Dodge Little Red Wagon
Encyclopedia
The Dodge Little Red Wagon is an exhibition drag racing
truck first introduced in 1965 and was world's fastest truck at the time and first wheelstanding
truck.
Owned and driven by Bill "Maverick" Golden and based on the compact Dodge A100
pickup, the truck toured extensively throughout the United States and was frequently seen in television commercials for Dodge trucks.
Builders Jim Schaeffer and John Collier performed extensive modifications to the A100 in order to fit a supercharged 426 Hemi engine and TorqueFlite
automatic transmission. Since the A100 was a cabover design, Schaeffer and Collier opted to install the drivetrain in a roughly amidships configuration between the rear of the cab and the front of the pickup bed within a welded steel subframe.
Parts deemed unnecessary were removed from the body, among them the heater, dashboard, front bumper and all body sealer. The passenger doors were replaced with fiberglass
units. The Little Red Wagon's first dragstrip run netted a mid-11 second quarter mile at 120 mph (193km/h).
The vehicle was not originally intended to perform wheelstands; the slight rearward bias caused the nose to lift in the air for nearly the entire quarter-mile run.
Golden soon purchased the truck from Dodge for use as an exhibition racer. The Little Red Wagon debuted in the 1965 season opener at Lions Drag Strip
in Long Beach, California
in front of 10,000 fans and reporters from major newspapers and automotive publications.
The vehicle suffered three wrecks in 1969, 1971 and again in 1975. After the 1975 wreck, Golden converted a non-operable show truck and campaigned it for the next thirty years.
Golden entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 1977 with a 4230' (1289m) wheelstand, approximately the length of three quarter-mile dragstrips.
In 2009, the Little Red Wagon was sold at RM Auctions Icons of Speed and Style Auction. The vehicle was expected to fetch US$300,000; it was instead the auction's top seller at $550,000.
It is also the subject of a 1/25 scale model kit from Lindberg Models.
Drag racing
Drag racing is a competition in which specially prepared automobiles or motorcycles compete two at a time to be the first to cross a set finish line, from a standing start, in a straight line, over a measured distance, most commonly a ¼-mile straight track....
truck first introduced in 1965 and was world's fastest truck at the time and first wheelstanding
Wheelie
In vehicle acrobatics, a wheelie is a vehicle maneuver in which the front wheel or wheels come off the ground due to extreme torque being applied to the rear wheel or wheels. Wheelies are usually associated with bicycles and motorcycles, but can be done with other vehicles such as cars, especially...
truck.
Owned and driven by Bill "Maverick" Golden and based on the compact Dodge A100
Dodge A100
The A100 line was a model range of American compact vans and trucks manufactured and marketed from 1964–1970 by Chrysler Corporation for the Dodge brand in the United States and the Fargo brand in Canada....
pickup, the truck toured extensively throughout the United States and was frequently seen in television commercials for Dodge trucks.
Builders Jim Schaeffer and John Collier performed extensive modifications to the A100 in order to fit a supercharged 426 Hemi engine and TorqueFlite
TorqueFlite
TorqueFlite is the trademarked name of Chrysler Corporation's automatic transmissions, starting with the three-speed unit introduced late in the 1956 model year as a successor to Chrysler's two-speed PowerFlite...
automatic transmission. Since the A100 was a cabover design, Schaeffer and Collier opted to install the drivetrain in a roughly amidships configuration between the rear of the cab and the front of the pickup bed within a welded steel subframe.
Parts deemed unnecessary were removed from the body, among them the heater, dashboard, front bumper and all body sealer. The passenger doors were replaced with fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
units. The Little Red Wagon's first dragstrip run netted a mid-11 second quarter mile at 120 mph (193km/h).
The vehicle was not originally intended to perform wheelstands; the slight rearward bias caused the nose to lift in the air for nearly the entire quarter-mile run.
Golden soon purchased the truck from Dodge for use as an exhibition racer. The Little Red Wagon debuted in the 1965 season opener at Lions Drag Strip
Lions Drag Strip
Lions Drag Strip was a US raceway in the Wilmington district of Los Angeles, California adjacent to Long Beach that existed from 1955 to 1972. The track was named after its sponsors Lions Clubs International and featured many races that were sanctioned by the American Hot Rod Association .As the...
in Long Beach, California
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a city situated in Los Angeles County in Southern California, on the Pacific coast of the United States. The city is the 36th-largest city in the nation and the seventh-largest in California. As of 2010, its population was 462,257...
in front of 10,000 fans and reporters from major newspapers and automotive publications.
The vehicle suffered three wrecks in 1969, 1971 and again in 1975. After the 1975 wreck, Golden converted a non-operable show truck and campaigned it for the next thirty years.
Golden entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 1977 with a 4230' (1289m) wheelstand, approximately the length of three quarter-mile dragstrips.
In 2009, the Little Red Wagon was sold at RM Auctions Icons of Speed and Style Auction. The vehicle was expected to fetch US$300,000; it was instead the auction's top seller at $550,000.
It is also the subject of a 1/25 scale model kit from Lindberg Models.