“Direct Connection, like so many of Chrysler’s racing efforts, was a total team effort. And while they were putting all this support behind Direct Connection to develop and build very successful racing programs, it was a busy and fun time!” – Dick Maxwell, March 1999
THE LEAD UP TO DIRECT CONNECTION PARTS PROGRAM
It was 1964 that the word MoPar was changed to “Mopar®” and the roundish Greek-type Omega M was added to the brand identification. A parts depot was set up by Brian Schram at the Lynch Road Garage to deal with all the new-found activity of sending off these special Mopar parts (the drag race teams dealt with factory man Bob Cahill and NASCAR parts were dealt through Ronnie Householder) and a parts system was organized where everything from the air cleaners to the oil pan, plus all parts in-between, were made available to those involved in competition using Chrysler products. The high-performance parts program at Chrysler was up and running, Mopar parts designed specifically for racing were being distributed to the best of the best racers in the land. At a point in the late 1960s, the Mopar high-performance parts program had taken it one step further and started to offer racers parts that actually came from the aftermarket, items such as Isky cams and valve springs, Edelbrock manifolds, Racer Brown camshafts, Milodon oiling systems and Hooker headers included, and given a “P” prefix (for performance) Chrysler part number.
By the time 1968 rolled around, the Mopar “Performance Parts Service” was fully established and their “man in the know” was one of the original Ramchargers members: Dick Maxwell. He was the chief technical advisor for PPS and was assisted by Dave Koffel. Jerry Gross handled the PR and when Chrysler-sponsored racers won or if there was a new Mopar part available that made more power, word was quickly sent out to all the car enthusiast magazines of the era. Everywhere you looked, Mopar was getting media play, but most importantly, guys like Richard Petty, Dick Landy, Sox & Martin and others (on both national and regional basis) were out there winning with Dodge and Plymouth racecars. Plus, on the streets, Road Runners, Chargers, Barracudas, Darts and Super Bees were holding their own on the stoplight-to-stoplight action side of the picture. It was also around this time-frame that the term Mopar started to mean more than just the name on the box that you bought to make your Chrysler product run better and go quicker; it had become slang for any car that was a product of Chrysler – as in “hey I’m going to build a hot Mopar,” or often said at the track: “Damn those Mopars are kicking some ass today!”
In the 1970s came the catalog printed for these high-performance factory parts (and factory-approved parts) was called Hustle Stuff and they were geared at the dealership level, written for the countermen in the parts departments to deal with inquisitive parts buyers who wanted to get more performance out of their big block, small block, HEMI® or Slant Six Dodge or Plymouth. Here’s how the opening page read in the 1969 Hustle Parts book: “To help you sell performance parts, here are some excellent methods of modifying Chrysler, Plymouth or Dodge engines. Section I contains less extensive modifications, which will enable the owner to compete in sanctioned drag racing but will retain the basic driving characteristics. In the words of the performance buff, the car will still be ‘streetable.’ In Section II there are more extensive modifications. These will further increase power for sanctioned drag racing, but will make the car totally inappropriate for street use. Chrysler Performance Engineers have evaluated these procedures in the field and laboratory as part of a continuing performance program. The actual results, of course, are the individual owner’s responsibility.”
It did not take much to read between the lines, a lot of street racers were buying Mopar parts to gain speed and performance, and while the racing was great for exposure for the company, the real reason for motorsports was to help sell cars and a lot of the hot cars on the streets where Chrysler products, with eager owners who wanted to burn even more rubber! Chrysler didn’t endorse street racing, but reality was what it was, and there was lots of street action going on. The Mopar Chrysler Parts Division was making lots of waves in racing circles and there was still one guy, Brian Schram, that wanted to take it to the next level – offer a direct connection to the consumer for them to get all the go-fast parts for Chrysler cars just like the factory-backed racers.
BRIAN SCHRAM MADE IT ALL HAPPEN
The Detroit native and WWII Navy veteran started working at the Dodge Main factory in Hamtramck, MI, in 1949. His early responsibilities were chasing parts for the Experimental Engineering Group that assembled the next model year cars. Around 1955, he found himself ordering and shipping parts to factory-supported racers, working for Dodge’s Frank Wylie and Gale Porter. That grew to supplying Dodge and Plymouth drag racers, as well as the stock car racers and all was good, except at that time the non-factory sponsored racers also wanted the same parts and components. However, at the time, there was no way to sell for direct sales to the privateers.
“They were calling Chrysler and asking for the latest go-fast part, but there was no way to sell them,” Schram had said in an interview. For him, the answer came to solve this with the guidance of a Chrysler engineer named Pete Dawson. “Pete told me how he did it,” Schram explained. “We put together a list of parts, got a block of part numbers, put a ‘P’ in front of each.” After establishing prices, Schram was soon sending parts to all the C.O.D. (cash on delivery) racers and the money went to Chrysler Corporation. That’s how it all started. “I had a warehouse, the product planning group had 60 planners and 30 engineers,” he added. “Dick Maxwell and Warren Tiahrt handled the marketing.”
