Fascinating Landy Charger tale

[Dog427435]

[b] <font color="red"> Stratocharger </font> posted some links in the Street Scene thread to some old pictures. While I couldn't find the pictures I did take the time to look through the DodgeCharger.com Forum and I came across a thread that I couldn't stop reading. I found it so fascinating I sat and read through all 17 pages.
Here is the story from the poster of this thread - or you can read it all yourself at -


DODGECHARGER.COM FORUM

[Dog427435]

I have a 1970 Dick Landy Hemi Charger. I've had it in storage for about 30 years. I've decided to sell it but I don't know what it's worth. Any advice?

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ADDITIONAL INFO 8:11 PM, MAY 14, 2006

Thanks for the responses. I'd like to give a little history on the car.

About 30 years ago, I bought a machined, but not yet assembled 426 Hemi. I was looking for a Hemi car to put it in. I happened to see this Charger in the parking lot of an apartment complex in Landover, MD. I located the owner who said he would sell. He couldn't race anymore because he was going blind. He told me it was a Dick Landy car. At that point, I didn't know the significance of that. He had pulled the Hemi and installed a 440, he said because it didn't need to be rebuilt as often as a Hemi. I remember he said it has 5.33 gears, an acid-dipped body and a 5,000 RPM stall converter. I had not noticed until I got a response to my original posting that the VIN number on the sheet under the rear seat does not match the number on the original bill of sale I was given. I checked the VIN number inside the windshield, and it matches the Chrysler bill of sale, not the number under the seat. Over the years, I have heard that Dick Landy had some cars that he toured with to educate other racers. These may have been cars other than what he raced. I was told by the seller, 25 or 30 years ago, that it was a Dick Landy car, but I have done nothing to verify or document this. I still have the Hemi I bought before the car, but I never assembled it or did anything with it. Some people have told me that none of the factory race cars, or Landy cars, still have the original engines, because they were always trying new ones. I have the original Chrysler bill of sale. I believe the car has never been titled or driven on the street. The VIN number on the bill of sale, and on the dash at the windshield, is XS29ROG207150. The car had Hemi emblems until they were stolen, so I'm sure it is an original Hemi car. The fender tag is missing. I don't know if it was there when I bought the car. It may have been stolen also. I was originally going to build and install the Hemi, paint the car, and drive it on the street. Now, I think I'm kinda glad I didn't. I'll add more pictures later.

Thanks for all the responses and guidance.

[Dog427435]

I would like to thank everyone who has responded to my 1970 dick landy charger posting.

The comments have been informative, encouraging, interesting and appreciated.

I was asked about the odometer milage; It's 27.8 miles.

The car has a clutch pedal, but now has an automatic.

I checked under the front seats and behind the glove box, but could not find a correct build sheet.

[Dog427435]

MagnumCharger;

Thank you so much for your posting. I really appreciate the time, effort and interest you put into this. For me, you've blown this thing wide open. I was a little dismayed, but now I'm really encouraged. I think that's my car. I spoke with Dick Landy on the phone a few days ago, and he said he didn't remember having any '70 Chargers, "but that was a long time ago." The only thing that piqued his interest was the acid-dipped body. Other than that, the only thing he seemed interested in was getting off the phone. That's understandable. He's a very busy guy and says he gets several calls a week from people claiming to have "Landy Cars." It's got to be very annoying to him. I called him back Thursday and told him about your posting of the article with pictures that prove he had a '70 Charger. He was in a little less of a hurry this time and asked me to send him some pictures of the car. I asked if it would be okay to discuss this with him some more while he's at Carlisle, and he said that would be fine. I don't think I could ever get Landy to come to my house to see the car. He's much too busy and what's in it for him. I still wonder if it wouldn't be a good idea to rent a space at Carlisle, tow the car up and try to have him look it over and maybe authenticate it. I have a friend with a towing company. I may be able to get the car up there on a rollback. This should help keep the car up out of harms way until Mr. Landy can check it out. I would, of course, clear all of this with Mr. Landy first. MagnumCharger, again, thanks. Whatever the ultimate conclusion of this whole thing, you've played a big part. I originally bought this car and the Hemi to have my idea of the ultimate street car. I still hope to some day, but this car, I think, should be restored and preserved. I can't afford to do that. I, like most in our hobby, think these classic cars should be driven regularly, but this one was never intended for that. It's a unique collector car and should be kept that way. Thanks again to everyone for your advice and comments. I check the site regularly and enjoy all the postings. I plan to dig the car out some more this weekend to take photos for Dick Landy. I'll post some of them.

