Mopar Collector's Guide - April 2007
Randy Holden

• Columbus, Ohio has become synonymous with old Mopars thank to its long affiliation with Mopar Nationals. However, long before the Mopar Nats came to town, the central Ohio town had already become known as a Mopar city to drag racers coast-to-coast thanks to The Rod Shop. Located in a suburban Columbus shopping center, The Rod Shop came into its own during the early 1960’s when owners Gil Kirk and Jim Thompson built a wide variety of customer owned drag cars. The shop specialized in Gassers and Altereds, and contrary to what many remember today, they had quite a bit of success with Chevy motors in addition to Chryslers in those early years. In fact, most of the cars built by The Rod Shop were Chevy powered. As the sixties progressed, the crew realized the HEMI was where it was at.

• Bob Riffle’s A/Gasser HEMI car was a Rod Shop product, and Jim Thompson’s radical flip-up Gasser ‘Cuda was a sight to behold. As is the case with the entire muscle car era, 1970 turned out to be a pivotal year for The Rod Shop and Mopars.

• With the popularity of door slammer racing going through the rof thanks to all the Super Stock classes and new Pro Stock class, it was in the middle of 1970 that Gil and Jim of The Rod Shop signed on with Chrysler Corporation to abandon Chevys and exclusively build Dodges.

• The idea was solid; Chrysler had heavy hitters in the bigger pro classes such as Top Fuel, AA/Funny Car, and Pro Stock, but they wanted a single source that could put the Dodge name in a wide variety of classes typically inhabited by the average everyday guy. It’s one thing for a guy in the stands to see a Challenger in a S/S class, that’s something he can really identify with – that’s the kind of car he could legitimately afford.

• Dodge needed those easily identified cars out there on the track and they needed them winning races. Overnight, the partnership between The Rod Shop and Dodge seemed to be blessed from above.

• The all-new Rod Shop team initially consisted of eight Dodges, each one painted in patriotic all-American red, white and blue colors. Bob Riffle drove a Demon in NHRA’s B/Gas and the same car doubled as a Pro Stocker at some events. Mike Fons drove a Challenger, and in 1971, veteran Camaro convertible jocky Bill McGraw ended up behind the wheel of a HEMI powered Super Stock/E Charger R/T. The remaining Rod Shop cars were driven by some of the best drivers in the Midwest, including the husband and wife duo of Dave Boertman and Judy Boertman. The team’s domination was incredible from the Start.

• In 1971, Mike Fons won the NHRA Pro Stock World Championship in The Rod Shop Challenger. In short, when the red, whit and blue Dodges showed up, the Wallys usually went home with them.

• The fame The Rod Shop escalated throughout the 1970’s. Drivers such as “TV” Tommy Ivo drove for them, and Don Carlton of MoTown Missile piloted a Rod Shop Dodge Colt. Carlton was fatally injured in that little Colt in a 1977 crash. Larry Morgan got his early start driving a small block Rod Shop Challenger.

• As with all good things, they end. The Rod Shop faded into the pages of history, but the cars they built, in a surprisingly large number of cases, still exist. Most of the former Rod Shop drag cars are still being campaigned by racers today, but the example we’re pleased to present this month, Bill McGraw’s high profile ’71 R/T Charger, is something of a time capsule. Unlike the other cars of this famed speed shop, the ’71 HEMI Charger was put away circa 1973 and never burned a tire again.

• The odyssey of the Charger began early, when it was sold to a fellow named Bond (Bob Bond Racing). Bond apparently had the idea that he would continue racing the HEMI beast, so he resprayed the Charger’s sides red, re-lettered the sides, but other than that he didn’t change a thing. The upper paint scheme was left alone, the interior wasn’t touched, and the original 426 HEMI wasn’t altered a bit. With the new red paint along each side, the HEMI car went in Bond’s garage where it remained until he moved to Florida. The long dormant Charger made the move south as well, taking up residence in the garage in Florida, where it continued to sit, suspended in time until it was found by vintage race car guys Mike Flynn and Todd Werner. The boys knew this one was too good to pass up, so Todd snatched the Charger up and the cleaning began.

