Re: 1962: Plymouth Savoy

On Wed, Dec 19, 2012 at 10:34 AM, Gary H. <62to65mopar@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Below is an excerpt from an article on Allpar. For those of you who were not around in 1962, this description gives a good visualization of how the 1962 max wedge cars made an impression back then, especially on F*rd and Chebby fans. And good memories will return for those in the mail list who witnessed similar races in 1962. :)

Gary H.

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A 1962 Plymouth Savoy, special ordered through my Dad's dealership, arrived in late March 1962, with delete everything, meant for only drag racing. It was cherry red.... It had the 13.5 compression ratio engine. The upswept headers went down into a collector box, right behind the front wheels. The box had a joint that routed the spent gas to either a stock set of pipes with mufflers, or, you could open a cap that was angled so as to smoothly vent the exhaust cleanly to the sides of the car. The uncapped 413 sounded like an aircraft engine when it was let loose. A female driver was hired, trained, and received her NHRA driver license. Sarah brought the little Savoy to track in early April 1962. Everyone had heard the buzz, however, this was the first "goat" (slang term attached due to "ram" manifold) that anyone had seen in action. She took her time, however, she eliminated the top two contenders. Her final test came when she went up against my brother. That was the real occupation that my Dad had from the beginning. My brother was racing a 1960 Chevrolet with a tri-power 348 V-8. His best time came that day, not before he anxiously did a burnout that broke an axle; someone had a 1959 Chevrolet and graciously pulled the axle from his car and loaned it to my brother. All was fixed under the mandated 45 minute competition rule in effect by the NHRA at the time. While he was engaged in getting his car fixed, Sarah's "crew" uncapped the exhaust headers. They had not been in her previous races. They also put on a set of slick tires from M & H, the "Racemasters."

My brother's next race was against a new 406 powered Ford. He beat him with a 14.7 second, 98 mile an hour pass. He was supremely confident now he could whip that little red "goat."

Sarah started the 413 gingerly. The exhaust was loud, but not barking or backfiring. They were tuned after all. She didn't do a "burn out." No one thought much about heating the slicks at that time. She idled up to the line and then staged. The 413 was rumpling but not bellowing. My brother pulled up, but kept screwing around, trying to psyche Sarah out, by not staging. Instead, jacking up the Chevy against the brakes, then dropping it back. She just sat there, staged, and waited. Finally after 6 or 7 false jumps, the NHRA starter pointed his finger at the line. With a powerful movement, he shot his index at the ground. My brother immediately staged. Without any hesitation whatsoever, when the yellow stage light shown brightly on his side, Sarah immediately jacked the Plymouth against the brakes, holding the 413 at 1800 rpm. The effect was startling. The 413 bellowed, and roared. My brother did a visible double take. The grandstand crowd jumped to their feet. Pit crews who had not been interested before were running to the edge of the walls. The Plymouth kept right against the brakes, and the engine noise did not falter at all.

Holding the starter switch above his head, the NHRA official waited about 3 seconds and pulled the trigger. The starting light pole counted down, then flashed green. The cherry red Savoy suddenly sounded unlike any other stock car that had gone before. It literally made a huge bellowing sound as it left the line. It drowned out my brother's Chevy. He did manage to get a small hole shot, but at the 600 foot mark the Savoy was a car length ahead, and Sarah never looked back.

Someone described the way that the "goats" ran on the track. About halfway down the quarter mile, the cars lifted up their rear ends, sorta looking like "a mule with a bee stung butt going for the barn." That is how that little Savoy looked that day. My brother had the clearest view of anyone there of that raised Plymouth rump, coming in @ 14.8 and 96.3 miles an hour. The red "goat?" Set a new track record. 13.02 seconds@ 106.1 miles an hour at the trap. http://www.allpar.com/reviews/1962/sport-fury.html

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