Tim Holmes

Dodge Polara

 

Tim's Polara is painted Anniversary Gold, a colour only available for that year, and originated from Glendale Dodge in Los Angeles. It’s got all original panels and original interior, even the carpet. But to up the output, Tim built a 440ci engine with forged crank, standard rods, a Moroso deep sump and TRW forged pistons giving a compression ratio of around 10.5:1.  

Tim is a founding father of American Super Stock. Tim's weapon of choice has been his famous and ever-popular 1964 Dodge Polara 500 ‘Golden Anniversary’. Originally a 383 2-barrel car, it still retains its push-button 727 TorqueFlite transmission. 

The motor uses a Chrysler Purple hydraulic cam with .484 lift pushing Hemi valve springs and stock valves in 452 iron heads, which were ported by Tim and topped with a Holley Street Dominator intake and Holley 850cfm double-pumper. Sparks are flung by a Chrysler race distributor with chrome box. Exhaust system has Headman small tube headers and 3” Flowmaster exhaust. Transmission upgrades include a 10” TCI torque converter with a ‘68 Charger rear axle with 3.55 gears and Posi. The car runs low 12s.    

Tim got himself a new tow truck -very nice too, and with his Polara behind, it will be just sweet to see. But Tim has now sold that truck.

 

 

Tim also brought out a sweet old Plymouth Belvedere, which he has now sold on to Carl. Meanwhile, Tim has fitted a Dana 60 rear axle, MSD ignition and fatter exhaust headers and a roll bar to his Polara.

Tim now has other plans, very exciting plans too. He's building a bad ass truck with quite possibly the world's biggest headers. And as if that weren't enough, he's also building an AF/X Polara too.

 

And behind his youthful cheerful exterior, Tim's just as old skool grumpy as the rest of us. He recently provided us with his character profile:

"We survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us and lived in houses made of asbestos. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese, raw egg products, loads of bacon and processed meat, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for things.

"Then after that trauma, our baby cots were covered with bright colored lead-based paints. We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets or shoes, not to mention the risks we took hitchhiking.

"As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags and we went round the streets on go-carts made from old pram wheels and bits of wood. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.

"Take away food was limited to fish and chips, no pizza shops, McDonalds, KFC or Subway. Even though all the shops closed at 6.00pm and didn't open on the weekends, somehow we didn't starve to death! We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this. We could collect old drink bottles and cash them in at the corner store and buy toffees, gobstoppers, bubble gum and some bangers to blow up frogs with. We ate white bread and real butter and drank soft drinks with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because...

"WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING! We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. No one was able to reach us all day. And we were okay.

"We did not have Playstations, Nintendo Wiis, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 999 channels on SKY, no video/dvd  films, no mobile phones, no personal computers, no internet or internet chat rooms ...WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them! We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

"Only girls had pierced ears! We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever. You could only buy Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns at Easter time. We were given catapults for our 10th birthdays. Rugby and cricket had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that! Getting into the team was based on merit. Our teachers used to hit us with canes and gym shoes and bully's always ruled the playground at school.

"The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of, they actually sided with the law! Our parents didn't invent stupid names for their kids like 'Kiora' and 'Blade' and 'Ridge' and 'Vanilla'.

"We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned HOW TO DEAL WITH IT ALL!

"And if YOU are one of them, CONGRATULATIONS! If you had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good."