{"id":34789,"date":"2020-03-15T12:00:32","date_gmt":"2020-03-15T16:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dodgegarage.com\/news-api\/?p=34789"},"modified":"2024-03-25T11:23:05","modified_gmt":"2024-03-25T15:23:05","slug":"the-road-to-roadkills-zip-tie-drags-wiley-charlie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/racing\/2020\/03\/the-road-to-roadkills-zip-tie-drags-wiley-charlie.html","title":{"rendered":"The Road to Roadkill’s Zip-Tie Drags: Wiley & Charlie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Growing up with a grassroots gearhead, Wiley\nand his big brother Charles witnessed a plethora of kickass cars come and go\nthrough their father\u2019s garage, but none would earn their admiration like their\ndad\u2019s old \u201969 Dodge Dart. Watching as his kids enthused over his utilitarian\nA-body, their dad wondered how the boys would react to the more muscular Mopar\u00ae<\/sub>\nB-body models. So he decided it was high time he sat his sons down to talk\nabout the birds and the bees (Super<\/em><\/strong>birds <\/em>and Super<\/em><\/strong>bees <\/em>,that is). After being presented photos of Chrysler\u2019s full\nperformance lineup, Charles became enamored with the coke-bottle body of\nDodge\u2019s iconic 1969 Charger, and naturally Wiley became captivated with the\n1971 Plymouth Roadrunner (that\u2019s Wiley by the way, not Wile E. like the\ncoyote). From that destiny-defining moment, the two brothers became determined\nto somehow, someday obtain those dream cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, anyone with their feet wet in the classic\ncar hobby will agree that there are some obvious challenges to being a 20-something-year-old chasing after such iconic muscle cars, the biggest being\nprice. The value of your typical driver-quality \u201969 Charger or a real-deal\nRoadrunner can range well beyond $50k, that\u2019s nearly an entire year\u2019s salary\nfor an average millenial. Even on a steady diet of ramen noodles and government\ncheese, the math just doesn\u2019t add up to justify a hobby car. Luckily, there is a\nsimple solution: \u201cdon\u2019t get it right, just get it running.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s a quote stolen from the popular\nMotorTrend program Roadkill<\/em>. You\u2019re\nnot going to see factory-correct polyglas tires, pretty paint jobs or a single\nnumbers-matching part on a Roadkill-inspired car. That\u2019s because the television\nshow\u2019s philosophy captures the concept that a car doesn\u2019t have to be the\ntraditional definition of \u201cdriver quality\u201d to be enjoyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Contributing to behind-the-scenes production\nof the Roadkill <\/em>show,<\/em> Wiley soon adopted their \u201cjust make it\nwork\u201d motto and shared the inspiration with his big bro. With caution to the\nwind, the two set out to find imperfect project cars that could be built up\npiece by piece without sweating superficial details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Charles beat Wiley to the punch when he\nstumbled across this rugged rat-rod \u201969 Charger. Just like the real General Lee,\nshe was a little rough around the edges, the front end was a bit banged up and\nshe was in desperate need of some T.L.C. Flaws and all, Charles fell in love\nwith the Charger\u2019s fading flair and drug it home right away. Wasting no time,\nhe got straight to work repairing the car\u2019s sheet metal and rebuilding the 383\nChrysler big block engine. As Charles picked away at the newfound project, he\nleft an envious green-eyed brother behind thirsting to find the right\nRoadrunner. Luckily, Wiley already had a target in his sights, Roadkill <\/em>star Steve Dulcich\u2019s 1971 Plum\nCrazy<\/strong> Satellite. <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Okay, maybe it\u2019s not technically a \u201cRoadrunner\u201d, but allow me to explain.\nPlymouth featured a tier of varying trims and editions to offer a wider array\nof features and price points to the same basic car. At the top rung was the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me\n\u201cgentleman\u2019s muscle car\u201d, the GTX, <\/em>a\nnotch below was the all-go no-show Roadrunner model, and at the very bottom of\nthe barrel was the most economical option, the Plymouth Satellite. With the\nsame body and all the potential of a real-deal \u201cRM\u201d or \u201cRS\u201d car, the Plymouth\nSatellite offered the perfect platform to be built upon without the premium\nprice tag. In the case of this 383 big block and original high impact FC7\n(that\u2019s nerd talk for purple) Satellite, the car even had the same beauty and\nbrawn of the