The Silver Bullet

The Story Of The Silver Bullet

Woodward Avenue saw a lot of fast street machinery in its day, but probably no
car won more encounters and inspired more legends than the Silver Bullet. The
Bullet was a docile-looking Plymouth Belvedere GTX hardtop, powered by a 485
cubic inch --yes, as in eight liters -- Hemi V-8 that was a paragon of innovations
and sophisticated parts from Chrysler's racing-minded engineering department.
The car, which used a much-modified Torqueflite automatic transmission and a
"street" exhaust system incorporation three-inch-diameter exhaust pipes and four
Cadillac mufflers, was capable of ten-second, 130 mph quarter miles in full street
trim. Thanks to a lightweight center crossmember in the frame, extensive
fiberglass body parts, and a gutted cockpit, the Bullet, which generated in the
neighborhood of 600 horsepower, weighed just 3200 pounds. Owner/operator
Jimmy Addison eventually ran out of people to race with it and took it to the drag
strip, where it ultimately cracked nine seconds.

Addison eventually sold the car, and through a series of owners it fell into
disarray until it ended up, minus an engine, in the caring hands of Harold
Sullivan. Harold and restorer/mechanics Jeff "J.D." Dawson and Jeff Reif
immediately began a meticulous ground-up restoration of the old street warrier,
complete with a gleaming silver paint job by Vance Cummins and a reincarnated
485 cubic inch Hemi, which is expected to generate an honest 600 horsepower at
the rear wheels.

Sullivan plans to make the Bullet the crown jewel of an already impressive
collection of Mopar muscle cars. As such, it probably won't see alot of street use.
But if you're ever on Woodward Avenue, and up next to you pulls an
innocent-looking silver '67 Plymouth, better pretend you've got a bowl of goldfish
on the front seat and leave sedately, because the Silver Bullet is on the prowl
again. ---JLR