Afx cars-who's right??-lets clear the air

[Primer King]

Lets just build some cars and race at stanton mi this fall let the race decide,ps bring your own can of resin,hahaha,lol!!!!!

Working on it :tiphat: Gonna be another year or 2 before it's ready and MI is pretty far away from me, but I'm keeping the sawzall warm!

 

[HEMI-ITIS]

When ya see me at LVR or E/TOWN,be sure to intoduce yourself:yes:

 

[Diecastdeluxe]

According to what I heard over and over again on the B/J show, Steve M. wrote a book and is the authority on AFX Cars. :

 

[Primer King]

According to what I heard over and over again on the B/J show, Steve M. wrote a book and is the authority on AFX Cars. :

ya;

 

[topside]

Comments from one who was there

Just got off the phone with Cecil (Yother), who found this thread on Google, so I thought I'd share his comments:
The bodies were from LA and were dipped in LA before being sent to Amblewagon. Strickler's was originally the lightest but required so much reinforcement that it lost that distinction. Racers did indeed receive A990 cars for parts. Cecil never saw or heard of any aluminum Ks, but some magnesium & some stainless Ks were used. The B-pillar was added for the stick cars (Sox, Leal, Smith, Strickler). Windows were framed with aluminum. Torsion bars were fabricated due to their length (T-bar crossmember didn't move), Imperial bars were not used. Motors were not mounted at the K like the street cars. 12 hardtops total, later came the Peddler & S&M sedans.
The Missile was originally one of 4 AWB '65 HTs, Tommy Grove drove it at the Winternats then the car was parked and then Cecil got the ride. (Cecil still rates Tommy as one of the best SS racers ever.) Missile was altered in CA due to time constraints and dissatisfaction with the quality of the Amblewagon workmanship. Cecil, like Mickey Thompson and a few others who were ahead of the game, registered the name.
Here's the car now (if it loads); we're way behind schedule owing to Cecil's other projects, but nearing completion. He saved everything that unbolted, but the original tub was beyond saving.

 

[glhcarl]

The F/FX, AWB cars were all built and acid dipped in Los Angles. Bare bodies were then shipped to Amblewagon in Troy, Michigan for conversion. There were six Plymouths (only five were ever raced) and six Dodges.

In the book "We Were The Ramchargers" by Dave Rockwell there are several pages of pictures showing the bodies (or body) being converted.

 

[Diecastdeluxe]

So, only the manual transmission cars had the reinforcement at the B-Pillar and the automatic cars didn't?

 

[gtx6970]

Hello fellas,
Sorry for bumping an ancient thread .
But I just found it while doing research for the original 12 AFX cars.
Reading thru this , it reads like the actual 12 cars were NOT done by Amblewagon as I originally thought?
if not , which ones DID they do ?


Also, Anyone know which ones were auto and which one were campainged as sticks .

Also, am I to assume None were originally equipped with a Dana . ? Were any ever equipped with the Dana in the early years ? Meaning while running under there original builder/campaigning teams.

Read elsewhere the only original 4 speeds cars were the Strickler dodge and the Leal plymouth.

 

[Polara Pat]

Crazy six year hibernation for this thread. I was wondering how I could have missed it. Prety sure there were just 11 factory AWB cars built but I'm looking forward to hearing more about it. I've been pondering a second build.

 

[maxwedgechar]

Does anybody know about what appeared to be a '65 AWB car about 25 years ago in the Hinterlands south of Allentown, Pa off Rt. 309?

 

[glassman]

If anybody wants to try to build one of these cars, I have supplied a lot of happy customers with all the fiberglass awb - A/FX parts including , fenders - doors - bumpers - hoods - scoops - trunk lids - dash boards . Happy New Year from Sled City !

 

[sandbagger]

Cool thread to read aside from the early bickering.
I had a 64 Dodge 330 Maxie that was a color me gone replica. At the woodward cruise in 2004/2005 Dick Branstner's son tracked me done and said he loved the car and took pics with him and his mom. He had some old pics from 46 and 65 on his camera and claimed that the announcer at the track coined the term "Funny Car" when he saw the AWB's running. Glassman I met you while selling the car at the Nats in 2007.
pic of the interior....note wrong wheel...was getting stock wheel redone when the pic was taken.

 

[sandbagger]

if you haven't seen it the MCG issue Feb 2016 has a cool article and pics on Mike Guffey's 64 Dodge......quite the history pertaining to this thread.

 

[696pack]

I just stumbled on this thread today from my last posting from 9 years ago.

I would like to make some clarifications and comments now.

I originally posted in this thread to indicate that the 1965 AWB cars were not the first ones build as the OP was indicating or referring to and that the 1964 cars (also referred to as 2% cars) and I tried to make that clear from the beginning.

I have never understood why some people are unwilling to share their knowledge about what they know and have proof of. The Internet is ripe with misinformation regarding old classic cars and often continue to breed new life into old myths. I think that the knowlegable people with PROOF would want to present this for history's sake. In this thread as an example what is to be gained by keeping any secrets? All of these cars have basically been recorded and written of so it is not like someone is going to create one from nothing and pass it off as an original.

ALL of these cars that were released by Chrysler (nothing to do with others that were build by racers that got the info that Chrysler freely offered to build one) were altered further once they left Chrysler by the racers that owned them. They were a work in progress with any of them trying to improve them for a more competitive edge or to keep them in one piece structurally. This is why it is so difficult to answer specific question about them or any particular one because you have to specify a particular time for a particular car. The Learner's Lee Smith car restoration is a prime example of this that the owner that did the restoration had to decide at what period he was going to restore it to.

I hope that the secretive people will get over this obcession of keeping it to themselves for automotive history's sake. What do they have to loose?

 

[bearman]

Great read learned a lot. Good to see the history of the cars.

 

[barbee6043]

I admit I enjoyed reading this thread, (less bickering), and I admit I have read most accost over the last few decades. Thanks to all for sharing info and opinions.
My hats off to those that have salvaged this part of Mopar history, and to those people that strive to build accurate clones for their own pleasure.
I still vividly remember a bunch of us HS kids driving over to Albany ,Ga . 1965 to the strip and a few guys hiding in the trunk to get in.... the sights, the sounds, the smells!

 

[Jeff Peterson]

 

[Jeff Peterson]

Thought I'd share these never seen before pics at a local dealership in Arizona prior to the Beeline AHRA Winter nationals, Melrose Missile, Butch Leal in "blue" and a "plain" Lee Smith!