In 1963 which car manufacture dominated the NHRA?

[super-bee_ski]

Did Pontiac rule with their 1962 and 1963 "Swiss Cheese"Catalina Super Duty's?

Did Ford dominate with their wild 427 Galaxies, Mercury 427 Comets?

Did MOPAR dominate with their 1963 Plymouth 426 "Superstock" Max Wedge Savoys or the Dodge 330 426 Ramcharger Max wedge?

 

[khryslerkid]

Im going to stick my neck out there and say Mopar!

From my understanding Mopar dominated in 1962 also and in 1964...

 

[dieseldazzle]

I dont care who dominated what.

MOPAR for LIFE

 

[Shorthorse]

Found some interesting stuff online-

1963 NHRA US Nationals Stock Eliminator - Herman Mozer, 63 Dodge
1963 NHRA Winternationals Stock Eliminator - Al Eckstrand, ? Dodge

Here is the first round Stock Eliminator line up for the 1964 US Nationals -

 

[dieseldazzle]

Man 128 mph in the 1/4?

Thats 10 second mph.

Seen an audi A8 run 10.8 @128

 

[Tempest 455]

I'm a big fan of NHRA history and have dozens and dozens of books dedicated to it. It depends on the year(s) who dominated and at what tracks/races.

My take on stock and S/S classes. Some might throw tomatoes at this, but there is enough info out there on the subject.

60-62 largely is Pontiac with the SD's, followed by Mopar, Chevy and Ford.

63 is a lot of Pontiac again with SD's and Mopar's winning more often than the past with the MW motors . Again Chevy and Ford were there but not in same numbers.

64 Mopar pretty much dominated, GM was out and Ford had some good success that year but nowhere near what Mopar had.

65 and on, was dominated by the HEMI. Ford had some good A/FX success with the OHC and later Boss 429 but again, Mopar did and still does dominate the NHRA Super Stock class far as performance.

 

[super-bee_ski]

Yup,
I think 62-63 is was Pontiac.

 

[FIRST R/T]

Did Pontiac rule with their 1962 and 1963 "Swiss Cheese"Catalina Super Duty's?

Did Ford dominate with their wild 427 Galaxies, Mercury 427 Comets?

Did MOPAR dominate with their 1963 Plymouth 426 "Superstock" Max Wedge Savoys or the Dodge 330 426 Ramcharger Max wedge?

swiss cheese cars were 63 only if I recall ... I think 11 were made . 63 was a great year for ss cars and pontiac and mopar dominated about evenly

 

[glassman]

Around here in central Ohio, the tracks were Hyde Park Raceway, Pacemakers Drag Strip, Pence Drag Strip, Powell Drag Strip, and Kilkare Raceway. The Mopars ruled the higher classes, and the GM cars were usually the ones to beat in the lower classes. The 390, 406, and 427 Fords were at the tracks but seldom won. They made the program though. The 409's won a few of the races until the 413 max wedges came out and the 409's were history.

 

[super-bee_ski]

Around here in central Ohio, the tracks were Hyde Park Raceway, Pacemakers Drag Strip, Pence Drag Strip, Powell Drag Strip, and Kilkare Raceway. The Mopars ruled the higher classes, and the GM cars were usually the ones to beat in the lower classes. The 390, 406, and 427 Fords were at the tracks but seldom won. They made the program though. The 409's won a few of the races until the 413 max wedges came out and the 409's were history.

glassman,
I did not include the Chevy 409 because I personally do not believe they were a factor at that time.
1964 the Ford Thunderbolt pretty much dominated
Then the introduction of the Hemi car silenced that crowd.

 

[ilm65]

I think you know the answer--the Ford offering was too heavy, the 409's couldn't rev high enough and ran out of torque in the upper range, Pontiac was a contender but only the light weight "Swiss cheese" units with aluminum panels. Mopars, with their light unibodies and max wedges dominated!!!!!!!!!!

