The CRAZY 9 Second Quarter Mile Factory Racer - The 1968 Dodge Dart HEMI LO23

In this Rare Cars documentary, we go in depth into the short but absolutely monumental history of the 1968 Dodge Hemi Dart LO23. With just 80 produced, the 426 hemi powered mopar dragsters were a force to be reckoned with on the track. These hemi Darts were absolutely gutted to save weight and as a result the LO23’s could even dip into the 9 second quarter mile times, in 1968.
This is the first Rare Cars documentary so if you enjoyed it, please make sure to subscribe to the channel because we have more documentaries just like this one coming out on history’s most interesting cars like the GT40, Porsche 907, Ferrari P4 and oh so many more!
Copyright Disclaimer under Section 107 of the copyright act 1976, allowance is made for fair use for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favour of fair use.

[@Troy440Dodge]

I've owned 54 Mopars so far, I've driven an original 68 Hemi Dart back in the 80's. The only 2nd gen Hemi car I've driven, it left me with an impression that's impossible to get over.

[@tarantulamadness6191]

I've owned 59

[@lambchopLSX87]

@@tarantulamadness6191I’ve owned 60

[@DakotaGT]

I see you included extensive footage of my videos of my LO23 Dart. Nice video overall, and mostly accurate. You kind of missed the point about the 426 Hemis in the LO23/BO29 cars being completely different animals than the street 426 Hemis that came in the Charger and everything else. These were RACE Hemis, with 12.5:1 compression and magnesium cross rams and a host of other differences. Also, these cars were sold on a bill of sale, no title! So they couldn’t be driven on the street… although that didn’t stop a few folks. Also, it’s not hard in some states to apply for a title later, so there is always a back-door way, if you really want to license them for the street.

[@666kty3]

HE SHOULD BE PAYING YOU FOR USING YOUR VIDEOS. DID HE EVEN ASK?

[@DakotaGT]

@@666kty3 nope. But to be fair, I did give some other guy permission to post some extensive videos of it, so he might have pulled it from those…

[@rarecars3336]

You are clearly more knowledgeable on the topic than I so thank you for the insight! When I eventually make a video on the Cudas I will definitely ask you some more questions to make sure it is more accurate!

[@paulfulton5078]

Just as an addition to the above comments. The L023/B029 race cars, all had fiberglass front clips, along with the huge for the era hood scoop. Also light weight corning glass, acid dipped bumpers, seat belt straps instead of window regulators, etc...all in the name of taking weight off the car. Bob Tarozzi was the engineer at Chrysler, who was tasked with the 1968 A body race project. He was instrumental in these Darts and Barracudas. My dad worked at Chrysler during this time period... these were and still are badass machines, factory engineered!

[@scottbarker9058]

@@DakotaGT 666 a bad # son!!!!

[@chrisdooley1184]

Interesting video mate. I found the flashing captions very distracting though. Perhaps leave those off in future videos if possible

[@travispoettcker1078]

Agreed

[@jackusflackus1]

Extremely. This fad needs to die and die fast. If someone genuinely needs CC that’s understandable, but this is annoying AF

[@danielhemple8649]

Compression ratio was 12.5 to 1 Street hemis were 10 and 1/4

[@jasonstewart8973]

I was shopping today and seen a 1971 dart 340 he let me take a picture now I've been staring at for 2 hours I just love fast old cars man

[@captainbart]

you saw a 1971 Dart

[@manolissilamianos7560]

Still is and always will be my favorite factory race car ever

[@arizonajim7375]

I got to ride in one, guy from Banning Calif had one and he had put in a temporary passenger seat. The G's was incredible for a stock factory vehicle.

[@claiborneeastjr4129]

Very nice and informative video. The HEMI Dart was/is an iconic car with an even more iconic engine. If only time travel was possible! I'd go back, take my checkbook, and buy several!

[@CaptainCraigKWMRZ]

In 1978 I bought a 340 Dart for $450 on the south side of Indianapolis. People at school made fun of me because it looked like an old lady car. I ran it at IRP and turned low 13's stock. Wish I still had it...

