I had the pleasure of riding up to Carlisle with Dick from York one year. I offered to drive, but I had a crappy GM rental and he refused to ride in that. We took his 3.5L V6 Magnum program car (they wouldn't give him a Hemi to flog). Stewart Pomeroy had introduced me to Dick and some other Mopars guys he knew (Thanks Stewart). Dick told me some stories on the Missile and things he did with Chrysler before he retired. One of the more interesting stories was magnesium torsion bars on the Challenger Missile. I told him I thought magnesium would be a bad material choice for a spring. He laughed and said they weren't springs, just looked like the stock suspension and the car sat on the bump stops. He also said they were putting the 904 parts into a 727 back then. I don't think they ran that in Pro Stock, but they tested a lot of stuff for the Chrysler drag racing program.
So Dick and I were walking around Carlisle and we got to the Mopar trailer and David Hakim sees Dick and jumps off the trailer and runs over to see Dick. On Sunday I think I met Dick at the York US 30 Reunion. So I walk in with Dick and Hemi Fred sees Dick and starts talking to him. I hang around a while to talk to Fred since he said to catch him there and meet face to face. After 20 minutes or so, he's still talking to Dick so I wander off to see the other cars. I get back to Texas and I get an e-mail from Fred why I didn't come by to see him. I tell him I did, but he saw Dick and never got around to me (we hadn't met prior to that).
Fast forward to the 2008 Hemi Reunion. Stewart knew all the Missile guys and others. Near the end of one day, Spehar has a motorized (small gas engine) blender making margaritas. They all were talking about the old days, so I wandered off with Jim Ludera to see other stuff. Lots of good memories thanks to Stewart. I hope they are having a good time with Ronnie and Donnie.
