a Petty Enterprises "Saturday Night Special" rare factory kit car

Designed to be economical enough for the local racer to afford yet high tech enough for the professional racer to want to drive, this Mopar kit race car was initially available from the legendary NASCAR team Petty Enterprises.

The concept was born out of Mopar’s involvement in NASCAR and really gained legs when the Chrysler Corporation exited the sanctioning body in the early ’70s. One of the key proponents of the program was Larry Rathgeb, who had previously been Chyrsler’s Director of Race Programs. Rathgeb and his engineering team settled on a 1972 Dodge Challenger body to cloak some pretty advanced technology for the time period. The car you see here is thought to be the prototype or one of the prototypes for that program.

During development, the car was tested on dirt by a young and then-struggling North Carolina racer by the name of Dale Earnhardt Sr.

While Petty initially offered the car, as the program moved along you could also purchase the racer from any Chrysler/Dodge/Plymouth dealer. Depending upon the size of your bank account, the car could be purchased in any one of four states of completion; a basic chassis, a rolling chassis, a complete car less the sheetmetal, or the complete/turnkey car.

Unfortunately, the program never met the company’s expectations and only about 30 factory complete cars were delivered to buyers.

You might be more familiar with the slightly more successful kit cars Mopar had in 75-77

Found on http://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/inside-the-rarely-seen-mopar-petty-enterprises-kit-race-car/ar-AAcu7Vz#image=1

https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/45220
https://libwww.freelibrary.org/digital/item/45223