[Dog427435]

Okay guys, it's not official, but I think it's definate. We were taking photos of the car, and my wife noticed that Dick Landy's name could be seen very faded on the doors. You can probably see it in the photos. I think the car had been passed on a few times after Landy was finished with it. I guess one of the subsequent owners removed his name from the car, or maybe D.L.I. removed the lettering before they gave up the car. Fortunately, the lettering wasn't thoroughly removed. The door had been relettered lower down. This writing is also faded, but appears to say PoorBoy. Some of the original decals or stickers may have been removed to make room for local sponsors. I hope all of this is enough to convince Landy to take a look at the car. Check out the pics. My son enhanced on eof them on the computer to make "Dick Landy" more legible.
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[Dog427435]

Dick Landy has agreed to look over the Charger and authenticate it, in writing, if he's convinced it was originally his car (it was). We met with Ed Thomas a few weeks ago at a car show. He's the second assignee on the manufacturer's statement of origin. He assured me this is definately a Dick Landy car. He bought the car from Sam Pannuty, who owned the car under the name Pat's Auto Sales, and raced under the name "Poor Boy." That explains the faded "Poor Boy" lettering still visible on the car door. Ed later sold the car to Willie Turner from whom I purchased the car. All of this is verified by the manufacturer's statement of origin (see pic below). We've also posted articles that Ed's wife sent us about this car and a Challenger from back when Ed was racing them.
I pumped up the Charger tires and they held air after all these years. The tires are cruddy and the wheels are very rusty. I considered getting new Cragars and tires and sprucing up the car a little, but I think it may be better to keep it as original as possible. Randy Bolig of Mopar Muscle said he would like the Charger in the magazine. Hope to see some of you at Carlisle.
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[Dog427435]

It's getting close to Carlisle time, so I'll be cleaning up the car this weekend. A few weeks ago, when we met Ed Thomas, one of the previous owners of the Dick Landy Charger, at the car show, we also met Chuck Hughs. He had a really nice restored Charger at the car show. We showed him a picture of our Dick Landy Charger and asked if he knew what it was. His jaw dropped and he yelled "I've been in that car!" He said, at the time, the car belonged to Willie Turner. That's who we bought the car from. His name's on the paperwork, but we couldn't read it. He gave us some info on the car and helped fill in more of the blanks. It's hard to believe we just happened to come across someone who had more information on the car. All the pieces are coming together. When we went back over to talk to Ed, to let him know that Chuck had given us the name of Willie Turner as the car's owner between Ed and us, he immediately remembered the name. He said they used to remember the guy's name as Turner because he once turned over one of his race cars at the track.

Again, I hope to see some of you at Carlisle. I'll let everyone know what happens.

[Dog427435]

We kind of got the car cleaned up and ready for Carlisle. We didn't do too much because we wanted everything to stay original. We took some pictures, too. The interior was mildewed. Check out the before and after in the picture of the rear seat. It cleaned up really well and looks practically new. The rear springs, I think, are super stock. There are 6 on one side and 7 on the other. The shackles are offset. I don't know if that was normal on all Chargers or if this was done to fit bigger tires. The slicks are over 14 inches wide. We already posted a picture of the faded outline of Dick Landy's name on the car. When we were washing the car, we found the faded outline of Bob Lambeck's name. You can see it over the Charger emblem on the sides of the car behind the rear windows. You may have noticed, we haven't shown any pictures of the front of the car. It has some minor damage from a towing accident and we didn't want it to distract from the overall impression of the car. There's also a picture for "Chicks on Chargers"

