1970 Challenger T/A (B5 with a 4 speed 3.91)

[69CudaFan]

Decided to start a thread. We will begin at the beginning. Winterport Dragway in Maine circa 1971. Original owner is the pilot.

[Chryco Psycho]

Cool that you can trace it that far back 

[69CudaFan]

The car was purchased new by the first owner from Bodwell Motors in Maine. He spotted the T/A on a road trip with friends and stated he was "coming back the next day to but that car."  He traded in a 1966 Barracuda Formula S 273 4 speed on the T/A and remembers paying "about $2850 or 2950 for the car." He used it sparingly, taking the car to Oxford Motor Speedway on Fridays with his wife Pam. He said it won frequently in the 1/8 mile because "with the 3.91s it was a quick car, but not a fast car."

He said he liked the fact the car did not come with a vinyl top and loved the aggressive styling of the car. "The stripes, the hood and especially the exhaust dumping right by the rear tires." He sold the car to a close friend in 1972 or 1973 so he could buy a farm truck.

[69CudaFan]

Owner number two drove the car sparingly after he bought it from his friend who worked with him at Central Maine Power. He only took it out during the short Maine summers. He says he kicks himself for selling that car to another friend who worked for the power company around 1975 or 1976. He tells one story of outrunning a state trooper. It was a full harvest moon and he passed the trooper and his friend on the side of the road. About a quarter of a mile later, he saw flashing lights so he shut his off and "dropped it a gear, because I was so close to home". He pulled into the garage and shut his car down. The owner's Dad told the trooper, who was nosing around the garage, the car had been in the garage all night and that he was perhaps looking for a blue Dodge Charger that was two towns over. The trooper said he wanted to write a ticket for doing 100 in a 25! The funniest part was the steam coming out of the hood as his Dad told him the car hadn't budged all night!

[Cuda Cody]

    

[69CudaFan]

Owner number three owned the car for about 3 years until around 1978 or 1979 when he sold it to his brother in law. All four owners were friends/relatives that worked for the power company, and all within a few miles of one another. Owner number three stores the car for owner number one and number two, but he sold the car because the structure the car was stored in was partially located on a neighbors land, and he either had to move the car and structure, or purchase the land the structure was located on, so he opted to buy the land from his wonderful neighbor. During his ownership, the engine was freshened slightly with rings and a cam close to stock specs by a local Vocational/Technical College by owner number three and an instructor there.

Owner number one on the right in the photo, and owner number three on the left in the photo.

[69CudaFan]

Owner number four asked his wife to marry him in the T/A (his fondest memory). He last registered the car in 1979. By this time, the years and miles were starting to age the car. Him and a friend shot the underside with 3M Body Schutz to help preserve and protect the car when his friend was doing his own car as well. The B5 was knocked down in the hopes of a respray that never happened, as life got in the way. It was sold to owner five in 1987.

Owner five has a paint and body shop, and a formidable collection of Fords and Chevys, but he wanted a Mopar and he stored the car for nearly 30 years.

[Cuda Cody]

 

[69CudaFan]

Owner six purchased the car in late 2016 and began disassembly and restoration of the car. He began to document all the details, and ended up selling the car to me with the agreement that he would do the car up right, and that it would be a fairly straightforward resto to OEM using as much of the original car and parts as possible.

This is where I come in. I purchased it and began to document as much history of the car that I could. I asked for owners, pictures, anecdotes, and I am determined to get the car done and connect with all the previous owners. Car should have a 2019 debut.

[js27]

Awesome story and documentation but don't stop now-it is getting interesting..
JS27

[69CudaFan]

Will update with info during the process, but I figured this gets us caught up for the most part.

[69CudaFan]

0920 - 92nd day of 1970-Apr 2nd 1970. 1st shift One day before Apr 3rd SPD.

[69CudaFan]

Factory weld wire. Must have been in a rush.

[69CudaFan]

3.91 ratio tag intact on center section.

[69CudaFan]

0330 on 3400048 springs