Moriarty Bros. Big Red Found!










(These pictures are the property of Robert Price. Top - 1966 Big Red, Price driving, Matthew Moriarty Jr. standing on right; Middle - 1967 Big Red, Robert Price driving; Bottom - 1970 Big Red, Robert Price driving.)


Man I am chuffed. Every now and then, I’ve written about Moriarty Brothers, a Lincoln-Mercury dealer I worked at in Manchester, Connecticut, a long, long time ago. Moriarty’s did some drag-racing back in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, and they were pretty darn successful.


Anyway, yesterday I got a message from my union’s office saying a man by the name of Robert Price from Manchester wanted to get in touch. The name didn’t ring any bells but the fact that he was from Manchester sure did. So, I emailed him ASAP.


Bob Price emailed me back with some info and pictures. Bob was the driver of “Big Red,” Moriarty’s racecars, a 1966 Mercury Comet GT w/390 and 4-speed, a 1967 Mercury Comet 2-door sedan w/427 and 4-speed, and finally a 1970 Mercury Cyclone, probably a 428.


Bob also drove for the legendary Tasca Ford out of Providence, Rhode Island in the early ‘60s.

For years, I’ve been trying to find pictures of Big Red to no avail. Bob provided pictures of all three. I remember the first two; I was drafted before the 1970 was built.

I’m still looking for confirmation of what my brain remembers – that the ’66 Comet won C/S at the 1966 Spring Nationals. I know the car was very successful. If memory serves me correctly, the ’67 was not as successful. I think there were a number of mechanical problems that year.


Both cars were sold at the end of their respective seasons. The ’66 was repainted, still red but all the lettering was removed, and the race engine was replaced by a stock 390 GT engine. I think the headers were left on though. Moriarty sold the ’67 pretty much as is when it was retired. I remember the day the ’67 left Moriarty’s. What a sight and what sounds, as the full-race 427 sputtered up Center Street (or did it go up Pine?), the full exhaust strangling that cammed up engine. I remember it was still wearing the “wrinkle wall” slicks (Goodyear or M&H?). Later someone told me the locked differential blew up on the way to the new owner’s house but that’s hearsay.


At the time I owned a ’67 Fairlane GT, 390, 4-speed. It was pretty quick (the one time I took it to the track [Connecticut Dragway], running on Big Red’s old slicks, it turned something around 14.6 seconds). I knew the kid who bought the ’66 Big Red, he used to stop by Moriarty’s (I worked there, more further down). I don’t remember his name but I can picture his house – big place (well bigger than my mom’s house), probably upper middle class kid. He was always bragging about how fast his car was because, well it was “Big Red.”


Thinking I was pretty hot stuff, and that my Fairlane was superior to everything else Ford produced, we went head to head once. I don’t remember why we drove all the way from Manchester to Coventry, my hometown, but we did. On a semi-straight section of South Street, just around Hinkel Mae Drive, we lined up heading south. We counted down in unison (windows open), and raced until the street started uphill. I edged Big Red! Now I have to admit that it wasn’t a fair race; we had no starter, there was no quarter mile marked, and the other kid said my car started to roll before we took off (neither of us had line-lock or anything like it).


Bob Price told me that the '66 Big Red still exists and is owned by someone I worked with at Moriarty Bros. Cool.


I started working at Moriarty’s in the fall of 1965. I quit school at 16 (dummy that I was) and went to work for Joe Pelletier’s Chevron in Coventry. I don’t remember how much Joe paid me but it probably wasn’t more than minimum wage. My best friend, Stan Ferrell, got a part-time job at Moriarty’s, working at their Mobil Station (Moriarty’s had many components – Lincoln-Mercury Dealer, Mobil Gas Station, Mobil fuel oil, used car lot, auto body shop, and towing service).


Stan kept telling me I should apply for a job at Moriarty’s, how great a place it was to work, and how they paid better than Pelletier. So not being completely stupid, I went and applied for full-time work. Miracles of miracles they hired me.