With thoughtful planning and creative people involved, this all became the “Direct Connection” program, and the focus of this story is to shine light on the particulars of how it all had begun, circa early 1974.
With the economic downturn in the early 1980s, the racing group was discontinued. However, Direct Connection survived, moving over to Mopar Headquarters in Centerline, MI. “We went down to six people, including the supervisor, me and a secretary,” he said. But from there, the program grew and became a success and besides supplying race parts, Direct Connection grew to selling street performance items for the muscle car market. “I guess I had an angel looking over my shoulder” is how Brain Schram described it, saving his Direct Connection program.
HOW THE NAME CAME ABOUT
“An ad program is paramount. We talked to Joe Schulte, an account executive with Chrysler-Plymouth’s ad agency Young & Rubicam, who had been an integral part of developing Plymouth’s Rapid Transit System and other performance ad campaigns for Plymouth,” Dick Maxwell shared. “Schulte was doing some moonlighting and agreed to work out an ad theme for our fledgling parts program. It was Schulte who invented the Direct Connection name and logo that was used for many years. The Direct Connection stood for a direct connection between the racers and the factory through factory developed performance parts.”
SELLING IN SPEED SHOPS
With a small group of Chrysler/Plymouth and Dodge dealerships signing up to be Direct Connection dealers who stocked inventory, there was still the need to gain more growth in the largest segment of the distribution, which was the speed shops. However, the race group at Chrysler had to get the marketing and finance people to sign off on the concept.
“By 1974, we had permission,” Dick Maxwell explained. “The Direct Connection aftermarket program was announced at the SEMA Show in November. We signed up our first warehouse distributors and hired a couple of WD sales rep organizations to help sell Direct Connection into the aftermarket.” Among the big players of the performance warehouses that signed up was American Speed, Keystone Automotive, Reliable Automotive, Buckeye Sales, Arrow Speed Warehouse and Speed Distributors Warehouse (Honest Charlie). In addition, Mancini Performance, McCandless and Livingston, plus the Super Shops stores were also selling Direct Connection parts, as well.
FIRST CATALOGS
The very first Direct Connection Special Parts Catalog (SP5) was dated May 1,1974, and was basically a listing of all the various part numbers and also featured technical drawings showing engines, transmissions and differentials in 3D exploded views.
Factory-sponsored drag racecars were prominent on the covers of these 1974-77 Direct Connection covers, which included the Pro Stock cars of Sox & Martin, Dick Landy, Butch Leal and Mopar Missile (Don Carlton) on the first catalog. For 1975, the focus went away for Pro Stock and a Modified Production “California Flash” Butch Leal Duster graced the cover, with 1976’s cover including the DeSantis & Crider C/Gas Dodge Colt, July Lilly’s Super Stock Duster. 1977’s edition saw a rendering of an all-new Plymouth Arrow HEMI engine-powered B/Altered car, along with reference to the growing truck and custom van markets.
DIRECT CONNECTION CALIFORNIA FLASH ARROW
To help promote the Direct Connection product line for 1977 came the Butch Leal Plymouth Arrow HEMI-powered car, which was basically a state-of-the-art Pro Stocker disguised as a B/Altered car that ran in the NHRA Sportsman Class, as well as a Pro Stock at unsanctioned match racer events. Leal took the car on the road for seminars at dealerships to further interact with customers.
THE PUSH FOR STREET ROD MARKET
“Bored With Ford? Come to Mopar Country.” That was the opening marketing message that Direct Connection promotions started circa mid-1970s when the decision was made to broaden the street rod market for Mopar. There were sponsorships from Direct Connection with the NSRA Street Rod Nationals along with full-page advertisements in related magazines. There was even a “How to build a Mopar Street Rod Manual” which was a 45-page Direct Connection Bulletin (#37) that was based on the various Chrysler Corporation powerplants that were readily adaptable to pre-1948 Mopar vehicles. The manual details things like motor mounts, throttle cables and oil pan shapes.
As seen in this 1984 ad inside the Street Rod Nationals Program, the drawing showing a Mopar small block powerplant in a 1930s Dodge street rod, along with the words: “Link up with the automobile company that pays attention to your sport.” Clearly there was a special amount of attention to this street rod market as a result of the Manager-Vehicle Performance Planning at Chrysler Corporation at the time, Dick Maxwell (who was active in the scene with his Mopar small-block powered 1937 Plymouth 4-door Sedan).
1978 CATALOG
Highlights of the cover of the 1978 Direct Connection catalog shows the Don Prudhomme Arrow Funny Car, Bob Lambeck’s Barracuda, a Dodge-powered Shadow Can Am car, Mopar street rod, custom Dodge van and Class 8 2WD Baja Dodge race truck. Cover four: Miss Direct Connection with P-prefix parts including W2 cylinder head, electronic ignition distributor, Dana 60 chrome cover and S/S leaf spring. 98 pages fully illustrated B&W images throughout.
