[Allpar.com Content]

The McKee Plymouth Hemi-powered racing car

Ewald Stein pointed us to the 426 Hemi-powered 1965 McKee Plymouth. Operating out of Palatine, Illinois, Bob McKee made a variety of CanAm cars; the Mark 5, driven by Bob Montana to 55th place (out of 64 cars) was the Plymouth. While the racing result in the one race we could find it participating in was not terrific, it was competing with Porsche, Lotus, BMW, and the like; and was in front of some BMWs, a Cooper Ford, and other specialty vehicles.

McKee generally used General Motors powertrains, with two cars having Ford engines and one having the Plymouth 426 (listed as producing 610 hp at 6,400 rpm, and weighing 613 pounds) coupled to a Borg-Warner T-10 transmission. The Mark 5 was a single vehicle - no more than one was ever made, and it is still around. The first owner was Mike Hall.

The current owner, John Rasmussen, wrote:

Photos, technical information, history and a list of more than 20 magazine appearances since 1965 will soon be available on the internet at www.hemimckee.com. Both Testors and AMT made models of the car in the 1960s. See also Mopar Muscle September 2004 and Mopar Action Aug. 2005 for more details (albeit there are a few errors in each article).

It looks as if the photo on your website was taken in England (Goodwood Festival of Speed) this past summer [it was].

The car is "jaw dropping" to the average guy who has not seen the car in more than 35+ years or is seeing it for the first time and had no idea of Chrysler's participation in the unlimited road racing experiment of the late 60s and early 70s.

For more CanAm racing, see our main racing page.

For more on the McKee Plymouth restoration, including many photos, see our new McKee Plymouth Special #15 restoration page.

Home •
Engines •
Reviews •
Chrysler 1904-2018 •
Upcoming •
Trucks •
Cars

Spread the word via <!--Tweet or--> Facebook!

We make no guarantees regarding validity or accuracy of information, predictions, or advice - .
Copyright © VerticalScope Inc. All rights reserved. Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Ram, and Mopar are trademarks of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

FCA: great finances in US, not so much elsewhere	Luxury Ram, Mopars win over Texans, Stellantis logo, and new books	Durango Hellcat about to go on sale (maybe not for long)	More Mopar Car and Truck News