 Matt Delaney’s not yet a household name with it comes to radical customs. Mention Jesse James and everyone knows you’re talking about the dude that builds state-of-the-art bikes for those with huge wallets. Mention Matt Delaney’s name and generally you’ll be met with blank “yeah,so?” kinda’ looks. Likewise, one doesn’t tend to think of Shreveport, Louisiana as the ultimate custom vehicle capital of the universe. But, times, they is a changin’.  We first encountered Matt back in the early 1990s when he was busy cramming a massive B-1 wedge motor into an A-body in an effort to build perhaps the world’s most terrifyingly quick Duster. We featured that brutal little Plymouth back in our August 1995 issue. Matt quickly proved himself to be one of those who chooses to create rather than to sit around with a polishing cloth. As his wife soon came to realize (as did we), as soon a s Matt finished with a project, he was bored with it and ready to more into the next project. With the completion of each successive car he took with him lessons learned. As the years passed, a steady stream of progressively more radical Mopar’s began leaving northwest Louisiana causing those well attached to the hobby to take note.
Back in 2000 Matt became nationally known at least for creating the state-of-the-art ’68 Charger R/T Viper hybrid. The silver and red Charger, turned-viper appeared on the cover of MCG’s December 2001 issue, followed by rapid-fire features in every major car magazine in the world. The Charger sat front-n-center at Mopar Performance’s SEAM display in Las Vegas that year, drawing thousands of onlookers who took note of its ground breaking technological advances. To call that Charger a trendsetter would be a bit understated, as its high-tech street rod inspired persona almost immediately spilled over into the entire muscle car rectification field. Matt sold the Charger not long after its fame was achieved, telling us he had something else in mind that was even more radical. The boy wasn’t kidding.  Since we’ve last featured one of Matt’s cars, a lot’s changed in his life. That exclusive inner-circle of super enthusiasts came to realize that Matt Delaney was a true visionary in this new field of hyper engineered muscle cars. Answering the call, Matt now opened up Delaney Auto Design to handle the construction of exotic retro rides for customers the world over. His small but fiercely dedicated crew quickly picked up ton the company’s initials and jokingly came up with the shops unofficial slogan,, “if you can’s do it yourself, send it to DAD’s.” The masses have responded, Dad’s is full!  A couple of years ago, Matt got to know a guy named David Freeman in Chicago. The two became hombres right off the bat, with Matt entering into a search for an AAR ‘Cuda to restore for David, Initially, the plan was simple – find a decent stick AAR and restore it as an overly sanitary cruiser. David’s not into the show car scene. He wanted something to drive, but something that would impress the riders on Saturday night in addition to raising the eyebrows of the old schoolers who’d know what they were looking at. Time marched on; the right car didn’t seem to come along, so nothing was gong nowhere fast. A weird thing happened along the way, maybe a little over a year ago. David called up Matt and asked him if he’d already dreamed up an idea for a wild ‘Cuda, then went into the basic details. By the end of the conversation, David told him to scrap the idea of a stock AAR driver, he wanted the car Matt had just laid out! This was just the splash of enthusiasm that Matt needed to set the wheels into motion, so with David watching from afar in the Windy City, the boys in almost Arkansas cleared the decks for action.  Anyone who knows Matt realizes he doesn’t like to piddle around. Matt hits the ground running and doesn’t stop for Gatorade along the way until a project is finished. The project dubbed “The Hemi AAR” would be no exception to his past work ethic. Since little of the original car would remain once finished, the starting point for the project wasn’t all that critical. Wouldn’t you know it though, when you‘re not looking for something freaky, along comes something freaky. Wanting nothing more than a clean 1970 ‘Cuda body, the boys found an oddball 1970 four speed ‘Cuda in New England that was surprisingly rust free. What made this one a freak is that it left the factory a truly bizarre car. An ordered vehicle, there was no power steering, no power brakes, no power nothing, and it was a radio delete car. Painted overall tan, the car had body side moldings and no console for the pistol grip shifter, but it did have a factory installed overhead console as one would expect in a Grand Coupe! Ever seen a ‘Cuda with an overhead console and not a floor console? Like we said ,this one was a freak! Being Mopar guys, both Matt and David faced an ethical nightmare when the ‘Cuda fell in their laps with a bargain price tag. Without doubt, this w3as a one-of-one car given this combo and color, but it was butt ugly! Weighing the pros and cons, it was decided that if this one was restored as per the fender tag, nobody in their right mind would want it, so they had their starting point.  Since Matt has a heavy rep amongst every manufacturer of goodies who attends the SEMA show (which is pretty much everyone), once he outline the ‘Cuda project to his allies, everyone climbed on board to perform their magic. Within the month, parts were flowing into Shreveport. Other parts were shipped out to shops from coast-to-coast for modifications outlined by Matt. The first order of business was to gut the ‘Cuda completely. In short order, it was stripped to the bare metal on a rotisserie by Mike Harris at DAD. Mike handled the minimal body work before applying the magnificent paint, while Brad Emmons installed the mini tubs and helped with the car’s rear and suspension. In case you hadn’t noticed, the suspension is the big ticket item here. If Plymouth had build a ‘Cuda capable of handling like this, they would have dominated the Trans Am racing series back in 1970! Matt studied a large number of foreign exotic cars to see what their chassis designers were doing to make their cars hug the ground at 200+ mph. These lessons learned were then transplanted underneath a very stock-looking ‘Cuda body.
