This 1966 Coronet HEMI Spent Most of Its Life on the Dragstrip

2nd Gen HEMI projects and products.

Moderator: scottm

Post Reply
User avatar
scottm
Posts: 3443
Joined: Wed Aug 29, 2001 7:00 pm
Location: Texas
Contact:

This 1966 Coronet HEMI Spent Most of Its Life on the Dragstrip

Post by scottm »

Image
Image Image Image Image

Restored Now, This 1966 Dodge Coronet Deluxe Hemi Spent Most of Its Life on the Dragstrip
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/restore ... dragstrip/
In early 1964, Plymouth completed the brand new 426ci Race Hemi V-8. It was an engineering marvel based on the RB 426 block and aviation-influenced cylinder heads. The Race Hemi debuted at the Daytona 500, where King Richard Petty won the Daytona 500 driving his signature Petty Blue 1964 Plymouth No. 43 car. In fact, four of the top five finishers were Hemi-powered B-body cars. The Hemi engine went on to dominate NASCAR that 1964 season, earning Petty the 1964 NASCAR World Championship.

Chrysler had a winner on its hands, but it needed to keep NASCAR and other sanctioning bodies happy. Homologation rules for 1966 motivated the creation of the 426ci Street Hemi as a production engine. The Street Hemi was made available in all 1966 Plymouth Belvedere/Satellite and Dodge Coronet B-body intermediate cars. The Street Hemi was a detuned version of the Race Hemi, with a milder 10.25:1 compression ratio, twin four-barrel Carter carburetors on an inline dual-quad intake manifold, a hydraulic cam, and exhaust manifolds instead of headers.

For 1966, Dodge offered two versions of the sleek two-door pillarless hardtop, the 440 and the 500 models. In that same year, Dodge also made two versions of the more homely two-door post Coronets, the base Coronet and a Coronet Deluxe. A total of 34 base Coronet two-door sedans were equipped with the Street Hemi engines. Breaking that down a bit further, 11 of them were four-speed stick cars, and 23 of them came with the 727 TorqueFlite. The upscale Coronet Deluxe two-door sedans came with side molding and minor trim and interior upgrades. A total of 49 1966 Coronet Deluxe two-door sedans were born with the 426 Street Hemi, 31 four-speeds and 18 automatics.

This Hemi Coronet Deluxe was sold new at none other than Mr. Norm’s Grand Spaulding Dodge in Chicago. The original owner fluffed up his new Dodge with steeper gears and headers for enthusiastic acceleration testing in the Chicago area. For some unknown reason, the Hemi Coronet was traded back to Mr. Norm’s in 1968. Just a guess, but that post car might have been taken on a few afterhours joyrides by some of the staff at Mr. Norm’s.

About that same time in 1968, Mopar guy Lou Costello from Mankato, Minnesota, was feeling pretty ticked off. Though formerly the king of the streets in Mankato with his 1964 Plymouth, some wise guy in one of those newfangled Camaros had arrived in town and beaten him in an acceleration testing exercise. Lou was not happy, so he called Mr. Norm and asked, “What’s the fastest car you got on your lot?”” Mr. Norm told Lou about a little Hemi Coronet Deluxe post car that he had taken in on a trade. In his view, it was the fastest car on the lot.

Convinced, Lou flew down to Chicago, bought the Coronet, and made the 400-mile drive back to Mankato. The 4.56 gears and bellowing exhaust likely made Lou’s experience memorable, to put it mildly. Lou then found the guy with the Camaro, entered into a friendly acceleration competition, handily defrocked the Camaro kid, and convincingly regained his title as king of the streets. We only report the facts.

The Coronet quickly morphed to race car status. Lou added a fiberglass hoodscoop, lace paint, “Hammerin Hemi” lettering, and numerous performance parts. He raced the Hemi Coronet until 1972, when he purchased a Road Runner to replace the Dodge. He later sold the Coronet, and it probably changed hands a second time over the ensuing 10 years.

In the early 1980s, Scott Dahlberg saw an ad in the Minneapolis Star Tribune for a 1966 Coronet rolling chassis drag car. Upon inspection, Scott not only confirmed it to be a true Hemi car with a clean title, but that it had the original fender tag, all original sheetmetal, original glass and chrome, and a mere 15,000 original miles. The garbage black paint job did not deter Scott from purchasing the rolling Hemi body for $600. He says, “I bought these Hemi cars because there were fast.”

Scott would know. His first car, when he was 17, was a 1968 440-powered Charger R/T. He quickly installed a 426 Hemi engine, then converted the Charger into a fulltime drag car. When he was 18 and without a daily driver, he ordered a brand new 1973 340 Charger Rallye. About a year later, while still a teenager, Scott purchased a beautiful 1968 Hemi Road Runner sporting about 40,000 original miles and the original paint.

Scott raced the 1968 Charger from 1973 to 1978. That car helped him earn the 1977 Regional Drag Racing Championship with the United Stockers Association. He then purchased a 1970 318 Challenger convertible and transplanted the Hemi drivetrain from the Charger R/T into his new Challenger. The end product was a very competitive B/SA Hemi Challenger convertible that he raced in NHRA Sportsman until 1984.

With that arsenal of Mopar muscle and drag racing experience, it’s not surprising that Scott would eventually form Supercar Collectibles, a company that creates authentic scale models of muscle cars from the 1960s and early 1970s. Supercar Collectibles specializes in offering vintage drag cars that were driven, coincidentally, by Scott’s Mopar heroes from back in the day. It also explains why he would eventually restore the Hammerin’ Hemi Coronet Deluxe to its present pristine condition.

Around 1989, Scott became interested in competing in the Muscle Car Shootout at Brainerd International Raceway. The most logical candidate for those events was the Hammerin’ Hemi that had been safely tucked away for about eight years. Scott pulled a 426 Hemi block out of his inventory, and commissioned Bruce Crandall and Kenny Frison at Total Engine Service to bore the block 0.020 over. Scott then assembled the engine, did the bodywork and paint, restored the interior, installed the wiring harnesses, installed the engine and transmission, and plumbed the car. Is there anything this guy can’t do? The Coronet Deluxe, now immaculate, was ready to race in 1990.

Scott hammered on his Hemi for about four years before relegating it to street and cruise-night duties in 1994. Always on the hunt, Scott has been busy on various other Mopar muscle car projects. If you liked his 1966 Coronet Deluxe, you might really like his future project. Stay tuned.

At a Glance
1966 Coronet Deluxe
Owned by: Scott Dahlberg, Minneapolis, MN
Restored by: Owner; Total Engine Service, Minneapolis, MN
Engine: 426ci/425hp (rated) Hemi V-8
Transmission: TorqueFlite 727 3-speed automatic
Rearend: 8 3/4 with 4.30 gears and Sure Grip
Exterior Color: LL-1 Dark Turquoise Poly
Interior: Turquoise bench seat
Wheels: 14×5.5 steel front, 15×7 steel rear
Tires: 7.75×14 Blue Line Coker Tire front, J60-15 M&H Racemaster rear
This is a beautiful Coronet; I really love the turquoise paint job.

#Dodge #Coronet #Deluxe #MrNorms #HEMI #426HEMI #Mopar
Post Reply