The Buchanan's 1964 Dodge Ramcharger Candymatic Clone
About a year ago I was talking to our oldest son, Charles, about going together
to build a race car. We considered a Dart with a 360 crate motor, but never did
more than "talk" about it, and several months passed.
At the Dallas Mopar Club Show in August 2003 we saw this car for sale. Richard
Lemon and our middle son, Mark, pointed out that it was race ready and a good
buy. Long story short, we (Chuck and Norma) with son Charles, bought the car.
We raced the last three club races at Kennedale, Ennis, and Red Line (our
youngest son, Paul, drove at Red Line), and a nostalgia race at Denton.
This winter, with Dean Allen doing the work, we now have disc brakes, line
lock, good axle bearings, electric fuel pump, and a transmission rebuild. A floor
shifter was removed and the original push buttons replaced.
We have been asked several times, "That thing got a Hemi in it?" It has a 440
with 4:10 gear set and runs in the super muscle class. Last year with a second
to third gear slip, launching from an idle through the mufflers, we ran a best
8.18 eighth mile and a 13.25 quarter mile. We plan to open the headers and use
the stall converter to see what it will run. The former owner showed us time
slips with a best 12.74 at 105.4 through the mufflers with the stall.
Having fun with our family and the Cowtown family,
Chuck Buchanan