LAWMAN

LAWYERS RUIN EVERYTHING. Especially cars. It’s true that many factors helped kill the muscle car. Blame the insurance companies, which tired of paying for wrecked cars and hospital bills. Blame the car companies, which offered 350-plus-hp cars with standard drum brakes. Blame legislators, who demanded greater safety and cleaner air — more or less simultaneously. Ultimately, blame lawyers: Whether pushing new legislation or working to defend the status quo, they have had a massive impact on our favorite cars.

Yet one attorney traveled the world in order to makes things better, without legislating anything. Elton “Al” Eckstrand graduated Wayne State University with both a masters in social psychology and a law doctorate; by 1955, he was hired as counsel for Chrysler. Al was also a hobbyist quarter-miler. He was soon given funding and engineering assistance on the down-low, and he started winning races. Alongside the Ramchargers and Golden Commando cars, Al campaigned as — partly because he would lay down the law at the track, but also for his chosen profession. And was a large part of Mopar’s Super Stock strip dominance with the downsized-full-size 1962-’64 models. Later, in the ’60s (when Chrysler owned Hillman and Sunbeam), Al spearheaded a trip to England, to help open the Santa Pod quarter-mile track with a new ’66 Hemi Charger and his American Commando Drag Team. The goal was showing potential competitors (often American servicemen) not only how to drag race, but how to do it safely and correctly. Once he left Chrysler, Al’s time in Europe helped cement the importance of driver education.