Americans love their pickup trucks and Indiana is full of them. So it’s little surprise that the day before I saw a Cummins Diesel Ram hauling Monday’s crushed demo derby Caprice, I found these drag racers being dragged around by their own heavier-duty Chevies. It’s hard to think of a better activity than drag racing to interrupt the unrelenting calm of the summer months, and with our cooler-than-average season, working on–and showing off–these two classics must be even more rewarding than usual.
As you can see, we have a later second-gen Camaro and a ’73 Scamp. Despite near-unanimous love for the new-for-’70 F-body’s styling, the later versions never struck me as particularly beautiful, so this burly example seems perfect for the role.
So it’s quite perfect that it should find itself outfitted with these Mickey Thompson racing slicks. The Mopar, on the other hand, has more reasonable tires to match its delicate lines.
If the Camaro bloodies noses and steals lunch money, the Plymouth is the instigator which tags along and taunts victims before and after such acts, as is appropriate given its name: Scamp. You’d prefer to avoid it, but it has an innocence which remains visible; tt wouldn’t take much to swap wheels and remove the hood scoop and green paint.
The interior is less presentable but remains serviceable. No need for a radio with that ferocious engine under the hood, though; cruising duties have been left to the truck hauling it around. I didn’t have a chance to inquire about what this car, or the Camaro, has under its hood; the owners were busy inside the Japanese Buffet outside of which I found these parked.
I could’ve gone inside in search of them and introduced myself by shouting, “Listen up, this will only take a second!” but that would add more excitement to my summer than I’m prepared for. Better to just make my way to nearby Brown County to watch a night of racing at the local dragway; there’d likely be good CC-scoutin’ in the lot outside. I know just who to invite as well and I’m pretty sure we’d stick out like sore thumbs, but such is often the case when searching out a new experience.
Not much to show off inside the Chevy other than dedication to its singular purpose. It’s interesting that its doors have plastic windows and a bar welded in front of them, while the Plymouth has neither; maybe they each compete in a different class. It’d be a shame to rip the windows out of the hardtop Scamp, anyway.
Speaking of class, the Scamp has a bit more of it, reflecting diversity within the drag scene. That’s not what we really cover here on CC, and I must admit not knowing much about drag racing (or drag balls, or drag queens, or any other kind of drag one could think of). Hopefully, some of our readers can fill us in on some of the basics and what they can tell just by looking at these two hooligans.
These two hooligans remebering me to song goes like this:
… I got a ’35 Chevy on a ’55 frame
Can’t even spell my name
Dropped out of school when I was 22
What can I do to satisfy you…
…I’m a hooligan
Won’t go to school again
I’m a hooligan
Won’t go to school again, won’t go, no …
…I’m a hooligan
I mean like I’m so bad
Won’t go to school again, yeah, ha, ha
I’m a hooligan
And like every chick in town loves me
Won’t go to school again, won’t go, no
Nobody’s gonna pull me down…
Interesting read Perry. I’m many years (as in growing a family) removed from the drag scene but still find it interesting. I think you can count on these two being different classes but suspect that is listed under esoterica.
Would love to hang out on the strip for a few hours. Mama no longer wants to go with me.
Hmmm. Maybe I’ll have to do a CC on Draglines…
Or a Dragnet?
ah! now those are a pair of good looking cars!
Ain’t they, though? I have a thing for that Scamp.
The Dart looks familiar. I noticed that it had a Lyons Raceway Park inspection sticker. I think I may have seen this run last year at Lyons. Many of my friends run there. It’s a pretty nice small track.
That Scamper lights my fire too. I love the way they left the fender-mounted turn signals atop the front fenders. Probably not too useful in drag racing. Unless one of them was set up as an economy minder and will glow at you during the entire quarter mile.
If some never heard of a Scamp, I dont blame you, it’s not as famous as Duster.
When the ’70 Plymouth Duster was a hit, Dodge dealers demanded one for them for ’71. So, they got the Demon and in trade, Plymouth got the Dart Swinger body and called it Scamp.
So, to me this body is a ‘Swinger’.
One other thing, I love seeing ‘malaise era’ cars modded into Drag Racers, they are proper for this. Don’t cut up a classic Muscle Car.
It’s been a long time since I tripped the lights, but I had the bug pretty bad once upon a time. I spent a lot of time at Spokane Raceway Park and once in awhile we’d hit Seattle International Raceway. Had a lot of fun and the sights, sounds and smells of a drag strip (which are the same no matter where you are) still evoke great memories for me.
If I recall, the Scamp was a stripper economy car and most came with slant sixes. It even had a cartoon decal of Scamp the dog (anyone remember him?) on the fender. I haven’t seen one in years but there were a few around back when. Nice place to put a warmed over 340…..
Scamp FTW!!! after the ’73 facelift, these and the Duster came away looking a lot better than the Dart/Demon with their ‘beaks’.
Definitely in different classes. Now I don’t claim to be an expert but one of the basic rules in all sanctioning bodies is that once you cross a certain threshold you have to have certain safety equipment roll bar, approved racing seat and harness ect. There are also usually classes for street tires or slicks.