Re: Another Twilight Zone story!
 

[ QUOTE ]
How do you sit still with that horseshoe still up your ***? https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Side saddle https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

Hey, can I help it if my car is possessed and likes to "collect" people?

Original owner just called me!
 

Yesterday I gave a copy of the Hemming Muscle Machines to my mechanic at work. He was having dinner with the Wickbergs on Friday evening and was going to give it to them.

It's 12:30pm Saturday and I just got off the phone with Richard Wickberg, Sr. He called me up and we talked for about 15 minutes. (He had to get to his grandson’s baseball game). Depending on the weather we will all get together in the next week or so. His son Richard Wickberg, Jr. is flying back in from out of town business today. They own a commercial dredging business so they are rather busy.

Richard Sr. gave me some info on the Charger. He said back in '69 he was about 30 years old and a 60 year old buddy of his had a hemi GTX. The buddy was pushing Richard to buy a hemi car, but a Plymouth not a Dodge. Richard liked the Charger body style and the dealership, Suburban Dodge was in the same parking lot in Metuchin, New Jersey, that the local bar was in. All the salesmen from Suburban would come into the bar after work and hang out. That is why Richard made the decision to order his Charger from Suburban. He mentioned that there were two salesmen he remembered, Bernie and Arnold, which he dealt with.

(Richard actually ordered the car 39 years ago, last Monday)

Richard ordered the car and took delivery in January 1970. Shortly thereafter, the buddy with the hemi GTX traded his GTX in on a 70 Superbird.

Richard remembered that he only drove the car about 3,000 miles and all he ever did was wash it and wax it. I asked him about his son “borrowing” the car and he said he found out one day when he came home from work and saw burnout marks heading INTO the garage. He said that there were tire marks all over the driveway and that his son must have almost ran it through the garage wall. His son eventually became the one who drove the car more and more over the next few years, running it into things and breaking parts.

The longest trip he ever took with the Charger was up to Syracuse, New York one warm November. He went up there for some sightseeing and got caught in a lake effect blizzard. He remembered being the last car allowed on the highway before they closed it down. It took him 14 hours to get back to Jersey, going 20 mph the whole way. He said the car had absolutely no traction on anything but dry pavement.

I asked him if he had any old photos but he said he moved several times and had a divorce in the middle, so he didn’t think he had anything left but would look. I asked him to try to write down any stories he could remember for when we meet in person.

We will be getting together with Richard, Richard Jr., the wife, kids and grandkids in the next week or so. I will keep you updated with the details.

Re: Original owner just called me! (Part Deux)
 

Ok, it’s 6:30 pm Saturday and I just got off the phone with Richie Wickberg Jr. (the son). He gave me some quick info on the car and we set up a reunion for tomorrow for the car and their family.

He corroborated all the various stories I have collected over the years, from the bar fight and the bottle breaking on the back window, to the crash and pushing his algebra teacher’s Mustang into a telephone pole, even down to the exit location on I-287 where the engine exploded (right alongside the Caterpillar dealership) and how the car went down the highway with flames coming out the bottom looking like a World War II fighter as it got shot down. He said after the engine block was blown apart, the car was towed to the local lot and a mechanic buddy helped him take the engine out and they junked the entire engine from carbs to oil pan.

He asked what hood it had on it when I bought it and I told him it was a blue stock hood. He said he used to run two different hoods, either a 5 inch snorkel scoop or Six Pack style hood. He ran with the dual quad Rat Roaster intake on the motor. He ran 4.56 gears in the Dana and had the trans set up with every other synchro tooth removed so it would shift faster like a crashbox.

He used to drag race the car a lot at the strip. He laughed saying that most of the 12,000 miles on the car were done at full throttle while racing.

He said the best time the car ever ran was an 11.70.

He sold the Charger to Steve Martin (the guy who later assembled the replacement engine drunk and put the pistons in backwards) in 1975 in order to buy a Corvette.

He laughed when I told him about what his Dad said about the burnouts in the driveway. He said that he used to drive the car to J.P Stevens High School in Edison for years before he had his license without his parents knowing it. Every morning his Dad would leave for work early, then his Mom would leave about 10 minutes later. He’d wait five minutes for them to get a head start and then he’d take the car and drive to school with it, terrorizing everyone along the way.

