Grand Spaulding Dodge

Three new limited-edition Mopars will be available from Mr. Norm’s in January 2013 to celebrate Mr. Norm’s 50th anniversary. Dodge dealerships nationwide will offer the GSS Challenger, Charger, and Ram.

Norm Kraus had a vision of a new car dealership focusing on performance cars when he opened Grand Spaulding Dodge in Chicago in 1963. He treated young buyers with respect, and hired an equally young staff who loved and knew performance cars. The dealership turned into the number one volume Dodge dealer in the world in a few short years.

Norm took advantage of “Race on Sunday, Sell on Monday,” and raced a supercharged 426 Hemi-powered, nitro-burning, altered-wheelbase Dodge Coronet that was tuned by Gary Dyer. He beat factory-backed teams like the Ramchargers and made the Los Angeles Herald’s front page when he set the record at Lions Dragway (Long Beach, California) with a 8.63 elapsed time. Norm professionally drag raced for 14 years and was involved in the funny car’s evolution.



The dealership had more Hemi Chargers, Six-Pack Super Bees, and Challenger T/As than any other dealer in the country, but Norm wanted to go further. He developed the 1967 Dart’s GSS 383 big-block package and created the GSS 440 Dart in 1968. Norm’s team also created the 1972 GSS 340 Supercharged Demon. Mr. Norm continues with modified Chrysler cars and trucks today, and, in 2007, created an  updated 1968 Dodge Dart GSS  series (pictured above), using modern 472 or 528-cubic-inch Hemi engines in iron or aluminum, with updated suspensions, under restored 1968 Dart bodies.