This is something of a first at CC: a demolition-derby car caught curbside (by William Rubano). Why is out on the streets? And presumably it was driven here? Inquiring minds want to know….
Oh; it appears to be a car show of some sort; makes perfect sense now. These big old Mopars must be hard to come by anymore. What’s the lifespan of a demo-mobile?
The rear end has been extensively remodeled. So where are the rear springs, and what would they be connected to? Do they juts weld the axle to the body? So many questions. I’ll never forget when I first saw a DD on TV in Iowa City as a kid….what a revelation.
The ultimate expression of the term “Rat Rod”.
Would make a great drinking car,drive to the bars and clubs,drink as much as you like when it;s parked up and not worry about vandals keying the paint or smashing the windows!
Great for merging into traffic, too. Everybody will scramble to get out of your way. A couple of red trailer lights to bolt onto the back somewhere, and we are good. 🙂
I would think that the station wagon would be the worst derby car due to less braced structure compared with a sedan. But then I have never tried to run in a derby.
Station wagons are usually the most sought after derby carbs because the rear end is like a battering ram.
Looks like it was in some sort of car show from the cars in the background?
It was brought in on a trailer but ran. It was part of the parking lot overflow at the car show. There were over 1000 cars there.
I’m thankful that GM didn’t use leaf springs on a majority of their full-sized lineup. Sadly the Clamshell wagons had leaf springs: when the frames eventually buckled from repeated impacts, the arching leaf springs jacked the rear of the car up away from the rear axle housing, keeping the wheels from being smunched by the collapsing wheelwells. Derbiers love leaf springs.
Wow, rat rod indeed lol.
What a waste.
+1 It’s one thing when idiots destroyed these ’70s land yachts in 1990; they were just cheap old cars. But now that they’re getting scarce, oh, let’s trash some more.
Yep. A waste. Here’s one in its prime–a nice looking wagon.
That is a shame, if it looked anything like that, it’s sheer stupidity. That’s a fine wagon.