[Dog427435]

Okay, I think some of us are being a little hard on Dick. He has been a little difficult to work with, and didn't seem very anxious to help me, but as I've stated before, he probably has good reason for this. He said many people have contacted him and claimed to have old Dick Landy cars. Most of them were bogus and he's apparently the victim of many attempted scams. I guess we should actually thank him for weeding out the phonies. At this point, I'll be more appreciative of the authentication if I get it. If Dick weren't so strict and apprehensive, there would probably be a lot more "Landy" cars out there than were ever actually made. He's very busy and in demand and I'm grateful that he finally took the time to look my car over. He won't say for sure if the car was his until he compares the information and observations to the records he has back at his shop. His wife said he has very detailed information on file for every car he ever had. Of course he expects to be compensated for this service, but why shouldn't he be? I wouldn't expect him to do anything for me for nothing. I'm positive, also, that he would never take the money and do the authentication unless he was certain the car was genuine. I did have to follow him around most of the weekend and I was very persistant while trying not to be a pest. I apologized to him and his wife for this, and reminded him that he's the only one in the whole world that can do this for me. I assured him that I wouldn't have been so persistent unless I was sure that my car was genuine. It was Saturday afternoon before Dick finally checked out the car. At one point during the inspection, he kinda told me to shut up and go away, so I did. In the end, all's well that end's well. About the only positive thing he said was "It looks like my car." This was after he completed his inspection and was all I needed to hear. At this point, I'm very optimistic. It was a stressful weekend and after Dick finished, I just wanted to go home. I stayed anyway and put the car out for a while on Sunday becuase I said I would. I didn't feel my car deserved to be on display with all those beautifully restored cars that these people worked so hard on. I had done hardly anything to my car other than clean it up. I thought it was important that I kept it as original as possible and not give anyone the impression that I was trying to fake anything. In the end, I was really really glad that I put the car out. It did attract a fair amount of attention. I met some great people and got lots of positive comments and encouragement. Troy, it was great to meet you and I appreciate your help and advice. I hope everyone at DodgeCharger.com appreciates your time and devotion. When talking with the Carlisle crowd about the car, I was trying very hard not to refer to the car as a Dick Landy car becuase I didn't want Dick to get the impression that I was jumping the gun. Along that same line, Randy Bolig, of Mopar Muscle, agreed not to publish his pictures or story until we heard back from Dick Landy. Sorry to have rambled on for so long. Again, thanks to everyone at DodgeCharger.com for all the help, advice, and encouragement. Thanks to everyone at Carlisle that stopped to talk and check out the car. I'm so glad I stayed and put it out. Thanks, Daryl Klassen, for your comments and advice. Your '68 Hemi Dart is awesome. Everyone on the Carlisle staff that I came in contact with was as helpful as could be. It was a great and organized show.

Got my fingers crossed, Ron.

[Dog427435]

Well, we got the papers. Dick has confirmed what I think most of us already knew... it's genuine . I had no doubt, but I was afraid he'd see something that would keep him from being convinced. What a relief. We're hoping to get copies of all the info Dick's got that he compared the car to. The contract he sent us appears to say that we must restore the car to the way he had it if we display the car with his name on it. I think the first thing we should do is have the Hemi built and in the car. If we have dLi build the motor, it'll be a true Dick Landy Hemi in a Dick Landy car. What do you think? Since Dick apparently wants it restored, hopefully he'll let the information flow. I don't even know if he ran it as a four speed or automatic. The car's had a lot of B&amp;M stickers, so I'm guessing an auto. I bought a new bumper with mounting brackers at Carlisle. I already had a bumper, but not the backets. It'll all have to be acid-dipped. I need a new hood, too. Lots of decisions to make. Keep, sell, restore, drive, show, race, etc. I don't even know if I should put my money into it or let someone else take it on as a project or investment. Any advice?

Check out the pics of Dick checking out the car at Carlisie. Now you can see the elusive accident damage (and the cool can).