[@jonnierotten7]

I had a 2-door hardtop. Yellow with a black vinyl top . White vinyl interior with buckets. No console. 318 with an automatic on the column. Nothing special, other than being a beautiful 68 Dart! I bought it 1972 for $1800. Regret selling it 7 years later.

[@jasonstewart8973]

O hell yeh dam that's wicked combo jet fast baby

[@79tazman]

Dodge started making lightweight factory Drag cars in the early 60's the Max Wedge cars had aluminium front fenders, bumpers and brackets and thin glass so they had that perfected by 1968

[@Snake.br549]

I used to watch the hemi barracudas race at the local underground drag strip and I rode in a 69 roadrunner with two fours 426 hemi gas gauge went down as fast as the speedometer went up I had a 69 road runner with just a 383

[@theinsaneshecklador6598]

I can attest to the lackluster build quality. When I bought my 68 Dart GTS in the early 90s it had a bad rattle in the drivers door. Upon further inspection I found one of the window regulator bolt holes in the door was mis-drilled and the bolt was never installed. How the previous owners put up with a loud rattle for 20+ years is beyond me.

[@rarecars3336]

I’ve heard similar stories from my dad about test driving a Duster back in the day, quality was not a strong spot lol

[@theinsaneshecklador6598]

@@suzukiltz8902 The hemi cars were race cars but the GTS models were regular street cars.

[@victorbell1378]

I had a poster of this exact car in my room as a kid. Base car came in primer... window mechanisms were basically seat belt straps and a warning(etched in the side window glass) of "this vehicle will jump one full lane to the left on shifts at full throttle" or something very similar. I remember the advertised price on the poster was in the neighborhood of $3800 if I remember right. Hell I wish I still had the poster

[@rarecars3336]

That poster might be worth some money these days lol

[@dylanmccallister1888]

Technically the plaid isn't the world's fastest production car because these were production cars that you could buy. The plaid runs a 10.5 on slicks and a prepped track right from the factory this ran in the 9s same thing. Slicks on a prepped track. The difference obviously the plaid is a fast daily and this is a 54 year old car that was built for the one purpose of doing a fast 1/4. But still. 54 years old and still faster than a plaid both in stock form. Read it and weep nerds

[@budwickman446]

The last LO-28, I saw, at auction went for 225K... They ARE a treasure of American drag race racing history ! Truly one of a kind drag car for America !

[@truthseekerKJV]

And to think, back in 1968, when they released only 80 of these Hurst built monsters, you could buy one for a mere $4,500.00.

[@gearhead682010]

The 1968 426 Hemi powered dart was a beast from the factory, one of my personal old school favorites. When it comes to old school I love them all irregardless of who made them

[@olikat8]

"Objectively mediocre build quality, lackluster performance, and styling..?" 1) One of the most reliable and easy to fix cars of the era. 2) 340, 360, 383, and 440 A-bodies 3) '67-up Elwood Engle oversaw the styling of the A-body, B-body, and E-body So, yeah, there is that

[@dougjenks6954]

Miss my 68gts 4 speed !

[@theinsaneshecklador6598]

I can't blame you. I often wish mine was a 4spd instead of an auto.

[@lordsludge5678]

Luckyyyy

[@paulfulton5078]

Correction to comments in the video. The Dodge Charger was an intermediate B body platform, just like the earlier '62-63 Dodge Darts and Plymouth Belvedere/Savoy. Chrysler Corporation never installed a 426 Hemi in a full size "C body" platform vehicle from the factory. If one or two exist today, they would be rarer than hen's teeth.

[@johngoguen361]

My friend Archie had one with the wedge 426 two four barrels we went up the steepest hill in town and went up wide open at 200 in the morning 100 mph at the top and woke up everyone

[@Troy_Tempest]

The '68 Hemi Barracuda B029 was even rarer with only 50 made. Just subscribed, may I say the changing red colour wording is annoying. I also thought the automatic version came with a modified A883 transmission? Enjoyed the video!

[@rarecars3336]

Noted, the next video will not have the changing subtitles!

