Yes....it's got a HEMI (a number matching one)!

During the first weekend of June we had the chance to visit a fantastic Mopar-only show in Farmington, MN, which is just south the the Twin Cities. The show is titled “Mopars in the Park,” and while it’s now set at the Dakota County Fairgrounds in Farmington it was originally held in nearby Raceway Park, a sweet little quarter-mile paved oval race track in nearby Shakopee, MN, hence the aptly named “Mopars In the Park” title.

As the show grew in fame it became more and more difficult to sandwich everyone and their cars into the little quarter-mile track so it was expanded to the much larger fairgrounds just a few years ago. The name was kept so as not to break continuity.

The show itself is not just a huge gathering of cars, but also contained a car and parts swap meet, famous Mopar racers and race cars, a burnout contest, and was capped of with a Guinness World Record attempt of the most latest model Challengers ever in a parade. We’ll be honest in saying that at first the entire thing was a little overwhelming, but we went in ready to look, walk, listen, and enjoy. We also blew $30 of company money on corn dogs and ice cream, but since we were supporting vendors at a Mopar event we felt it was justified.

B-Body row!

The Cars:

The cars that attended the show were plentiful, and while we did see Chrysler’s, Desoto’s, Dodges, Plymouth’s, and even Willy’s Jeeps from multiple decades of production the clear winner of volume were 1960’s and ’70’s era muscle cars. They were literally everywhere, but not in any particular order. After we spent 40 minutes perusing what we assumed was the B-Body section of the show we walked through the swap meet only to find an entire pasture of more B-Bodies, A-Bodies, and the like.

It appeared that most people came in and parked near either a car like theirs, near a friend’s car, under a shady tree, or somewhere else. There was a section that appeared to be just for cars to be judged as well, so the only way to ensure that we saw every Dart at the show was to literally walk ever inch of the show. Luckily for us, we loved every second of it!

We're not sure if ran or not, but looked to be a fairly solid Charger.

The Swap Meet:

A '69 Charger at the swap meet. Unfortunately the rear frame rails were toast (and actually looked like toast). We still wanted it.

There really is nothing like a good Mopar swap meet, as there were parts ranging from professional companies all the way to the back of some “stuff” under a tarp in Gus’ truck. If one needed blue door panels for a ’78 Cordoba, they could be found easily, as could wheels, glass, carbs, heads, taillight bezels, and everything in between. It was truly a beautiful sight to behold!

In addition to all of the parts were a cars, some that were complete, some that were cut up, and some that were a little bit of both. We nearly bought the yellow ’69 Charger you see here. On the other side of the Swap Meet was effectively a large car corral where people with running and driving cars had them parked and ready to sell.

There was nothing in the yard that was particularly rare, but was it easily possible to get a nice running and driving Road Runner, Satellite, or New Yorker (complete with pillow-top leather seats).

Racers and Race Cars:

Perhaps just as impressive as the vast array of great cars and the uber-cool swap meet was the face that a panel of Mopar racing greats and famous Mopar Race Cars had been brought in just for the show. These included Arlen Vanke, Judy Lilly, Diane Sox, Don Grotheer, Herb McCandless, and Don “The Snake” Prudhomme.

Don signed book after book at the show and the entire panel of guests was interviewed live during the Saturday event. Onlookers could listen to them speak, tell stories, and drool at the rare pile of Mopar legendary race cars there.

Special Events:

Last, but certainly not least, were a couple of special events that group organizers had put on. The first was a burnout contest, and anyone with the tires to burn could enter. We saw a sweet orange ’69 Dart with a built 440 go, a ’67 GTX, and even a guy in a 6-banger Dodge Dakota that was either a parts hauler or soon would become a parted-out vehicle itself. It was absolutely and utterly glorious to witness.

The other special event consisted of a Guinness World Record attempt of the largest number of late model Challengers in a parade. The magical number to get the record needed was 250, but unfortunately “only” 189 cars ended up making the parade route. Al well, there’s always next year, right?