Moriarty’s was a great place to work. They treated you right as long as you did your job. I worked in the Mobil station part, pumping gas. In time, I worked the lube bay, changed exhaust, mounted tires, and drove the tow trucks. The Mobil station was open twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It was said the only time Mr. Moriarty closed the station was the day of John F. Kennedy’s funeral.


I remember that I worked Thanksgiving that year; I was the new guy after all. I worked the afternoon and early evening shift with some guy I didn’t know, a skinny college kid. He drove a ’66 Comet GT and I had him pegged as some spoiled rich kid (it didn’t sink in right away, that a spoiled kid would not be working on Thanksgiving). Any way, after bantering a bit, with me trying to be the kid who knew it all about cars, it came out that my coworker was Maurice Moriarty, the owner’s son. He told me that he always worked during college breaks and especially on the holidays so that the other workers could be with their families. Wow, that told me a whole bunch about Matthew Moriarty Sr.’s ethics.


As time went by, I learned a ton about life and business from Mr. Moriarty. I met his two sons and respected them both. Maurice was only around during school breaks and the summer. Matthew Jr., worked full-time, I don’t know what his exact duties were but he was pretty much the General Manager. I know that there was a sister but I don’t remember her name, only that she was married to Mike Lynch, who was either a salesman or the sales manager (he later went on to own Mike Lynch Toyota).


Moriarty’s Mobil had two managers and I can’t remember their last names, Dewey managed the day shift and Danny the evening. They were both good guys although they both had their problems. Danny was a drunk, there’s no other way to put it. He was such a big-hearted guy; I have no idea why he drank so much. He had a wonderful wife and two beautiful daughters. He used to play some wicked pranks on us, particularly on Stan. I remember once he called up Stan, impersonating a customer, and harangued him for probably fifteen minutes, telling Stan that he (Stan) had shortchanged him during a recent visit.


Dewey ran afoul of Mr. Moriarty and I still admire the way it was handled. Evidently, the bookkeepers noticed severe shortages in the Mobil station but they couldn’t pin it down. I know that a private investigator was hired; I unknowingly worked with him. Eventually they nailed it down to tire sales. Somehow, Dewey was stealing a substantial amount of money by manipulating the tire sales reports.


Now many places would have had Dewey arrested but Mr. Moriarty, for whatever reason, fired Dewey. The scuttlebutt was that Dewey was told he could never work for anyone “east of the river” (Connecticut is just about equally divided east and west by the Connecticut River) or he would be outed. Dewey found work with a tire distributor from New Britain (west of the river) I think. I remember Danny going to Mr. Moriarty because Dewey was offering a great deal on tires from his new job but Danny was leery of doing business with someone recently fired for theft. Mr. Moriarty told Danny that as long as Dewey was offering a better deal than anyone else was, to go for it.


There were many stories about Mr. Moriarty. Some of the employees were afraid of him. I was at first. I was told that he might show up during the night when I worked graveyard, or that he would most likely stop by on Sundays when only the gas station was open. We were all warned that he often just drove by to check on us.


At first, I was worried but I figured that as long as I did my job, I was okay. I was right. One night when I was working graveyard (it was usually busy up until about 3 am, then from 3 to about 5 am it was dead), Mr. Moriarty showed up. Boy was I nervous. I shouldn’t have been. He came in, introduced himself (as if I didn’t know who he was), tallied the case registered (a big, brass, multi-drawer thing) and left.


I remember one occasion when I was working Sunday. Danny had told me to cut the prices of all the old additives, waxes, etc. Therefore, I made up a sign for half off. Mr. Moriarty came in, looked at my hand-lettered sign, and sternly advised me that “we” never use hand-lettered signs.


Moriarty Bros. was a milestone job in my life. I worked there from ’66 until February 1969, when I was drafted. Whenever there was a crisis in a job later in my life, I would think about the dignified way Moriarty treated their employees.