More updates as they come in!

Re: Original owner just called me! (Part Deux)
 

Neat stuff Steve...keep it going! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

THE REUNION!
 

This afternoon I had a visit from Richard Wickberg Sr., his wife, his son Richard Wickberg Jr., and his son Richard Wickberg III. It was an amazing time. All three generations got to sit behind the wheel for pictures.

Here they are in order: Richard I, Richard II and Richard III:

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...ndthewheel.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...ndthewheel.jpg

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...ndthewheel.jpg

Re: THE REUNION!
 

When he was sitting behind the wheel I asked Richard Sr. to reach in the driver’s door map pocket and see what was in there. He did and pulled out the early 1970’s Taggart’s Driving School matchbook that has been in there since I bought the car. He then shook his head and said that was the matchbook that one of his post-divorce girlfriends used to light her cigarettes with during the Syracuse blizzard trip described in the previous thread. He said that at the time of the trip, she was the chain smoking, then-current girlfriend of an NFL player from California.

The look on his face is priceless:

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...a/taggarts.jpg

Re: THE REUNION!
 

I asked both Sr. and Jr. if they wanted to take the car for a ride but they both opened their eyes real wide and shook their heads from side to side in unison, while vehemently shouting NOOOOOOO!

They then asked if I would take Richard III for a ride and show him what they went through years ago. I agreed and proceeded to indoctrinate Richard III into what his father’s and grandfather’s old car was able to do. They were both laughing and his grandmother was videotaping as we left the driveway and she recorded the sound as we went for the ride. When we got back to the house Richard III’s eyes were bugged out of head and he had an ear to ear grin. He just kept saying: “I never knew old cars could move that fast.” So now all three share the same bond: they were all scared to death by the same car.

Here's the three generations together by the car:

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...fWickbergs.jpg

Re: THE REUNION!
 

This Charger is getting something of a reputation as some type of a vortex or black hole that seems to keep pulling in more people and more stories over the years. It’s sort of like the Six Degrees of Separation Theory, only this can be called Six Degrees of Hemispheration. Here’s another one from Richard, Sr., to add to the list:

In the early 1970s Richard Wickberg Sr., was helping out with a youth football camp in Putney, Vermont, his kids were attending. He knew Artie Gigantino, who was assisting at the camp and who would later become a coach with the Rams and the Raiders as well as a TV sports commentator. Wickberg was driving the hemi Charger at the time. He was asked to pick up an NFL player for the camp at Bradley Airport in Hartford, Connecticut. That player was Dick Butkus. Wickberg laughed when he commented that Butkus was “a cheap SOB” and he made Wickberg pay the tab at the diner when they stopped to eat, and didn’t even leave a tip! According to Wickberg, years later the subject of the diner stop came up with Butkus and he didn’t recall Wickberg in particular but he did recall getting picked up from the airport in the red Charger.

At that same football camp there were other NFL players there, among them Ted Hendricks, a.k.a. The Mad Stork and one of the Viking's Purple People Eaters, either Alan Page or Carl Eller (Wickberg couldn’t recall which one it was). During that camp there was some incident involving them all driving out in the Charger to a local farmer’s pond and the farmer’s daughter coming out and being shocked at seeing some 7 foot tall, Sasquatch-looking guy standing on a rock in the middle of their pond, with no bathing suit on. That guy was The Mad Stork. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/eek.gif

Re: THE REUNION!
 

I asked Richard Sr., about the headers that he had the dealership install on the car. He said he wanted the dealer to put those on because he wanted the car to be as fast as it could be, since his buddy had that hemi GTX convertible and he wanted to be faster than his buddy's car. He also said that the Superbird his buddy traded that hemi GTX ragtop in for, was an orange, Hemi-powered Superbird.

Richard Sr., said that the Charger arrived at the dealership on New Year's Eve 1969 (as confirmed by the original shipping invoice) and they got a call at home from the dealer to come and pick it up. It was snowing when they got to the dealership and they thought about it but waited til the weather cleared a couple days later to take delivery.

