked by it at some point and just stopped driving it . It has a little over 50k original miles on it now and it really is a very quick car.

Not by today's performance standards but for it's era . I have drag raced it at a track and ran a 12.24 1/4 mile @ 108 mph with street radials . I have done a few modern updates like ignition and a x pipe exhaust but it still stock other than that. Fun car

 

jim dandy

I am 66 and used to go to NY National speedway on Long Island in the early 70's and someone had a 426 wedge Mopar that looked like a 'barn find' and i said to myself what is that thing racing against cars with fancy paint jobs? I didnt know much about the 426 Mopar then but when he ran high 11's i was IMPRESSED

 

I have a 62 Chrysler Valiant. European spec, originally came with a straight 6. At least that's what the registration says. The previous owner threw in a 440 out of a crashed Charger he had. It ate three diffs and a driveshaft before i put a smaller carb on it to make it at least semi-drivable. It's truly a barebones, base model piece of shit with the biggest engine I've ever seen someone fit in a valiant. Terrible car but i love it.