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N96 Air Grabber / Ramcharger fresh-air hood

Vacuum-actuated cowl-induction hood scoop. Plymouth: Air Grabber. Dodge: Ramcharger. Center-console toggle opens the trap door at speed.

N96 is the SALES code for the fresh-air hood option on B-body Mopars 1969–1971 — Plymouth marketed it as Air Grabber, Dodge as Ramcharger. Same hardware, different name on the order sheet. The flat hood scoop sits over the carburetor; a vacuum motor opens a trap door at the driver's command from a console toggle, ducting cold ambient air directly into the engine's induction.

N96 was restricted to 4-bbl big-block engines: 383 4-bbl Magnum (E64 / N), 440 4-bbl (E86 / T or U), 440 Six-Pack (E87 / V), and 426 Hemi (E74 / R). The slant-six and 318/2-bbl small-blocks couldn't order it — Plenum surfaces this as an `n96-requires-big-block` conflict when the codes don't add up.

The trap door makes the hood look unremarkable when closed, then theatrical when open — a deliberate piece of street-stoplight choreography. Some owners order N96 cars and never use the toggle; others swap the vacuum motor for a manual cable so it pops on demand. The 1971 cars are the cleanest aerodynamic execution; 1969 was the first year the Air Grabber appeared.

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