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LEFT: ROY RITCHIE; THIS PAGE: JOHN SOBCZAK<br />
No one had ever seen a drag<br />
racer quite like the beast that<br />
rolled onto the track at the<br />
1959 Nationals of the National Hot<br />
Rod Association (NHRA). Before the<br />
day was done, though, the High &<br />
Mighty stood proud in the record<br />
books, setting a new speed mark.<br />
Now, more than four decades later, the<br />
dragster is being re-created by a group<br />
of <strong>Chrysler</strong> Employee Motorsport<br />
Association (CEMA) members.<br />
Fabricated from a 1949 Plymouth<br />
Business Coupe by a team of <strong>Chrysler</strong><br />
workers called the Ram Chargers, the<br />
High & Mighty was a vision of muscle,<br />
speed and innovation. “It was<br />
a rolling laboratory,” says CEMA<br />
spokesman Roy Baker, an industrial<br />
designer at the Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> Technology<br />
Center in Auburn Hills, Mich.,<br />
and volunteer on the High & Mighty<br />
II project. “The technology born out<br />
of that vehicle is still current today.”<br />
The rear wheels were moved forward<br />
to increase weight transfer to<br />
the rear tires when the car is launched<br />
from the starting line. The top was<br />
chopped down to reduce wind resistance,<br />
and a hole cut in the hood<br />
made room for two four-barrel<br />
carburetors and the<br />
first high-rise tunnel<br />
intake manifold. The<br />
354 Hemi engine<br />
breathed fire out of<br />
eight exhaust pipes.<br />
It came together to<br />
claim the the 1960<br />
NHRA Class Title.<br />
In the fall of 2003,<br />
George Stayniak<br />
pitches in.<br />
The record-setting 1959<br />
High & Mighty dragster<br />
Re-creating a Legend<br />
The in<strong>com</strong>parable ’59 High & Mighty dragster<br />
inspires a cloning project<br />
“This is being done for the<br />
preservation of the Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong><br />
motorsports heritage.” – Roy Baker<br />
Bob Lees, a retired homologation<br />
engineer at Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong>’s Technology<br />
Center created a stir at a<br />
CEMA meeting by proposing the<br />
cloning project.<br />
Ready for the challenge, 26 CEMA<br />
volunteers formed <strong>com</strong>mittees of<br />
designers, engineers, technicians and<br />
fabricators, just as the<br />
original Ram Chargers<br />
had. Many of the<br />
1950s pioneers have<br />
lent their support, providing<br />
journals, renderings<br />
and formulas<br />
from the first project.<br />
Progress on the<br />
replica has been slow<br />
Our Fans<br />
High & Mighty II team members Bob Lees<br />
(left) and Roy Baker measure a window.<br />
but steady, with parts <strong>com</strong>ing from all<br />
over. A body came from Nebraska, an<br />
engine from Kansas. The original<br />
dragster intake manifold and tachometer<br />
have even been unearthed. A list<br />
of needed parts is on the CEMA Web<br />
site (www.cemaclub.org/highmighty).<br />
The finished High & Mighty II<br />
won’t be run out on the track, but<br />
it will be exhibited at NHRA races<br />
before being housed in a museum<br />
yet to be determined. “This is being<br />
done for the preservation of the<br />
Daimler<strong>Chrysler</strong> motorsports heritage,”<br />
Baker says. “And we all feel<br />
very strongly about that.” A high<br />
and mighty ideal. ■<br />
— Bob Woods<br />
TOMORROW SPECIAL RACING <strong>2005</strong> 11
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