[@Troy_Tempest]

@@rarecars3336 not trying to be a smart arse mate, just some constructive criticism. I do appreciate the difficulties in running a channel :)

[@rarecars3336]

No I totally understand, constructive criticism is much appreciated!

[@DakotaGT]

They made 80 LO23 Darts and 70 BO29 Barracudas

[@jjp.8690]

Agree about the subtitles. Glad I don’t have epilepsy. Those subtitles would have triggered a grand mall seizure. Lol

[@erickriebel4366]

Extremely rare car I have never seen one? I did see Sox & Martin race cars and things of that nature but I never knew anybody that actually had one of these I've never seen one

[@TheDRUM2112]

Your big closed captions were Soooo annoying to look at!!!!!!

[@William-Bill-Munny]

Boyd Coddington had one of these in his for car sales shop when I was in high school during the 1980's.

[@danielmarek4609]

I can recall a local person driving an original one on the local cruise back in the late 70's.

[@freedomwon2004]

Hot Rod Magazine ran a short article decades ago on these Darts. I recall the production number being 10 total

[@xmo552]

Those captions are about to give me seizures. Wtf bro. C'mon. Like.... seriously. Constructive criticism.

[@keithbrown1915]

Bovine scatology on performance. The 340 Darts were giant killers. The 383/440 Dart is a much duplicated configuration. And the slant 6 was the standard for long lasting and economical transportation. And the 318 was an excellent choice for performance with proper upgrades.

[@robsorgdrager8477]

I would love a video about the Ford thunderbolt.

[@79tazman]

Dodge put a hemi in the Dart after they saw what Mr Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge did to a 1967 Dart GTS. the 1967 Dart GTS came factory with a 383 big block and Mr Norm's rippped out the B block 383 and put a 426 Hemi. That is how the whole thing started with the 1968 Hemi Dart from the factory.

[@austincypriano6546]

Sorry bud, but you need to watch uncle Tony’s garage. He’s got the real scoop on how the Hemi Dart came to be. And I’m sorry, but I would like to believe that Mr. Norm started the ball rolling, but that’s not completely accurate.

[@mickeysm64]

Mr Norm never did that they were responsible for putting the 383 in the dart,

[@THEScottCampbell]

The Slant Six Darts are ripping up drag strips now.

[@yamahaguy1732]

I saw one in town a few weeks ago maybe it was a clone maybe it was real I really don’t care but it was so beautiful

[@677453]

new to the channel, have you coved the 69.5 a12 cars?

[@chrisnizer5702]

The Hemi Dart and Barracuda were built to dominate NHRA "Super Stock" class drag racing, more specifically the coveted, top of the heap, Super Stock "A" class. It was the popularity of Super Stock racing that drove the manufacturers to produce muscle cars: "Win on Sunday, sell 'em on Monday" Fans loved the factory backed competition and flocked to the dealerships to buy their favorite cars. The reason they were placed in Super Stock "B" was because Chevrolet protested that they had a Camaro in development that they intended be classified "A." The Darts and Barracuda's were placed in "B" and Chevrolet cancelled their Camaro due to "prohibitive costs." But the damage was done and the Chrysler cars didn't get the coveted top class after all.

[@Turbo4Joe363]

I'm a dyed-in-blue-wool FORD guy.... But, I love Dodge Hemi cars ...just plain badass! I wish that I could afford a 426 Hemi car!... Or a BOSS 429 Mustang!!.... Or a 427 SOHC!!!.... But rich old fart collectors have made them priceless. 😢

[@bgjb-r1499]

The dart wasn’t that much lighter than the charger or GTX. Actually weighed at truck station the difference between a Dart and Charger was 345lb, basically nothing. They had to do so much more to get a reduction of 550lbs which was a bit more of a game changer.

[@racehemi4862]

Let's not forget the '68 Cuda's & Dart's were not the first cars to be euipped with this nasty Race Hemi option. In 1964, 50 were build for Dodge & Plymouth & then for 1965 another 100 each for Dodge & Plymouth. Although these B bodies were not quite as light as the 68 cars they dominated the drag strips from the first day theey hit the track.

