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Guys, guys, guys. Which is faster? Come on now? That is a ridicules question. The 1956 Dodge D500 & D500 -1 were very fast. One of the fastest----- but guys someone is putting a spin on things. I raced at Atco, Mason Dixon, York US 30, Vineland, Maple Grove, Quarter Aces, Helms, Englishtowns Raceway Park and about 10 other dragstrips and I won more than 350 competition trophies over a 25 year period and I am very very sorry to say I have never saw one, that's right, not one, 1956 Dodge D 500 or D500-1 on any of those dragstrips when I was there. I am not bragging, I am complaining. I love those Dodge 500's!!!!!!!! I would have loved to run one in my 56 Fury. I feel it would have been a good race and the Dodge 500 would probably have won.-------But I could never find one. They must have made very very few or maybe the California Highway Patrol bought almost all of them???? When an ET and MPH are reported it has everything to do with where it is at, the time of day, the temperature, the altitude, the humidity, the traction on the strip, who is running the clocks and who set the lights up, etc, etc. Some drag strips were built on slight embankments with gave much quicker time and higher MPH. Some clocks were not nearly as accurate as other time clocks on other strips. Some drag strips ran 200 feet longer than the quarter mile every so often just for something different -------if they had the room and stopping distance. May times the clocks gave a fluke time or you got the time for the Dragster that ran in front of you on the strip. Some times there was a hell of a tail wind or a hell of a head wind----both affected you time and speed. Sometimes the clocks were running fast and sometime slow. It has everything to do with who set them up and how accurate the spacing was between them. Guy I could go on and on but you see what I mean. It almost has to be an all out sanction NHRA, IHRA official meet with the super pro on the clocks and the strip to get anywhere near a true accurate time. ( That is why that is the only time you can set a National Record.) I personally find it hard to believe that a STOCK 1956 D-500 or D500-1 could run a 14 second flat ET. Even if that little 315 Hemi could do it -----------I seriously do not think the stick transmission that Dodge had back then could take the power of a 14 flat ET run-------and I won't even mention the flimsy tires we had back then and the fact that Sure grip rear ends were still a year or two away from being available on Chrysler Products. Just my opinion, I could be wrong, but I don't think so. Ron Allyn Swartley PS. In 1957, I lived to find a D500-1 with the 354 Chrysler Hemi and stick or automatic just to see them run and I never could find anything other then the 57 Plymouth Furys big brother which was the 325 cu in D500. I personally feel the 57 D500-1 with the Chrysler 354 Hemi would have been more able to do 14 second flat in the quarter mile than the 56 D 500 Dodge and remember I love them both.!!!!!!!!!!!!! ************************************************************* To unsubscribe or set your subscription options,
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