I remember when the Cheap Thrills Dart story came out in Hot Rod Magazine. I remember reading that article in my living room and being pissed off by the fact that Freiburger used hose clamps instead of a real transmission mount. I also remember telling Freiburger how annoying it was when we became friends just over a decade later. He didn’t much care, and now it wouldn’t bother me even though I don’t really approve. What I do approve of is the fact that the Cheap Thrills Dart went 12’s in the quarter mile for just $2,000.
Video Description:
The Cheap Thrills Dart is the car you remember from Hot Rod magazine with the hose clamp transmission mount—a piece of butchery I used to install a used 440 big-block into a 1968 Dodge Dart in my quest to run 12s in the quarter mile for less than $2,000 back in 1995.
I’m not saying Cheap Thrills was the first ratty muscle car—far from it—but it was the nastiest thing Hot Rod mag had done to that point, and it influenced a lot of folks to realize that it was ok to have fun with cars that were not perfect. It set a tone for what Car Craft magazine would later become and also influenced the style of Roadkill TV. In this video I’ll tell you the inside story of how it all happened.
If you like the channel, please share it! And remember, don’t get it right, just get it running.—D/F
