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No Hemi racecar exhibit could be complete without
Bob Riggle's Hurst Hemi Under Glass. I still
remember the first time I saw this car at Amarillo
Dragway back in the sixties. When the wheels
on this 'Cuda went skyward my jaw dropped to
the ground and I was forever hooked on wheelstanders,
jet cars and Saturday night at the drags.
This is the new "Hemi" which is being run in
Mopar's Pro Stock program and is finding its
way into other classes. Is it a real Hemi? Maybe,
but since it says it on the valve covers we
will go with it. In the background you can see
Dave Strickler's altered wheelbase car. That
is a real funny car. I don't know what those
things they call funny cars are but this is
the real deal. A factory-built motor with injection
and nitro in a steel body. Whoooo!
This, my friends, is the
car of the future past. It is a Dual Ghia. Originally
designed by Chrysler's legendary Virgil Exner
as a show car, it was so popular Chrysler thought
about bringing it out as a limited production
(sounds familar doesn't it?) but the deal got
nixed. The Dual Motor corporation got the rights
from Chrysler and went into production of the
car using a D-500 285-hp, 315-inch Hemi for
power. The production lasted from 1955-1958.
The cars sold for a hefty $8,000 and only 177
were ever built.
It isn't a Chrysler
body, but a Hemi in a '41 Willys is and
always will be waaay cool! |
The stock 300C Chrysler,
like Mr. Parks', came stock with dual four-barrel
set-up that had advertised horsepower of
375 with 420 lbs of torque. You could order
one with higher compression and better cam
and get 390 ponies. Ah, the good old days
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Finally, they have this
trick rotating display just as you walk
in the door of the museum. When DRO went
in they had a Viper, one of the turbine
cars and a silver car dubbed the "Thunderbolt."
You talk about a cool looking streamliner.
It was a concept car built in 1941. Our
guess is that WW II stopped that program.
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In a couple of weeks we will bring you more
photos and captions from the Hemi display at
the Walter P. Chrysler Museum. Check back.
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