Chrysler's Motown Missile: Mopar's Secret Engineering Program at the Dawn of Pro Stock. Geoff Stunkard
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© 2020 by Geoff Stunkard
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Edit by Wes Eisenschenk
Layout by Chris Fayers
ISBN 978-1-61325-475-2
Item No. CT655
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Stunkard, Geoff (Geoffrey F.), 1963- author.
Title: Chrysler’s Motown Missile Mopar’s secret engineering program in the dawn of pro stock / Geoff Stunkard.
Description: Forest Lake, MN : CarTech, Inc., 2020.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019043046 | ISBN 9781613254752 (paperback)
Subjects: LCSH: Chrysler automobile--Motors--Design and construction--History--20th century. | Stock cars (Automobiles)--United States--History--20th century. | Stock car racing--United States--History--20th century.
Classification: LCC TL215.C55 S78 2020 | DDC 629.228/5--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019043046
Written, edited, and designed in the U.S.A.
Printed in China
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Front Cover Photos
Top: The original 1971 Motown Missile is wheels-up at Dallas International Motor Speedway, a track that Don Carlton was undefeated at during its IHRA era. (Photo Courtesy Bob McClurg)
Bottom: Don Carlton and Dick Oldfield perform the scoop test. (Photo Courtesy Joe Pappas)
Back Cover Photos
Top: See page 74.
Center: See page 150.
Bottom: See page 6.
Frontispiece: Missile versus Missile—the former 1971 Dodge driven by John Livingston and Ted’s 1972 Cuda driven by Don Carlton race each other at Dallas in 1972. (Photo Courtesy Steve Reyes)
Title Page: Joe Pappas holds it back while Donnie Carlton burns ’em up in the 1973 Duster built by Ron Butler. Seen at the IHRA Fall Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee, that year, the car was on the way to a 10th-consecutive IHRA final round. (Photo Courtesy Bob McClurg)
Table of Contents: The 1973 car is shown racing at speed during the IHRA World Championship quest. (Photo Courtesy Bob McClurg)
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Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Foreword by Donnie Carlton
Introduction
Chapter 1: Preflight Check in Autumn 1969: Origins of the Motown Missile
Chapter 2: 1970 Challenger: The First Spark
Chapter 3: 1971: A Real Race Car and the Mad Scientists
Chapter 4: 1972: The ’Cuda, Conflicts, and the Corporation
Chapter 5: 1973: The Duster, Decisions, and Don
Chapter 6: 1974: Fly by Wire, Less Is More, and Cha-Cha Changes