Mopar Factory Drag Cars & Hemi Under Glass

Stock-based drag racing throughout the 1960s demanded that the cars competing on the track be genuine production models and that they could be purchased by anyone. The strict regulations dictated total commitment from the manufacturers if they were to be successful. None were more committed than Chrysler.

Chrysler attacked Stock (Super Stock) drag racing in the 1960s with the same fervor as it did the NASCAR Grand National, which itself spawned the reintroduction of the Hemi engine. Its engineers designed and produced a new factory Super Stock turnkey race car most years throughout the decade and enjoyed absolute success on the track, forever cementing its legendary performance status.

The introduction of Pro Stock in 1970 brought with it exciting heads-up racing with the expectation of producing multiple winners from a variety of brands. Instead, it resulted in total Mopar supremacy, as Hemi-powered Chrysler cars won 12 of the 15 national races throughout the first two years, prompting the NHRA to introduce weight breaks to scupper the Chrysler domination. The new 1972 regulations favored small-blockpowered compact cars and were the first major step toward Pro Stock spiraling away from its roots and into the tube-frame silhouette formula seen today.

Racing historian Steve Holmes delves into this fascinating period, capturing the careers of the Ramchargers, Melrose Missile, Bud Faubel, Dick Landy, Sox & Martin, Herb McCandless, Don Grotheer, Motown Missile, and countless others. He provides a blow-by-blow account of Chrysler’s factory drag car programs and the incredible cars it produced to trounce its rivals during the most epic era in Stock drag racing history.

• Mopar drag cars routinely sell for more than $150,000 at auction

• The most famous names in drag racing history campaigned Mopar drag cars

• No manufacturer created more factory drag cars in the 1960s and 1970s than Mopar

While the established stock and modified brackets are
long-recognized as the heart and soul of drag racing, it was
the wheelstanders that more often than not put butts in the
bleachers. In that category, some of the most well-known
names included Bill “Maverick” Golden’s Little Red Wagon,
Bill Shewsberry’s L.A. Dart and Chuck Poole’s Chuck
Wagon. Although, most memorable of all was the Hurst
Hemi Under Glass Plymouth Barracuda campaigned by
Bob Riggle.

Riggle started his career in the early 1960s as a car
builder and mechanic for Hurst-Campbell and eventually
ascended to pilot the Hemi Under Glass. When he left
Hurst in 1969, the Hemi Under Glass franchise transferred
with Riggle. He continued for six more years as the owner/
driver of a succession of Hemi Under Glass renditions.
In the 1990s he resurrected the concept of the original
car—making four different versions (1966, 1967, 1968,
and 1969)—and continued to thrill drag racing fans with his
wheelstanding antics.

At the time of this writing, Bob’s last run with the Hemi
Under Glass was in the summer of 2019. He claims to have
retired (he was 83 years old at the time), but he’s claimed
that before!

This is Bob’s story, one that Mark Fletcher and Richard
Truesdell, co-authors of the 2012 book Hurst Equipped, are
honored to share. They say the story was easy to tell—given
their unprecedented access not only to Bob but also to
his vast archive of photos that reflect his ongoing popularity.
Many of the photos in this book are seen in print for the
very first time.

• Bob Riggle is recognized as the greatest wheel stander
of all time and as drag racing’s most popular exhibitionist

• Many never-before-seen photos from the Bob Riggle
archive illustrate this history of Hemi Under Glass

• Bob Riggle has made 10s of thousands of drag racing
passes, entertaining 10s of millions of fans

About the Authors

Richard Truesdell is a veteran magazine editor with
more than 25 years of experience. He has written scores
of magazine articles and has been the editor-in-chief of
Chevy Enthusiast and Car Audio and Electronics. Currently,
he is the editorial director of Automotive Traveler.
Mark Fletcher has been a regular contributor to several
automotive websites and magazines. Mark is a long-time
muscle car enthusiast, and owns a Hurst SC Rambler. Currently, he resides in Steven’s Point, Wisconsin.