Canada Trip

Mopar related chat and bench racing

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SAV@RPM
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by SAV@RPM »

So what has happened to the cars since our first visit back in 2013, I thought I would start with the A12 Roadrunner. It’s a genuine X9 (Black Velvet) four speed car and was bought brand new by Richard Nichols from his fathers Chrysler dealership in Mount Vernon, Ohio and raced from day one. It had only covered 5800 miles as it was only used locally for the first two summers, the majority of the mileage was clocked up on the dragstrip. It retains all of it’s original drivetrain and sheet metal. I did manage to speak to Richard and find out some of the cars history. Obviously he wasn’t getting any younger and as the car had been sitting for sometime he decided it was time to sell. This was no show car and very early in it’s life it gained a set of headers a mechanical tach drive distributor and some serious internal gearbox mods for a quicker shift. Sadly the car had suffered after Richard sold it as it passed through a couple of hands before ending up at the restoration shop. It just got traded on and someone swapped the original air cleaner assembly worth about $2500 for a cheap reproduction, the radiator had also been swapped. It didn’t help that it was then left outside uncovered for some considerable time in the unforgiving Canadian weather.
So the decision was made to sell the car rather than bring it back to the UK. It so happened I knew the right person for the car, Pete Ciccone in New York. I had spoken to Pete a few times as we had bought an immaculate black A12 Superbee from him that is now part of the collection over here. Pete had put a wanted ad on a couple of Mopar sites looking for a factory black four speed A12 with matching numbers (not an easy find !) so I gave him a call as it seemed we had the perfect candidate. Pete knew of the car so we sent him some detailed photos including some of the engine and gearbox numbers and the deal was done and in due course the car was loaded up at TFX and delivered across the border to Pete in New York. Pete is an absolute stickler for originality and even travelled the five hundred miles or so to meet Richard, the original owner. The trip paid off as he came away with the original distributor and exhaust manifolds, incredibly the title was still in Richard’s name so he signed it over to Pete and technically he then became the second owner, certainly on paper. In his search for an original air cleaner assembly Pete found a guy who had two for sale, it turned out he was one of the traders who had sold the car on previously so it was highly likely that Pete ended up buying the air filter assembly from his own car. Over the next few years the car was meticulously restored, including a well built engine by Dave Dudeck that was built with performance in mind as well as originality. Anyway here are a few photos of the car as it looks today and also a link to a thread on the Lift Off Hood forum showing some of the build.
Next up, what happened to the Challenger T/A.
http://a12mopar.com/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1425853984/0
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MattH
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by MattH »

Looks like a superb job, including removing all the race extras, tacho now gone from the dash and back end back to correct height.
Its great when the parts can be traced around, like the air cleaner. It shows what a small world Mopars can be, especially with internet to trace information.
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Blue
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by Blue »

Great story! I do wish just for once cars like this were restored to their as found day 2 state. It's a big part of the cars history to erase and you see it happen time and again. I understand big money is only interested in stone stock cars, I've just never understood why.
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SAV@RPM
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by SAV@RPM »

Stay tuned Blue, the story’s not over yet !
68Roadrunner
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by 68Roadrunner »

Thanks for sharing Martin.What a great story and an even more stunning car.
I wonder how many black 4 speed A12 roadrunners were made.


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MattH
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by MattH »

Blue wrote: Thu Sep 10, 20 8:32 am Great story! I do wish just for once cars like this were restored to their as found day 2 state. It's a big part of the cars history to erase and you see it happen time and again. I understand big money is only interested in stone stock cars, I've just never understood why.
I can think of a car that needs to stay as it is Blue!
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SAV@RPM
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by SAV@RPM »

According to the A12 registry there are ten X9 black four speed Roadrunners, 4 coupes and 6 hardtops.
There are five autos, 2 coupes and 3 hardtops in black.

The A12 Bees in black are a lot rarer, 0 four speed coupes, 3 hardtops.
There are two autos, both coupes in black.

So in total 15 black Roadrunners and 5 Superbees.
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by SAV@RPM »

So what happened to the T/A ?
There was very little history with this car as It was bought by the restoration shop owner on behalf of the customer in the UK with a view to restoring it. One of 989 four speed T/As it’s quite unusual being EW1 white with no vinyl top. It has a correct T/A motor but it’s not original to the car. A broadcast sheet was found but it was from a car built 29 cars earlier at the same Hamtramck assembly plant. Apart from some light corrosion it was actually in pretty good order with mostly original paint and a good interior. Unfortunately the owner was so disillusioned with what had gone on that he decided to sell the car rather than bring it to the UK, besides he already had a T/A. So the car was advertised on a couple of forums and it was left to Mauro to oversee the sale.
So where did it end up, some of you may be aware of Nick Panaritis of Nick’s Garage, he runs a workshop in Canada and has posted many videos on YouTube. Once again I had spoken to Nick before as he had restored a six pack Challenger that now lives in the collection over here (it’s a small world when it comes to Mopars !) so it was good to see the car go to someone who would appreciate it. Here are a few photos and a link to Nick’s videos of the car. Next up, the Hemi GTX.

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MrNorm
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by MrNorm »

That's great, I remember the Nicks garage T/A, when I saw this one I thought (like you said) don't see many white T/As, looks like the one in Nick's garage!!

