Neil, From the 56 end I have a couple thoughts on this subject. According to Ed Lyons the driver credited with the first "Super Stock" Championship of drag racing, which he won with a 56 D500-1 and did so by going undefeated all season, the difference between the two cars as far as drag racing was the weight distribution and the 56 with its lighter engine and shorter wheel base launched better and was more consistent. Documented reports of the 56D500-1 runs that show consistent 14.1 times at up to 106 mph are published often. In addition it has been reported by witnesses that sub 14 runs were made. I wonder if Lee may have some documents on 57 D501 runs, it would be great to see some. In all the D501 articles I have seen there is nary a reference to any racing accomplishments, maybe someone could shed some light on this? Also from the 56 Dodge documents and indeed the D500 brochure the dual carb setup was only available with manual transmission. Not withstanding retrofitting this was Dodges stated policy. The Torqueflite certainly ended that limitation and was by far the best tranny of the bunch. Finally, is there anyone really paying attention here, Dodges stated purpose of the D500-1 and D501 was in a word RACING and how this is converted into D501 family wagons and such is beyond me. Does this mean that someday a 4 door Superbird will hit ebay? WOW. Tim
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