On December 6, 1963 in Building 135 of the Chrysler complex in Highland Park MI, the very first 426 Hemi thundered to life in dynamometer Cell 13. For the outrageous decade of the 1960s, and again in the ‘80s and ‘90s, the concrete walls of Cell 13 reverberated to the glorious song of horsepower in the making. From this room first rang sounds that echoed at Daytona, Bonneville, Le Mans, and drag strips and dark streets across America. Power to dominate — for decades — was born in Cell 13.
Cell 13, along with the rest of historic Highland Park, no longer exists. But while it still stood, a small number of very special men gathered there again for a last look at the room — and to speak with one another of what they once did there and nearby. These were the Chrysler engineers, mechanics, and dyno operators of the Race Group, who in the 1960s developed ordinary engines to extraordinary horsepower, to set victory records that have never been equaled. Their success came not from advanced technology and massive budgets, but by brains, work, enthusiastic dedication, and methodical, selfless cooperation.
Let their own articulate words [with my respectful inserts] as recorded at their reunion speak for that era.