 

[badlite]

They all had their day, and there was was no clear dominator, i run at several tracks in the day and saw winners from all camps. One would win for a time and then another and so on.

- - - Updated - - -

When the Hemi came along the crowd thinned.

 

[Tempest 455]

They all had their day, and there was was no clear dominator, i run at several tracks in the day and saw winners from all camps. One would win for a time and then another and so on.

- - - Updated - - -

When the Hemi came along the crowd thinned.

Great post. Neat to hear from someone that lived it.

 

[383man]

They all had their day, and there was was no clear dominator, i run at several tracks in the day and saw winners from all camps. One would win for a time and then another and so on.

- - - Updated - - -

When the Hemi came along the crowd thinned.

I pretty much agree with this. In early 62 Pontiac and Chevy were running at the top but then the 413 Maxie came out in mid 62 and by 63 when it was bored to the 426 Max Wdege the Mopars Max Wedges dominated in the legal SS classes and nothing touched them at all in the auto classes. It seemed most Pontiacs that ran strong were running in the FX classes and not the normal SS classes. But even the lightweight 427 Fords had their day as darn near anyone could beat the other with the right tune and driver. But I always had a love for how good the 63 Max Wedge Mopars ran and I loved the looks of the 63 Plymouth Savoy to Sport Fury. I also liked the fact that anyone could buy a 63 Mopar 426 Max Wedge and tag it and drive it. And Hot Rod ran 12.60's in a stock 63 Maxie with the exh cutouts open and cheater slicks. Ron

 

[monaco66coupe]

In the early to mid 60's I worked at dad's station, and Mopars were the big ticket. There was one Guy with a 62' Chevy with the 409. He would Buy a tank of fuel every couple days, and the car seemed to be problematic. One day I looked in the Back seat, and he had a box of Pushrods. I asked him what those were for, and he said that every time he raced, he lost a few. So, he had quick disconnect valve cover Bolts, so he could get going again. What a turd, I thought. Mopars came and went, bought "Ethyl" and raced. no problem!

 

[cryplydog]

I think they all were winners and a great time in drag racing history.

 

[Cornpatch MO]

1964, Mopar was at the top, but the 64 Ford 427 Fairlane Thunderbolt was serious competition. They gave the big dog Mopar guys fits.....The 426 Mopar Hemi took care of that problem............................MO

 

[Mike Gaines]

Great post. Neat to hear from someone that lived it.

I lived it !
I bought my Max Wedge 63 lite weight in 1963 when I was 21 yrs old. At first I raced AFX class then later in the year as SS/AA and the first part of 64 I still raced SS/AA then when the Hemi cars started showing up the max wedge aluminum cars ran AA/SA . ... but Ford then had the fiberglass front end 427 Galaxie 500's with the 427/425HP with the damn Ford-O-Matic and Mike Schmidt (Desert Motors,Ridgecrest CA) set both ends of our record. He consistently ran 12.1's and Max wedge aluminum nose cars were running 12.20s. Same thing repeated in 1965. We ran AA/SA that year also. That Ford dominated the National events but NOT the regional tracks because he was FORD FACTORY BACKED (and only 1 car)and he couldn't race at every track in the country every weekend. That is the report from a B Body member who raced every weekend with his Max Wedge 63 car during 63 64 and 65. NOTE: in 1966 I altered the wheelbase, tube frt axle, 26" engine set back, Hilborns on Nitro methane and was right in the middle of the first year of Funny Car Match Racing.

 

[Auggie56]

NASCAR: I was interested in that race through my teens, which was 63' to 70'. Yeah Ford was a contender, but the mopar's led the way most of the time. Maybe I'm wrong, but it's how I remember it.

- - - Updated - - -

NASCAR: I watched the races through the sixties. If I recall it right, MOPARs were the big winner over the other two. Now day's, I wouldn't sit for five minutes, just to watch these "slot cars" they are only allowed to race today.

 

[ilm65]

Remember, Super Bee Ski's original question asked which car manufacturer dominated in 1963?