Spring Fling is Coming!

12 months ago Events

The 35th Annual All Mopar® and Parts Exchange

— LARGEST MOPAR® GATHERING WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI
— FEATURES MOPAR VEHICLES FROM ALL GENERATIONS
— STOCK/RESTIFIED/MODIFIED/RACE CAR CLASSES

APRIL 15 & 16, 2023

Chrysler Performance West’s annual Chrysler products Spring Fling bash held in Van Nuys, California, is the place to be for West Coast Mopar enthusiasts who want to see clean, rust-free vehicles and/or get rust-free sheet metal in their Swap Meet area.

Each spring, Woodley Park in Van Nuys is filled with vintage and current Dodge Brand cars, plus a huge assortment of Plymouth and Chrysler Brand vehicles, and typically there are some DeSotos and even Australian Valiants thrown in for further variety. This grassy park is heaven for lovers of all things Mopar!

JAY LENO SIGHTINGS!

Throughout the years, Jay Leno manages to drop in to Woodley Park and most likely in one of his prized Mopar vehicles from the collection. His airport hanger location is in nearby Burbank, a short drive away. Like all other enthusiastic Chrysler product lovers that attend, he attends to absorb all the Pentastar fun and excitement!

IT’S GOT A COP MOTOR, A 440-CUBIC-INCH PLANT. IT’S GOT COP TIRES, COP SUSPENSIONS, COP SHOCKS. IT’S A MODEL MADE BEFORE CATALYTIC CONVERTERS, SO IT’LL RUN GOOD ON REGULAR GAS.

This shot from a previous Spring Fling event had an “Elwood” 1974 Dodge Monaco, and two “Blues Brothers” had fun all day striking a pose from the 1980 flick “The Blues Brothers.” Made for quite the photo op!

ONE ADAM-12

Here’s a 1969 Plymouth Belvedere LAPD patrol car and it’s authentic, right down to the correct “exempt” California black plates. You can almost hear “One Adam-12” with Officers Pete Malloy and Jim Reed responding to the radio call from police headquarters.

TV AND MOVIE CARS

Because of the close proximity to the nearby movie and television studios, oftentimes at these Woodley Park Mopar gatherings there will be Mopar-based movie cars. For the 1966-67 “The Green Hornet” television series, Hollywood car designer Dean Jeffries took a new Chrysler Imperial and converted it into a crime-fighting vehicle with all sorts of gadgets, with styling changes as well. Most noticeable is the 14 inches he added to the C-pillar to give it a more limousine appearance.  

Nobody knows exactly how many “Dukes of Hazzard” 1969 Dodge Chargers were destroyed; however, it’s been long reported approximately 300. This photo capture from another previous Spring Fling saw this survivor positioned right next to the “Joe Dirt Dodge Daytona” from the 2002 adventure comedy. It is believed that the studio sold it after the filming was over for a mere $18,000.00. David Spade himself actually bought a fully restored Daytona at a 2015 Mecum Auction for $900K!  

THE ORIGINAL FUNNY CAR

Most Mopar enthusiasts are well aware of the famous 1965 “A/FX” altered wheelbase Dodge and Plymouth factory drag cars; however, California drag racer Dick Landy had done up his 1964 HEMI® engine-powered Dodge Coronet with “revised” wheel placement before the Detroit factory commissioned the ’65 AWB cars to be constructed. To see this authentic “Dandy Dick” creation at the Spring Fling that year (believed to be late 1990s) was a special treat!  

RUST-FREE CALIFORNIA METAL

Walking the aisles of the huge “Parts Exchange” area, there are ample supplies of “California Gold” fenders, doors, hoods, deck lids and quarter panels as, because of the climate, rust isn’t a problem like there is in other parts of the country. 

RARE FACTORY SHOW CAR

In this retro pic from the grassy Van Nuys park is the one-off “1970 Dodge Super Charger” two-seater factory show car. HEMI Orange, Daytona front nose cone (with Superbird center spear), side pipes and blended rear wing treatment. It was a roadster designed by Chrysler stylist Elwood Engel. In 1974, the car was sold to Van Nuys Dodge for $1,200.00.

THE PLACE TO BE!

Chrysler Performance West is an event-oriented Southern California Mopar car club based in the San Fernando Valley, which is home to the famous Van Nuys Boulevard, as well as a long tradition of hot rodding heritage going back to the 1930s. This is a very active car club with monthly meetings and two major Mopar-exclusive shows each year, the Spring Fling and the Fall Fling, both staged at Woodley Park. This year’s Spring Fling has a fun “Cruisin’ Bob’s Big Boy” on the night of Saturday the 15th. It’s free to all spectators and is the place to be for Chrysler car enthusiasts on the West Coast! www.cpwclub.com

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