Great story Doug. I've always had an affection for those 60's Mopars. When I was in high school by best friends father had a '69 300 convertible with the 440 that we used to borrow on the weekends to go cruising. I'll never forget the sound of that Holley equipped 440 at full throttle.
I really noticed the part about getting a dyno and tuning the cars. In 1968 I had a warmed over Ram Air 400 Firebird that was considerably quicker than regular Firebirds and put a long face on Chevy guys who thought they had quick cars. Then in 1969, I bought the COPO Chevelle. To start with, the performance was disappointing to say the least. Through the addition of headers and playing with the jetting and advance curve, the car came to life. Most guys did not do this and could not figure out why their cars were not all that quick. It makes a BIG difference and I understand that our newer cars can unleash some decent power through dyno tuning. Manny and Arun could elaborate on that.
Great write up. Too bad we do not have any dealers like that today.
Still a fan -- but big time back in the 60's -- and Mr. Norm's pioneering and help was much appreciated back then.
He taught Dodge a thing or two with his efforts back then with the Dart/Demon/Barracuda A-Body cars and big blocks ..... Much kudos to the man. Norm Kraus and his team at Grans Spaulding Dodge of Chi-Town.
i used to go to an annual MOPAR meet at Southey, sask. every year got to see some pretty rare cars there. a hemi daytona, superbirds, a factory hemi dart race car. there were always special car showing up, and they always seemed to be owned by some of the nicest people. what a great hobby.