Wicked Wednesday: Plymouth Belvedere Is the ‘Judy Lilly’ Factory Drag Car

Finished in Daffodil Yellow paint this 1967 Plymouth Belvedere was built specifically for iconic drag racer Miss Mighty Mopar Judy Lilly.

Judy Lilly is known as “Miss Mighty Mopar” thanks to her days of drag racing Mopar products back in the ‘60s. She was one of the first women to campaign a drag racing car. She is an iconic figure in Mopar history. So naturally her 1967 Plymouth Belvedere factory drag car is also an icon. And that is exactly what we have here. Back in the day a Chrysler executive spotted Lilly racing Corvettes. And the talent she had was clear and Chrysler wanted her to win in their cars and not Corvettes. So, they offered to build her a custom Plymouth Belvedere drag car just for her.

This week’s “Wicked Wednesday” is all about this 1967 Plymouth Belvedere drag car. It was recently spotted at Carlisle Chrysler Nationals by Lou Costabile. He caught up with Rich Goetlieb who is the gentleman that owns this historic race car. They spoke about how the car came to be and what makes it special. Beside the obvious ownership provenance. A video of this discussion was recently posted on the Lou Costabile YouTube channel.

Judy Lilly

We can’t talk about this car without first spending a bit more time discussing Lilly. The name Courtney Force may be familiar to you if you follow drag racing at all. But it was the likes of women like Lilly that laid the groundwork for Force. Lilly was a pioneer in the sport. She began racing back in 1961 in a Corvette. It was in 1965 that she won her class at Winternationals and the Chrysler team began to take notice. She became a member of the Mopar team and the 1967 Plymouth Belvedere you see here was the first car that she raced for them. It was only campaigned for one year as in 1968 she switched to a Hemi Barracuda. She regularly won NHRA events and was a five-time division champ.

1967 Plymouth Belvedere

The car was spotted for sale by Goetlieb and he snatched it up and made sure it was preserved. Pop the trunk and besides the battery you will find a ton of documentation about the car. You will even find a copy of the 1967 NHRA drag rules. Goetlieb is kind enough to take this car to various shows so Mopar fans can see it. He would be well within his right to keep it locked up in his own garage, but we applaud him for sharing it with the world.

Special Car

This is a ‘delete everything’ car. The car was acid dipped to reduce weight. It has the original 4-speed DANA 60 Hurst Ram Shifter connected to the famous 426 Hemi engine. In the competition days this car would run the quarter mile in the 10-second range which is still quick even by todays standards. The restoration of this car was completed in 2015 and will hopefully be making the show circuit rounds for many years to come.

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Joe Kucinski

Joe has been obsessed with cars since he got his very first Matchbox toy in the 1970s. In 2003, he found a new obsession in track days that led to obtaining his SCCA competition license in 2015. In 2019, he became a certified driving instructor for the National Auto Sport Association. His love for all things four wheels has never wavered, whether it's driving some of the best cars in the world on the racetrack, tackling 2,000-mile road trips in 2-seat sports cars or being winched off the side of a mountaintop in a Jeep. Writing for the suite of Internet Brands Auto Communities sites, including Rennlist.com, Ford Truck Enthusiasts, 6 Speed and more allows him to share that knowledge and passion with others.