Richard Jr., gave some more info on his racing activities. He used to run the Charger at Englishtown frequently. He had tow tabs welded on the front bumper brackets, not for towing the car to the track, but for towing it home whenever it broke down. The best time it ever ran was 11.70 with the slicks he had mounted on 15x10 rims. He noted that the Cragars I have with the car now are the ones that Steve Martin bought when he had the car. As for his racing success, Richard, Jr., recalled winning at least one trophy and some cash at Englishtown when he was a class winner.

(Does anyone have a vintage early 1970's Class Winner decal for Englishtown I could have?)

Richard Jr. provided some more details on the infamous grenading engine episode. He said he was on I-287 North running some guy with a new black and gold Trans Am, probably a 1976, and they were keeping up with each other. The only problem was that the Charger had 4.10’s in it at the time and the Trans Am probably had 3.08s. I asked him what RPMs he was turning since the car runs about 3500 RPM at 60 mph with the 4.10s. He said about 8000 rpm when it let go. The shock wave from the explosion was so severe that the entire front end of the car came off the ground at speed. They then coasted to the side of the road around exit 10 and called a tow truck.

Here is the whole Wickberg clan after I took Richard III for the test drive:

They were all still smiling and Richard III's hands were still shaking. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/grin.gif

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...Clan102608.jpg

Re: THE REUNION!
 

How flippin cool is that! I love the car and the stories that go with it . Thank you for the great read. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/headbang.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Most excellent Mac! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Fantastic story and reunion Steve. I can't imagine how cool that was to have them all together and reunited. I hope to be part of a similar reunion next year about this time. Can't wait. Thanks for sharing all of the photos and story. Priceless!

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Cool.

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Mrs. Wickberg just send me a bunch of her photos.

Very Norman Rockwell-ish. You could title this one "Swapping Stories & Reminiscing."
https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...20705_0_BG.jpg

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Steve,
I have an E-town class win decal I won in '69 or '70 with my '62. It's been in my tool box since then so it shouldn't be dried out. You can have it.

Verne https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Verne, I wouldn't want to take one you actually won. That's part of your history! Do you still have the car you won it with?

Does anyone repro these stickers?

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Great stories Steve!! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Steve,
It's my black '62 that you saw. Since I'm never going to sell the car, just knowing I won it is enough. (besides, my name is in the Raceway Park News as class winner). It doesn't need to be saved as part of a package for the next owner. Your car deserves an original.

Verne https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/wink.gif

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Verne, is there a way to search old issues of Raceway Park News? Do they have an archive anywhere. I'd love to find out a date and see if there were any photos taken back then.

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Steve, great reunion!

Here is a e-town decal on ebay, Verne, does it look the same as yours?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/RACEWAY-P...024107004r14539

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Steve - I wasn't sure which decal you needed -I have an extra of the one that's on E-bay (but real)- shoot me your address
(just as long as your car doesn't haunt me in the future!!)

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Steve
Great story, I just experienced this very same scenario 2 weeks ago in AZ. with the original owner of my car.
Bruce

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Steve,
I'm not aware of an "archive" of old Raceway Park News issues. The original text might exist in a paper folder and/or they might actually have saved each issue and have them stuffed away somewhere.

The decal Kevin referred to on ebay is just like the original I have from '69-'70. Those are the ones that were given out in that era. The original actually has some water soluable glue on the face as well, with instructions how to mount it outside OR inside the glass.

If you want it, pm me with your mailing address. (You've probably done that before, but I'm not as organized as I used to be https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/blush.gif)

Verne https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Glenn, Verne, PMs sent. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...lins/beers.gif

Re: THE REUNION!
 

More coincidental weirdness: they cloned my car into 1/18th scale just in time for my birthday!

http://www.supercar1.com/catalog/ind...oducts_id=4064

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b2...268/toycar.jpg

Re: THE REUNION!
 

Glenn, Verne, thanks for the donation!

The car is happy. (You are now on her "friends" list). https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i3...8a/sticker.jpg

Re: THE REUNION!
 

And that is why this site is the best on the net... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/cool.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/cool.gif

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

OK, so anyone familiar with the crazy Charger and its haunted nature will appreciate today's episode...

So I decided to go to the local Cops and Rodders show in North Brunswick, NJ. Lots of neat stuff shows up and its for a good cause - the PBA widow and orphan fund.