• When acquired by Mike and Todd, the Charger was dusty, but otherwise just as it had been when retired in the early 1970’s. The original Cragar mags were still in place with dry rotted old slicks, but typical of old chromed Cragars, the chrome was peeling to reveal rusted steel below. Doing some light sanding on the red paint along each side revealed the original Rod Shop colors below, confirming the suspicions that Mike and Todd had – both firmly believed this was the team’s famed SS/E HEMI car based on the hood and deck lid paint. There was the possibility that this had merely been a customer’s car built by The Rod Shop, but with the remaining paint matching the vintage photos of the team car so well, the boys were reasonably confident they’d found the missing team car. Finding those stripes underneath on the quarters and the remnants of Bill’s name on the doors was one of those moments that vintage race car guys live for. As the red paint came off the sides, the full original Rod Shop paint scheme was revealed, allowing them to measure everything, document how the graphics were laid out, and thus allow them to duplicate the original paint down to the last detail.

• The upper surfaces of the HEMI Charger required nothing but a serious cleaning, so the roof, deck lid, hood and fender tops are still wearing the paint applied in 1971. The sides were resprayed white, then the signature stripes and gold lettering were reapplied. The competition numbers and SS/E class designation were even reapplied to the windows to match the photos of the car when it won its class at Indy Nationals back in 1971.

• The original rusted Cragars were replaced with clean and sparkling set, with Mickey Thompson slicks out back. The rear wheel and tire combo is subject to change, as the Charger was mini-tubbed when new and the original wheels have a very unusual offset which allowed the tires to be tucked under neath the quarters. The current nostalgic wheels have the more typical offset to the outside, placing the rubber a little too far out, so as soon as a pair of correct wheels can be found the original stance will be returned.

• The original 426 HEMI roard to life after some minimal tinkering, and runs just as strong today as it did over thirty years ago. Nobody’s been inside this motor since The Rod Shop built it in early 1971. Despite several years of hard track use, it doesn’t smoke, it holds great oil pressure, and it stays cool with the stock radiator. And yes, believe it or not, this is the original matching numbers HEMI for the Charger! How many race cars have their original engines still in place?

• The vintage speed equipment on this one is spectacular. The high rise Rat Roster intake was standard issue on serious drag HEMIs of the day, but the Mega Blaster coil pack and the cable drive rev limiter attached to the distributor were state-of-the-art modern technology at the time. The cool can on the starboard side of the radiator was also something relative new back in ’71. Combined with the open Air Grabber (RAMCHARGER) scoop, the ice-filled can helped the dual AFB carbs suck cold fuel and cold air. Oh, we forgot to mention, one of the main reasons this one does run so well and looks so well preserved is largely due to the fact that it only has 76.2 original miles on the odometer! No joke, less than eighty miles since new, and the odometer is hooked up and looks like it always has been.

• The low mileage is readily verified by the Charger’s immaculate B% blue interior. Everything you’re looking at in the cockpit is original 1971 equipment. This one was never caged and given that for most of those seventy-six miles only a driver was aboard, the seating is in spectacular condition. The rear seat has likely never been sat on, everything is perfect and looks like it was put in place last week. From the door panels to the carpet to the headliner, you couldn’t ask for a better preserved original interior.

• Vintage Stewart Warner gauges cluster around the steering wheel and a big S-W tach is attached to the dash directly in the line-of-sight. The original Pistol Grip shifter was replaced with a short throw Hurst Competition Plus straight stick, and that fast moving chrome rod still resides between the buckets. An interesting note that catches the attention of a lot of Mopar guys is that the door jambs and the inner fenders are spray bombed matte black. This was a Rod Shop signature touch, presumably done to help hide greasy finger prints’ Regardless of the car’s color, if it was a legit Rod Shop team car, the jambs and under hood area should be matte black right out of the spray can!

• Todd Werner bought out Mike’s interest in the Charger in 2006, adding the historic machine to his ever-growing collection of race cars in Clearwater, Florida. Todd informs us he’s hunting down the vintage-style racing decals which once adorned the front fenders, and as soon as he can find them, he’ll install them to match the Indy Nationals photos of the Charger. One big surprise for both Todd and Mike came when they started running the numbers on the Charger. Interestingly, this white machine, WS23R1A143101, was the first 1971 HEMI Charger built! As of this writing, Todd informs us no lower serial number has been found.

• Watch for this one to make some of the major Mopar events in 2007, and hopefully it will turn up at some nostalgia drag events as well. The only thing more cool than looking at a remarkably preserved drag car like this is watching a remarkably preserved drag car roar off the line – that’s time travel baby! And in the case of The Rod Shop HEMI Charger, this is a time machine in more ways than one.