The Story of a Bad-Ass Belvedere
The Rock and Roll Machine ruled the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota about 14 summers ago.
The "Rock and Roll" machine was a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere Coupe owned by my friend Rolf. Rolf had built the car as a drag-car while stationed in the Air Force in North Carolina. When he finished up his stint in the Air Force he moved back home with it to terrorize the streets of Minneapolis.
The "Rock and Roll" machine was found in a junkyard down there by Rolf and purchased as a body shell for $500. The car was originally a Slant 6 car with a column shift and bench seats. The column shifter was removed and replaced with a B&M unit, the bench seat was replaced by buckets and a "GTX" emblem was placed in the spot between the rear seats backs. The stock lap belts remained.
The exterior was left as found (red paint faded to primer in some spots, a couple dings, a couple pin-holes of rust) with one exception - "Rock and Roll Machine" in chrome lettering on both sides of the car was airbrushed on. It looked OK from about 10 feet away.
Between the fenders was dropped a 440 mill with Direct-Connection .590 lift mechical cam, 11.5:1 pistons, 906 heads, and a Weiand Tunnel Ram with two 600 cfm Holleys and a big noisy Holley electric fuel pump in the back. A hole was cut in the stock metal hood to clear the Holleys on the tunnel ram and they were hidden by a bolt-on hood scoop. Hooker 1 and 7/8" headers got rid of the spent AV-gas and air mixture.
Chassis Mods consisted of battery relocation to the trunk, Super Stock leaf springs relocated 3 inches inwards, an adjustable pinion-snubber, 3:91 Sure-Grip, subframe connectors, 15"x3" Cragers with VW tires in front and Keystone Klassics (remember them?) with L60-15 Summits in the back.
The car was rude, crude, and loud and the above combo was good for 12.50 quarter mile times on street tires. When he showed up in Minneapolis with the car it was the perfect sleeper. People didn't expect big, old Plymouths to be fast. Everyone laughed at the "Rock and Roll Machine" lettering and Rolf's Gomer Pyle accent he had picked up down south. But in one summer I counted 30 street races for the "Rock and Roll Machine" with not one loss. The worst it faired was a tie with a 454-powered Camero. It's victims included a '69 Mustang with a 460 and a '69 GTO with a built to the hilt 455 and countless small-block Chevy's.
While in the Air Force in North Carolina, Rolf had developed a friendship with Herb McCandless whose shop was near by. After moving back home to Minneapolis Herb sent word to Rolf that he knew of a 426 Max Wedge motor for sale for $1000. Rolf was interested in the Max Wedge heads and Crossram intake for his car and he talked me into a deal where I would put up $700 towards the motor and he would put up $300. I would end up with the 426 Max Wedge longblock, plus the 906 heads and tunnel ram from Rolf's 440. Rolf would end up with the Max Wedge heads and crossram intake.
The motor arrived in Minneapolis, Rold got his Max Wedge heads and intake, and the 426 block ended up being a 1965 Street Wedge. However it did have a billet forged steel crank and a 1/2" oil pickup (like a Hemi). Weird. I put it in my 340 Challenger and ran 12.80s. Rolf bolted the Max Wedge heads and crossram on his Belvedere, along with a fiberglass hood, 10.5" slicks, a six-point cage, and ladder bar suspension and ran 12.10s before the motor finally spun a bearing. And that was the end of the "Rock and Roll Machine" as far as I know.
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