Looks like the Missouri State Police is checking out their new 1960 Dodge Matador, a fine looking two-door hardtop at that. For some reason, highway patrols had a big thing about long wheelbases, as in the 122″ the big Dodges had. So they happily spent the extra money instead of on the 118″ Dart or other full-size cars with less than 122″.
The big question is: what’s under the hood. The Matador came standard with a 295 hp 361, but there were two 383s optional; a 325 hp version with a single four barrel carb, and the D500 Ram Induction version with 330 hp. Let’s see what those looked like:
Pretty wild looking, eh? But its important to note that those long intake runners boosted mid-range power, not the top end. For that, you’d want short runners, like used on the 426 Max Wedge engine.
I remember the first time I saw one of these Ram Induction engines as a kid at a dealership; it left a lasting impression. Next to Chevy’s fuel injection, this was the coolest induction system. Quite the contrast to the flathead six they were still selling one year earlier.
Well, this got me curious. Looking at the site linked below, all I could generate was each of these Dodges was painted either white or light blue. That doesn’t help much, does it?
I would not be the least bit surprised if these were D500 equipped.
https://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/AboutThePatrol/History/history.html
Jason, I see you posted a MSHP photo of a very similar vehicle a couple years ago: https://i0.wp.com/www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/dodge-mshp.jpg?ssl=1
Thanks for an eye-catching and thought provoking entry, Paul.
Saw one of those twin-carb set ups with the long intake runners on a 1960 Chrysler 300.
This was back in 1980. Later research turned up that the purpose was to provide a ram-effect surge of power at 2800 RPM.
The top side of the engine was very busy, so to change plugs one removed a front wheel and an access plate on the wheel well.
I was equally impressed by the Astradome dashboard – the quarter sphere with the floating gauges looked like it belonged in Fireball XL5.
Hi #35,
The first generation of the NB Miata (1999 – 2000) employed a physically and visually modest version of variable intake runners.
Specifically NB-1 models employed something called VICS (variable intake charge system). The way I understand it the intake manifold had two sets of runners; long narrow ones for regular driving around town and short wide runners for high RPM operation. Electronically controlled trap doors opened and closed access to the short runners based on engine RPM.
Starting with 2001 Miatas (NB-2) Mazda, in order to meet increasing USA emission requirements, did away with VICS and played some games with the valves using what they called VVT (variable valve technology). This was described online as a more modest version of Honda’s VTEC. NB-2s also had better headlights, a revised interior, and other visual changes.
The VICS engine made 140 HP; the VVT engine made 142 HP but also met new emissions requirements.
The SHO V6 used this as well(from wikipedia):
The SHO V6 was a high-tech and revolutionary design when it debuted in 1988. Displacing 3.0 L; 182.2 cu in (2,986 cc), it was an iron block, aluminum head 24-valve DOHC engine with an innovative variable length intake manifold. Its oversquare and symmetrical design, which sported an 89 mm × 80 mm (3.50 in × 3.15 in) bore and stroke, gave the high-revving engine an output of 220 bhp (164 kW; 223 PS) at 6200 rpm and 200 lb⋅ft (271 N⋅m) of torque at 4800 rpm at the flywheel, and it sported the added luxury of being able to be used in rear-drive applications. Redline was marked on the tachometer at 7000 rpm, and fuel cut-off occurred at 7300 rpm. This engine was only available with the Ford MTX-IV transmission.
The engine speed at which the ram effect produces useful resonance supercharging depends on the length of the runners, which is why a lot of modern engines have, or had, variable-length intake runners like the VICS system RLPlaut describes. One of the first was a Toyota system called T-VIS, which was introduced around 1983–84, but similar systems became very common in the ’90s. (Modern turbocharging makes them largely superfluous.) BMW even developed a continuously variable intake runner system, DIVA, although that approach was too bulky and complex for its benefits.
Not only do variable-length runners let you induce resonance supercharging over a broader range of engine speeds, injected engines have a big advantage over the old Chrysler Ram Induction engine in that fuel is not added to the intake air until it reaches the intake ports.
One of the big drawbacks of the Chrysler long-ram system was that the long runners would pull heat out of the mixture between the carburetors and the ports. With a cold engine on a cold day, this could cause fuel to re-condense on the inner surface of the runners.
This is also similar to the 2007 Ford Focus I have with a 2.3 DOHC 4 cylinder engine.
I’m curious about the bus barn in the background. The hipo wouldn’t need it for storing and repairing their sedans and hardtops. Did they also own and maintain the prison buses?
I’m curious about the dark thing on the terraced hillside above the car’s hood. What is it?
2-door hardtop rather than a post sedan is an odd choice. I suppose they’d gotten in the habit of buying 2-doors for highway patrol work and there was no 2 door post sedan in the long wheelbase line?
Or they flipped them so young there was still some resale value and their bean counters expected the hardtop coupe to get a better price than the 4-door sedan would, especially with a gas-guzzling performance motor that a taxi operator wouldn’t want?
They were flipped at 25k back then.
Seems that at least one rear wheel is missing in this scene from a Jack Arnold movie.
Great pics. Forward look Mopars, were some of the best looking (and most intimidating) police cars of this era.
From an early age, like most of us, I always enjoyed a good movie police chase. Before ‘Christine’, there was evil Sheriff Roy, in his brawy 1957 Plymouth Belvedere. The TV movie, ‘The California Kid’ from the Fall of ’74, impressed me as a kid. In some ways, I liked the Sheriff’s car more than Martin Sheen’s ’34 Ford hot rod. Here’s the climatic ending scene.
Not possible that the straight axle Ford coupe could out handle the torsion bar suspension of that 57 Plymouth Belvedere. I had a ‘58 Fury and there was hardly anything that could outhandle that car. Maybe more on that ‘later’.
Of course like any movie, they had to follow the script.
It was done to portray a story. You’re right. The same can be said of the movie Bullitt. In reality the Charger R/T with its 440 could walk away from Steve McQueen’s Mustang GT with its 390. But that’s not the story they wanted to portray.
Did the sheriff car have a flathead six
The official on the right, looking a bit like an older Dan Aykroyd as ‘Joe Friday’.
It was a good looking system. The math for the fluid dynamics had been worked out a hundred-odd years earlier.
https://nihilistnotes.blogspot.com/search?q=sonoramic
There was also a Shortram version that sacrificed a little torque for more upper end hp. In 1960 the Chrysler 300 F came with 2 engine options, the Longram 413 rated at 375 hp and the much rarer version the Shortram 413 at 400 hp.
Don’t know if this will work but I’ll try and post a picture of my Shortram motor with a few more modern touches.