1962-1965 Mopar Logo

"Shut Down"
An Accurate Version of the Beach Boy's song



It happened on the strip where the road is wide**
Two cool shorts* standing side-by-side**
Yeah, a fuel-injected Stingray and my 413,
We're revvin up our engines and it sounds real mean

1962 Dodge 413

Tach it up, tach it up, buddy gonna shut you down...
Tach it up, tach it up, buddy gonna shut you down...


Declining numbers at an even rate
At the count of one we both accelerate
The Stingray is light, his slicks are startin to spin,
But my 413s really diggin in


Gonna make tracks now, button-shift, here we go...


My Super Stock Dodge is crankin out in low, but
The fuel-injected Stingrays motors startin to blow
To get the traction, hes ridin the clutch,
His pressure plates burning, man that smokes too much!


Pedal to the floor, hear my dual quads drink
and watch my 413s taillights startin to shrink
Hes got a Chebby engine so its understood
Hes got a crank and rods and pistons shootin out of his hood


Shove-a-lot, Shove-a-lot, Mopar muscle shut you down,
Shove-a-lot, Shove-a-lot, Mopar muscle shut you down,
Shove-a-lot, Shove-a-lot, Mopar muscle shut you down.


*John Chrisman reports on the word shorts -- "Im not sure if this was a regional west coast term, but "short" in the 1960s was a slang term for a hot rod, ride, car, wheels, etc...." Thanks John!

Brent E. Rossow adds: 1) "Shorts refers to the relatively short wheelbases of the two cars in question, compared with the full-size cars of the day; And 2)It happened on the strip where the __road is wide__ (as in illegal road drag racing)." Thanks Brent!

Lyrics updated and made accurate by G. Hamel and Dan Harling, 1995, revised August, 1997

Just the Facts, Please

And the real world evidence: Mopar Action magazine featured a 1962 Dodge besting the Sting Ray in its 1990 issue:
Copyright 1990, Harris Publications, Inc. Used with Permssion. All rights reserved.


High Performance Mopar magazine featured a Max Wedge again stomping the Corvette:

Max Wedge Mania: SHUT EM UP AND SHUT EM DOWN

Donnie Chapmans 1962 413 Max Wedge Dart whipped the Sting Rays in straight sets.


by Jim Campisano

Tom Sloe made everyone a promise. "Im gonna beat that Dodge," said the owner of a damn-quick 1964 fuel-injected Corvette roadster.

He made this proclamation after the National Muscle Car Associations event at Milan Dragway in Michigan, where he lost three close races to Donnie Chapmans 1962 Max Wedge Dart. It followed a precedent that was set by Edison, N.J.s Ron Papaleo, whose 1963 fuelie got snuffed by the 413-powered Dart a month earlier in Darlington, S.C.

But while Papaleo never came close to beating Chapman, Sloe did. Papaleos split-window coupe was more of a show car, while Sloes 1964 was tuned to the cutting edge. Still, Chapman beat him in five straight races, running a best of 12.64 to Sloes 13.37. Strong for a stock small-block Chevy, but not nearly enough to top Mother Mopar.

What brought these warriors together was the NMCAs intention to breathe some life into the Beach Boys song "Shut Down." Everyone knows the story: Corvette meets Dodge, Corvette races Dodge, Corvette beats Dodge.

Whoa. Were talking about a 13.5:1 compression ratio engine, dual- quad-fortified machine with a race-prepped TorqueFlite transmission. Does such a stout Corvette exist on this planet? We did a little homework before the first round of the event.

In an old issue of _Hot Rod_ Magazine, we found a 1962 Vette that was running 12.63 in HGRA A/Sports. Modifications were limited to engine blueprinting, slicks and headers. In the same issue, we noted that the Super Stock ET record was held by Dick Ladeen of Portland, Ore., at 12.71. We figured we had some kind of horse race on our hands.

Sloes machine was fitted with the most powerful incarnation of Chevrolets small-block, the 375-horsepower 327, and a Muncie 4-speed. Though his 1964 is not the showpiece that Papaleos Vette is, its still plenty nice.

Chapmans 413 actually started life as a 361-equipped Tennessee state police vehicle. He had all the necessary parts available to make the car a 413 and figured, "Why not?" He built his Dart specifically for the NMCAs Shut Down series.

Marshall Jeffers put the Ramcharger V8 together using stock factory goodies. Donnie maintains the only deviations from stock are an .030-inch overbore and a Racer Brown cam.

The 727 TorqueFlite was also freshened up by Jeffers, and for good measure he added a TCI converter with a 3000-rpm stall speed. The 8 3/4-inch rear houses 4.30 gears.

Body and paint chores were handled by Steve Elkens, who also refurbished the interior. The entire car, an undeniable show-stopper, was completed in two months time.

Down in Memphis, home of Elvis Presley, barbecue cooking and mosquitoes with the tenacity of pit bulls, Sloe made good on his promise--sort of. In the first round, neither gentleman ran a particularly good race, but Sloe cut the better light and emerged the winner with a 14.211 at 101.63 to Chapmans 14.193 at 91.05.

The Corvettes finally got on the scoreboard. Unfortunately for them, it would be the last time they would do so. In the next round, Donnie ran an unreal 12.27 at 109.38 to Sloes 13.15 at 104.48.

"I put in a set of those Japanese spark plugs," said Chapman, explaining how he managed to knock .5 second off his previous low ET.

From that point on, it was Dodge all the way, though Sloe did a commendable job driving the plastic Chevy. His last three races netted him ET slips that read 13.36, 12.96 and 13.41. Impressive but hardly up to the task, since Donnies times were 12.41, 12.51 and 12.69.

As for Ron Papaleo and his 1963 split-window Vette, he was content to watch the action from the sidelines and take the events Best of Show award.

Now the Beach Boys know why there was nobody meaner than the Little Old Lady from Pasadena.

Source: Campisano, Jim. , Shut Em Up and Shut Em Down. High Performance Mopar magazine -- March 1991, pp. 14-15.

Did you know?

That Gary Usher, the writer of 409 by the Beach Boys never owned a 409, but DID own a new 426 Plymouth Hemi Superstock, which he conceded was much faster than a 409 anyway. :-) (Source; The Illustrated Discography of Hot Rod Music 1961-1965 by John Blair and Stephen J. McParland, 1990, forward section)


Revised August 22, 1997. Version 2.0 Revised January 26, 1998. Version 2.1; revised and moved to the new web site garage August 18, 1999.
Revised April 23, 2000; revised August 6, 2001; January 13, 2013; December 15, 2014; July 4, 2021

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