HOT ROD TV: Mopar or No Car Part 3

MotorTrend

Take a closer look at some classic Mopar machines with the Hot Rod crew and our assembled experts and personalities&hellip;

Transcript

00:00 You're back with Hot Rod TV and you're just in time as we check out one of the coolest

00:05 and perhaps the most mod car in Steven Giuliano's vast collection of Mopar rides, memorabilia

00:11 and flat out muscle.

00:14 And speaking of muscle, don't be fooled by the top of this car, it's a ride that had

00:18 both pure power and personality plus.

00:24 This is a 1969 Barracuda Formula S 100% original unrestored mod top, mod interior, mod door

00:33 panel car.

00:34 This car is loaded, this car is automatic air conditioning, redline, 344 barrel.

00:38 Any of you flower children out there remember this?

00:44 Some of these cars aren't just rides that Steven found through others, some are more

00:48 personal.

00:49 Take for example the '71 Cuda Convertible.

00:52 My daily driver was a 1971 446 back Cuda Convertible, one of 17 made and the only red one.

00:59 I used to actually drive that to Manhattan, park it on the streets by Grand Central Station.

01:04 Since those loud and fast days in the Big Apple, the Cuda has been meticulously restored,

01:09 complete with its 440 six pack engine.

01:12 Without a doubt the most popular car right now is the '71 Cuda.

01:16 The Cuda was way ahead of its time.

01:19 If you looked at my email, I'd say every fifth email I got was, "Do you have any '71

01:24 Convertibles for sale?"

01:25 It was a 440 cubic inch big block motor and six pack meant there were three two barrel

01:31 carburetors, thus six.

01:33 The 446 back car was probably as fast on the street as the Hemi was but it's forgotten.

01:40 Also in the Steven Giuliano collection, this very cool 1971 Dodge Challenger Hemi.

01:46 Chrysler put every option available on this car, including the only 1971 Hemi Challenger

01:53 with a factory installed sunroof.

01:56 The Dodge Challenger was introduced in 1970 as an all new body style.

02:00 Chrysler called it the E-Body designation, even though it shares a lot of underpinnings

02:04 with the B-Body, especially the front suspension, a B-Body being like a charger or a road runner.

02:09 But the E-Body was a little wider on a little bit of a different wheel base and much more

02:13 of sort of a Camaro competitor, a two door long roof short deck SCCA racer as a matter

02:19 of fact because they raced them in Trans Am in 1970.

02:27 People bring up the topic of Mopar, the first thing that comes to mind is the Hemi.

02:32 Big heavy motor with major horsepower.

02:36 The Hemi engine is just an unbelievable piece of work.

02:38 To get inside one of those things, the way the pistons are shaped, the heads are shaped,

02:42 I mean who else could put a spark plug in the middle of a cylinder and make it work?

02:46 The Hemi definitely helped create the persona behind Mopar.

02:53 Nothing could beat the Hemi on the street, they call it the elephant and the elephant

02:57 is afraid of nothing.

02:59 You hear about how these guys would pull up and they would disguise their cars, they'd

03:03 take all the emblems off so that nobody would know that it was a Hemi car and then they

03:08 would just smoke people at the lights and stuff.

03:13 The Hemi was an option on many different models, two of which were known as wing cars.

03:20 The wing car was a breed all its own, I mean it was basically built just for Chrysler to

03:23 go out and race in NASCAR and win.

03:25 What else, there's nothing any more aerodynamic than a Daytona or a Superbird.

03:29 The pointed nose, the wing to hold the rear end down, it was built for top end speed.

03:40 The '69 Dodge Charger Daytona, way off the map in terms of styling, was built specifically

03:47 for going super speedway racing.

03:49 '69 Daytona is just such a cool story because Mopar looked at what NASCAR was doing and

03:54 says, "You know what, we're going to win no matter what."

03:56 They put together this ludicrous car with the big nose on it and the big wing in the

04:00 back, they just went out and dominated.

04:02 NASCAR came in and kind of said, "No more, we've got to make some changes."

04:05 So in '71 there was no more wing cars.

04:08 So you can get them for '69 for the Daytona and '70 for a Superbird.

04:11 The wing cars were so fast that NASCAR banned them.

04:14 They actually banned the 426 Hemi engine in the wing car.

04:20 Coming up, we're going to see Giuliano's most valued car in the entire collection, a true

04:24 and absolute gem, that and a whole lot more when we return.

04:28 Stay tuned for more Hot Rod TV.

04:30 [00:01:00] [SILENCE]

04:33 (explosion)

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