A long-time friend of Carlisle Events, and a beloved icon in the automotive industry has passed away. Norm Kraus, affectionately known industry-wide as “Mr. Norm” and “The High Performance King” died on February 26, 2021 at the age of 87.
Known for his sales and promotion of Dodge muscle cars and his nationally popular club, his legendary status ranged from high-performance Mopars to funny cars, to die-cast cars, to his co-ownership of Grand Spaulding Dodge in Chicago from 1962 through 1977, which became the No.1 Dodge dealership in the world.
His dedication to high-performance Dodges was embodied in his efforts in bringing Dodge vehicles to another level. He got his start and his nickname, in the 1950s, when he and his brother Lenny began specializing in selling used performance cars. They employed the tagline "Call Mr. Norm" in their classified ads, and the name stuck. Soon, Dodge offered the brothers an opportunity to open a new car dealership. Promoting muscle cars and exploiting his nickname, Kraus explained, “’Mr. Norm’ was an image that was built into the dealership. When I walked out at the end of the day, I wasn't ‘Mr. Norm’ anymore; I was Norm Kraus. I learned to be a humble winner on the track and a gracious loser. I'm just glad I didn't have to be gracious too much."
According to Kraus, one of his proudest accomplishments, was when he sought to install a 383ci V8 engine in a compact Dodge Dart body. He was positive that this combo would be a great sell, since a lightweight Dart with a powerful 383ci would be competitively fast. However, Dodge's engineering team turned him down; saying it placing a 383ci V8 in Dart’s engine bay couldn't be done. Undeterred, in 1967, he ordered a new Dart and a crate 383 V8 engine, and after a few days' work, the Dodge Dart Grand Spaulding Special (GSS) was born. Soon, the dealership was offering GSS conversions involving larger 440ci engines. With this focus on performance and ingenuity, Kraus was able to make Grand Spaulding Dodge the largest Dodge dealership by 1972.
Kraus took his car work racing, and after a minor sponsorship one weekend turned into five sales by Wednesday, he was ready to go racing in a big way. Not wanting to compete against his customers, he decided to build a match-race car. He recalled that his first 1964 supercharged car “became one of the first Funny Cars in the country, because when we went out racing, we were running against all the gassers and the rails. There weren't any other Funny Cars to run." A 1965 ex-factory lightweight car allowed them to run well into the eights when the competition was in the nines, putting ‘Mr. Norm’ on the map nationwide.
The Kraus brothers grew their dealership selling trucks, vans and standard cars along with the high-performance models. And when others were turning away the younger crowd, Grand Spaulding courted them. In 1977, Norm sold his share of the dealership, which closed within a couple of years. Still in his forties, he wanted to spend more time with his family, something not possible when on the showroom floor from Monday through Friday and then at the race track all weekend. He later had a furniture business on the site of one of the dealership buildings and then sold used cars again. He followed that up with two decades of marketing products in his name under license and he continued to appear at shows, promote Mopar and keep his hand in funny cars.
Recognized for his efforts, Kraus was inducted into the Mopar Hall of Fame in 1989, and then in 1996, was inducted into the A/FX Funny Car Hall of Fame
A celebrity guest and supporter at many Carlisle All-Chrysler Nationals over the years, some of his more memorable appearances at Carlisle include:
1998 – He was the featured guest celebrity of the event.
1999 – The return of Mr. Norm's Sport Club, after nearly a 30-year hiatus. Launched at the Carlisle All-Chrysler Nationals, the gathering saw support from hundreds of loyal fans from around the United States and Canada. Kraus signed limited-edition lithographs of the legendary Mr. Norm's Grand Spaulding Dodge dealership circa 1970, at the height of the muscle car era. The artwork was created by David Snyder.
2007 – Kraus’ 1968 GSS Hemi Dart was displayed at the event.
2008 -- Mr. Norm’s Dodge Ram Super Truck was displayed with Kraus at the show.
2010 – A dozen of Kraus’ high-performance Dodges were displayed and he was on-hand at the Mr. Norm’s Garage exhibit.
2011 – Kraus oversaw a Sport Club exhibit featuring his 2011 GSS Super Charger, the Mr. Norm’s Ram Red Xpress Truck and two Super Challengers.
2012 – A full display of fully equipped current-day vehicles from Kraus’ stable were shown, with ‘The High Performance King’ on hand to answer questions and sign autographs.
Norm Kraus … Mr. Norm …“The High Performance King – 1934-2021. He is already missed. He will be remembered at this year’s Carlisle Chrysler Nationals, July 9 – 11 at the Carlisle (PA) Fairgrounds. The largest Mopar event in the world, it features more than 2,800 vehicles from all eras of the Chrysler brand. Classic, muscle cars and high performance new models are all showcased at this Mopar-lover's paradise.
> Visit www.CarlisleEvents.com for more on the automotive hobby.
Mike Blake, former editor of KIT CAR magazine, joined Carlisle Events as senior automotive journalist in 2004. He's been a "car guy" since the 1960s and has been writing professionally for about 30 years. </I>
