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Dave
Billadeau has been crowned King of the Street on many occassions
at the annual Mopar Euro Nationals and was inducted into the Mopar
Hall of Fame in 2004.
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Here
is a round up of his cars through the years.
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The
Early Years
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Dave's love for all things Mopar started at an early age. The first Mopar he owned was this 1970 Dodge Challenger, with a 4 speed 318ci motor, purchased when he was only 17. |
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The
next Mopar to come into Dave's ownership was this '68
Plymouth Road Runner. When originally purchased the car was
black with a 383ci auto, whch was good for 14.9 second ET's when
let loose on the strip.
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The Road Runner was later repainted blue and the 383 was rebuilt by Dave. Following the rebuild the quarter mile ETs dropped into the 13.6's. |
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The
GTX
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In
1991 Dave started to take interest in this 1970
Plymouth GTX owned by George Chiles, who originally imported
the car into the UK in 1988. At the time it was running 12.8 ET's
without nitrous.
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In
1993 Dave bought the GTX, now sporting a green paint scheme.
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A few years later the GTX was painted in the recognisable white with black stripes colour, the bumpers were re-chromed and it was fitted with a eight point full chrome-moly roll cage courtesy of John Sleath. The car went through several engine combinations - 440s, a 440 with Indy heads and then 493s before moving on to a HEMI. |
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[Photo
courtesy & ©Sharkman]
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Over the winter months following the 2006 season, the GTX was completely renovated. The body was restored back to how it left the factory in August 1969, painted Alpine White (EW1) with the vinyl roof back in place. The stock gold interior completes the look. |
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The all aluminium 572ci HEMI engine, seen here, produces over 800hp which is transferred to the tarmac through Dana 60 rear cal-tracs with monoleads and a 727 trans with a 9.5" convertor. The car has run a best ET of 9.80 @ 139mph at the 2007 Open Sports Nationals. |
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More
Muscle
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Dave also ran this 1970 Plymouth Duster for several years in the mid 1990s. The car underwent a full body renovation and a full roll cage was installed. The 493ci Stroker motor with Indy 440-1 heads, which produced 650hp, gave a best of 10.35 @ 128mph on the track. |
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Dave's brother Scott is also a Mopar nut, entering the Mopar world with the 1967 'Wedge-O-Matic' Dodge Coronet. Running a tunnel rammed 440 with a period race car paint job, the car ran 11.7 ETs over the quarter. |
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Scott
now runs a strong 10 second running 1969 Plymouth
Road Runner. More details on this can be found
in our portfolio here.
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Completing the Billadeau family Mopar collection is Dave's dad Gene with his 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T. The car was featured in the August 2006 issue of American Car World. Gene previously owned the '68 Dodge Charger which was then bought by Brian Wood, as seen here. |
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[Photo
courtesy & ©Lee Jones]
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© Billadeau Speed & Automotive