In 1962, Chrysler Corporation was in chaos. Sales were down and much of the blame was, incorrectly, laid at the feet of Design Chief Virgil Exner who years earlier had withstood a mini-coup which culminated in then Chrysler CEO William Newberg ordering a complete redesign of 1962 models. Exner would eventually ask to have it in writing that he had nothing to do with the design of the ’62 models, but he was fired anyway in 1962.
     While Dodge and Plymouth dealers may not have been impressed with the looks of the ’62 models (lore has it that 20 dealers renounced their dealerships when the ’62 models were introduced and many more followed later in the year) there was a saving grace: Chrysler’s engineering department.
     A new engine was introduced - the 413 Maximum Performance Wedge - soon dubbed the Max Wedge. This dual carb, cross-ram made the 413 unique, but it was a pair of big, upswept cast iron exhaust manifolds and special heads with huge (2.08”) intake valves ground to a tulip shape that really helped Mopars stand out in the crowd. Available in two compression ratios (11:1 and 13.5:1) the 413, with a stout 727 Torqueflite behind it and an 8 3/4 Sure Grip with 4.10 diff, was capable of more than 425hp and 12-second 1/4 mile runs right out of the box. In ’62 the NHRA record books showed four class records established by 413 Max Wedge cars.
     A young Eldon Cocklin of Burlington, ON, took notice. “I think the first one I saw was at the Indy U.S. Nationals,” says Cocklin. “Don Garlits’ wife (Pat) drove one that Chrysler had given them.”
     Cocklin didn’t get his own Max Wedge until 2003, when he completed the immaculate ’62 Savoy you see on these pages. The car was bought as a rolling chassis and a garage full of parts from his brother in 1982. “My brother bought the car in the ’70s and drag raced it for a few years with a 383/auto combo and it ran 11.70.” At the time Cocklin didn’t really want the car, but the price was right and though the term “clone” hadn’t yet entered gearhead vernacular, in the back of his mind that was exactly what Cocklin intended to do.
     Still, 18 years after the purchase it took an ultimatum from wife, Lynn, to get the project started. “She said ‘get rid of it or fix it’,” said Cocklin. So, he built himself a garage than built himself a Max Wedge Savoy.
     The car was in pretty decent shape. It started life as a purple 6-cylinder sold in Ontario, then in the late 1960s John Bates and Bruce Nab of Freelton, ON bought the car from Strabane Automotive, stuffed a 361ci under the hood and drag raced it in Super Stock. The car never saw road salt again. That meant only one patch - in the trunk where a rear-mounted battery had leaked acid over the years - was necessary when body work began in 2000.
     The toughest part of the restoration was finding the Max Wedge pieces, and it took more than two years of scrounging —mostly at the Carlisle Swap Meet — to find a date-coded correct 413 block, heads and the really hard to find Stage 1 cross-ram intake and the aforementioned radical upswept exhaust manifolds. Gibbons Motorsports of Mooresville, NC balanced and blueprinted the 413 and stuffed it with JE Pistons, Comp Cam solid lifter camshaft, roller rockers and created a engine now rated at 500HP and 450 ft lbs of torque.
     To make the car a little more streetable, the compression was dialed down- which means the dual 600 CFM carbs can drink regular - and 4:10 gears were eschewed for more highway friendly 3:55 cogs. (Cocklin drives it about 500 miles a year). A Mopar Performance electrical ignition replaced the stock ignition system.
     Stopping power remains four, big drum brakes and the stock torsion-bar suspension remains up front. Out back the car has Super Stock leaf springs with offset hangers to accommodate the beefy Hoosier tires. While Cocklin hasn’t yet tested the 413 in a 1/4 mile, he does plan to do so.
     The car was finished in 2003 and last year won Best of Show at the prestigious Chrysler Classic event in Norfolk, VA. Now, he’s hooked on cloning.  Since the Savoy’s completion, Cocklin restored a ’63 Plymouth Sports Fury 426 Max Wedge Clone and is currently working on a Dodge 300, 2-door post drag car which will be a 426 Max Wedge clone.
     Thank the gearhead gods the government doesn’t regulate it.  Keep on cloning.