FAMILY OWNED, SINCE ‘71
In 1971, my brother, Bill, purchased this 1970 Dodge Challenger from the original owner—a local Oklahoma town judge. I was 14-years-old then, and already in love with the car—seeing the vehicle being driven around our town. The car had been purchased new from Downtown Dodge in Dallas, Texas. At the time, Bill had just served three years in the U.S. Army following his graduation from high school in Ardmore, Okla., and was in need of a car. He saved money and purchased a car to go back and forth to work in. After a while he’d saved more and decided it was time to get a real car—this 1970 Dodge Challenger.
Over the years, my brother often allowed me to drive and help maintain the vehicle—we both enjoyed the vehicle and shared many priceless moments with her. Sadly, in 1995 my brother died unexpectedly and I was hoping his widow would let me purchase and restore the car. She did not want to part with it at first; however, after several years my sister-in-law called and offered to sell me the car. She said she knew I loved the car, as they did, and she wanted me to have it and restore it.
After years of sitting in storage, the first thing I did was rebuild the engine. I then found a local body shop to repair some of the rusted areas and prepare the body for paint. When my son returned from Iraq he painted the car the original FC7 paint color with DuPont ChromaPremier® basecoat clear product. He had worked in a body shop throughout high school and during college, and had painted many cars so I knew he could handle this job. We spent many hours side-by-side putting TLC into this restoration. He knew, as I did, the vehicle had to be finished to look as she had right off the showroom floor. In the spring of 2007 she was completely restored.
I have a lot of great memories of this car dating back to 1970 when I watched the Judge drive her. The bond I share with this car will never be broken. It keeps me in touch with my brother’s memories and I know he is proud of me for all the work and time I have spent on the Dodge. And, I hope he sees that same glint in my eye each time I look at my MUSCLE CAR as he saw there that day in 1971, when I was a 14-year-old boy.
Steve
Via e-mail
NEON SRT4® ACR
Here’s my 2005 Dodge Neon SRT4® ACR. I’m from New York, 21-years-old and a huge Mopar fan. I’m a graduate of Chrysler’s College Automotive Program (CAP) and going on five-years as a Chrysler, Jeep®, Dodge and Ram technician. I really enjoy every day of my work.
Chris Machin
Via e-mail
VIPER YELLOW DART
Here’s our 1968 Hurst HEMI® Dart clone. It has a new Mopar block, crank, Ross 12.5 to 1 pistons, magnesium cross-ram intake, Holley 770 cfm carbs, Crane 660 roller cam (solid), Mopar aluminum heads and valves, A-833 4-speed, Dana 60 410 Mopar posi rear end and Viper Yellow paint. The vehicle is street driven to shows and cruise nights. My 15-year-old son comes with me to all the shows and is always there to help clean and detail it. And, he’s starting to help with mechanical work, too.
Bob & Noah Fleischer
Elmwood Park, Ill.
MR. BELVEDERE
This is my 1967 Belvedere II with a date coded ‘67 440 engine and a 727 transmission. It has a rare black and silver interior and a vinyl top. The car was raced at Dover Dragway in the early seventies. It has now given up its racing gear to be a nice street driven car. Love your magazine and also enjoy the online Mopar Magazine photo archives, keep it coming. Thanks!
Dale Piotrowski
Independence, Ohio.
19 YEARS OF FUN
The picture of the Satellite is my son Kevin doing the prerace burnout at Irwindale Raceway in Irwindale, Calif. This was originally a yellow 1967 “318” Satellite with a black vinyl top. That was 19 years ago, when Kevin was 14-years-old. Since then there have been many a wild ride including laps around the California Speedway track in Fontana, Calif. Now with a very built “440” and a host of Mopar® component upgrades this Viper Red Satellite was the catalyst for Kevin earning his NHRA license at the Frank Hawley Drag Racing School in Pomona, Calif.—with Jack Beckman as his instructor. How good is that for a Mopar guy! The other picture is me and my daily driver 1972 Barracuda. To round out our Mopar family, my wife’s driver is a 2006 Chrysler 300 SRT8®, my daughter’s is a 2004 Dodge Durango HEMI® and Kevin’s is a 2006 Dodge Ram HEMI. Thank you for a great magazine.
Don Driftmier
West Covina, Calif.
