"Dandy" Dick Landy (1938-2007)

Father of drag racing's first Funny Car

The name Dick Landy meant “Mopar” to a generation of drag racing fans. He started way back in 1962 with the brand. That’s when Plymouth’s West Coast tech manager Bob McDaniel noticed Landy’s drag racing skills and offered him factory support in the form of a series of Max Wedge Plymouths. Landy received a ’62 413 Max Wedge and a parts deal from Chrysler, which he used to dust off the competition. His reward was a 426 Stage II Max Wedge for 1963.

Dodge stepped in for 1964 with the latest Wedge and then the Hemi came along. By mid-year Landy had a two-door Dodge sedan with an aluminum front end. “It was fabulous,” he said in an interview on Mopar.com. “You know, we really, really dominated out here on the coast.” Along the way he acquired the name “Dandy,” because he was always well-dressed and his cars were show quality.

Landy’s national reputation was established in 1965, when Dodge introduced the A/FX altered-wheelbase cars. The NHRA banned them and Dodge reacted by sending Landy and the other A/FX runners on the match race circuit. The cars—twelve of them were built—dominated drag strips all over America, not only with their speed but also with spectacular sky-high wheelstands. “They were good cars for us because we could make a lot of money match racing them,” said Landy. But the end was in sight. “Chrysler decided that we needed to go back to something more like what our customers buy,” Landy stated. So he, Sox & Martin, and other Mopar runners went back to the stock classes—and they started touring the country with Chrysler’s new dealer clinic program. Landy’s was called the Dodge Performance Clinic. The program was a huge success, packing the dealers with car crazy youth who got to see their heroes and learn how to make their Mopars go fast on the strip.

The clinics not only showed how to drag race, but also showcased Chrysler’s performance parts inventory. “Back then, it was called Chrysler Special Parts and then it was Direct Connection,” Landy said. “And then, finally, it became known as Mopar Performance Parts.”

Meanwhile, Landy and teams such as Sox & Martin continued running match races—now with the 1968 Hemi Darts and Barracudas—and competing in all the national championships. “Back then we had no idea that it was the quickest factory car that would ever be built, anywhere, anytime,” he said of the ’68 cars.

Landy was right there when Pro Stock was created in 1970. Dodge and Plymouth dominated the class for years, until rule changes made them uncompetitive and he retired from driving. He kept close to racing by means of his company, Dick Landy Industries. In recent years Landy visited his fans at events around the country and enjoyed seeing his old super stock and pro stock cars in the hands of people who knew their history and loved sharing Mopar and Hemi heritage.

Mike Flynn and Todd Werner are two collectors who got to know Landy after they acquired one of his famous Pro Stock Challengers. “We flew him in two times during the car’s restoration,” said Flynn. “And we became friends.”

Landy never forgot the Chrysler people who helped him, including Bob Cahill, whom he called, “The best of the whole product planning bunch.” He also remembered Dick Maxwell, who was the racing manager, and Tom Hoover, “just the best engineer there was.” Landy also mentioned Dale Reeker, who was a Chrysler racing manager in the 1960s. Landy remained grateful to Chrysler for supporting him during his career. “It worked out really great,” he said. They came up with some fabulous parts that people are using today.”

Mopar people everywhere will miss this tough, cigar-chewing, drag racing legend. But he will not soon be forgotten.