I corresponded some with the owner of the Minnesota '57 Hemi Commando. Got a few pictures from him and did everything I could to encourage him to contact Chrysler Historical to get a build sheet on the car. He made it pretty clear that he really didn't care whether it was factory or not and that he had bought it that way and that he liked it which is all that mattered. The car has later Imperial front seats, from mid '60s, which also goes along with the idea that someone built it after the factory. In studying the photos, the ONLY thing that I could find that might suggest there was a "Hemi Commando" was the decal on the air cleaners because of it being unlikely those would have been created for a one-off home-made car. But then, there are a lot of decal factories around the country and the builder could have worked for one or had a friend.... The owner would not provide a serial number or motor number for anyone else to check the car out either. If someone does see the car again at a show, and really wants to know the factory story about it, the VIN from the door post and $45 will get the answer from Chrysler Historical. Until I see documentation, in my mind, this car was backyard built just like you or I could do today. Wayne ----- Original Message ----- From: "brian" <xm2cars@xxxxxxx> Sent: Tuesday, June 04, 2002 3:30 PM Subject: Re: Hemi Commando? According to Johnny Cash one could get these cars built "One Piece at a Time"....at least at the Caddy plant. Brian D500s in MI -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- Need an answer fast? Search the 17,000+ pages of the Forward Look Mailing List archives at http://www.forwardlook.net/search.htm
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