AtomicDodge
New Member
Hi all, my name is Charles and I own a 1963 Dodge 330 Max Wedge - 426 Ramcharger. A little history on the car:
In June of 1962, a young couple, Dennis and Bunny Nelson ordered a new Dodge. A 330 model, two-door sedan, dark blue. Nothing unusual about that, except perhaps the engine choice. Dennis checked the box that said, "413 Ramcharger"- just the thing to tool back and forth to work in Southern California.
In late October, Boulevard Dodge called the Nelsons and told them that their car had arrived. Since the production of 62's had ceased by the time their order got processed, the new Dodge was a 1963, the first production Max Wedge 330 for 1963 in fact, made Oct 3rd, 1962. This meant that their Dodge 330 was now a 426 Ramcharger.
At the tender age of two-weeks, Dennis took the car out to the drag strip at Pomona turning out a 13.08 at 108MPH in dead stock condition.
Over time the Nelsons opted not to use the car as a daily driver, since it is a handful on the streets. To this day the car still has less than 50,000 miles, of which only 4,000 of it in the last 30 years.
Of course even a San Diego car needs refinishing at some point and the Nelsons decided that time was in 1985. The Max Wedge Dodge was treated to a restoration, which was more of just a breakdown and rebuild. Everything was taken apart and cleaned and replaced, the dark blue paint was resprayed and the factory 3" exhaust was rebuilt as intended, just with new tubes and maintaining the factory spec dumps.
After the rebuild Dennis decided to put some stickier tires on to replace the bias ply pizza cutters and ran a 12.60 at 108MPH at the Antique Drags in Carlsbad.
I ended up seeing this car through Volo Museum and sales (Illinois) in 2024 and understand the current owner was working through some health conditions. I purchased the car and brought it back to California in July.
The car has the old bias-ply tires back on and I am going to do my best to preserve this numbers matching gem as long as I can. Confirmed by Galen Govier and listed in his registry as 1 of only 56 Max Wedge Dodges total. Only 31 of those are 330's. This is one of only 12 documented all steel 11:0:1 compression cars and the first 1963 produced. This car is also in Daryl Davis's Max Wedge reference book and featured in Mopar Muscle magazine. Obviously the lightweight and 13.5:1 compression 330 "grails" are even harder to find and a heck of a lot quicker, but this one will do me just fine.
I am mostly here to learn and be connected to a community of people that are enthusiasts about cars like this.
In June of 1962, a young couple, Dennis and Bunny Nelson ordered a new Dodge. A 330 model, two-door sedan, dark blue. Nothing unusual about that, except perhaps the engine choice. Dennis checked the box that said, "413 Ramcharger"- just the thing to tool back and forth to work in Southern California.
In late October, Boulevard Dodge called the Nelsons and told them that their car had arrived. Since the production of 62's had ceased by the time their order got processed, the new Dodge was a 1963, the first production Max Wedge 330 for 1963 in fact, made Oct 3rd, 1962. This meant that their Dodge 330 was now a 426 Ramcharger.
At the tender age of two-weeks, Dennis took the car out to the drag strip at Pomona turning out a 13.08 at 108MPH in dead stock condition.
Over time the Nelsons opted not to use the car as a daily driver, since it is a handful on the streets. To this day the car still has less than 50,000 miles, of which only 4,000 of it in the last 30 years.
Of course even a San Diego car needs refinishing at some point and the Nelsons decided that time was in 1985. The Max Wedge Dodge was treated to a restoration, which was more of just a breakdown and rebuild. Everything was taken apart and cleaned and replaced, the dark blue paint was resprayed and the factory 3" exhaust was rebuilt as intended, just with new tubes and maintaining the factory spec dumps.
After the rebuild Dennis decided to put some stickier tires on to replace the bias ply pizza cutters and ran a 12.60 at 108MPH at the Antique Drags in Carlsbad.
I ended up seeing this car through Volo Museum and sales (Illinois) in 2024 and understand the current owner was working through some health conditions. I purchased the car and brought it back to California in July.
The car has the old bias-ply tires back on and I am going to do my best to preserve this numbers matching gem as long as I can. Confirmed by Galen Govier and listed in his registry as 1 of only 56 Max Wedge Dodges total. Only 31 of those are 330's. This is one of only 12 documented all steel 11:0:1 compression cars and the first 1963 produced. This car is also in Daryl Davis's Max Wedge reference book and featured in Mopar Muscle magazine. Obviously the lightweight and 13.5:1 compression 330 "grails" are even harder to find and a heck of a lot quicker, but this one will do me just fine.
I am mostly here to learn and be connected to a community of people that are enthusiasts about cars like this.