Starting up front and working back, don’t go looking for torsion bars or any heavy steel k-member here. The shining aluminum K-member is a Reilly Motorsporsts AlterKtion piece custom made for the ‘Cuds, along with the control arms and mounts. There’s a pair of QA1 coil over shocks to control bounce, and turning the wheels is handled by a Flaming River power rack & pinion. As you can see, the entire underside is tied together with seemingly a steel spider web. The stop frame rails are still there, but you’ve gotta’ hunt for ‘em. The frames are tied together for more rigidity, but that wasn’t nearly enough. From wheel to wheel, crisscross, the entire under belly is tied together with superbly fabricated tubular steel pointing all the stress to the balanced center of the car. We’re talking about geometry way pass a simple four link now! Throw this sucker into hard corner at speed and it’ll embarrass a brand new Viper, no joke. This thing doesn’t lean or roll, period. Planting everything on the ground is a set of custom made Fikse profile 5S wheels; 17x8s up front and 18x11s in back. The rubber consists of Nirro 555 Extreme ZR 235-45 ZR17s up front, 305x45x18s are out back. At the risk of sounding old, we remember seeing Top Fuel cars that didn’t have tires this wide.  Better put your shades on before looking under the ‘Cuda though, because if the gleaming black paint hasn’t blinded you, what’s under the surface will. Standing near this beast when it’s running’s literally a moving experience; your insides move, your teeth move, stuff like that. A pair of coated TTI headers lead back to a chrome-like coated 2-1/2” exhaust system tied into a pair of stainless Aero Turbine resonators and stainless Magnaflow mufflers. A&B Mufflers in Bossier City, Louisiana handled ultra-thick fabrication work, while Airborne Coatings made certain everything will retain a perpetual chrome like finish.
 Moving inside the Hemi AAR, we find a pair of seats you’ll not see anywhere else. These aren’t modern seats pirated out of a new car. Matt visited BMW and Audi dealerships because he liked the seats in their sports models, then decided he wanted aspects of both. A pair of basic Corsica bucket seats were ordered then sent to Automotive Custom Specialties in Shreveport where they were sculpted into shape, then covered in black suede leather with perforated lighter gray glove leather inserts. Ditto for the rear seat.  The door panels remain stock for nostalgia’s sake, but the view from the driver’s seat is hardly old school. A custom leather covered Gant wheel sits atop the column before a set of silver faced gauges by Redline Gauge Works. The gauges mimic the stock units except for their color, but their internals are all modern state-of-the-art electronics. The instrument panel itself is graphite. Left of the column you’ll find controls for the Vintage Auto Air a/c system, which is installed so that it looks like it came this way from the factory. There’s a Pioneer stereo and CD changer, Memphis and Infinity Components speakers hidden throughout the cockpit, a Fosgate amp powers the whole works, and there’s an XM satellite radio receiver with its antenna hidden under the front speaker grille! All we can say is, whoa! For all the ‘Cuda’s attributes, the gorgeous black paint with umpteen coats of clear is what initially grabs your attention. Matt tells us it took about a month of sanding, buffing, and then clearing over and over again to get this mile-deep finish. No kidding, it really looks like you can reach into this paint up to your elbow! By the time you read this David Freeman’s Hemi AAR will have made its public debut as the featured vehicle Mopar Performance’s display at the Las Vegas SEMA show. Following that, we fully expect you’ll se this one in every major car magazine existent, but remember, you saw it here first. Then, the ‘Cuda will be off to Chicago where David is anxiously waiting to beet the living hell out of it. Remember, this was built to be driven, not a show poodle, so it will be driven – hard! Matt tells us the speed and handling on this one is unbelievable, and when Matt Delaney tells us something is unbelievable, we tend to believe him. Once more, congrats to all involved in making this wild thing a reality, we can’t wait to see what DAD cooks up next! | ||||||||||
The rear is an absolute work of art. Here you’ll find a Heidt’s Superide independent rear with at0” center section with 3.91 gears inside. All the components are aluminum, making this something you’d expect to see underneath an Indy car rather than a black Barracuda. Once more, you’ll find coil over shocks next to the axles. Grabbing more than just altenation is the incredible Hydratech Braking Systems Hydraboost disc brake system which is located on either side of the differential housing. No joke, this is real James Bond stuff here. Four wheels, six disc brakes – tell some Ford guy to figure that one out! Outboard of the smaller rotors are huge Wilwood four piston discs, while 13 ½ Wilwood discs with six pistons are up front to keep the nose under control!
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