Up Front

Big Daddy’s At It Again

Don Garlits and Mopar® share a proud drag racing past. A true legend in every sense of the word, “Big Daddy” has been doing it right with Mopar power for half a century.

It was just over two years ago, on January 18, 2006, to be exact that Garlits paid a visit to Chrysler LLC’s headquarters campus in Auburn Hills, Mich. The occasion? The retirement party of longtime Chrysler exec Joe Hilger. During Joe’s party, the conversation turned—as it always does when Garlits is in the room—to power and The Next Big Thing. Garlits was asked if he had ever thought about putting a new 392 HEMI® crate engine into one of his old Swamp Rats. Last year marked the 50th anniversary of the original 392 HEMI and Mopar celebrated by creating a new HEMI for a new generation of enthusiasts. In his usual understated way, Big Daddy simply replied, “I’ve been thinking about doing that.”

You’ll have to read our cover feature for the rest of the story to see how Big Daddy made this “Next Big Thing” a reality. Follow him from his workshop to the moment when Big Daddy first lit off his 392 HEMI Dragster. As always, you can be sure there was plenty of smoke involved when Big Daddy was around.

Continuing the Mopar winning tradition established by Big Daddy, also in this issue, meet the team who’s going to take Mopar to the top in off-road competition, along with a tour of a very secret garage of vintage collector cars where the location is known only to a select few. This is just the tip of the iceberg as there is also a ton of the latest parts and service info to get your own “classic” vehicle in tip top shape for the upcoming cruising season.

Enjoy this issue of Mopar Magazine and thanks for being a passionate member of the Mopar family.

Rob Richard

Director

Global Parts Sales, Service and Marketing

Mopar Parts