I sold my 1969 Dart drag race car this week.
The picture is my last view, now it is gone.
A little sad since I have run the car since 2001 (14 years).
But the buyer made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Money talks... $$$

The car has been equipped with several size engines over the years, all were low deck wedge motors. The first was a 451 CID (3.75" stroke) with Edelbrock RPM heads. A couple years later I put a 3.91" stroke, offset ground 440 steel crank in the engine to give 471 CID. I was able to reuse the pistons, with a different rod length. In 2006 I put a 511 CID (4.25" stroke) in a factory 400 block and Mopar Performance Stage VI heads. I ran that for several years (with freshen ups) and changed to Indy 440-1 heads. In 2008 I ran a Holley 950HP carb with E85 fuel. The next year I put on the Ron's Flying Toilet alcohol injection and ran it on E85 until 2012 when I switched to race alky (methanol).

In the fall of 2014 I built a new 540 CID engine with a KB aluminum low deck block with Indy 440-1 CNC 345 heads and the same Callies 4.25" stroke crank I started with in 2006. I only ran 48 passes down the track with this engine before selling the car turn key.

I plan to retire from work in the spring of 2016. And it will be easier to move money in the bank than another car. I will be moving out of Maryland to a more tax friendly state...
I plan to keep my 1973 Cuda with a 440 engine, my 2009 Challenger R/T, and my 2015 RAM 1500 pickup truck.

Yeah, you'd mentioned about relocating... but I hadn't realized that cutting the Dart loose was ever part of the plan.

Do you expect to buy another race car after getting settled in once retired, or is this closing a chapter of your life?

I plan to buy a nice race car after I move. The amount of money the buyer gave me should buy a nice car.

Jim, congrats on the sale. Change is good, it brings a fresh start, new possibilities. Kind of like finding a new girlfriend.

I just sold my Jeep for a good buck, and bought a '57 Chevy roller, and I'm loving it.

Any thoughts about possibly relocating to Florida?

Congrats

Jim retirement is good. You will enjoy doing things at your own pace. Good luck.

Good luck Jim!!

I can agree with a lot of that above. I sold my '64 Polara in 2010 so that I could move my Ramcharger into the 1.5 car garage and in 2014 we sold our little house in a pricey neighborhood and moved myself and wife to Graham, WA where I have a 1,600 sft shop and she has a 900 sft garage + the 2,400 sft triple wide on a 52,000 sft lot where I can see Mt. Rainier out my front porch. The new place cost less than the old and I was able to pay off all the old bills with the difference. Now I have lots of room to work on my projects and the only fly in the ointment is that I fell down in the shop and broke my back. I am much better now and almost ready to go play in my shop.

The only question I have is why you would want to live in Florida, since the water is rising and there are no mountains to hide behind??

Dont know you Jim but have seen your posts. Congrats on a solid retirement plan that should make things a lot easier for your family over the long haul!! Nice car but you still have a nice one so you can still enjoy. Take care and good luck to you!! Greg

Congrats on the sale. The dart was pretty bad @$$ though

No doubt that cash talks!!! You can always get another car. Florida or Tennessee is where I'd go.....

In the fall of 2014 I built a new 540 CID engine with a KB aluminum low deck block with Indy 440-1 CNC 345 heads and the same Callies 4.25" stroke crank I started with in 2006. I only ran 48 passes down the track with this engine before selling the car turn key


So how fast has this combo been? I hear you say that you have only ran this combo 48 passes. If I remember correctly it's been very low 9's high 8's.Good luck on the retirement.

Jim, I always enjoyed your informative posts about your car as it progressed over the years. The text and pics were very well done, very detailed. I always thought they all should have been cataloged into one thread for the tech archive section.

Good luck in retirement and you search for a new race car.

Jim I've always liked that car and we all learned alot from your posts, I hope you end up with another cool Mopar in the near future.

For enuff $$$ I`d sell my junk but it`s wort WAY less than yours and way slower too but everything has a price and your car is and has been one of the front runners on this board. Good luck on your retirement and relocation.......

where is it going

Tampa-Sarasota FL and Charlotte NC are on the short list for retirement. But I am open to finding a location in TN too. Of course it has to have a drag strip within an hour drive.

The current weight of the Dart with me in it is 3180 pounds. Attached is one of many 9.02 timeslips it has run with this engine. It would have been nice to find a mine shaft air day to get the 8-second timeslip, but that will have to wait for the new owner (who is almost 100 lbs lighter than me too). The new owner lives near the East side of D.C. so expect he will race at Capitol Raceway.

Good luck on your retirement. It will be 6 years next January for me and if these's any advice I can give you it would be to keep busy. I fell into a bad rut last Winter and hope to never hit that spot again in my life. We were iced in, issues with my 23 year old Son, weight gain, and just plan laziness. I got my fat butt moving in April slowing working up to walking 4 miles a day, 4-5 days a week. I dropped 55 pounds, feel so much better, and the time alone thinking has done wonders. I could never give up racing so I had to get in shape to make it through race days. Life is great, enjoy it.

take a look at Jacksonville, Fl great cost of living a lot going on and not quite as big as some of the other cities. and you get a little cool weather. I love it here, wouldn't want to live anywhere else. well maybe the keys, except for hurricane season. Tampa catches hell on the rough weather.

My Sister moved from PA to Sebring, FL 2 years ago and really likes it. They bought a new motorhome to travel the area and come North for a few weeks in the Summer.