October 2003

Several years ago one of the leading car magazines got on a kick they dubbed, "Dare To Be Different".  Basically they thought people had grown tired of the standard fare Camaro's, and Mustang's they were featuring in the magazine. So the challenge went out to build something unique that hadn't been done before. They ended up with a lot of decent rides that bucked normal acceptance as to which automotive body styles were proper for hot rods. 

Weyauwega, Wisconsin resident Charles Gaulke was way ahead of the program! When's the last time you saw a bad, blown 1961 Dodge Dart? Charles got the car from his uncle when he was only 14 years old. He ran the car with it's  original 318 motor as well as several other 318's. These smallblocks eventually gave way to a 413 cubic inch big block MOPAR. Then he built the motor he felt belonged between the fender wells, a blown 440!

This is a street car that eventually saw some passes down the 1/4 mile as a result of the badgering a friend was always giving Charles. This friend was constantly touting the superiority of his Pontiac which was equipped with a 462 cubic inch motor. After showing said Pontiac the Dodge's taillights at the track, Charles was hooked on the strip.

This car hits the scales at a less than svelte 4430 pounds. Charles has done the majority of the work on the car, including engine, trans, rear, headers and rear disc brakes in his garage. He also spayed on the black epoxy "paint job" which seems to take us back to the movies and a certain bad Chevy that starred in American Graffiti and Two Lane Blacktop! Intentional or not, it does give the Dart a somewhat sinister look.

To date the best ET's have been in the 11.70 second range at a 116 mph. To emphasize the potential of a blower motor, this is all accomplished with a rear equipped with a 2.76 to 1 ring and pinion and P275/60R15 street tires! Keep in mind that this is no trailer queen, he drives this to the track and then back home.

Motivation is courtesy of a 440 with stock bore and stroke, factory steel crank, stock rods, iron heads with stock valves and an Isky flat tappet cam. The most obvious addition is the Kuhls supercharger run at 3% under, providing 6 pounds of boost. The motor pinned the engine dyno needle at 666.90 horsepower and the chassis dyno at 555.75 horsepower.

So what does the future hold? We all know projects are never really done! This winter Charles is looking at changing the airplane gears to a set of 3.91's and bolting on a set of slicks to aid in the launch. The goal? A 10 second street car. If these changes fail to reach the target, a blower pulley change is always waiting in the wings. Oh, and just to keep the family content, Charles recently picked up a '74 Dodge Dart that he and his son will drop in a blown 452 Dodge.