1980s CATALOGS
Dropping a 440 Wedge into a Plymouth Duster with encouragement from a female helper was the main cover image for the 1980 Direct Connection catalog, complete with a “Purple Stripe” camshaft on display.
With each new year and with additional parts added, the Direct Connection catalogs came and became more filled with color pages, there certainly was a mix of “New/Old” Mopar vehicle applications which reflected the marketplace for high-performance parts and equipment.
POSTERS OF “MISS DIRECT CONNECTION”
Considered “must have” for Mopar enthusiasts, there were numerous “Miss Mopar” models that attended various consumer and trade automotive events, and highly sought-after posters were made available through the catalog. Here’s the “Natalie ’82” rendition.
SUPPORTING DIRECT CONNECTION DRAG CARS
As the Direct Connection name came out, it started to appear on a variety of Mopar drag cars, including the “Mr. Motech” car of John Tedder, and the “Rossi & Siemer” car driven by Paul Rossi, both being 1968 HEMI Barracudas.
Starting in 1976, Paul Rossi campaigned this 1970 440 Six Pack Dodge Challenger Super Stock, shown here with him and his wife in the early days, it was running 10.62 in the quarter-mile at this stage in time. It was known as the “Direct Connection Challenger” and pulled big wheelies, performing smoky burnouts along the way.
A BIG FOLLOWING FOR THE BRAND
“MOPAR SPOKEN HERE!” was a catchy phrase and helped the speed shops that sold Direct Connection products communicate to the customers that they knew all things Mopar. This was a point-of-purchase cardboard standup that also highlighted the Bob Glidden Plymouth Arrow Pro Stock car, a factory sponsored vehicle for 1979.
There was no shortage of Direct Connection promotional items back in the day, including patches, magnets and stickers (Roland Leong’s Dodge Funny Car shown).
EARLY CONSUMER ADVERTISEMENTS
Full-page B&W Direct Connection ads were placed in the consumer “car buff” publications to help launch the promotion to get customers to both the participating dealerships as well as the speed shops that stocked and sold the products. The ads were placed in Hot Rod, Car Craft, Popular Hot Rodding and other magazines, plus oftentimes there were editorial “how-to” stories relating to installing Direct Connection parts and pieces.
WEARABLES
Numerous T-shirts, hats, jackets, men’s and women’s shirts and even belt buckles were marketed with the Direct Connection name and design. Through the years there were different logos incorporated and slogans used.
FRONT WHEEL DRIVE FOCUS DC ADS
With the switch to front-wheel drive for the production cars, the Direct Connection product line was augmented with performance and appearance enhancements for the brand-new Dodge, Plymouth and Chrysler small cars, and with Carroll Shelby having to be brought into the team, it brought in a lot of positive publicity in terms of these small 4-cylinder Mopar engines.
1988: THE VERY LAST DC CATALOG
Joe Hilger had become the Director of Mopar Parts Marketing in 1984, and his responsibilities included Direct Connection. Later on, in 1988, he was in on a budget meeting and was instructed to kill off and close down the Direct Connection program. Quick thinking, he managed to save the legendary performance group from extinction. With his urging to the upper management, Direct Connection was re-branded as “Mopar Performance.” The new identification was used as a “halo” for Mopar’s marketing efforts. Hilger was soon after able to get the 426 HEMI engine retooled and released as an over-the-counter crate engine.
It was a 174-page “Performance Driving Accessories” Direct Connection 1988 catalog and covered old-school rear-wheel drive applications as well as front-wheel drive Mopar vehicles. A new section was developed for the 3.9L V-6 engine family.
One of the items released in the 1988 catalog was the “A” engine Valve Cover Set, chromed for eye-candy and featuring Direct Connection markings, a popular engine dress-up item even today.
THE NAME RESURFACED IN 2010
“Direct Connection” markings had resurfaced in 2010 at specific Mopar events, and it was a welcome sight when it came! The focus at these events revolved around the Dodge Challengers, Daytonas, Magnums, as well as Chrysler 300s.
To highlight and promote the Mopar Challenger Drag Pak at the 2010 SEMA Show in Las Vegas (available with the 6.1-liter HEMI engine with either a 4-speed automatic or 6-speed manual transmission), they featured this colorful example. The production cars had retro Stone White paint and were priced at $39,999.00.
DIRECT CONNECTION OFFICIALLY BACK IN 2022
“One-Stop Factory-Backed Performance Parts for All Things Dodge” is how the new Direct Connection program was promoted, and several Dodge Power Brokers dealers were signed up, which includes a massive portfolio of high-performance parts specifically designed and engineered for Mopar vehicles. Included in the product line are complete crate engines and long blocks.
Author: James Maxwell
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