Hump Day Holeshot: Jim Pranis’ 8-Second Street-Driven ’68 Charger

Images: Nick Parisi

There are street cars, and there are gods. Featured during one of Hot Rod Magazine’s legendary Pump Gas Drags competitions, Jim Pranis’ all-black ’68 Dodge Charger has earned its fair share of ink in the press, and rightfully so. Looking all the part of a pretty warmed-over second generation Charger, this B-Body is a perfectly dailed-in street machine that can click off 9-second passes without breaking a sweat.

The Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native has owned the big B-Body for over 20 years and has cycled through a handful of combinations before settling on a monster 572 cubic-inch HEMI topped with a high-rise dual-quad intake and twin Dominators, backed by a 727 Torqueflite spinning an 8-inch converter and a Dana 60 loaded with 4.56 gears all riding on a pair of Super Stock leaf springs relocated inward to accommodate the minitubs.

Previously, Jim pushed this Charger deep into the 9s (9.40-seconds at 142mph) with an “old combo” consisting of a 500-inch Wedge fed with a bunch of nitrous. Now, with HEMI power, Jim can run the same 9-second times on the motor – which he built himself – or dip into the 8’s with the juice! All we can say is that this wicked Charger is a true inspiration for our own project Dodge Charger, “Killer Kong.”

Watch during this bracket race as Pranis lets his competition run away with one hell of a lead before reeling them in and breaking into the 8’s with a 8.99 (seriously, what track doesn’t list the mph?).

About the author

Kevin Shaw

Kevin Shaw is a self-proclaimed "muscle car purist," preferring solid-lifter camshafts and mechanical double-pumpers over computer-controlled fuel injection and force-feeding power-adders. If you like dirt-under-your-fingernails tech and real street driven content, this is your guy.
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