That may all be true, Dave, but it is news to me. The Dodge Lancer (the Golden Lancer) was not a factory built car, it was assemble out of factory available parts by Dragmaster (and they may have been given the parts for free by Dodge), but anyone could build one of their own if they wished.
The rules were quite specific. From the '62 NHRA Ruelbook:
"The Factory Experimental class is for stock automobiles that use manufacturers' optional equipment announced on or after June 1, 1961; optional equipment that is not necessarily factory assembly-line installed and/or show room sales available."
Under ENGINES for the F/X class in '62 it states:
"Any engine or options listed by the automobile manufacturer for the engine model used are accepted by the NHRA Technical Board."
Remember, the engines and the cars had to be legal (NHRA approved) vehicles. The Chevy II was obviously an approved vehicle for the F/X class, Dyno Don won his class in one of them. The engines had to be legal and approved for the Stock Class. The Dodge Lancer was a factory produced vehicle, manufactured in enough quantity exceeding 500 units. The 413" Dodge wedge was a Super Stock legal engine, as was the transmission. The name of this class was actually "mix and match", install a bigger engine in a smaller, lighter car, which is what Dragmaster did. It's also what Hayden Proffitt did. The fact that NHRA accepted a Pontiac compact should tell us that they would have also accepted the Chevy II (both GM vehicles). It too was produced in enough quantity and the 409 engine was a legal Super Stock engine.
Let's look at the specs of each car.
'62 Dodge Lancer - Wheelbase = 106.5", Overall Length = 188.8", Width = 72.3", Height = 55.7"
'62 Pont. Tempest - Wheelbase = 112", Overall Length = 194.3", Width = 72.2", Height = 54"
'62 Chevy II - Wheelbase - 110", Overall Length = 183", Width = 69.9", Height = 55"
All these compacts were in the same basic "compact class of vehicles", all were NHRA legal, and all the engines (Chevy 409, Pontiac 421, and Dodge/Plymouth 413) were NHRA approved for Super Stock competition. I just am having a hard time, Dave, in believing that NHRA would have approved of the Tempest and the Lancer and not the Chevy II. In 1962, the 413 was NEVER approved as an optional engine for the Lancer, and Pontiac NEVER approved of the 421 as an optional engine for the Tempest. These were never factory optional engines for either vehicles. It just doesn't make sense that NHRA would have approved non-optional engines for some vehicles but not for others.
But like I said before, I'm willing to be wrong about all of this. The NHRA has done many, many funky things in the past (and still do in fact). There was plenty of pissing and moaning at the '62 Winternationals from many of the racers, guys showing up with Z-11's prepared to run in the S/S class and then being told that they couldn't run in that class and had to run in a new class (a one time class that was created on the spot by NHRA) called "Limited Production Class". In thinking back on this whole thing (I was 23 years old at the time), it almost seems to me that the big name Chevy S/S racers decided to boycott NHRA's F/X class, and after the NHRA Nationals over Labor Day in '62, many of them dumped their Chevy's and went with other manufacturers, like Dodge/Plymouth and Mercury. Interesting times, that's for sure...