I moved away, had my problem with the military, but as my mom continued to live in Coventry, I eventually returned to visit Moriarty’s. Must have been 1977 or so; I stopped by the old place and ran into Matt Jr., who I think at that time was the Mayor of Manchester. I wasn’t sure he’d recognize me but he did immediately. We talked a little bit, I was nervous because I knew he had been in the military (Navy or Coast Guard?) and I had only recently been given an undesirable discharge. Matt was so gracious, telling me how the guys at Moriarty’s always wondered what had become of me. They all knew about me going AWOL, and although they might not agree, they understood.


So, a toast to the Moriarty family – thank you for all you ever did for me and for so many others. And to Robert Price, thank you for getting in touch and letting me relive some of the best years of my life.

Comments

Unknown said…
Hi Bruce! My name is Susan Moriarty Redman, granddaughter of Matt Sr. and daughter of Matt Jr. My sister happened upon your blog and I'm so glad she did! It is so wonderful to read about what has become a thing of the past. I love hearing history about Moriarty Brothers and my family. Thank you so much for posting.
joemo13 said…
Bruce, great post. I am Matt Moriarty Sr was my grandfather and Matt Jr was my Dad. This was really interesting, and I learned some things about my family I didn't know! Thank you. All the best, Joe Moriarty
Susan & Joe, Thanks for the comments. Your grandfather and father were people I looked up to. They were a part of my life at a time when I needed guidance and they provided it. Moriarty Bros. was an exciting place to work in the late '60s.
Bruce
Edward Goss said…
Hi Bruce! I worked with you at Moriarty's. My name is Ed Goss, and I worked in the parts department, the gas station, and drove a wrecker on weekends. Remember driving the Moriarty's wrecker on New Year's Eve? What an experience!
Dewey's last name was Post, and he went to work for Schaller Tire after leaving Moriarty's. I don't remember Danny's last name, but he was a good-hearted Irishman, for sure.
I travelled a bit with the Big Red racing team, mostly in 1966. That car was fast, and did very well at Englishtown, NJ at The Nationals. I don't remember them winning, but they might have. I was simply too tired after that weekend to remember. I drove home from New Jersey sleeping on the seat of Big Red because there was no more room in the tow truck for me after the race! A couple of memories of the cars: Bobby Price was such an aggressive driver that he actually broke some accelerator pedals on the 66 car trying to get it to go faster. Always had to keep a spare or two around. The 67 car was plagued with cylinder head problems. The intake valves on the 427 Ford wedge were so large it was tough to get all that air out of the motor at higher RPMs. They did everything they could to try to enlarge the exhaust side (within the rules, of course) but it just never would breathe properly. That engine in Modified Production (or above) classes worked a lot better, but the rules for Stock and Super Stock didn't allow you to do what was needed to fix the design problems inherent in the engine.
Enough for now. I could talk forever about the good (and some trying) times we had at Moriarty's. I was always treated very well by Matt Sr and Jr, and my parts department boss, Bob Demache, was the best person a young kid could have had from which to learn the parts business.
Anonymous said…
Interesting. Matthew Moriarty Sr had two other daughters, besides Mary Margaret who married Mike Lynch. One of his daughters is my mother, Constance. My cousin forwarded your article to me. I enjoyed reading it. Thanks!
Barry said…
Bruce, Danny's last name was Cleary, and he drank because he was Irish, and him and I would sit at the Irish American club in Glast. for houre, he loved his Guiness.
Barry - Thanks. Danny was a good soul for sure. When I was drafted and left Moriarty's he took me out for a farewell drink (somewhere near Main and E. Center I think). Had my first boilermakers with him - I was underage but it was okay because I was with Danny.
YACHO said…
Found this blog because I too was looking for "Big Red". I was seven years old in 1967 and lived on Leland Drive in Manchester. Big Red was often garaged in the house behind ours on Linwood. Bob Prices house I think. Everytime that car would start up I would run out of my house to see if it was going to cruise down the road. It is a main reason that I too began racing at CT Dragway. I am now at 52 redoing the hugger orange 1967 firbird that I cruised and raced around manchester. I kept it all these years. Good to hear the stories.
