I made the switch from my 1966 dodge charger to a 1995 hartail dragster 4 years ago and I am very pleased with the switch. The charger liked to eat parts @ 3600 pounds and running 10.20’s. The dragster is much easier on parts and MUCH easier to work on. I am getting to the age of not wanting to lay underneath a car to get at things. Mostly everything on the dragster can be done sitting on a roller seat. The engine and trans come out of the car in about 60 minutes.

I am 5’11” and weigh 190. I fit in a 19 inch car. It’s tight but not really uncomfortable. I would steer most people my size to a 21 inch cage. If you want to run a mopar engine combo and want the motor/trans to drop in without removing the oil pump or relocating the starter then you need a 22 inch cage as the dimension your really looking for is 20 inches between the insides of the frame rails at the mid plate. A 22 inch cage USUALLY is 20 inches between the inside of the frame rails.

A hardtail car just plain hooks in my opinion. With that said, I am looking for a suspended car because on a rough track it’s just hard to stop them consistently with bouncing in the shutdown area. If you throw the chute, then there is not issue. Racing alone and packing a chute gets hectic when you are in the later rounds and the track wants to play the “round robin” game. So a hardtail will hook just about anywhere, but stopping can be problematic with the track surface.

If I was to do it all over again, knowing what I know now, I would get a suspended 22 or 23 inch cage car. I have no firsthand experience with 4 links vs. swing arms, so no advice there. I have witnessed cars that bounced previously, and need to use the chute, add a front suspension and no longer need to toss the chute every time. This was at Pittsburgh Raceway Park. Any suspension my do.

And it costs 2 times as much to race a mopar combo than it does a similar chevy combo. Mine is a 7.80, 572 indy headed combo on alcohol.