NHRA is still the home of the muscle car

National Dragster, Aug 5, 2005 by McKenna, Kevin

Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know that the only commodity right now that is hotter than real estate in Los Angeles is American muscle cars. Years ago, before the baby-boomer generation accumulated a sizable chunk of disposable income, Super Sport Camaros, Boss 302 Mustangs, LS6 Chevelles, and six-pack Road Runners were plentiful and affordable. In fact, during the original gas crisis of the mid-1970s, these cars were practically a dime a dozen. Those were the good old days.

Today, the prices of these cars have reached stratospheric levels. That big-block Nova or Cobra Jet Torino you drove in high school is now likely to be worth more than a new Cadillac, and if the word "Hemi" is anywhere in the description, the price tag is likely to equal the gross national product of some developing nations. Live auctions, like the annual Barrett Jackson feeding frenzy in Scottsdale, Ariz., and television shows, such as Speed Channel's excellent American Muscle Car, have only served to fuel interest in muscle cars and have helped drive prices to previously unheard-of levels.

A recent article in USA Today helped illustrate how out of hand muscle-car values have gotten. The article noted that the price of gold has risen 46 percent and a barrel of oil is up 245 percent since 1998, but the value of a low-miles, matching-numbers '71 Hemi 'Cuda has skyrocketed 900 percent, from $60,000 to more than $600,000, in the same time frame. The most shocking example of the wretched excess in the muscle-car market is the reported $5 million recently paid for an original, matching-numbers Hemi 'Cuda convertible, one of just 11 such vehicles built before high insurance costs and stringent emissions standards brought the muscle-car market crashing back to earth in 1972.

So what has become of all of these rare fourwheeled treasures? Is it still possible for the average automotive enthusiast to enjoy them? Thankfully, it is.

Many classic muscle cars are housed in private collections or in museums, such as "Big Daddy" Don Garlits' Museum of Drag Racing in Ocala, FIa., and the elegant Petersen Automotive Museum in downtown Los Angeles. Best of all, many of them still roam the nation's dragstrips, competing regularly in NHRA Super Stock and Stock classes.

Scott Kalitta, Tommy Johnson Jr., and Dave Connolly won the professional titles at this year's CARQUEST Auto Parts NHRA Winternationals, but it's likely that an equal number of die-hard race fans will remember Don Little's Super Stock victory in his vintage '70 Hemi Challenger. Likewise, I'm guessing that veteran Division 1 racer Ken Montgomery doesn't spend too many days at the track without having to answer questions about the value and history of his Hemi-powered '65 Belvedere, one of just 80 factory race cars built by Plymouth for Super Stock in the mid-1960s. From Ray Paquet's SS/B Thunderbolt to Jeff Velde's A/SA Shelby Mustang to Joe DeMarais' D/SA Stage III Buick GS, classic Detroit iron is still plentiful at NHRA events.

The upcoming Mac Tools U.S. Nationals in Indianapolis provides perhaps the best showcase for NHRA's rolling car show because it is one of the few events that features class eliminations for both Super Stock and Stock, and each class regularly attracts more than 150 entries.

Of course, it's impossible to mention muscle cars and the U.S. Nationals in the same sentence without noting the popularity of the annual NHRA Mopar Super Stock Hemi Challenge. In 1968, Chrysler built a small number of highly modified, lightweight, Hemi-powered Plymouth Barracudas and Dodge Darts specifically for drag racing competition. These cars, which helped provide the foundation for what is now Pro Stock, currently compete in the top Super Stock class. Mirroring the muscle-car craze, the popularity of the SS/AA class waned during the 1980s and early 1990s but is now stronger than ever with close to 50 cars currently active and at least 30 expected to be entered at this year's U.S. Nationals.

Muscle-car prices don't figure to tumble anytime soon, simply because there aren't enough cool, old cars to feed the current demand. Thankfully, as long as NHRA has Super Stock and Stock classes, we will have a place where we can all enjoy them.

In addition to his passion for NHRA Drag Racing, National DRAGSTER Senior Editor Kevin McKenna is a muscle-car aficionado who currently owns a '70 Road Runner.