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Dodge’s Dart Demon nearly launched under a name far ruder than anyone at Chrysler intended, and a stripped-down Dart Sport later embarrassed a Corvette’s top speed on a magazine test track. Between a 50-unit, unpainted 426 Hemi drag car and a dashboard full of push-buttons, the compact Dart quietly carried more oddball engineering than any car its size had a right to. Read on for the full thirteen-year story.
Tom Derych spent his teenage years launching a 440-powered Dart Sport down New York National Speedway, and fifteen years looking for a real muscle car to replace it. He found a Sublime Green 1970 Charger at a show in 1989 with a blown 440 that looked spectacular and barely ran. What he built from it displaces 472 cubic inches and wears 1966 iron Hemi heads. Read on for how the combination came together.