Fri, 20 Jun 2003, 10:01 AM And It’s A real Car, Too!!

By Bob Frey Photo copyright 2003

Gene Mosbek

When I caught up with Gene Mosbek a while back, he and his son, Tim, were getting ready to run in the next round of Stock Eliminator. I didn’t want to bother them so I simply asked if I could have a phone number where I could reach them before the next race. After giving me the number, and between checking air pressure in the tires and dialing-in a number on the window, Gene hollered out to me, “And it’s a real car, too.” Not wanting to take any more of his time, I decided to wait until later in the week to find out exactly what he meant by that. After all, I consider my 1978 Dodge Aspen a real car, too. Only kidding!

Before I tell you about Gene’s “real car,” let me tell you a little about him. The owner and operator of Gene’s Auto Repairs in Elk River, Minnesota, Gene has been racing for over thirty years. “I actually got started back in the early ‘70’s at the old Minnesota Dragway,” he said. And, just like he does today, Gene was running a stocker back then. “I’ve always liked real cars, but when a friend of mine, Fred Engelhart, said that he was going to buy a 1964 Plymouth and that he wanted someone to drive it and set the record in two years, I really wasn’t sure if I was the right guy for the job.” Well, he was. After getting the car in 1990, the pair ran a 10.52 at 127 miles per hour almost two years later to take the record away from another Mopar stalwart, Dan Dvorak. Now they had a really fast real car and a record to prove it.

The hard-core Mopar fans, or hard-core Stock Eliminator fans, will know all about the 1964 Plymouth max-wedge cars. “They only made about 50 of them, “Gene told me, “and there are probably only about 17 of them left that are original.” This real car, complete with the window sticker, has 10.9 original miles on it. “It’s got the aluminum front end and a lot of the actual, original parts,” Gene added. “Like most of the weather stripping is original and the car has never been restored. Even a lot of the paint is the real thing.” I guess that’s what makes it a “real car,” huh? To prove its authenticity, Gene has the original window sticker and a dash plaque that shows that this was a car that was made for “acceleration time trials only,” and is “not for street use.” It’s a radio-delete, heater-delete car so even if you drove it on the street it wouldn’t be real comfortable, but then, who would do that?

Gene teamed up with Fred about thirteen years ago and they’ve been involved with racing ever since. But, while Gene races and tends to his business, Fred is out scouting for more, real cars. “I think that he was talking to someone recently about buying a hemi ‘Cuda, an all original, hemi convertible,” Gene said. “And if you follow muscle cars, you know those things are real expensive. I heard that one went for over $500,000 recently.” OK, so maybe my ’78 Aspen isn’t a real car after all. “That’s what Fred does these days, buys and sells real cars. So I guess you could say that now, I’m the owner and Fred’s the sponsor and we’re both happy.” Let me tell you, if Fred bought one of those original hemi ‘Cudas, he’s very happy.

Tim and Gene

When Gene won the Chicagoland Dodge Dealers race at Route 66 Raceway last year, it was his first national event win since winning Stock Eliminator at Brainerd back in 1985. And while ’85 may not sound like ancient history, when it’s 17 years between wins, it must seem like an eternity. The win ended a drought that put Gene between Mike Edwards and Don Moyer who had gone 15 and 21 years, respectively between national event wins. “It was like a dream come true, something that I’d wanted to do for a long time,” Gene said. Ironically, the Minnesota native had won two national events before the Chicago race this year and both had come at Brainerd Raceway. “I guess it’s kind of our home track now, so we do well there,” Gene added. His other final round appearance before Chicago was at Memphis in 1989 where he lost to, believe it or not, Dan Dvorak and he was driving the car that his sons, Tim and Tom now race.

Whenever someone has a really fast car, there is a tendency to get the “once-over” from the tech guys every now and then. “We’re thirteen for thirteen in the teardown department,” Gene said. “We take a lot of pride in our car and the fact that it’s fast and completely legal.” And real, Gene, don’t forget real! Gene also mentioned the folks at Total Engine in Bloomington who do his engines and Dan Rumple who works at the family business when he’s away. He also wanted to thank his wife, Sharon who is a big part of the team. “She watches the shop when we’re away and she’s a big supporter of our racing program, too.”

As he brings his real car into the race track this year Gene is usually joined by his son, Tim, who races the family’s other car, a 1972 Dodge Demon with a 340 motor. “This one’s not quite all original, so Fred’s not involved with it,” Gene said with a smile. “This one is all mine.” When I asked him why Tim will drive, and not his other son, Tom, Gene said that Tim’s the older of the two, so he has priority. “But I do have the ’64 Belvedere that Al Corda won the World Championship with back in ’86, so I may fix that up and bring it out so all three of us can race at the same time.”  Then he told me that he also has a ’64 Plymouth Savoy, hemi street car and a 1971 ‘Cuda convertible with a 340 engine. Hey, they all sound like real cars to me, Gene.