Great stories, keep them coming Martin
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Steve
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by Steve »

That black A12 is what dreams are made of.....stunning
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SAV@RPM
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by SAV@RPM »

So what happened to the Hemi GTX ?
The car came to the UK in 1997 via Greg Joseph who at that time was the curator for the Otis Chandler collection in the States. It’s actually a rare car as Chrysler only built 36 Hemi GTX convertibles in 1968, this example is painted QQ1 which was a one year only colour described as electric blue. It stayed in the UK for a number of years and we took it to the Mopar Euro Nationals when it was held at Avon Park Raceway back in June 1999. It was also displayed at the Goodwood Festival Of Speed in the Cartier Style et Luxe concours d’elegance. The car was bought brand new by Douglas B Fulbright in November 1967 from Seybolt Motors in New Hampshire and the cash price was $4,690.15. It looks like he traded in a 66 Vette for the princely sum of $850.15. I had the pleasure of speaking to Douglas or Travis as he likes to be known and he told me he needed a bigger car at the time as he had just got married (his wife learned to drive in the GTX) and he took a shine to the GTX. He still had the original dealer invoice, owners handbook, and certicard which he kindly reunited with the car. Travis kept the car until 1976 before trading it in for a brand new Ford station wagon. He told me he had some great times in the car and it proved remarkably reliable although someone did drive into it at a stop sign damaging the front fender. From the Ford dealership the car passed through a couple of owners and at some point had a new Direct Connection short block fitted as I suspect the original engine got damaged somewhere along the line. It eventually found it’s way to the Chandler collection and then to the UK. The car was shipped to Canada with a view to selling it as it didn’t really fit in with the owners collection anymore. Despite its rarity it proved quite difficult to sell as the big Hemi B body Convertibles don’t seem to command the prices of a Hemi E body hardtop for instance. As a result the GTX sat around for quite a few years, fortunately it was kept under cover so had not deteriorated appreciably. So moving on, one of the cars I had been asked to look out for to add to the collection was a factory black 70 Roadrunner Convertible preferably a Hemi but this proved impossible to find. I did come across the next best thing, a factory black 440 six pack car with a four speed and a really unusual burnt orange interior so I got in touch with the owner Rod Nevirauskas. This car deserves a story in itself and maybe I will come to that later. Anyway having spoken to Rod a couple of times I asked him if he would be interested in taking the GTX in a trade with the Roadrunner, a deal was done, money changed hands and everyone was happy. Once again the car was loaded up at TFX and the GTX was on it’s way to Dennis Kohr’s restoration shop in Pennsylvania to be recommissioned. I had met Dennis before as we had bought a black 70 Hemi Roadrunner coupe through him some years previously (it really is a small world when it comes to Mopars !) So the car now lives with Rod Nevirauskas in Pennsylvania and as you can see he’s taking good care of it although if you watch the video he does seem to be a little confused about the colour. Here are a few photos, the original dealer invoice and a short video of the car. Next up the the Coronet and the Charger.


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RM23
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by RM23 »

Brilliant stories love the GTX convertible mines a 68 440 convertible but in green keep them coming thanks :read2: :thumbright:
watch out for the quiet ones ...
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RobTwin
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by RobTwin »

Thanks again Martin, great stuff. We've got something in common with that GTX - apart from the creaky trunk lid - we've got the same export tag, as our Sport Satellite was exported to Belgium and imported to the UK from there. Same goes for Morgan's 68 Charger.
But I can't figure out why this GTX has one if it didn't leave the States for 29 years? :-k
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SAV@RPM
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by SAV@RPM »

Hi Rob
That is a bit of an odd one and I have thought about that myself. I wonder if it was designated as an export car and for whatever reason it never happened and therefore it stayed in the US. I assume the tag was installed on the assembly line. Who knows what went on back in the day, that’s what makes this hobby so interesting !
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Re: Canada Trip

Post by SAV@RPM »

So what happened to the Charger, Coronet and Barracuda Convertible.

The Charger is a genuine R/T 440 Six Pack, 4 speed, Super Trac Pack car, 1970 was the first year that the six pack was available in a Charger. There are no verified production figures available but the consensus of opinion is around 500 six pack Chargers were built in 1970. This particular car is very unusual being factory black with a black Gator Grain vinyl top and a charcoal bucket seat interior. The car was generally in good order and was running and driving when purchased although like the others it had suffered from poor storage and had almost certainly been left outside for some time. As there was no broadcast sheet and the engine was non matching numbers it was decided to put the car up for sale. It was advertised on a couple of US forums and not surprisingly there was a lot of interest in the car, it sold quickly to Jason Keeping a pharmacist living in Canada. I have been in touch with Jason recently and the Charger has undergone a long term restoration which is now nearing completion. He is going to send some photos of the finished car which I will post on this thread.
The Coronet is a 1968 R/T Convertible, auto, one of 431 built, it’s also quite unusual being factory black with a white top and a white interior. This was a low mileage, documented survivor car in it’s original factory paint and was a nice running car when purchased. Once again the car had deteriorated badly as a result of being left outside for some considerable time. At some point the shop owner decided to try and tidy up the paintwork which only made matters worse. It was obvious that the car now needed some serious re commissioning before being put up for sale. It was a non runner with no brakes and scruffy poorly matched paintwork. As requested Mauro collected the car from TFX and set about resurrecting the Coronet, this required a repaint as well as the mechanical work needed to get the brakes working and the engine running again. Once the work was completed the car was advertised for sale and was actually bought back by a previous owner, Kevin Easton a Mopar enthusiast who also lived in Canada. So both the Charger and the Coronet stayed in Canada and are now in the hands of two people who appreciate them. As for the Barracuda Convertible, Mauro spent a day loosely bolting on the passenger door, fenders, front panels etc so at least it looked semi complete. It was then advertised for sale as a project. It was bought by a guy in New York who was looking for a Barracuda Convertible to restore so at least it found a good home.

Next up, the 71 Cuda resto mod and then finally the 70 Hemi Cuda, that’s where the story gets really interesting !
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