THE BIG ONE – Mopar Action Article Extra

Also on display was the original (recently restored) Jegs Funny Car Barracuda purchased at the Nats a few years ago. Mopar Action celebrated their milestone with a specially decorated booth, giving away free T-shirts with a subscription and trotting out their world famous invertebrate petting zoo. Rick Ehrenberg was on hand to answer questions–but only those relating to our 25th Anniversary. Be sure to check us out next year when we pull out all stops for our 26th Anniversary celebration. ‘Course, how could we forget to mention a star attraction at the Nats—a white Hellcat Challenger. Mo’fans were falling all over themselves just to grab a photo. Photos, hell, we tried to grab the keys.

As Most Mo’fans know (or should know) by now, 2014 was the 100th Anniversary of Dodge, the 50th Anniversary of the 426 Hemi and the 25th Anniversary of Mopar Action magazine. A special display of Hemicars was in the midway display tent along with some fine examples of Dodges in the Mopar Pavilion. The late ‘40s Dodge Power Wagon gained a lot of attention along with the original M-Code 440 Dodge Dart and 383 Dart. Also on display was the original (recently restored) Jegs Funny Car Barracuda purchased at the Nats a few years ago. Mopar Action celebrated their milestone with a specially decorated booth, giving away free T-shirts with a subscription and trotting out their world famous invertebrate petting zoo. Rick Ehrenberg was on hand to answer questions–but only those relating to our 25th Anniversary. Be sure to check us out next year when we pull out all stops for our 26th Anniversary celebration. ‘Course, how could we forget to mention a star attraction at the Nats—a white Hellcat Challenger. Mo’fans were falling all over themselves just to grab a photo. Photos, hell, we tried to grab the keys.

What would the Mopar Nats be without Mr. Mopar Nats hisself, Jim Bieeelenda! Jim enjoys MC’ing the burnout contest, among other things.

Packed showfields and larger crowds, compared to last year, attest to the strength of the Nats (Annual Nats, Gnats, etc.) and the health of the Mopar hobby. The percentage of late model Mopes keeps increasing. One reason is that it’s so much nicer to cruise to the show in a modern Mopar in comfort and enjoy good gas mileage. The downside is that some of these Mo’fans leave their nice classic rides in the garage where Nats folks won’t see them unless they drop by uninvited. The quality of the classics pouring into the show did raise the bar this year as far as quality, and the crowds were a bit heavier (thanks to the extra cheese on the pizza at the food court).

With the economy not yet in the dumpster, swapmeet activity appeared to be brisk, and the car corral offered a huge diversity of Mopes with cars more reasonably priced and desirable than in previous years. Something for everyone, and if you didn’t see what you wanted, you could bet someone would drug it out for you. Finding NOS parts is becoming increasing difficult as the many years of shows and swap meets has most available stock sold years back. But there is always a few vendors finally bringing out there prized “rare” parts and offering them up for sale. When the repro versions are about to come out, you see an uptick in the NOS ones being offered for sale. That’s why many participants/spectators are there on Thursday for setup to get the early chance to buy these up. Original cars still command top dollar, but restomods are getting right up there dollarwise. Aside from cars for sale, the Nats offered manufactures the perfect showcase to trot out their new wares. New parts catered to the resto crowd along with Gen 3 Hemi performance items and new sheetmetal—especially for ’71 and up B-bodies.

As in years past, the Nats hosts a large number of visitors from foreign countries, and not just those sneaking across the border. There were folks with actual visas from Norway, Germany, England, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and Brazil. Don’t forget Hawaii and The Bronx. ‘Course, folks from abroad don’t come just to ogle the cars or have their weight guessed by Ehrenberg. They’re seeking parts that are non-existent for their Mopes where they reside or 10 times more expensive than even those offered at the Nats. And, along with parts, they’re buying cars to haul back home–especially the “fin” Mopars of the late ‘50s early ‘60s. Kinda tough with those airline small overhead bins.

The Nats featured a Tech Seminar again this year, with the subject of electrical failures and possible fires. Joe Gilardi of LA, who has over 30 years of being a Chrysler Master Technician, was the main speaker. He described what caused the failures, how to trouble-shoot wiring harnesses and what are the known failures that could someday affect your car. Joe shoulda capped off his remarks by selling fire extinguishers. You can tell he’s not an Ehrenberg.

In racing, the Nats has the highest racing class payouts of any Mopar event with over 25 grand up for grabs. Trying to grab some of it were over 675 race fans who lined up at the Chrondeks. The 2015 Mopar Nats, just plain “Nats,” or whatever they’re going to call it, will be at National Trail August 7-9, 2015. Be there, or tell us (in 25 words or less) why you won’t. We’ll publish the best answers.

Here are additional photos of the event to the ones published in the magazine.

The Nats had a special fenced-off area and medical staff for Mo’fans overwhelmed by the non-stop action.

Over at the Moopar Nats,
This cow, named “Hoover’s Moo-ver” led the pack in the Quick 16 for the big money win.

The Cleveland Police Historical Society & Museum, fielded this display of a period cop car with all the police equipment including radar. They were strictly enforcing the walking speed limit

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The Viper contingent reserved their usual spot by the tower. The Viper go-kart (or was it a pedal car—lower left) attracted as much attention as the more expensive models.

The popular Dyno Challenge for top horsepower bragging rights.

This ’66 Charger in the Survivors Tent is owned by Joe Seybert, of Bridgeport West Virginia. In ’73, Tom Seybert found this car at Nick Chevrolet in Tarenturn, PA. He babied the Charger and maintained it in original condition for some 30 years. When Tom married, he turned the car over to brother Joe who keeps up with the meticulous maintenance.

This Mo’fan could’ve bought more stuff at the swaps if he had 3 hands or someone to hold his soda.

Another great Survivor on display was this ’67 GTX showing 37,605 miles. It was bought new by Loy and Georgia Hacker on Oct. 9, 1967. It’s said to be 99% original.

Tons of cars for sale in the car corral included this matching-numbers ’72 H-Code 340 Duster with a reverse manual valve body 727. Complete new exhaust system recently installed, new U-joints and suspension components, new seat covers, original sheetmetal, factory AM/FM, new Cragars and Goodrich radial T/A rubber. All for $18,500.

This custom “Radical Ram” ’61 Dodge Town Panel has everything new or rebuilt. Tthere’s a 500 HP 440 under the hood coupled to a Hemi 833 4-speed and 9-1/2” 3.90 Sure-Grip rear. Cruise in comfort with Vintage Air A/C. All modern suspension and steering, back-up camera, stereo, XM Satellite and CD, plus wild Prowler orange pearl paint with airbrushing under the hood and side panels. Check out the custom interior. Owner said it cost 100 grand to build, but he’d let it go for 45K.

While everyone else was covering the cruise scene, the Mopar Action staff car pulled in to Creno’s Pizza for dinner. Gotta love our publisher for providing the best of everything.