The rides keep pouring in and we’ve got a fresh new round of killer machines from our faithful readers, including a street and strip terror of a Ford pickup and a sleek Dodge Challenger bracket warrior. Check ’em out….

Colin Patrie’s ‘1979 F-150

Holy pickup truck! This ride sent in by reader Colin Patrie is a couple of tons of awesome that out-fights its weight class with elapsed times in the mid nine-second range at over 140 MPH. That’s right, this rocket that Patrie himself jokingly calls a “4,000 lb. sheet of plywood” turns single-digit elapsed times on the track. And as a street driver, as well, there’s no doubt this beast turns heads and disappoints some unsuspecting folks.

Of course the only way to overcome a weight and aerodynamic disadvantage is to pack a a couple tons of horsepower under the hood, and Patrie has done just that with his F-150, replacing the factory motor fit for log-hauling with a 427 cubic inch small block Ford powerplant based around a Dart aftermarket block. Atop the short block fitted with a custom cam is a set of AFR 225 heads that deliver a 9:1 compression ratio. Throw in a pair of 67mm turbochargers producing 14 lbs. of boost at full song funneling through a CSU carburetor and you’ve got in the neighborhood of 1,200 horsepower to play with.

Patrie has backed the power up with a TH400 transmission, leading back to a nine-inch rear with 3.70 gears and a spool for street driving. The truck itself has been outfitted with a ladder bar suspension setup with coil-over shocks.

Not content with just mid-nines, Patrie is considering a little “giggle-juice” to help push the Ford into the eights this season. Even as it sits, however, his truck is capable of hurting some feelings, as he shared with us, “it’s fun playing with Cobras, Vipers and sport bikes on the street and the looks you get afterward.”

“I’ve been on this project for about six years, and it’s had it’s ups and downs, but it’s been fun,” Patrie tells us. “The end product is what really counts. Out in Alberta, Canada, there’s not a very big selection of street-driven nine-second cars, much less trucks, so locally it draws a crowd at the track.”

Charlie Barbaglia’s ’70 Challenger

Like the Mopar faithful, we don’t think there are near enough Dodges, Chryslers, or Plymouths out there in our sport. But you wouldn’t know they were short in number by our Reader’s Rides submissions, because we got a lot of ‘em….and that’s a good thing. Among them — and certainly one of the nicest rides we’ve received — is Charlie ‘Mopar Chas” Barbaglia’s 1970 Dodge Challenger S/E, a car the Missouri native purchased brand new that year and still drives to this day. 

Barbaglia, who has been drag racing since 1968, campaigns his pride and joy of 44 years in Super Pro, Super Gas, and Super street competition in and around the St. Louis area, and calls the Gateway Motorsports Park just across the river from the Gateway Arch his home track. 

The Challenger is powered by a 495 cubic inch big block Mopar, running naturally aspirated on E85 fuel, and gets the power to the ground through a 727 Torqueflite transmission and a 4.88 Dana rear end with ladder bars and coil-over rear shocks.

Tipping the scales at 3,160 lbs. with Barbaglia in the drivers seat, this good-lookin’ Challenger has been as quick as 6.09 in the eighth-mile and 9.62 at 137 MPH in the quarter with a 1.32 short time. 

If you ask us, the Challenger makes not just one of the sharpest Chrysler drag cars, but one of the best drag cars, period, and this is one great example of these cars done right.

If you’d like to have your whip part of an upcoming Readers’ Rides feature here on Dragzine, simply check out the submission instructions and requirements and shoot ‘em on over!