PRI 2010: Empire Mopars’ Incredible Twin Turbo ’71 Dart


As always at the Performance Racing Industry show, vendors all across the showroom floor brought out some of the finest racing machines in the country to display in their booths and while there some truly immaculate machines on hand, one occupying the 3300 block at the S-Max Intercoolers booth may have just taken the cake.

This absolutely stunning 1971 Dodge Dart is the handiwork of John and Pat Macioce of Empire Mopars in New Windsor, New York.

The duo are well renowned in the Chrysler muscle car custom car and restoration arena, and several of their projects have received national exposure in some top automotive publications.

Unlike many of their shop projects intended for street driving and car show use, this show-quality Dart owned by the Macioce’s is destined for the quarter mile, featuring an all-aluminum, 470 cubic inch mill under the hood, built around an Indy Cylinder Heads Maxx block.

Housed within is a Callies crankshaft, GRP connecting rods, Diamond pistons, and a Cam Motion roller billet turbo camshaft.

The real fun begins with the intercooled, twin 76mm turbochargers, feeding enough boost through the engine to generate 1,800 ground pounding horses on pump gas. all of the turbo piping  to the front-mounted intercooler is wrapped in Heatshield Products material.

Rounding out the electronic side of the powerplant is a Wilson EFI system and a Fueltech engine management system. Options are still being considered in the off season for a transmission combo, but the car is outfitted with a Moser Dana 60 rear end housing.

While to many, the fact that this car makes nearly 2,000 horsepower would be the attention-grabbing element. But in this case, that is highly debatable. John and Pat received sponsorship on the car from paint manufacturer BASF, allowing them to go hog wild on what may very well be the most incredible paint scheme on any race car, anywhere, period.

The base is a Chrome Illusion flip flop color, and once applied, Paul Perez of Paul’s Art applied a stunning, airbrushed skull design all the way around the car that simply has to be seen to be believed. Each skull is finished in a pearl paint that can appear as 16 different colors depending upon the light source. In addition, on the trunk lid is a comical portrait of Pat Macioce in a clown get-up.

John and Pat indicated they plan to do some racing in the northwest at Englishtown and contest some NMCA events in the region, as well. Weighing in at a scant 2,500 pounds, the pair hope to push this classic Dodge in to the mid 7’s. One things for sure, they’d better clear some space on the trophy shelf for those best appearing car awards.

About the author

Andrew Wolf

Andrew has been involved in motorsports from a very young age. Over the years, he has photographed several major auto racing events, sports, news journalism, portraiture, and everything in between. After working with the Power Automedia staff for some time on a freelance basis, Andrew joined the team in 2010.
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