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Car Feature: Renteria Brothers' 2,000-Horsepower, 6-second, 4-door, '65 Plymouth ValiantBy Chad Posted 08/24/09

Normally you would consider a four-door 1965 Plymouth Valiant to be a family car, but normal doesn’t begin to describe the Renteria Brothers or their bitchin’ '65 Valiant race car. When Mike Renteria, the Dad in Renteria Brothers and Dad Racing, first ran his four-door Valiant drag car, he apparently didn’t tell his kids that four-doors aren’t normally racecars. So as you can imagine, most people have thought the brothers were a bit strange for deciding to build their own four-door Valiant. And they may have even snickered a bit back when Sean Renteria was running 12s with a mild small-block in the car. They aren’t snickering now.

With 451 cubic inches of blown Hemi under (well mostly under) the hood, this black beauty is nasty fast. At the 2009 March Meet in Bakersfield, the Renteria Brothers ran a career best 6.62-second ET at over 212 mph, shifting gears at 9,000 rpm. In a four-door Valiant! Sure it has a Jerry Bickel chassis, five-speed air-shifted Lenco, Lamb brakes, electronic shocks, and 451 cubic inches of Big Bad Brad Anderson-headed Hemi. But it’s a Valiant! In fact, until the brothers decided they needed some weight savings and built a  ‘glass body for the car, it still had functional rear doors.  

And don’t for second think these are a group of quirky rich guys that like Valiants so they’ll spend all the money in the world to make one fast. Sean and Michael Renteria are the owners and operators of Renteria Brothers Custom Shop in Morgan Hill, California, where they both do paint and body work on everything from insurance claims to bitchin’ street machines like the ’55 Chevy of Steve and Lisa Caspary that was featured earlier this year. We’re talking about a small family owned business they have to get dirty at every single day. Brother Tom, the gentle giant, is a manager for one of the larger farming operations in California and works more hours than God. These guys earn everything they have, and have made this a huge family affair. In fact, the number of family members and friends who help out at the shop or events is too huge to list. Hell, it would be half of Northern California.

For a ton of bitchin' photos check out the gallery on the Renteria Brother’s four-door Valiant here.

For all the 6-second action, check out the BangShift.com video below.