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Let’s See Some Pictures of those 1975-1979 B Bodies
- Thread starter RR Fan Dan
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themechanic
Oklahoma is OK
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I’m surprised he didn’t mention the Crown Roof option. This is only the second ‘77 Cordoba I have seen with the Crown and sunroof combo.
By the time Warren hung up his helmet, the numbers told a strange, bittersweet story. Seventy-two laps led — out of nearly eighty-nine thousand he had finished. In racing math, that’s a sliver. But every single one of those laps had been fought for, wrung from the car like the last drops from an empty gas tank. His total career earnings stood at $625,886 — not bad on paper, though in today’s money it would be just over $2.3 million. Still, it wasn’t the kind of fortune that set a driver up for life. His average finish? Twentieth. Which, in a world of forty hungry cars on the grid, meant he was no stranger to the middle of the pack. And yet, there he was — running 103,495.4 miles of hard, unglamorous asphalt battles, the equivalent of circling the Earth more than four times.
He was stubbornly loyal to his machinery. While others moved on to sleeker, fresher rides, Warren clung to his Dodge Magnum, wrestling it through NASCAR’s top stock car circuit right up to 1980. When the rules changed the next year — smaller 110-inch wheelbase cars becoming the new standard — he didn’t have the money to rebuild. That was it. The big Dodge stayed parked. No tearful press conference, no golden farewell lap. Just… silence.
But Warren wasn’t the kind of man to stay gone. Through the 1980s, you’d still catch him on the ARCA circuit, usually in a Chrysler LeBaron, with “Native Tan” splashed along the panels. It wasn’t the same as NASCAR’s grand stage, but it was racing, and racing was the bloodstream.
He had his battlegrounds. Flat tracks and short tracks were where he shone, carving out steady 17th-place finishes that, in his world, counted as small victories. The road courses, though — those were his undoing. Twenty-third place, give or take, was the norm there. He didn’t have the rhythm for them, or maybe the patience. But every driver has a track that gets in their head.
When you look at the record, you can measure Warren’s career in miles and money. But to understand it, you have to measure it in grit — in the stubborn belief that even if you weren’t the fastest, you still belonged out there, engine roaring, chasing something just beyond the next turn.
______________________________________________
Frank Warren
Last edited:
Vaanth
Well-Known Member
The following images show my 1977 Plymouth Fury A38 (RK41) police package car, preceded by some details. I've had this car since 1986. It has traveled 388,000 miles.
Engine:
Engine:
- Stock, original E68 400 high performance engine. The engine has not been rebuilt, but it is getting tired.
- 1974 high performance manifolds and dual exhaust replacing the original exhaust.
- The original Electronic Lean Burn system was replaced with a Direct Connection distributor with a stock Mopar 4111850 blue ECU.
- The original Thermo-Quad was replaced with an earlier non-Lean Burn Thermo-Quad.
- Factory engine oil cooler.
- Original 1977 A727-B Torqueflite with 10-3/4" high stall non-lockup torque converter.
- Rebuilt by me with an ATP kit with Raybestos clutches.
- Flex band replaced with Chrysler iron band with red lining.
- Transgo TF-2 shift kit.
- Direct Connection deep pan.
- Factory external transmission cooler.
- Original police suspension without rear Iso-clamp leaf springs.
- Rebuilt front end suspension.
- Reworked leaf springs, with factory front segment clamp retained.
- Gas shocks.
- Replaced the factory front sway bar with an R-body police 1-1/8" diameter bar.
- Polyurethane sway bar bushings front and rear.
- Direct Connection front subframe iron mounts.
- Polyurethane transmission crossmember mounts
- The original 15"x6.5" un-slotted wheels were replaced with 1978 15"x7" slotted police wheels. Front tires: P235/70R-15. Rear tires: P275/60R-15.
- Original Firm Feel power steering gear.
- Factory power steering fluid cooler.
- Factory 11.75" front disks and 11"x2.5" rear drums, power assisted.
- Front pads are Chrysler police metallic.
- Original 3.21:1 9-1/4" rear axle.
- Sure Grip added.
- The original plain seat covers and rubber floor mat were in rough shape, so I replaced them with pleated covers and carpet.
- Originally a radio delete car, but the dash had been hacked for an aftermarket radio. I replaced the hacked trim with a factory radio opening style and added an NOS Chrysler AM/FM/8-track radio plus a factory antenna, factory 3-speaker dash, and rear package tray speakers.
- Manual windows. The original rear windows and doors were disabled from the inside, but I changed it to be usable.
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Wow, what an awesome freakin' car ! Stunning... and frightening, reminding me of the image of that front grille in my rearview mirror while being chased... ( just kidding, my days on the wrong side of the law had since passed )... seriously, that is a work of art.
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