1964 Dodge Phoenix

Works in Progress

Taking a '64 Dodge racing...in Australia

Ray writes: My nephew Ben's Dodge is a Mopar that he's starting to prepare to battle in road racing: racing featuring circuits with left and right hand bends. The preparation cycle will probably take about a year. Ben hopes to chase down some Mustangs with it.

Dealership where 1964 Dodge was sold in 1964

Eventually I will be able to tell a whole story, from the dealership where the car was bought, about the family who owned the Dodge for 39 years, then its sale to a man who was going to do it up but couldn't find the time, the turnaround that led to me contacting him and negotiating the deal for my nephew to buy it.

Briefly, the picture of the dealership (above), now a Mitsubishi dealership because Chrysler Australia was sold to Mitsubishi under the Lee Iacocca leadership, is a recent one. It's in the little town of Boggabri in northern New South Wales. This where the Bruce family came to order and pick up the Dodge, one of three of this model sold by the dealer that year. They lived in Gunnedah, about twenty miles away.

Even finding the gearbox, one of the most difficult things to source (as far as we in Australia are concerned), was purely a fluke!

You see, I had called a friend to arrange a tow for my little sports car project when I had to get it moved and he was away. He arranged for a friend of his (with a tow truck) to do the job. I noticed the 'Mopar' name on this guy's business card and just asked about 4-speed New Process boxes and he had one for sale! Seems he'd bought two for his 2-door Coronet project and only needed the one... but there was only one bellhousing!

<-- There's little room for headers, master cylinder, piping and the steering gear!

The Dodge is still very much 'in the rough'...very neglected, suffering from rust where the mice have lived in it (note the rust spot at the top of the door opening, under the channel that makes up the roof frame/top of door sill), but relatively straight...

...but Ben's done this before and he is rearing to go!

We are looking for these parts:

Parts to convert the Dodge to 11 inch drums all round.
Bellhousing for the 4-speed New Process gearbox.
Maybe a dual quad manifold for the 318 Poly engine.

If anyone can help us with these parts please let us know. Thanks!

Great tale to tell Ray!

Ben's picked a real Mustang threat.

We look forward to the progress reports!

Gary H.

December 29, 2004

Go to the 1962 to 1965 Mopar Web Site Home Page.