Anyway. As is the usual procedure I park, open the trunk and wait the obligatory ten minutes for the genie to emerge from the bottle. If you recall, anytime I go to a car show and open the trunk, the original mechanic and his son soon appear like clockwork. And so it happened on cue: Larry and John Ehnat appear once again:

http://i466.photobucket.com/albums/r...b/S7003133.jpg

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

And if you thought that was it, you are mistaken. Within 20 minutes after that, the second owner Steve Martin shows up with his son. I only spoke to Mr. Martin once about 12 years ago for a brief few minutes. He walks up to the car and immediately recognizes it as the car he bought from Richard Wickberg in 1976.

We talked a while and he gave me some more great stories on the car and corroborated a lot of the existing ones as well. He said he bought the car for $1700 plus $1000 for a load of extra parts back in 1976 after Richard Wickberg blew the engine up.

Here he is with his son in the car:

http://i466.photobucket.com/albums/r...b/S7003154.jpg

While he was sitting there I had him open the glove box and tell me what was there:

http://i466.photobucket.com/albums/r...b/S7003157.jpg

He started laughing when he saw the original piston that he installed backwards after drinking a case of beer and assembling the engine. This was a priceless photo of his reaction at the time.

We had a fun time talking cars and politics. He also said that he has the original block from the car. He said he bought the original busted up block from Richard Wickberg in the $1000 extra parts package. Though we now have two contradictory stories on what happened to the blown up block, I always side with the optomistic story just in case it's true. I gave him a standing offer of a new block or cash for that old one, plus the chance to drive the car once the original motor goes back in. He said he'll think on it (he is building his own hemi car as a project now and is using that block I think).

All in all it was just another entertaining day in the life of the most haunted hemi car in the universe.

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

Steve,

That photo is PRICELESS! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

As far as your car being "haunted"...I have to agree with you on that! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/eek.gif https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...emlins/eek.gif

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

And so...did anyone happen to notice the date that these meetings occurred?

Bashton
MCACN Managing Member

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

Why it was 4/26 of course. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif

Remember, coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

And the weird saga continues........... Like with Christine, I think the car likes you and that's why good things keep happening.

I usually make it up to that show, but not this year. Sorry I missed it.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

The COPO Camaro that we just finished was purchased by Stefano on 4/27! He won't ever forget that date.

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

[ QUOTE ]
And the weird saga continues........... Like with Christine, I think the car likes you and that's why good things keep happening.

https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...iggthumpup.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

That's one of the crazy things about this car. If I was ever to sell her, how the heck do you put that disclaimer in the ad?... https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/hmmm.gif

"For sale, slightly haunted hemi car. Better be nice to her or she will get very angry. Seller not responsible for any supernatural acts caused by car's reaction to disbelieving new owner. Sold as is, where is, and with all original spirits intact. Free Bible included in glovebox."

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

I hope you're able to get the original block back. But I wouldn't put it in the car. That just might reverse all your good luck!!!! https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...s/rolleyes.gif

PS: Whatever he asks for the block, make sure you include a case of beer https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...mlins/haha.gif

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

I think I should give him the beer first and then negotiate later. https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/naughty.gif

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

Smart move............ https://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/imag...ns/scholar.gif

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

Since I haven't done anything to the car in a while, other than drive it, and I was itching to fiddle with something, I thought I'd try and figure out why it was running hot (allegedly).

When driving around, the factory gauge was hanging in the middle of the gauge around 200 degrees (or so I thought) Even the fancy, shmancy Stewart Warner electrical temp gauge that I installed a few pages ago in this thread was saying a similar temperature, so me, being the trusting type, believed them.

The problem was, that the car never really seemed hot.

So like a good husband, I waited til wifey-poo was out shopping (which usually takes up about 8 hours a day). I went into the kitchen and borrowed (stole) her most expensive Food Channel autographed Emeril Legasse meat thermometer and popped the radiator cap and stuck it in the radiator opening. It read 160 degrees compared to the 200 on the two gauges.

So, it turns out the Charger wasn't running hot after all. It's the standard, multi-voltage Chrysler electrical system.

Just for giggles I pulled the radiator and brought it to the guy that recored it 12 years ago. He said it was already spotless inside and he didnt believe there was a temp problem but said he'd reverse flush it out anyway. He only charged me $20 for his time.

