For Ford fans, Carroll Shelby is the King of Performance. And when it comes to the Chevy bowtie, you need look no further than Don Yenko’s ridiculous rides to see some serious supercars. Mopar fans, meanwhile, have Mr. Norm, who was a Chicago based dealer and performance enthusiast that sold some of the fastest Chryslers in America.
So it should come as no surprise that any car with Mr. Norm’s name attached should command a premium price at auction. Hemmings Auto Blog reports that one of the 1968 HEMI-powered Dodge Darts sold by Mr. Norm’s Chicago dealership recently sold at Mecum’s Illinois auction last week for a whopping $125,000.
In 1968 Chrysler shipped out 80 lightweight Dodge Darts to dealerships, shoehorning a 426 cubic-inch HEMI V8 under the hood while chucking anything unnecessary to racing. The Darts were meant to be only for “sanctioned contests of speed”, i.e. drag racing, and Chrysler teamed with Hurst to produce some lightweight fiberglass body panels that helped lop hundreds of pounds off of the curb weight.
Of these 80 Super Stock Darts, Mr. Norm’s Chicago dealership sold 13 of these estimated 600-horsepower, four-speed Darts, including the one that sold at Mecum for an impressive sum. It’s an important piece of Mopar history to be sure, and while the Dart may not be as popular as other Chrysler staples like the Charger or Barracuda, it’s still a damn cool car when you stuff a HEMI in it.