posher Plymouths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With the beloved beater already being put to\nwork on the set of Roadkill <\/em>, it seemed\nunlikely that Wiley would wrangle away one of the program\u2019s star cars from his\nbuddy Steve. Maybe it was Wiley\u2019s incessant pleading, maybe it was his sheer\ncharm or maybe it was as simple as old-man Dulcich recognizing an eager\nenthusiasm in Wiley that reminded him of his own younger days, but after just a\nfew months of chipping away, Wiley managed to talk his way into becoming the\nproud new owner this purple Plymouth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With over a decade of daydreaming, doodling pictures of cars in class and drooling over for-sale listings that were just<\/em><\/strong> out of reach; the Stevens boys had actually pulled off buying their boy-hood dream cars. Still brimming with excitement over their projects, the brothers set out to get their two ratty Mopar muscle machines roadworthy in time for a public debut at Roadkill\u2019s Zip-Tie Drags<\/em> in Tucson, Arizona.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

They had a long way to go and a short time to get there (1,000+ miles and just a few weeks of prep to be more precise), but with that \u201cdon\u2019t get it right, just get it running\u201d motto in mind, the two brothers managed to sort out all their cars\u2019 quirks just in time. Sticking true to Roadkill <\/em>style, their definition of working out a few flaws essentially meant thrashing out months worth of wrenching in just a few weeks. After swapping drivetrains, restoring ignition and fuel systems, basically repairing every necessary mechanical part their cars, the two were ready for a cannonball-style shakedown cruise all the way to Tucson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Despite pulling an all-nighter driving these\nmangled Mopar vehicles over 500 miles, the guys were eager the next morning to get out\non the track for a good old-fashioned brotherly competition. Taunting and\nteasing filled the starting line as the two prepared to stage, but the time for\ntalk was over, now they had to pony up!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

I imagine years of bickering over who can run\nthe fastest, jump the highest or be the best was all leading up to this\nmoment; the anticipation was palpable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While ultimately little brother Wiley\u2019s purple\nPlymouth did reign victorious with a pass in the high 14s, I\u2019m sure Charles will appreciate\nme pointing out this was due to some technical difficulties troubling his\nCharger. No doubt a rematch will be met with fierce vengeance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sibling rivalries and all kidding aside, is there anything cooler than seeing two bros living out their boyhood dreams of growing up be Bo and Luke Duke and going on wild Mopar adventures? These cars aren\u2019t perfect, they\u2019re far from pristine, you couldn\u2019t even polish them if you tried; but isn\u2019t that what makes them so fun? No worries, no cares: just a pair of grassroots raised gear-heads stoked to be joining Dodge\u2019s Brotherhood of Muscle.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Growing up with a grassroots gearhead, Wiley and his big brother Charles witnessed a plethora of kickass cars come and go through their father\u2019s garage, but none would earn their admiration like their dad\u2019s old \u201969 Dodge Dart. Watching as his kids enthused over his utilitarian A-body, their dad wondered how the boys would react to the more muscular Mopar\u00ae B-body models. So he decided it was high time he sat his sons down to talk about the birds and the bees (Superbirds and Superbees ,that is). After being presented […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":35200,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2621,575],"tags":[528,561],"class_list":["post-34789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gallery","category-racing","tag-drag-racing","tag-restomod"],"acf":[],"custom_fields":{"post_thumbnail_image":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/charlieandwileyfeature.png","icon_selection":"article","external_link":"","featured_article":[],"upload_background_image":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34789"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34789"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35223,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34789\/revisions\/35223"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.api.dodgegarage.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}