70 dodge dart vs. 70 nova

[Lee Stewart]

I went to an exclusive college in MA: Babson. It was a rich kid's school. The kids of Captains Of Industry went there. So there were all kinds of brand new muscle cars: Boss 302s, Boss 429s, L78 Chevelles, Z/28s, L71 Corvettes, Charger R/Ts and even Edsel Ford's custom built by Holman and Moody 1970 Boss 351 . . . and one Black/Black with White Stripe Swinger 340. Only 1 option: Posi. Rear. The owner's name was Randy and he was like me: not a rich kid, but he knew an awful lot about cars. Yes the car was modified but only what we could see from the outside: headers hanging down and hood pins but with no pins: small locks. He helped pay his tuition street racing for money. No one in school was ever given a chance to look under the hood and he refused to say what gears were in the rear end. Only one car on campus was able to beat him: 1969 SCJ Mach 1 with 4.30 gears.

His car was stolen three times in less than 6 months. The first two times it was recovered almost immediately so there was no damage. The 3rd time it was gone for over a month. When it was recovered the entire front of the car was missing along with the engine and trans. Everything from the firewall forward was gone. So he took the insurance money, used what he needed to pay off his tuition and with the rest he bought a "beater." When we asked him, now that the car was gone, what was under the hood, his only reply was "it wasn't stock."

He once gave me a ride in it: jumped on 1st gear: I was slammed back so fast I thought I was going to wind up in the back seat. I swear the front end lifted because the horizon disappeared.