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1969 - THE HEMI GETS SOME COMPETITION
For three years, Hemi-powered Plymouths
and Dodges ruled the street. They had
no equal! But, truth be known, a Hemi wasn't an easy engine to keep in tune,
and a sour Hemi could be a sour ride. But when it was right, nothing could
touch it - until 1969-1/2, that is.
Midway through the 1969 model year, both Plymouth and Dodge offered a new engine
option and the only way to get it was to buy the entire package - which included
the unique car it came in. The Plymouth
Road Runner 440+6BBL and Dodge
Super Bee 400 Six Pack packages featured three Holley 2-barrel carburetors on
an aluminum Edelbrock intake manifold, special connecting rods and a low-taper
camshaft and lifters. A one-piece, fresh-air-induction, lift-off fiberglass
hood distinguished the cars as something very special, as did the fact that
no wheel trim was available beyond the chrome
lug nuts. At 390 horsepower, it proved to be reasonably
economical and very driveable so long as only the center carb was used. But
the Hemi now had serious competition on the street - and it came from another
member of the family.
NASCAR racing continued to be a priority at Chrysler and Dodge Charger (the
swoopiest body to wear a Pentastar) would spawn two cars designed solely for
high-back oval track racing. Mopars were taking a beating from their more aerodynamic
competitors and something had to be done - quickly. First was the Charger 500
with a flush grille and rear window. It was faster, but not fast enough. When
the Charger Daytona arrived with its bullet-shaped nose and high-mounted wing-like
spoiler, stock car racing would never be the same.
The Dart GTS and Plymouth Barracuda could now be had with 440 power and performance
intermediates (GTX, Road Runner, Coronet R/T and Super Bee) offered "controllable" fresh
air induction systems for the first time.
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