[@randallrobertson5153]

Lack of Power ? I say Oh Please!!! I owned a 71 Dart Swinger with a 340 Four speed, it was fast .. A friend of mine had a Mr. Norms prepared 69 Dart with a 440 Automatic (727 Torqeflight) Driving these Cars in the Rain was a Challenge at best , on Dry Pavement the 69 would Break the back Tires loose in any Gear...

[@fastmurx]

Nice Video, but can't watch it, drives me crazy.

[@RickyBobby42069]

"Because f@ck it" - Dodge

[@AtZero138]

Mopar A Bodies Forever!!

[@jeffreycurtisjr9195]

Mr norm had a lot to do with V8s getting in the Darts

[@AmariLambo]

These could gap a veyron in 1/4 imagine getting one when they came out, peak leaded fuel and no restrictions era Near nothing the same hp can run with them

[@nicholaslatsaras3631]

You forgot to mention that the left shock tower was bashed with a sledgehammer so that big elephant motor would fit in the engine bay. & Plymouth had it's 68 barracuda super stock version too.

[@goodcarsounds990]

these had the race spec hemi with 565 hp not the one this youtuber describes

[@davidronan1677]

And it has an all aluminum hemi block

[@bbb462cid]

Thank God they got rid of that heavy useless so bending

[@ar2043]

Man did you talk fast way back in the beginning. Holy crow. I had to turn my playback speed down… Lol. .75 and you still don't really sound drunk. Lol.

[@XrayxRich]

For Christ's sake, stop with the FLASHING CAPTIONS. It's unwatchable. 👎

[@sirswerve2493]

For the ones that dont know. This engine design started in 1964 . It is the only piston engine design ever to run a sub 4 second run in the 1320. It has been and always will be the king of the 1320. Long live live the Chrysler Hemi.

[@cnftnf]

They run sub 4 seconds but not one part of the engine is a Chrysler product. Not a put down, just saying. And I do love these cars.

[@sirswerve2493]

Your right the parts are not made by Chrysler but the architecture is. @@cnftnf

[@kx8960]

I had a '68 Charger 440 R/T, and a '69 Charger with built 383 at one time. Sadly, I had to sell them years ago before they really became valuable. I especially miss my '69 as I liked the split grill and bar taillights better. Back in the '90s when I still had the '69 (sold the '68 years earlier) I remember reading about a guy who ordered a (forget the year/model) 426 Max Wedge (couldn't afford the Hemi option) car with acid dipped fenders (if I remember he couldn't afford the aluminum option) as a driver/drag car. He said in those days he wasn't allowed to "drive" it off the lot (some legal thing), so they pushed it onto the street then fired it up and drove home. On the way, he noticed that it sounded "wrong", so when they got home they opened the hood to discover....that there was a Hemi. He looked at the build sheet and from what I remember the Max Wedge engine had been crossed off and "Hemi" written by hand. Turns out Mopar had run out of Max Wedges when they were building his car, and had some extra Hemi's, so that's what they used to fill the order. The guy had a genuine 1-of-1 car, but sadly sold it some years later before they became insanely valueable....much to his regret. I think cars like that, and this, are awesome and true examples of America's motorsports history.

[@danielhemple8649]

68 dart was a lot less than 400 lb lighter than chargers 4100lbs my big block Challenger is 3700

[@walterneville2625]

GREAT Video, but Hippies never, ever drove muscle cars... Volkswagon was a Hippie vehicle...

[@patrickm.8425]

Yeah, you don't "dip into the 9's" with 500hp @ 3200+ pounds with driver! You're going to need 680+hp to do that.

[@rarecars3336]

You could get into the 9s in the 5-550hp range, they would be high 9s and you would need slicks and some pretty rowdy gears.

[@JerseyMikeP]

10.30 @130 MPH was "Stock", 9's after "Tuning" 😉

[@677453]

wrong. they had the race hemi. 12+:1 comp, ~535hp

[@anthonysoulard9938]

I have stopped this video at 20 seconds , how dare you speak of a dodge dart that way ! A 68 dart swinger 340 , 4 speed was a giant killer !