The reason I never installed a mechanical temp gauge for all these years was that I could never get that damn steel 3/4" pipe plug out of the water pump housing to install it. So I pulled the water pump housing and we tried to get the thing out. It had molecularly fused to the cast iron housing and basically stripped out the housing upon removal. Wonderful!

So I decided to buy the Mopar Performance alumimum housing from Mancini racing and a real Stewart Warner mechanical temp gauge with the 96" long capillary tube. I also bought a new 160 thermostat just for the hell of it.
I had dreaded trying to find a large enough, factory stamped hole in the firewall to run the capillary tube and nut through, but I was able to find one and it just eeked through.

Got it all installed and guess what? The car runs at about 155 degrees.

Turns out that the damn thing has been running cold all the time but the standard schizo dash and electrical system in this old Mopar has been throwing off the gauges for all these years.

Anyone who has ever had a mid-60's Mopar knows exactly what Im talking about. At night, the faster you drive, the brighter the headlights get. The readings on the dash gauges (as well as any device connected to the fuse box) all depend on what RPM you're running. It's like their readings are all an extrapolation based on the alternator's speed and engine's RPM. These cars use a non-adjustable, sealed, electronic voltage regulator. The only problem is that is regulates the voltage to a somewhat liberal range...oh, like between 1 and 14 volts.

So in the end, it's running fine. I celebrated by going to the local airport and buying 11 gallons of 100 octane leaded, avgas for about $41 (about $3.75 a gallon).

Here's the new aluminum water pump housing installed. The mechanical temp gauge fitting is in between the two heater hoses. The one other difference between the Mopar aluminum housing and the original cast iron one is the location of the factory temp gauge sender at the top right of the photo, near the power steering pump. On the cast iron housing it's below the alternator triangle bracket.

http://i466.photobucket.com/albums/r...b/S7003164.jpg

And here is the new, accurate mechanical gauge. Too bad I don't really need about 1/2 of the numbers on the right side:

http://i466.photobucket.com/albums/r...b/S7003167.jpg

Re: THE REUNION! Part Duex!
 

Spoke with Steve Martin, the second owner again this week. He had some new info from when he was bought the car back in 1977. I was able to corroborate a lot of what he said with the stack of original receipts from when he rebuilt the engine in early 1978 and had that one piston installed backwards on the rod. I even found the receipt for the original set of pistons bought on 02/16/78 and the replacement piston bought on 04/27/78. Steve said there was only one guy with him when he was rebuilding the engine in his garage, one of the Wickberg brothers, who has since passed away. Steve sold the Charger (to the guy I bought it from) in January of 1979.

When Martin bought the car, the rear suspension work had already been done by the first owner: the rear leaf springs had already been moved inward with the Direct Connection spring perch kit and the rear wheel wells were already radiused at the inner flange and moved inward. The work was done by a guy named Blake Klickner at a shop called Heads Up Performance. Martin did buy the 3800 lb. Direct Connection Superstock Springs (I found that receipt too, by cross referencing the part numbers on the receipt) and he installed them in place of the stock springs.

When Martin bought the car, it had the hemi out of it already and a 318 along with a small block K-member had been bolted in place of the hemi K-member. The first owner had already sold off a lot of the original parts and the speed parts he had with the car, including a set of 13 to 1 pistons, a rat roaster intake and the trans and Dana rear. Martin then spent the next 2 years locating original replacement parts for the car such as the hemi K-member, the correct double banded 18-spline transmission and the Dana rear. I think I have a bunch of these receipts in my pile of documents. There are so many of them and a lot are just part numbers and prices on sales receipts from Central Jersey Speed on Route 22 in Greenbrook, New Jersey dated from late 1977 to late 1978.

As for the race on I-287, Martin says the original engine was blown in a neighborhood incident when the first owner ran it out of oil. So that begs the question whether the original engine was blown up once or twice. If Martin has the original block then that would be proof positive that there was a single engine failure and not the catastrophic failure on the highway as reported by the original owner and several other people I have met over the years. Wow, this is like a paradox and it is making my head spin.

All I know is that I have met a great bunch of interesting people over the years, through owning this car. Each one had filled in another amazing chapter in the never-ending story of this car.