The 2003 Mopar Nationals
A large exhibit of all things Mopar, held at National Trail Raceway, Columbus Ohio.
What is a Mopar? There are plenty of people who don't know, so:
MoPar was the name originally used to describe the parts division of the Chrysler corporation. The name is believed to originate from the Dodge brothers truck company before becoming part of Chrysler. It is the contraction of the two words MOtor and PARts. The name Mopar today is used to describe anything made by Chrysler corporation. However since Chrysler itself has gone through many changes the term Mopar has come to mean different things to different people. An extremist may believe only Dodge and Plymouth cars from the muscle car era are Mopars. Most people believe that all cars MADE by the Chrysler corporation are Mopars. Since Chrysler bought AMC, are AMC cars Mopars? Here the Mopar fans are divided, although you will see AMC's at Mopar shows, particularly the AMC muscle cars (Javelin, AMX, Rebel Machine).
The newer front wheel drive Chryslers are technically Mopars, but they seem to be unaccepted at shows, even when they deserve respect. I saw an OMNI turbo lay waste to a Viper (it went 11.50 in the quarter mile) on the drag strip at a local Mopar show and no one cared. Chrysler had a joint venture with Mitsubishi (Diamond Star Motors) throughout the 1990's which is now owned by Mitsubishi. The cars (made in Normal Illinois) produced by this joint venture have not been accepted by the Mopar faithful. Neither have the Chrysler branded Mitsubishi cars. Since Chrysler and Mercedes have "merged" are Mercedes cars Mopars? I have never seen a Mercedes Benz car at a Mopar show, however Chrysler has been showing off its new Crossfire at several shows. The Crossfire is a Mercedes built car imported from Germany.
Ok, enough of this talk let's check out the cars:
The Chrysler corporation Exhibit:
The Chrysler corporation exhibit showed off their new technology as well as their new cars and the race cars, which were running on the drag strip when not on display.
Here are cutaway versions of the new Hemi engine
Here is a cutaway of the new automatic transmission that goes with the Hemi engine
One of the Mopar drag racing team cars
The Show Car area was huge with hundreds of extremely nice cars:
Who would have thought that a 1969 Dodge Dart could look this good.
A 1970 Dodge Challenger T/A
A cool example of a modern Mopar
I used to race one of these so I had to include one. Even though they are front wheel drive, mine went 13.7 in the quarter mile. I actually had three front wheel drive Chargers. One was totally stock, two were modified. When I was building my first Turbo FWD Charger (1984), I called the Chrysler Shelby Performance Center (the number was in the Dodge FWD performance book). The person who answered the phone put me in touch with an "expert", Carroll Shelby. He answered my questions and referred me to a person who had built the same car. That car became the Shelby Charger turbo which came out in 1985. This one looks like an '87. All of this was well before import racing became popular.
Of course you couldn't go to a Mopar show and not see at least one General Lee
Drag Strip Action:
The Burnout contest. The object of the game is to turn a set of tires into smoke in one minute. The winner is chosen by judges and crowd response. Darts and pickup trucks are good at this. In fact I can't remember when a Dart didn't win. This one set off the fire alarms in the timing tower.
Exhibition runs, designed for crowd appeal:
The Hurst Hemi Under Glass. Originally built in the late 60's for exhibition runs. Restored several years ago, now touring the country at car shows and racing events. The alcohol burning Hemi is in the back seat area (under the back window glass) to move the center of mass to the rear. This is why it will go the entire quarter mile on the rear tires. Steering is by independent rear brakes. I saw the original version at Miami Hollywood Raceway in 1970 at the NHRA winternationals.
Another exhibition wheelstander, however I don't know the history of this one
Racing:
Old race cars never die, they just go faster
New race cars go even faster, hard to catch with a camera on full zoom
Be sure to visit our other automotive pages for more cool pictures