[@rarecars3336]

Never once said the 340 cars were slow, I know they were fast

[@thewolf3889]

I'll pass until the Un-Captioned version comes out thanks.

[@rarecars3336]

Only the first 3 videos on our channel have captions, the rest do not.

[@talltom1129]

Great video, what I could see. Are the colored subtitles necessary? NO !! Could you do smaller, white letter subtitles that don't cover the bottom quarter of the screen? Why not? Makes sense, right? Folks are here to see the CARS,right?

[@rarecars3336]

All our new videos from 2023 no longer have them!

[@rickaser2383]

Love the history, but please lose the flashing captions.

[@rarecars3336]

Flashing captions are only on the first 3 videos I made, all others since don’t have them 👍

[@georgewetzel4380]

Mr. Grammar wants you to know that there are no degrees of uniqueness.

[@stevenpine1939]

Too bad we couldn't hear one

[@hosscartwright8925]

To many words on the screen 😂

[@rarecars3336]

All our new videos no longer have them!

[@bobhenry6159]

Flashing block letter captioning is beyond obnoxious. Goodbye.

[@fourfortyroadrunner6701]

I'm sorry, this video IS VERY misleading, and or the author misinformed. "Money could buy." NO, money COULD NOT buy these. You had to be one of the chosen few, and there were few made. These were NOT "factory" nor were these "street." These were sold as, and meant for, drag strip racing ONLY, PERIOD

[@wintonwright4244]

How come you're giving the specs for a street heavy? These things weren't 490' pounds and they wouldn't record 25 horsepower. H*** is street heavy wasn't? 4. 25 1st power and you? Gotta get? Your. Specs straight buddy you don't know what you're talking real fast but you're saying nothing

[@grievoustheboss]

The Dodge Charger was not a full size car.

[@harmonygritz2839]

Vacuous redundancy at the end of the age. Get over it already, and move on. #Allsoupedupandnowheretogo 😮

[@umakemerandy3669]

That text on screen is bullshit, dont do that. If you do, get rid of the flashing red words at least

[@robertburks2126]

Please take off those distracting dumb text!!! Thanks.

[@joe-hp4nk]

You talk too fast and gave me a headache.

[@rarecars3336]

All videos after this I have started talking much slower! Check out the most recent 4 and tell me what you think!

[@666kty3]

i CAN SEE WHY YOU ONLY HAVE 812 SUBS. DONT QUIT YOUR DAY JOB.

[@tdalb8985]

The 68 Dart was a handsome car, that didn't look tiny or cheap. With a 340 a sleeper. The Hemi Dart is something I'll always admire, and I'm a Chevrolet guy. If I could afford it, I'd build my own Hemi Dart.

[@bdogjr7779]

U can't Not talk about 68 Hemi Barracuda when U talk about Hemi Darts🖖😎☮

[@alcosteam]

back in the mid 90's one of the neighbors helped a fellow that run a clone of the 68 Hemi Barracuda cars. Uncorked and with the right driver its best pass was an 8.19 with a Ray Barton built hemi. Set up for super stock running slowed it down a bit. Back about 1990 we were at a big mopar meet and a guy had one of the original 68 hemi Darts sitting in a trailer and it was for sale for a measly 35K. what a deal

[@kx8960]

I remember at a Pomona CA car meet back in the mid-'80's they had a couple legit GT 350's, a GT500, and some Hemi Roadrunners and GTX's for around $13k! I lusted after them but couldn't see spending that much (though I had the credit for it) as a teenager. So, I didn't buy one....MUCH to my chagrin.

[@cindys1819]

The Super performance Darts started out with a 340, then a 360 Then a 383. The 383 became famous because it was FASTER than any Turbo Porche on earth. Even with all standard interior items and pretty standard tires. THERE WERE a few 440 put in by some dealers or dealer related outside shops. The limitation on the HEMI Darts was the tires of the day and that the Hemi's were only 4 bbl carb fed not Fuel Injected or supercharges. The conservative induction set up limited the car to the 10's with FI or a Blower, the cars 😮would have absolutely gone into the 9's or even 8's on spray.

