It Doesn't Exist... Or Does It?

I remember working for a computer company back in the 1990's, where my boss gave me one of the most memorable quotes when it came to working in this field (or any other field for that matter); "Documentation is your salvation." Likewise, if there was ever a time in history when myths and folklore were rampant, especially when it came to high performance, it was the 1960's. There were numerous cases where a manufacturer would state that a particular vehicle, engine, or option did not exist, was never offered, or was never built - but yet we see example after example showing otherwise. The problem was, the documentation process was much different 50 years ago. Overall, the job of vehicle production numbers was done satisfactory, but in some cases it was just downright lax.

The late 1950s and early ‘60s weren’t exactly straightforward days for drag racing fans. In 1957, the Automobile Manufacturers Association banned factory-backed racing efforts altogether…yet it still went on behind the scenes. Fast forward to January 1963 when General Motors officially severed its racing ties - again - putting to bed some of the most brutal factory race cars that had ever been built. Case in point; the Super Duty Catalina's that Pontiac had been building for the oval and the drag strip. With that in mind, this car pictured - a Pontiac Catalina Super Duty built in April 1963 - simply should not exist. Yet it does. Somehow, this 1963 Swiss Cheese Catalina was snuck down the production line, presumably when no GM higher-ups were looking, has a finished build date of April 2nd, and designated as a “company car” for engineering purposes.

1967 was a year of change for Dodge and Plymouth. It was the debut year for their official super cars, the Dodge Coronet R/T and the Plymouth GTX. The "street" Hemi was entering it's second year of  production and was advertised heavily in performance oriented magazines. This would be year that Plymouth and Richard Petty would absolutely dominate the banked ovals. With all this success going on, 1967 is also one of the foggiest years for documentation. To help promote (and sell) Chrysler's new muscle cars, the manufacturer discontinued the availability of the 426 Hemi option in the non-performance trim level Coronets as well as the wagon. Ditto with the Plymouth Satellite that didn't have the GTX option, regardless of the configuration of the doors. Yet well over two dozen examples exist, all assembly line built, including convertibles. They're not supposed to exist, but they do.

We all know that Chrysler built in conjunction with the Hurst corporation the most competitive factory drag racer in automotive history - the 1968 Dart and Barracuda. However, due to the Super Stock nature of the beast, there were explicit instructions that these vehicles could not be driven on the street nor registered as such. Besides, all models were pretty much sold to race drivers. So, we know the cars exist, but what about this street driving? Again, there are examples of these beasts hitting the public tarmac legally. The Barrett-Jackson auction is great fro unearthing this kind of stuff. Groove on the bright yellow (and the Pennsylvania inspection / registration sticker) 1968 SS Dart. Imagine driving that rig around in stock form...


Officially, Ford never stuffed its Boss 429 V-8 between the fenders of a Mercury Cougar, but that’s not to say that none were built in this configuration. In fact, two cars destined for the drag strip ran the engine, and the one driven by Don Nicholson was featured at the 2014 Fords at Carlisle. As the Super Stock ranks featured more and more factory support in the late 1960s, Ford was looking for a competitive edge against Chrysler, commissioned skunk works builder

Kar Kraft to build two 1969 Boss 429 Mercury Cougars and then sold them to drag racers “Dyno Don” Nicholson and “Fast Eddie” Schartman for the princely sum of $1 each. The Boss 429 Cougar experiment, however, proved a dismal failure as the cars proved too slow to be competitive, even with additional tuning. Nicholson reportedly swapped engines in his Cougar shortly after taking delivery, opting to run Ford’s single overhead camshaft 427-cu.in. V-8. So - what ever happened to the 2nd Cougar?  Rumor has it, that after Schartman sold the Cougar, it changed hands several times and was eventually registered and street driven in the mid to late 70's.

There are probably many more examples that we haven't brought up here. Share your stories! Would love to hear them!

Until next time, peace out.
Dave