Volume IX, Issue 2, Page 22

JUST THE FACTS

GENERAL

  • Car Owner/Driver: Pete Farber
  • Hometown: Otter River, MA
  • Home Track: New England Dragway, Epping, NH
  • Car Year/Model: 1972 Dodge D100
  • Sanction/Class: NSCA Pro Street
  • Best ET/Speed (locations): 6.70/210, Bradenton, FL
  • Number of Years Owned: 35

CHASSIS & BODY

  • Builder: Jon Sandahl, Tube Chassis Designz
  • Location: Hanson, MA
  • Type: 25.1 Chrom-moly, double framerail
  • Wheelbase: 120 inches
  • Empty weight: 2,850 pounds
  • Front Susp: Strange
  • Rear Susp: Santhuff
  • Tires (mfr/size, frt & rear): Hoosier/29X4; Goodyear/34.5X17
  • Rims: Centerline Convo Pro
  • Brakes: Mark Williams/Strange
  • Differential: Mark Williams 11-inch
  • Axles: Mark Williams
  • Wheelie Bars: Tube Chassis Designz
  • Bodywork: Terry Hall, Pete Farber
  • Paint: Bill Morgan

ENGINE

  • Builder: Pete Farber
  • Machining: Paul Krauss, PK Machine
  • Dyno: Mike Faucher, Quest Racing
  • Type/Size: BAE 526 Hemi
  • Block: Billet
  • Heads: BAE Stage 6
  • Crank: Bryant
  • Rods/Pistons: GRP/Diamond
  • Cam: Crane (custom grind)
  • Pushrods/Rockers: BAE
  • Valves/Springs: Titanium Victory/Sig Erson
  • Ignition: MSD Pro Mag
  • Spark plugs/wires: MSD/NGK
  • Intake: BAE
  • Injectors: Mechanical
  • Power Adder: Kobelco K-11 14.71 Superman by DMPE
  • Headers: Lemons
  • Mufflers: Collectors
  • Transmission: Lenco

INTERIOR

  • Builder: Tube Chassis Designz
  • Steering Wheel: Grant
  • Shifter: Lenco
  • Gauges: Auto Meter
  • Data Recorder: Racepak

SAFETY EQUIPMENT

  • Seatbelts: Stroud
  • Window net: Stroud
  • Helmet: Simpson
  • Driving Suit: Stroud
  • Fire Suppression: Stroud
  • Parachutes: Stroud

SPONSORS

  • T.J. & Sons Auto Repair/Towing Service, Gardner, MA

“It was going 7.50s with a Veney-headed Hemi and it was just getting to the end of its chassis service, so I cut it up again,” Farber says. “It was a back-halved car then, but as it went faster and faster, it needed to get lighter and lighter, so we built the fiberglass molds and took the steel fenders off.”

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With help from friend Terry Hall in Vermont, Farber set about recreating the truck’s cab and front-end. “So I own all the molds to make one now,” he says. “It was crazy, some 120 hours of work making fiberglass parts. Everything we’ve done to the truck has basically been in house, except for the chassis and cage stuff that had to be certified.”

Jon Sandahl at Tube Chassis Designz in Hanson, MA, put together the tubing for 25.1 certification and Bill Morgan laid down the classic color at Farber’s shop. “Everything we own is red, but I got crazy one day when I went to pick out the paint and just said give it a Mopar muscle color,” Farber says. “Pink was out of the question and I thought purple was a little swishy, so Sublime Green it is.”

Farber admits to switching out the truck’s original front façade for a ’79 unit, simply because he prefers the four-headlight look. Other than that, the only styling cue change a Mopar die-hard might notice is the slightly stretched front-end and obviously larger rear wheel wells that accommodate the 34.5x17-inch Goodyear slicks. “We had to stretch the nose out a little for the wheelbase to get the correct setback and weight percentages.”

Despite its 2,850-pounds empty weight, Farber says the truck is remarkably easy and comfortable to drive, especially since its upright seating position provides an excellent view and plenty of legroom. A Stroud parachute and combination of Mark Williams and Strange disc brakes haul it in after routine 6.90s at 200 mph.

“The first 60 feet she’s an animal, but after that you could drive it with a cheeseburger and a coffee, steer it with one hand. We usually shift first gear at about eighth tenths of a second, so you have to be pretty sharp, but after that it’s smooth sailing,” Farber says.