Charlie Castaldo…from ’55 gasser to Hemi Darts

[dinoKeymaster]

I called Him “Chargin” Charlie Castaldo. First became prominent with his bright orange injected ’55 Chevy gasser. Castaldo Equipment on the doors. His business in the Bronx. Had the worlds largest self erecting cranes at the time for sky-scraper work. Then came the Hemi Darts. I lettered one “California style” . I’ll let you guys fill in the blanks, history,and car info and post photos ….plenty in ODF galleries .

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[anonymous]

Can’t forget about his P/S

[smokncobrajet]

Check out Elvis right over the hood,the guy on the left.

[gramdog1Participant]

Charlie also had a Challenger Pro car. Looking for picture, will send asap.
Charlie Licata will have more info also.

[paul-ceasrine]

Gramdog,
I think the order of Charlie’s cars were;
56′ Corvette C/G
55′ Chevy D/G (331 cubes) as seen in the photo
68′ Hemi Dart (SS/B) which flipped in E-Town (late 68′ or early 69′)
68′ Hemi Dart (SS/BA which won the 69′ Super Stock Magazine Nationals at York)
70′ Hemi Challenger (SS/DA)
74′ Pro/Stock Volare’ (I think Dart first then Volare’) “Fun City Flyer”
* The second Hemi Dart had a couple of different variations of paint/lettering.
PC

[storm-king-2]

Hey Paul,
I don’t have any photo’s, but I think he ran a Hemi Challenger in Pro/Stock in 72 or 73. Rickman bros. were on his crew. Down in Maple Grove they loaned us some carb jets. Wish I had taken photo’s, would have been nice if the digital cameras were out then.
Bill

[storm-king-2]

If I read the posts instead of looking at the pictures, I would have seen Gramdogs post. I have a fuzzy image of what the car looked like (but not like Drake’s fuzzy mustang). Will be glad to see pictures of it. Never saw the Duster, very sharp!!
Bill

[paul-ceasrine]

Bill (SK2),
Looks like Charlie had more than a couple of cars (HEMI’S 😀 ).
The Challenger was in SS/DA in 70′ (photo at the Nationals). The 68′ Dart was still legal for Pro/Stock, and it also ran their.
I guess after the 68′ Dart (second Dart) was sold, the Challenger went into Pro/Stock.
You correct, 72’/73′ looks to be right-on-the-mark.
By the way things look, I don’t think anybody had a camera in 72′ or 73′ 😥
I’m embarrassed to say, we don’t have one photo of our 68′ Cuda “Shadow II” SS/I 340 car.
Which we ran in 73′ only.
A beautiful Fire-Mist Green (Cadillac color), with Ansen mags. Front wheels 8″ off the ground,
dead-on 12.05’s. Pretty good back then. The car was about 250lbs. over-weight, under-coated, radio, heater, body interior padding, and (2) 6-volt Ford Tractor batteries in the trunk. Only a Crane ZIP-510 (lift camshaft). At the shop in the box, was a Crane Compu-Cam,
with a .570 (lift). The engine wasn’t balanced, and no deep oil-pan. If we did the right thing,
we would have been running down Tommy Iorizzo’s 68′ Z-28 in SS/I $$$. He was at 11.60’s.
Well within reach 😉
Talk later. Where is Gary (SKI) Priming the Max-Wedge 😀

[storm-king-2]

Paul,
Gary’s computer turned on him, it won’t let him on the Dover site. He’s tried everything he can think of, even talked to Dino about it. Dino says he’s too controversial & won’t help him get back on. ( just kidding about Dino) …….[ might be true tho].
Wish we had a max wedge to be prepping. I hope to get my 72 Scamp running this year. All depends on how busy we are, and it looks like we are going to be very busy. Could be good, more busy = more$$ = more cubes, I can do that.
Bill

[clicata]

You guys forgot “LIL lou” his 32 ? ford coup ( OUTLAWS from Yonkers days) ,I have a picture of our 73 pro challenger ijust have to learn how to get it on . CHAZ

[dinoKeymaster]

Storm Guys …Tell Gary to call me to get his Computer right …And No excuses ! ….plenty of time to get the “Crusader” done for next Nostalgia Drags.

[larry-nParticipant]

Here’s a link to a story on his Hemi Dart.
Larry
http://www.hotrod.com/old/index.html

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[clicata]

quote Paul Ceasrine:

Gramdog,
I think the order of Charlie’s cars were;
56′ Corvette C/G
55′ Chevy D/G (331 cubes) as seen in the photo
68′ Hemi Dart (SS/B) which flipped in E-Town (late 68′ or early 69′)
68′ Hemi Dart (SS/BA which won the 69′ Super Stock Magazine Nationals at York)
70′ Hemi Challenger (SS/DA)
74′ Pro/Stock Volare’ (I think Dart first then Volare’) “Fun City Flyer”
* The second Hemi Dart had a couple of different variations of paint/lettering.
PC

Paul the first “FUN CITY FLYER” was used 71′ on the A/MP Dart (68 automatic Dart)
The PRO/STOCK Challenger was Sox & Martin chassis and had a 73 grille & tail assm.
Chas.

[paul-ceasrine]

Mr. “L”.
Thanks, I was just going by memory.
Lot of switching to Modified Production in 71’/72′, from the Super Stockers.
I guess more cash. Or the SS/A and SS/AA records got trashed down into the low-low
10.00’s, as the middle-classed Super Stockers had the advantage.
I still vaguely remember a “For Sale” sign in the right side passenger rear window, one
Sunday at Dover (maybe late 70?, not sure if was 71′ yet). Still think it was $5500.
May have been more. Going by memory.
Oh, Dino said he lettered the Dart (automatic) in Charlie’s garage in Scarsdale. Had to be in
early 69′ sometime. Rheingold’s were involved 😀
Paul

[clicata]

quote Paul Ceasrine:

Mr. “L”.
Thanks, I was just going by memory.
Lot of switching to Modified Production in 71’/72′, from the Super Stockers.
I guess more cash. Or the SS/A and SS/AA records got trashed down into the low-low
10.00’s, as the middle-classed Super Stockers had the advantage.
I still vaguely remember a “For Sale” sign in the right side passenger rear window, one
Sunday at Dover (maybe late 70?, not sure if was 71′ yet). Still think it was $5500.
May have been more. Going by memory.
Oh, Dino said he lettered the Dart (automatic) in Charlie’s garage in Scarsdale. Had to be in
early 69′ sometime. Rheingold’s were involved 😀
Paul

Dino lettered the car rigth after Charlie bought it . 1971 the Dart was changed to A/MP . Charlie wanted to go PRO/STK so we put a S&M pro engine with a727 trans. we used this combo till ROD SHOP bombed th record ,then we tried a cluthflite, then a 4speed. All ths was done to get ready for the pro car coming. Charlie sold the car as a rolling chassis(no engine/trans) for $1500.00

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