Jim had agreed to transport a cool Dodge 4x4 to a buyer and the guy who sold it had lots of goodies in his garage. If you wonder where this is going;



This is the answer;



In the early 80:s when I was in highschool there was a book wholesale company next door to my school. Used to go there often with a friend of mine to check out the new automotive titles in general. I had already become a Forward Look fan and bought my first MoPar at the age of 15, a four door 65 Dart. This was the age before the internet so besides going to the yearly American Car Show in the capitol, the Hot Rod Show in Stockholm, Sweden, a few drag races every year the only sources of info were the car magazines at the newsstands. Since 1980 I bought every single of them that featured old American cars. Car Craft, Hot Rod, PHR and 3-4 Swedish and Finnish ones. Soon a lot more were added via subscriptions. But I never got much of info about the car that started to haunt me after seeing it at that book wholesaler in the early 80:s. It was a photo of the Ramchargers 1961 Dodge Dart Pioneer 2dHT with a 413 Short Ram and a three speed stick. Here is that very photo;



I know, many consider this car unattractive and odd, even some Ramcharger members had those thoughts back in the day. But to me that car was the king of cool and I knew that one day I would find out more about it and hopefully even recreate it if possible. Every now and then I found small tidbits of the car but somehow it never got much ink anywhere. The only place I have found as a major source of info is Ramcharger member Dave Rockwells book "We Were the Ramchargers". If anyone has an interior photo of this car I would love to have it! I'd especially want to see the shifter and tach...and hopefully the color of the interior. All photos are welcome in general even if I have many of the more common ones that are floating around. Anyway, I had been searching for a 61 Pioneer on and off for more than two decades but they are not easy to find. I have found a few but they have either been sold or then I have never received answers to my enquirys. Well, some time ago on eBay one appeared. The pics were really poor and the car was in Wisconsin so I had my suspicions. The seller claimed that it didn't have much undercarriage rust. I was pretty certain that wasn't true and I was right as it turned out. But it was the correct bodystyle and it was very cheap. That suits me because I didn't have the money anyways, had to use my American Express card and figure about paying when the bill arrives. Lol. So here is one of my dreams reaching the first step;











Here is one more from back in the day. If this car wouldn't have been so successful in what Dave Rockwell describes "as the most important drag race in Chrysler history" I wonder if all the high performance stuff would have taken off like it did?



OK, I was off to Texas again. But there was one super treat on the way! In a secret location and owned by a fellow that prefers to stay anonymus I got high on C-bodys. Amazing! Spectacular! Don't know what to say except that this dude has class! Thanks again for letting me see it all!

If you love C-bodys shouldn't they get the room with the best view???

Took this pic down by owners request as it might identify him...there are too many crooks out there...sorry Sir! You are my hero!

A big block Fire Chief wagon;



Minnesota State Trooper 61 Plymouth with a big block;



Nebraska State Patrol 2 door Fury, HP383 I think?



This one was familiar to me from many years back. In fact, I had tried to buy it from a wrecking yard in Montana several times but never got answers to my mails. Even talked to an officer in California who had bought the Polara Highway Patrol car right beside it. It is a complete Montana Highway Patrol 440 car and though it used to have a Challenger stacked on top the roof did not suffer much. Glad it got to a good home!;





There's an endless supply of goodies here...



Next stop US Nationals in Indy via Texas!