[@doubledrats235]

I was in third grade when this car was released. I started driving in the late 70s after the gas crisis when they stopped making real muscle ❤cars. But by then, those fun cars were available used and were cheap! Hemi cars were rare so I never saw one in the wild. But you could get a Plymouth or Dodge with a 440 4bbl for $1,500 or so.

[@Pollock1961]

Same here, graduated in 79

[@tomcooper6108]

Finally, to put a stop to all the "baddest muscle car" crap. But you could not use it on the street as you would a daily driver....the engine and car was made for racing. Just ask anyone who had one.

[@josephkay7785]

Interesting video. Maybe drop the annoying karoke style CC tho.

[@martyschrader]

Please get rid of the text. The flashing red text in particular is very distracting and makes it hard to follow the imagery.

[@Olds_Pwr]

Sounds like a competitor to the Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt.

[@wintonwright4244]

A dude what about the d dart two hundred and seventy five horsepower two seventy three just forgot all about that eh

[@elderherrera2238]

Bullshit. The Dart was always a good car even with the slant six. Nah.

[@cloughshelton3510]

Get rid of the red and white closed caption. It is distracting.

[@christerahs9776]

So Al Bundy was right all along😊

[@donwest5387]

"Thunderbolt"!

[@youthere7327]

still dont need those subs m8

[@Mr39036ce]

nice vid but you have to update a few things. The motors in these were a bit different than the street motor whose specs you correctly state. The Compression in the LO23 race motor was bumped up to 12.5:1 and the hp was NHRA factored to 500 or 550 depends on who you ask. The A833 four speeds were not done at Chrysler but a standard thing done by racers,not really sure on that. The A727 Torqueflite trans for any hemi was internally different from all others to handle the ridiculous torque. Torque converters were specially made 10" high (3500?) stall units. These were known a the "F" converter as the 10" housing may have come from Ford.

[@silverstar4289]

These cars were the first hint at the rise in value of muscle cars. I recall in the late seventies, early eighties, articles in Mopar mags (no internet then, kids) about these. My buddies and I remarked that people were paying around fifty grand to buy one. Winged cars hadn’t hit the thirty thousand mark yet. Rising tide lifts all boats

[@anthonyfrench3169]

Soo you did made a video about the Hemi A bodies!! Awesome sauce!!! But the one thing that could go away in a future update is the hard subtitles

[@wintonwright4244]

Ten twenties off the showroom floor that's what they were certified at

[@Mr39036ce]

that's a little fast Win,a friend had one,Charlie Castaldo was the subject of an article in Cars magazine about his trip to Detroit to pick one up. The cars best was around 10.49 with mph in the mid 120's. Some of the other guys with factory parts deals were running faster but not consistent 10.20's. But they eventually did. When my friend was done with the Dart it was sold and he went to pro stock with a 72' Don Hardy built Challenger. The last and best times for the Dart were 10 teens mostly due to the crazy 60 ft. times with the newest converter ( 9" 4500 stall code 069J) and torqueflite mods. It would bang into second and high so hard,eventually the side windows weren't fully closing as the car was starting to bend in the floor pan by the "B" pillar area. the paint in the roof/ Trunk c pillar area was cracking too.

[@lordsludge5678]

One day..ill own a Lo23 ONE DAY Dont you dareee make fun of the slant 6 😤

[@tomj4406]

4:00 the 425 hp number was right on..at the rated RPM of 5200. But the 426 Hemi made pwr up to 6100 rpm and yeah..the hp there was about 490..give or take, depending on tune, fuel, atmospheric conditions. ..are you getting to the part about this not being a run of the mill (pun) 426 Hemi? I'll wait a min..No? Ok. Try 12.5:1 compression and a wild cam. Plus, the crossram intake and dual 735 cfm Holley carbs, not the smallish Carter AFB's on an inline dual 4bbl intake. The internet is extremely lacking on race Hemi specs..weird..and my old brain forgets the exact hp.. but i recall north of 600hp. These were not street Hemis, but race spec engines.