Olympia Charger

426 Le Mans HemiWedge: investigating the oil lines mystery

After that our good friend Tom of Olympia's Rocket Restorations found it in the Phoenix Craigslist, we managed to buy what looks like one of the two original motors that the McGriff team had with the Charger at the 1976 Le Mans 24 Hours. Some engraving from John Todd, who overhauled the motors for Le Mans, look like a solid hint.

1973 Ray Elder Winston West Dodge Charger back on its wheels

I got news from "the other" Oly Dodge. One of Ray Elder's former Charger is freshly back from its restoration and was brought by owner Doug Schultz to the Monetrey Historics this August. Elder raced this very Dodge in the early 1970s and won his second Riverside, the 400 International on June 18, 1972, in it.

A833 purple stripe 4 speed rebuild: disassembly on bench

It is now time to start the rebuild of the Dodge's transmission for our next race at Le Castellet in October. The first step that I did today was the complete disassembly and inspection of parts. This A833 is a very race race-only unit with an aluminium main case and an aluminium tailhousing that has no tachdrice provision! Here are the pictures of what I found.

Oly Express Le Mans 426 HEMI-Wedge V8

The Oly Express racing team is happy to announce that one of the two original engines of 1976 Le Mans campaign is now back with the team. Thanks to the efforts of Tom @ Rocket Resto, the 426 HEMI, that was converted to Wedge heads in its day, due to NASCAR rules, is now back home! Our plan is to restore it to its 1976 configuration. You can see a bit of the engine here in this picture from 1976 Le Mans garage action.

Oly Dodge on Danish Mopar Meet Flyer

Right in the trend of a new season of cruising and racing V8 iron about to go underway, the Danish Moparclub has issued the flyer to their yearly Mopar get together. Cool to see that it features our Oly Charger! Well, if there is enough interest from the event's sponsors, we may show up there and park it in front of the Oltelt (Beer tent, that is) !

#14 USAC Dodge Charger is getting restored

What a thrill to see another 115" MoPar racecar come back to life! This former USAC Charger is based on a  Nichels chassis and could have even been bodied as a Superbird, when it first hit the track. You can see more pictures of this Nichels Charger by clicking here.

New old pictures of the Dodge Charger at Le Mans in 1976

One of our greatest fans from Germany, Karl-Heinz Roggendorf sent us two pictures of the Oly Express at Le Mans in 1976. The above is from Tuesday scrutineering at Place des Jacobins. Below is when the car was refueled before the race. As you can see on the pumps, only road type gasoline was available at Le Mans!

Oly Express Dodge unloaded from SEA-LAND container at Le Mans in 1976

François Breton just sent me this new old picture of the Charger next to the Torino being readied for the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1976. To read the story on how it got there, click right here!

Oly Express before it was rebrewed: Tru-Cut Sanding Discs Dodge #5

While surfing the web, I found this picture of our Dodge when Cuck Shafer had it in his collection and was racing it at Portland. It wears its original Tru-Cut Sanding Discs paint scheme, as when Paul Feldner won the 1977 USAC National Stock Car championship at its wheel. Shall we paint it back to its original colors for Le Mans Classic 2010?

Oly Express wins MOTOSO readers trophy

We just can't help it: our Dodge Charger is one of the most popular vintage racers around! After the 2007 fans most favourite trophy, here is one more proof: the 2008 MOTOSO readers vote sound trophy. Hold by Germany's premier vintage car parts market website MOTOSO, our Dodge won runner-up honors in the race car category!