Anonymous said…
Interesting article. I worked at Moriarty Brothers too--though it was much later--in 1978 and 1979--my high school job too. The Dan you mention was Dan Carey. He was still around then, but I think on his way out. The Stan you mention must have been Stan Ozimek. I think he was the body shop supervisor. I remember he'd get teased a lot by (Tony?) Magliocco. It was a fun place to work--people felt like family. Met my husband there (he was related to Bob Damaschi) and we eventually bought a house from one of the oil burner service techs--Stan Billings. Yacho--I may have known you as I was 7 in 1967 also and lived on Keeney Street. We probably both went to Keeney Street School at the same time...
John Anderson said…
This all brought back memories...I worked in the gas station in the spring of 66 for Dewey Post. Danny Carey was night mngr and lived in that big rooming house next door by the RR bridge. In those days, immigrants had to be sponsored by someone in order to come to America and Matt Sr sponsored many and guaranteed them jobs. Danny was one of them. I also helped in the lube room, sold tires and batteries on commission and loved the place. I bought my first car privately from Dewey and I remember him taking me to Fenway Park also. In July Uncle Sam came and got me so the story about missing money I had never heard before and it's distressing. I really like him. I recall the day they installed the Hurst line-locks on Big Red in the shop. The first time they tested them they almost put the car through the back wall!! Great memories!!
Unknown said…
very interesting story, my Dad was a service manager there sometime late sixties early seventy's, name was Forrest Williams, I remember a picture of my dad with either Matt Sr or Matt Jr don't know which one it was
Anonymous said…
Hi I owned the 67 big red in the 80s by then it had a 351 windor I bought it for $500.00 the car had only 16,000 miles on it. The car was in great shape. It was one of the cars I wish I never sold. I have some pics of it.
Anonymous said…
This is Joe Moriarty, Matt Jr's son. I would love to still find out if Big Red is around! Bob Price, my Dad and I built a Soap Box Derby car in the late 1980's that we raced all around CT. It was pained candy apple red with red gold leaf lettering. The car was called "Little Red." We won CT and went all the way to Akron Ohio to race in the Nationals. I have pictures of Bob Price, my parents and racing the gravity drags. I stll have Little Red and would love to find Big Red! Joe
Anonymous said…
This is Joe Moriarty, Matt Jr's son. I would love to still find out if Big Red is around! Bob Price, my Dad and I built a Soap Box Derby car in the late 1980's that we raced all around CT. It was pained candy apple red with red gold leaf lettering. The car was called "Little Red." We won CT and went all the way to Akron Ohio to race in the Nationals. I have pictures of Bob Price, my parents and racing the gravity drags. I stll have Little Red and would love to find Big Red! Joe
Joe Moriarty,
My understanding is that the '66 Big Red is still in Manchester. Email me at bruce.hotchkiss@gmail.com and I'll give you some names to contact.
Mike the FordGuy said…
I had a buddy who told me his father worked at Moriartys whose last name was Francis. He lived in Hartford and I'm guessing he worked there in the '60's. My buddy told me he spent a good bit of time there and bought a few cars from Moriarty including a Cougar Eliminator. His name was Gerry Francis. I met Gerry in the mid-1970's and I believe his dad had passed away by then. Perhaps you recall the senior Francis and his son? My buddy Gerry passed away a year or so ago.

While I never did any business there, I do remember the dealership. I also went to Connecticut Dragway a few times in the 1970's and probably saw a Moriarty car or two. I currently live in Manchester, not far from Broad Street where Moriarty used to be. Whenever I pass by their old location, I think of my friend Gerry.
Unknown said…
My Bother , Reggie Westgate from Freetown Mass owned the 66 Big Red for awhile back in the late sixties. I wished I knew where the car is now so he could see it.
Don Tarca said…
Bruce I'm sure I met you at some point I'm the one standing to the left of Matt Jr.
I worked on all 3 cars with Bob, I also had a red Cyclone 4 speed just like the one we raced. 66 car is owned by Don Cowell he also worked there when you did, me and Bob have been friends for over 60 years were best man in each of our weddings, I had scape book on the 66 that I gave to Don few years, It's nice to see your article.
Don Tarca tarcsr2@aol.com
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