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BOXY BRAWLER
This fat-fendered '80 Mirada racer still gets around coners with the best of them.

Though the 1980 Dodge Mirada wasn't really known as a fine-handling machine, we found one that was built to turn and burn. It's prepared especially for corner killing, and it packs a mean Mopar punch under the hood.
Gary Stach of St. Petersburg, Fla., is the current owner of this wild Mirada, which once competed in the Kelly Girl Challange, a series of road racing events that was contested in 1982-83. Documentation from Chrysler tells us that the car was from a Chrysler kit car and a bunch of round tubing. "It finished third at the Detroit Grand Prix and sat in the front row at Pocono in '83," said Larry Henry of Chrysler Corp.
Knowing that retired race cars are no fun to just sit and look at, Gary decided to keep this Mopar aive by restoring it and actually racing it. Gary compets with the Historical Stock Car Racing Group, which is a home for older stock cars that aren't run on the NASCAR circuit anymore.
The base of the Mirada is a complete NASCAR chassis that incorporates a multi-point roll cage for protection and stiffness. The front suspension features custom upper and lower A-arms with Afco adjustable coil-over shocks. The shocks can be set to raise or lower the ride height, and the springs can be changed for extra stiffness, if need be.
Under the ear bumper sits a 1978 Franklin rear with a quick-change differential. Generally, a low (numerical) gear would be selected for large oval tracks and tall (numerically high) gears would be installed for curvy road courses. The Franklin is supported by a heavy-duty Laundrum leaf spring suspension with Carrera adjustable shocks. The Mirada employs aspecial shock that is mounted over the rear end to control rear axle windup on the track.
An important part of the handling comes from the large 10-inch-wide Hoosier racing slicks that are mounted at all four corners on Bassett stock car wheels. Tese are bolted to a set of Chrysler big car spindles that carry lightweight Wilwood brakes.
Horsepower in this type of racing is just as important as handling, and this Mopar doesn't disappoint. Under the hood sits a wicked 340 block that's been poked and stroked to 355 cubic inches. The block was prepped with a 4.030-inch bore and a 3.460-inch stroke. It packs a billet crank, Carillo rods and 12.5:1 Wiseco pistons. The bearings are from Michigan, and the cam is a Cam Dynamics grind measuring 290º/300º duration with lots of lobe lift. Extra power is freed up with a Weaver Brothers dry-sump oiling system, but big ponies are pulled from W-2 heads that have over 100 hours of flow bench work put into them.
Fuel is drawn from a large cell by a Carter electric pump and sent to the worked NASCAR-style 650 Holley. The intake is also a W-2 design, and the entire combo was worked by Gary's friend Chuck Galledge. Spark is timed by a Chrysler mechanical advance distributor with a modified curve and MSD coil. Gary also uses Moroso wires and NGK plugs.
A Quarter Master clutch links the power to a beefed up Super T-10 4-speed that features a Hurst Speedway shfter that pops through the floor and right into Gary's waiting hand, and he is held tightly to the Kirkey aluminum seat by his 5-way Simpson racing harness. Other interior goodies include an Auto Meter tach, Longacre gauges and an emergency fire exstinguishing system.
The body of the Mirada began as stock sheetmetal, but it's been acid dipped for lightness and cut to fit around the large rubber. Fender flares, spoilers and an air dam were all added for a downforce at speed. To catch the eye of spectators, the Mirada was colored in Porsche red with yellow wheels and numbers.
Gary races the Mopar four or five times a year, and he even won an award from 3M Corporation for excellence in restoration in 1994. The slick Dodge usually racks up about 2,000 miles a year, quite a lot for a vintage type racer.
"We run in a class that is dominated by late-model Winston Cup cars, which makes this a very unique entry," Gary said.
We think it is tremendous that Gary is mixing it up with all the other Brand X machinery and that he's even run near the top at a few events. It's nice to see a Dodge in the world of road racing with a V8 and rear-wheel drive. So look out, and root for our favorite 1980 Dodge Mirada.

Article
By
Evan Smith


Photos
By
Jeff Koch