Mopar Fans Select Online ‘Top Eliminator HEMI^® Heritage’ Winner

October 28, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich. -  Mopar enthusiasts selected Roger Davis and his 1934 Plymouth PF 5-Window Coupe as the fourth and final winner in the online portion of the 2014 Mopar “Top Eliminator HEMI^® Heritage” competition.

This is the eighth year Mopar, the service, parts and customer-care brand, has held the “Top Eliminator” challenge to help shine a light on passionate and dedicated muscle car enthusiasts who exemplify unmatched skills in modifying or preserving a classic or modern-day company vehicle. This year’s edition was renamed to encompass the brand’s celebration of the 50th anniversary of the iconic 426 Race HEMI engine.

The online winning selection, a 1934 Plymouth PF 5-window Coupe named “in-Flame-ous” is owned by Roger Davis, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army on active duty as a deputy brigade commander training troops in Birmingham, Alabama. He bought the hot rod in 2012 after previous incarnations had it as a yellow street rod in the ‘70s and then a drag racer from the late ‘90s to 2010, posting a best run of 9.160 seconds at 143.46 miles per hour (mph). He spent the last two years restoring and personalizing his hot rod and won “Best Mopar” honors at Detroit’s Autorama earlier this year.

Davis made changes to the car to make it street legal, including the addition of lights, wipers and a horn, and upgraded the alternator and ignition system. The pre-war hot rod also received a new paint scheme along with seven painted historical Chrysler logos, new wheels and tires, a re-work of the front suspension, steering and brakes, as well as a customized grille. Additional Mopar parts include a Siamese-bore HEMI four-bolt block and Mopar crank.

“The 1934 Plymouth PF 5-window Coupe is the ultimate ride for hot rodders,” said Davis. “It’s like what you see in the movie American Graffiti.”

Davis uses his daily driver, a 2012 Ram 1500 Laramie, to tow his “Mopar HEMI Heritage Top Eliminator” winner in a trailer custom-painted to match his truck.
For a third consecutive year, Mopar gave its passionate online fan community the opportunity to select their own Mopar Top Eliminator HEMI Heritage winner. Enthusiasts were encouraged to upload images of their personal Moparized ride with an emphasis placed on celebrating the legendary engine.

A panel of Mopar representatives selected 10 finalists from all electronic submissions and then provided the online community a chance to a vote for their favorites from Oct. 10-17 online at www.facebook.com/mopar. Fans can read more about each of the four 2014 Mopar Top Eliminator HEMI Heritage winners on Blog.Mopar.com.

Two of this year’s winners were selected from competitions held at the 30th Annual “Mopars in the Park” car show in Farmington, Minnesota, and at the Carlisle Chrysler Nationals in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. These winning selections were showcased in the Mopar display at metro Detroit’s renowned Woodward Dream Cruise, one the largest car shows in the world and one of the best places to be for true heritage, muscle and dream vehicles.

Patrick O’Leary of Lino Lake, Minnesota, won the first Top Eliminator HEMI Heritage trophy at the annual Midwest Mopars in the Park with his 1968 Matador Red Plymouth Road Runner equipped with a 426 HEMI V-8 engine, and automatic transmission with column-mounted shifter.

The second winner, chosen at annual Carlisle Chrysler Nationals, was a 1969 Dodge Super Bee with a 426 HEMI V-8 owned by Ron Dezsi of New Boston, Michigan, who purchased the limited edition car in July 2004. The vehicle had originally been bought to drag race and then spent 17 years in a garage.

The third winner was chosen from among competitors participating in the 14^th annual Mopar HEMI Challenge at the prestigious National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) U.S. Nationals event in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the end of August. The winner, a 1968 Plymouth Barracuda powered by a Mopar 426 HEMI, owned and raced by Troy, Ohio native Harold Leiter Jr., was one of only two original 1968 package cars to compete in the 26-car Mopar HEMI Challenge field. The HEMI Challenge is a drag racing competition between 1968 HEMI Dodge Darts and Plymouth Barracudas, the classic muscle cars that contributed to the Mopar brand’s legendary reputation and success at the drag strip.
 
Mopar Brand
Mopar (a simple contraction of the words Motor and PARts) was trademarked in 1937 with the launch of an antifreeze product but truly made its mark in the 1960s during the muscle-car era. From Mopar Performance Parts to enhance speed and handling for both road and racing use, the brand soon expanded to include technical service and customer support.
 
Today, Mopar is FCA’s service, parts and customer-care brand and distributes more than 500,000 parts and accessories in more than 130 markets, integrating service, parts and customer-care operations in order to enhance dealer and customer support worldwide. Mopar is the source for genuine parts and accessories for FCA brands.

Mopar parts are unique in that they are engineered with the same teams that create factory-authorized vehicle specifications for FCA vehicles – a direct connection that no other aftermarket parts company can provide. A complete list of Mopar accessories and performance parts is available at www.mopar.com.

Mopar-first Features
Mopar has introduced numerous industry-first features including:

• Vehicle-information apps: first to introduce smartphone vehicle-information applications, a new channel of communication with customers
• Electronic owner manuals: first to introduce traditional owner manuals in a DVD and brief user-guide format. First to offer complete vehicle-information kits in Spanish
• Wi-Fi: first to offer customers the ability to make their vehicle a wireless hot spot
• Wireless charging: first to introduce in-vehicle wireless charging for portable devices
• Electronic Vehicle Tracking System (EVTS): first to market with interactive vehicle tracking device that sends owner a text when vehicle is driven too fast or too far based on pre-set parameters
• wiAdvisor: first to provide factory-connected tablet technology in the service lane for instant vehicle diagnosis
• wiTech: first to support vehicle diagnosis and software updates leveraging off-the-shelf personal computers and a dedicated wireless tool network
• 2011 Mopar Challenger Drag Pak: first to introduce a 500-plus cubic-inch V-10 drag-race package car