Rear - Leaf Springs

After wrecking his dependable 1966 Dodge Coronet at the 1967 American 500 at Rockingham, James purchased a 1967 Dodge Charger from Ray Nichels Engineering.  The car had been used to capture the 1967 USAC Stock Car title with driver Don White.  In 1967, White won 9 races (Chicago's Soldier Field (4), Indianapolis Raceway Park, Milwaukee Mile, Springfield Fairgrounds, Indiana State Fairgrounds and Mid America Raceway.

The first race for James and the 1967 Charger was the 1968 Motor Trend 500 at Riverside.  James qualified the car a respectable 13th but engines problems resulted in a disappointing 34th place finish.  Fortunes for the car soon changed as Hylton and the Charger raced to 14 top five finishes and 22 top ten finishes in its 32 appearances during the season.  Hylton went on to a seventh place finish in the 1968 NASCAR Grand National point standings.  "That particular body style was one of the first attempts by Detroit to create an aerodynamic car"  states Hylton "Dodge was always an innovator when it came to aerodynamics".

"The 1967 Charger was the first of the school bus yellow cars" states long time Hylton Motorsports Crew Chief Terry Strange "we had some five gallon buckets of South Carolina School Bus yellow paint and James really liked the color".   The last race for the 1967 Charger under the Hylton Motorsports banner would be the 1968 Wilkes 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway.  James would record a eight place finish on that September afternoon. 

The car ended its NASCAR Grand National career in the hands of Country Music legend Marty Robbins.  "Marty came by the shop and said he wanted to buy the car" states Hylton "He even played a song for Terry and me."  Robbins finished 12th in 1968 National 500 at Charlotte in his only race in the car.  The car would finish out its career in ARCA and is presently residing unrestored at a junkyard in Alabama.