A little help from the A12 pros

[myrtle]

I know this is a Charger site, but I could really use some help and dont know where else I could go,

Im looking for some information on the initial A12 SuperBee/RoadRunners of the 1969 model year.  Rumor has it that Chevy and Pontiac loved to 'sup' up a few cars prior to magazine coverage/testing for impressive results where Mopar always provided stock cars. That is until a particular magazine did a piece on the "six pack" setup, anywho, I read that Chrysler did a few tricks and that in stock trim, the provided car ran an 11.90 in the quarter mile...
Turns out Chrysler bit off more than what they could chew and asked the article not be printed or somthing.

My question is, does anyone have any particular info about the above mention incident? Im curious what Chrysler could do to an otherwise "stock" six packed car in order to run so good. Inside information, links, etc would all be appreciated. This is a particular piece of Mopar mythology that Im interested in learning more about (perhaps making a clone of).

Thanks alot guys.

[c00nhunterjoe]

i dont know about the article but it sounds like they did some headwork, intake work and carb work. i wouldnt think they could change the cam on the stock car without giving away the secret mod's. perhaps changing gears and lightening the car up alot as well. still, 11.9's is crazy speeds for 1969. was the car on slicks?

[Rustymuscle]

Here's the story:

From my understanding, the number wasn't high 11's but high 12's that the factories were fighting for. Polyglass tires were the main culprit with achieving these times and all the Big Three knew it. Chevrolet was knocking out 12's with their L88 Corvettes and Ford was doing so with their Shelby's, but, of course, there was some massaging going on.

Well, Chrysler was no boy scout, either. Tales of 6am track testing, re-jetting carbs, and high octane fuel abounded; but the most famous (or infamous) tale was of the Six-Pack Plymouth's foray into the 12's. The story goes that a group of Chrysler head-honchos were on-hand for a press event where the Road Runner was expected to break into the 12's.

Hours passed as pass after pass of low 13's came and went. I believe the current best was a 13.02. Anyways, a phone call was made after a certain "suit" balked, "If we can't get into the 12's, we're killing this project." The phone call was to a Mr. Ronny Sox to come and get the big 'Runner to...well, run.

Heating up the tires, Ronny tached up the 440, hazed the clutch and burned off a 12.90 pass. Ecstatic, the Chrysler called it a day, satisfied that the Road Runner could hang with the Corvette. Ronny never spoke of the day again until the late 1970s when Hot Rod Magazine got the truth out of him.

In a private interview, Ronny finally admitted, "Yeah, it was pretty easy. I just banged through the gears without using the clutch."

[myrtle]

Awesome stuff, keep it coming,..

I dont remember the month, but it was in a recent Mopar magazine, it had a concept green SRT Challenger on the front? With several other concept Challengers coming up in the next year or so,.. anywho, in that magazine is where they give you an introduction to the 11;9 second run. Its an article dedicated to the 1969 A12 B-Bodies

[Beep Beep Dave]

You must be talking about this article as it appeared in Super Stock magazine June 1969:
http://sixpacksixbbl.homestead.com/a12roadtestspage10.html

And this is the followup article from Hot Rod years later:
http://sixpacksixbbl.homestead.com/a12roadtestspage11.html

Here are the rest of the Lift Off Hood car original Road Tests if you are interested:
http://sixpacksixbbl.homestead.com/a12roadtests.html

Dave

[myrtle]

wonderful,.. thank you so much

[mauve66]

then the intake got stolen off the car in the motel parking lot that night, prototype car and they stole the intake the first night out