Vehicle Description
Some of our favorite creations are the cars that the factory could
have built but didn't. This 1969 Dodge Dart HEMI Super Stock
Tribute is such a machine, a street version of the Hemi drag cars
Chrysler built to dominate the strip. With 426 cubic inches of raw
HEMI power, modern Radiant Red paint, and a power-to-weight ratio
of, say, a cruise missile, it's one man's ultimate Mopar.
Dodge's flyweight Dart proved the old adage that taking weight out
was just as effective as putting horsepower in. But what if you did
both, then painted it bright red? Well, you'd have this incredible
Super Stock tribute Dart. Built from a rust-free V8 car out of
California, it was treated to the best of everything via a
rotisserie restoration, professionally engineered, and fully sorted
for the mean streets or the slick tracks, depending on your fancy.
The little Dart is one of Chrysler's best styling efforts, clearly
Mopar, but not ashamed to be mid-sized, and because of this,
builders have been drawn to it since its inception. The Radiant Red
paint was borrowed from Toyota's palette and means that keeping it
on the DL is going to be a challenge (if the motor's bark wasn't a
giveaway already), and with that gaping garage door of a hood
scoop, you need to be careful that the Hemi doesn't inhale any
small birds. Like all Super Stocks, stripping away weight is always
the goal, so the hood and front fenders of this beauty are
performance pieces from Cynergy Composites, and they were added
after the entire body was media blasted and readied for that
fantastic deep paint job. All the chrome was refinished to
near-show standards, the brightwork was polished, and experts will
note the front marker lights were deleted just like on the vintage
Hemi racers of old. It's one thing to make a Super Stock or vintage
pro-street ride look 'cool', but the look of this one is so darn
nice, it's almost as if she was built just to be ogled, not driven.
Until you hear that HEMI come to life, and then the beckoning of
the open road cannot be resisted.
The interior is anything but race car basic, wearing handsome black
vinyl upholstery, which includes a pair of simply gorgeous bucket
seats. The Dart's original dash was retained, the panel trim
re-chromed, and all the stock gauges remain as well, but they're
now augmented with a dash-mounted and period-correct Moroso
mechanical tachometer and a set of auxiliary instruments under the
dash, a good idea with all that horsepower on tap. There is no
radio and I'm disappointed that you'd even ask, because the sound
of the Hemi should be more than adequate, and the factory mirror
delete plate for the radio, along with the delete plate for the
heater and air-box are very rare factory spec. A Hurst shifter with
a reverse manual pattern has been mounted between the seats and
works much better than the old SlapStick setup you might have
received when this car was new. And for a further nod to Super
Stocks of old, there's an original 'blue box' transistor ignition
box mounted on the firewall under the dash just for show. There's
no back seat of course, and the neatly painted and rust-free trunk
is stripped of any added weight and carries a Mopar-issue Super
Stock battery, because there's just no room left under the
hood.
The reason for that is the 426 cubic inch crate Hemi that's rated
at a powerful 465 horsepower. With an A&A magnesium cross-ram
intake, correct re-issued Holleys, a numbers-correct aluminum water
pump housing, and a lot of detailed components (there are several
correct performance goodies featured, please inquire for a full
accounting), it's both scary fast and beautiful to look at. The
inner fenders and firewall have been smoothed and painted slick
black, and all the extraneous plumbing and electrical bits have
been neatly organized. And while there's no power steering or
brakes, the car remains quite street-friendly. The transmission is
an A&A built heavy-duty 727 TorqueFlite with a reverse manual
valve body, and an 8.75-inch rear axle with 3.91s built by Dr. Diff
plants the power. Heavy-duty discs and rear drums make up the ample
braking system, and the ceramic-coated headers and custom dual
exhaust system is a work of art all by itself. The undercarriage
was painted when the car was on the rotisserie to resemble the
original primer look, and with no rust, no patches, and no signs of
abuse, just a clean Mopar with devastating power. It even captures
the vintage race vibe with the five-spoke wheels and fat Coker
radials.
With a full-blown restoration that accounted for every single nut
and bolt on this Mopar, this is one brutal yet beautiful
performance car that you can buy with confidence and enjoy with
impunity. Call today!
