The cars of the moonshiners
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The moonshine era is pretty much over, but the stories remain. For any gearhead, the history of transporting illegally-produced alcohol is interesting indeed, and Hot Rod has chronicled some of it in an article on its website.
William Clay Call's favorite vehicle for running moonshine might surprise those used to the idea of hot-rodded '40s-era coupes. Sure, he has over a dozen pre-WWII Fords with flathead V8s, and even a Hemi-powered '66 Dodge Coronet. But his favorite was a '61 Chrysler New Yorker (pictured above). Clearly, Call was an early adapter of the Q-ship philosophy to going fast without being noticed.
As the automotive aftermarket exploded in the 60s, 'shiners were early adapters of the new parts, and eventually started manufacturing their own components. Moonshiners were big fans of boring and stroking those early V8s for additional displacement, and also claim to have dabbled with turbocharging and supercharging. As Junior Johnson says, "California didn't have as gooda stuff as we did." Federal agents, however, knew that the key wasn't the car, but rather the driver. Johnson, of course, would go on to become a renowned NASCAR driver, and eventually quit distributing illegal liquor - sometime after winning the Daytona 500 in 1960. Call admits to running 'shine into the 1980s before retiring from the business.
[Source: Hot Rod]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
JG Hitzert 12:13PM (9/22/2006)
These idiots at Hot Rod. Early adopters dumbasses. Adapters as used in the piece is just weak. I fucking hate those guys. The jist of the article was interesting though.
Is Junior Johnson related to Jimmie Johnson?
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Bill 12:46PM (9/22/2006)
"It'd run 180 mile an hour loaded or unloaded, uphill or downhill--it didn't matter."
180 in a '61 New Yorker?? That must have been scary. Might be a bit of an exaggeration, but he's an old man so I'll let it go.
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JC Whitless 12:39PM (9/22/2006)
Wow...Just WOW!!
I've been trying to find a 60 or a 61 Finned Mopar for years.
I had to settle on a 63 (w/o fins), but the top goes down, so I suppose it is a tradeoff.
The best part about those cars is a push button automatic trans. No mess, no fuss...just a little clunk as it drops into gear!!
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61HemiNewport 12:51PM (9/22/2006)
I've got a restored 1961 Convertible Newport (same as newyorker but less equipped) with a Hemi, I understand why it was a moonshiners favorite, HUGE trunk and great handling for the era.
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jim 1:31PM (9/22/2006)
Anything over 100 MPH those cars feels like the speed of light so we can excuse the exaggeration.
I remember a movie made in the 50's about moonshining. I think James Cagney starred in it. Hot rodded a 40's Ford(?) with lots of discussion of the modifications he was making and great chase scene leading to the climax.
Anyone remember the name of the movie?
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JC Whitless 1:48PM (9/22/2006)
I've seen the better part of 125-130 in a 64 New Yorker with the 413 and a 4bbl.
Of course I was scared to death the whole time. One tire pops and I'm Hammond....
Could you do 180? Well the 1960 300F with the cross rams could pull off 144.99 mph.
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Glenn 2:30PM (9/22/2006)
Well 61HemiNewport, you must be good at engine transplants because Chrysler quit building the mass-produced HEMI V8's in late 1958, and for the 1959 cars, introduced the cheaper-to-produce wedge head V8's (which made an early appearance in 1958 DeSotos, apparently). If your spark plug wires don't protrude out the middle of your very substantial valve covers, you ain't got a HEMI, bud.
Speedometers in these era cars ended at 120, so, 180 mph in a 1961 Chrysler, with as much as 350 horsepower in a New Yorker and 400 in a 300G? Not very likely. Perhaps 150, with LOTS of modifications - but as we car guys have already been saying on here, he's an old guy so we'll let the inaccuracy slide. Besides, without an accurate speedo reading to 200, who could tell?
By the way, the later 426 HEMI engine did not reach (very limited) production until the 1965 model year, and this engine was never ever factory installed in ANY Chrysler branded vehicles, as were the old mass produced HEMI V8's - but only in Dodge or Plymouth cars.
The 1950's mass-produced HEMI engines were built in 3 different basic engine blocks, all non-interchangeable but following a basic design pattern.
One was the DODGE block (241.3 cubic inches and 140 horsepower in 1953, 325 cubic inches and up to 310 horsepower by 1958), the DESOTO block (276.1 cubic inches and 160 horsepower in 1952, 345 cubic inches and up to 345 horsepower in 1957) and the CHRYSLER block (331.1 cubic inches and 180 horsepower in 1951, 392 cubic inches and up to 390 horsepower in 1958).
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Greg 5:14PM (9/22/2006)
Jim, are you thinking about Robert Mitchum in Thunder Road?
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61HemiNewport 5:20PM (9/22/2006)
Spark plug wires do protrude out the middle of my very substantial valve covers. Well done Glenn, I like it when people know about cars. Swapped out of an 1958 Chrysler Newport that was cut in half. Engine and gearbox swap was pretty simple, no adaptions at all. The best of it is that it was all done in Paraguay! (if you have'nt heard, it's a small country in the heart of South America).
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Greg 6:35PM (9/22/2006)
These cars where even better in their final minutes of life participating in Demolition Derby's.
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Shadyman 7:14PM (9/23/2006)
Can you smell the whiskey burnin' down Copperhead Road?
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